Sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019), directed by James Mangold and starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, tells the story of the American company’s attempts to build a car that could take on its Italian rival at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Terence Hon Chun-him, co-founder of Hong Kong retailer GreenPrice, which tackles food waste and poverty by selling items near their expiration date at heavily discounted prices, tells Richard Lord how it changed his life. I first watched it in a cinema. Just the words “Ferrari” and “Ford” in the title made it interesting to me. I hadn’t known that Ford had done any racing. The film was very encouraging during that period of time when we were struggling. We were experiencing a downturn in our business, sales were average and we could barely afford salaries for the co-founders. We were struggling with whether we should continue. I had just graduated from university, and I didn’t know whether to carry on with the company or just get a job. The movie shows Ford and Ferrari facing each other in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Obviously, Ferrari were dominant and had won for many years. ‘I thought I was a loser’: how a career coach’s book changed CEO’s life It shows Ferrari as very stylish; they took helicopters to the track. Ford thought that they need a lot of time to be able to compete with them. (Automotive engineer and former Le Mans winner Carroll) Shelby, played by Matt Damon, convinces them that they need just 90 days to build a car that can compete with Ferrari. In the end, they manage to do it. It was similar to the situation we were facing with the retail industry. There are some dominant players, and it’s almost impossible to survive in the gap. It motivated us to expand what we do. We were suffering from a lack of resources; most of the time, big malls want to see past references for stores, and we didn’t have any. Then you’ve got the perception of the products: short-dated products are not widely accepted by people in Hong Kong. At that time we had just two stores. I was watching this movie, and there’s a scene where the marketing director of Ford is in a meeting, and he says that the most important thing isn’t to build the most cars but a car that symbolises victory. Similarly, we need to focus on giving customers a symbol of sustainability, with good locations and branded products. We had launched in Kwun Tong and Kwai Fong, in industrial areas, and we couldn’t get in touch with our customers. So we got a store in Wan Chai, and focused more on giving our customers a good environment, and we saw good results. I still feel there’s a long way for us to go. When they’re designing the car, they make a lot of mistakes, and they’re constantly making changes to improve. I feel like that’s the stage we’re at now.