In Asia, we adopt a direct sales model, where product sales are based on providing free technical support and problem diagnosis for our customers. In North America, considering the differences in costs and the business environment, we choose to work through agents for product sales. We also require agents to base their sales on technical services and problem diagnosis, avoiding blind sales of products. This is why we prefer not to engage directly with North American customers: When faced with enthusiastic reefers (some have already contact us) who expect to buy products at better direct sales prices, we find ourselves in a dilemma: either we compromise the interests and trust of our distributors, or we disappoint reefers' expectations. However, integrity has always been our guiding value and principle.
However, the world is full of diverse individuals, and sometimes you have to break the silence and respond. For example, some people may have a bit more knowledge than the average person, and when they ask questions in a half-understood way, they can appear professional to those who don't understand, leading to misunderstandings and negative consequences. There are also those who try to probe for business secrets through inquiries, skepticism, or even attacks. Of course, many people engage with us with friendly intentions.
We maintain an open attitude toward all these interactions. In Asia, we often provide free explanations of product principles and mechanisms. For customers who come to us with admiration but may be economically disadvantaged, we frequently offer free products or other complimentary or lower-cost alternatives. Customers choose us because of our reputation and our ability to solve aquarium-related issues. There is ample evidence for this, but to avoid cross-regional arbitrage, we cannot publicly disclose such information or our service sales channels. However, we are ready to share this information whenever necessary.
It is precisely because North American agents are familiar with the Asian
market that they seek collaboration due to the reputation and influence of our brand. I can attest that their representation is based on their rational judgment after personally using our products and seeing positive results, and the sales prices they set in North America are quite reasonable.
Totally get why some reefers are curious about how products work, no matter their real motive was.But in this world, the information gap no longer exists; as long as you have enough awareness to seek answers. This is also what we encourage reefers to do in Asia:Knowledge is the way to keep a good aquarium and save money, not products.
It's a common sense that before organic chemistry came along, a lot of effective treatments came from plants and animals.
Quinine(Cinchona), artemisinin(wormwood), salicylic acid (willow), paclitaxel(Pacific yew tree), morphine(poppy)... are all plant extracts. Insulin, heparin, and growth hormone... are all animal extracts.For example, allicin can kill bacterias.We can promote coral reproduction and ovulation by importing gonad extract.This is nothing new in scientific area.Even useful substances can be extracted from urine, including urokinase, urinary gonadotropin, and human chorionic gonadotropin. Seres Therapeutics produces capsules from processed human feces to treat difficult-to-treat diarrhea and other intestinal diseases caused by Clostridium difficile.
As founders with backgrounds in biochemistry and medical industries, produce and develop aquatic products essentially belongs to a dimensionality reduction attack. As a commercial brand in reef supplies,even there is a substantial lack of patent protection, we strive to go further than other brands in the field of information sharing.After all, some brands are famous for creating mysticism with hidden ingredients.
But we think it's their right. After all, knowledge is the key to wealth, not freebie.