Why are the sales of China’s old soda drinks getting lower and lower now?

“Nothing is complete without ice peaks.” Ice peaks are steeped in the memories of generations of people in Xi’an, and they are also a “time shuttle” for local people to savor the past. There is a joke that the test of a Xi'an person's "purity" depends on how many bottles of Bingfeng he drinks. This regional soda brand with a history of development has signed a listing guidance agreement with Huachuang Securities and plans to be listed on the Small and Medium-sized Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and submit IPO application materials beforehand. Not long ago, "Old Beijing Soda" Beibingyang just went on the market through a backdoor, and Heli Soda, one of the earliest soda series products in China, has also returned to the market through a replica of "Hankou No. 2 Factory".

With the rise of the national trend, domestic soda is setting off a wave of collision between the Chinese trend and the new era in the beverage industry. Old sodas are trying to return to the market and occupy a place with the help of capital. However, in the new round of fighting, facing opponents with different styles, these regional soda brands rely solely on "sentiment" to be far from helping them copy their successful models. Times have changed, and regardless of the label of sentiment, domestic time-honored brands have to face the reality that it is difficult to turn around even if they fall into the lap of capital. The history of the decline of regional sodas

As an imported product, carbonated drinks have been introduced to China for much longer than we imagine. The Empress Dowager Cixi was a loyal supporter of Dutch sodas across the ocean. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country independently developed the first batch of Chinese soda drinks - Laoshan Cola, which started the road to localization of soda drinks. In this era, with the development of market economy, soda factories sprouted all over the country. However, since most sodas were packaged in glass bottles in the early days, limited by transportation conditions, the factory's sodas could only be supplied for local sale. Therefore, there is a "one city, one IP" scenario.

When it comes to "Happy Fat Home Water", the first thing that young people think of is definitely Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola. But for the older generation, the first thing that comes to mind are the eight domestic soda brands full of childhood memories. They are: Beijing Beibingyang Food Factory, Tianjin Shanhaiguan Soda Factory, Shanghai Zhengguanghe Soda Factory, Wuhan Hankou Beverage Factory No. 2, Guangzhou Asia Soda Factory, Shenyang Bawangsi Soda Factory, Chongqing Tianfu Cola Group Company and Shandong Laoshan Soda Company.

The products of these eight companies account for almost half of the country's market share. They are not only local specialty brands, but also have left an indelible mark on the history of China's beverage development. Take Beijing Beibingyang, for example. The monthly salary of ordinary workers in Beijing is only 40 yuan, but the annual sales profit of Beibingyang has reached 8.781 million. It is well-deserved to be the domestic soda drink.

Next door to the Arctic Ocean, the Tianjin Shanhaiguan Soda Drink Factory is even more impressive. It not only appeared at the wedding ceremony of Qing Emperor Puyi and Wanrong. Later, it was once designated as a special drink for state banquets. If "cola soaked with wolfberry" is a contemporary "punk health" joke, then in the last century, Shandong Laoshan Coke was the first to add traditional Chinese medicine ingredients to cola, which made people call it "expert". Chongqing Tianfu Cola is even sold overseas. A filling plant was established in Moscow. It is represented by Kazama Co., Ltd. in Japan. It also set up a sales company in the World Trade Center in the United States and successfully entered the U.S. market.

This is the best era for domestic soda drinks. For those who have experienced that era, the sweet and cold taste memory has long been intertwined with childhood and youth. These delicious soda drinks have also grown with emotion. A kind of sad memory. It’s quite delicious, why can’t I see it now? All this can be attributed to the "joint venture trend" that has made domestic soda drinkers hate it. World-renowned beverage manufacturers, represented by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, are rushing to enter the Chinese market. Whether in terms of management, sales, supply chain, corporate management and business philosophy, these foreign beverage giants were all crushing the Chinese beverage industry, which was characterized by a planned economy at that time.

It is better to "seek life in death" than "sit back and wait for death". With the signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, China decided to take a gamble. The China Light Industry Federation signed a memorandum of cooperation on the joint development of beverages with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo respectively, and required the "two music" companies to establish filling plants that must produce at least 30% of domestic brand beverages, and designated eight major factories to cooperate with foreign investment. Use retreat to advance and disperse to break through.

However, a vigorous "borrowing chicken to lay an egg" eventually evolved into "seeking skin from a tiger". Instead of surviving the wave of joint ventures, local beverage brands were quickly marginalized and even discontinued. This is what domestic brands and related practitioners deplore: "Two Les and Seven Troops Flooded". The breakout battle of time-honored soda brands

The rise of China’s domestic beverage brands stems from the policy of reform and opening up. It was only the eight major soda factories that created their former glory, but their decline or even disappearance also stemmed from the high “tuition fees” on the road to opening up. . Just when domestic beverage brands are coming to an end, "Liangle" has accelerated its sweep of the Chinese beverage market with the help of ready-made sales channels. As the "eight major soda factories" all shrank and disappeared, a group of local brands that emerged from the grassroots continued to compete for the market with foreign brands. Among them, Jianlibao, once the nation’s No. 1 drink, seems to have an “eye-catching” presence.

A winery in Sanshui County, Guangdong boldly took over an alkaline electrolyte sports drink invented by the Guangdong Sports Research Institute at that time, named it Jianlibao, and became the drink of choice for the Chinese delegation at the Los Angeles Olympics that year. After careful research, a Japanese reporter was convinced that he had understood the ancient Eastern mysteries, and then published a piece of gossip in the "Tokyo Shimbun" "China relies on "magic water" to speed up its attack". After it spread to the country, all Chinese people knew about it. What foreigners call "Oriental Magic Water".

As the original electrolyte sports drink, Jianlibao, which focuses on sports and health care, has been among the first echelons of carbonated drinks for a long time. At its peak, Jianlibao spent US$5 million to buy an entire floor of the Empire State Building as an office to expand into the United States; the New York Times published a photo of "New President-elect Clinton's wife Hillary raised a drink from Jianlibao at a party." Hard advertising photo... It is said that in the United States, there are three things that are considered to be achieved with God's help: one is winning the lottery jackpot; the other is being elected President of the United States, and the third is defeating Coca-Cola. Unfortunately, Jianlibao almost did the last one. Due to equity risks and the arrest of Jianlibao's boss, the capital chain was broken, and management problems were exposed, Jianlibao's vitality was severely damaged. After several changes of ownership, Jianlibao returned to Jianlibao Company with a lot of holes.

Interestingly, the "Wahaha" Group also launched "Very Coke", which once occupied the rural market with the slogan "Chinese's own Coke". However, due to various mistakes in marketing strategies, market positioning and other aspects, Wahaha Group has become stronger and stronger, and Very Coca-Cola has long been hard to find. History seems to have made a small joke. The national brands "Eight Soda Soda Manufacturers" and Very Coke failed to see the current situation clearly in the ever-changing market environment. Jianlibao also fell into the complicated interpersonal relationships in the end. After the "big brothers" in the industry fell one after another, Bingfeng, which is located in a corner of the northwest, survived. What is not well known is that it was Xi'an's local protectionism that gave Bingfeng the possibility of counterattack.

Foreign-funded manufacturers have set foot in the Chinese market. Under severe squeeze from other brands such as Coca-Cola, Jianlibao, Xifeili, Zinmeile, etc., Bingfeng decisively established a joint venture with PepsiCo "Xi'an Pepsi". The premise is that Pepsi-Cola Banned from producing glass bottles of beverages in Xi'an. As a result, Pepsi-Cola in glass bottles has never appeared in the Xi'an market. However, Pepsi-Cola could only sell cans in the catering channel, and the price was more expensive than Bingfeng. In the end, it had to give up the Xi'an market. Therefore, Bingfeng became the only local brand to survive the "Seven Flooded Armies" war. , Bingfeng’s position in Shaanxi’s beverage industry can no longer be shaken. What kind of future do the Bingfeng people have?

Heavy snow fell in the sky over Xi'an, and a businessman surnamed Li was very worried. He brought a set of equipment from a Tianjin soft drink factory and was planning to go to Xinjiang via Xi'an to build a factory. However, the road was blocked for days and the end of the blockade was far away. In desperation, the soda equipment was left in Xi'an. Another snowy day, when the Xi'an Soda Drink Factory was producing soda, the well puller used to fetch water was frozen like an ice peak. When everyone added it together, this bottle of soda was simply called "Bingfeng". Taking root in Xi'an, Bingfeng has occupied more than 80% of the market share of similar drinks in the local market. Bingfeng soda has also become an indispensable part of Shaanxi's catering culture. According to the prepared IPO application report, Bingfeng’s performance is quite impressive.

In 2017, its operating income was 251 million yuan, 284 million yuan and 300 million yuan respectively, and its net profits were 57.31 million yuan, 67.52 million yuan and 81.45 million yuan respectively.

However, with the fame, the challenges behind Bingfeng also loom. In fact, Bingfeng announced its entry into the capital market, perhaps precisely because of the "loss of family business" in the Xi'an market. In the list of city specialty drinks released by Ele.me, Bingfeng Soda ranked fourth in Xi'an, followed by Sprite and two Cokes. Bingfeng, which "sticks to the same taste and packaging for decades," only produces one type of soda. In other words, Bingfeng has never thought about segmenting the market. Facing the new generation of young people’s choice of drinks as they grow up, the feeling of powerlessness is palpable.

The Bingfeng on the trademark is synonymous with "soda", which makes it impossible for Bingfeng's audience to expand. On the other hand, if you break away from the Bingfeng brand, it will be like starting from scratch. A prominent example is that in addition to producing "Bingfeng" brand orange soda, Bingfeng has also launched a variety of drinks including sour plum soup, purified water, protein drinks, etc. However, except for "Bingfeng Sour Plum Soup" which has a local market, most of them outside Xi'an Consumers didn’t hear it.

Back to another old soda, Arctic Ocean. After negotiation, Arctic Ocean made a strong comeback with the help of sentiment. Arctic Ocean’s sales reached 600 million yuan, and 12 million boxes were sold a year. However, when he returned to the world with the help of his feelings, he was also shackled by his feelings.

Beibingyang launches peanut walnut plant protein "Walnut Love". Arctic Ocean also launched 13 new products at once, including low-sugar and low-calorie products as well as health and wellness products, but none of them caused a response from the market. As a soda brand with very strong regional attributes, the road to nationalization of these old sodas is not smooth.

“Xi’an people have not forgotten Bingfeng.” Bingfeng soda sold to other places was still digested by Xi’an people from other places; Beibingyang, equipped with Dahao Technology, wanted to go out of Beijing, and its first production base was put into operation in Ma’anshan. But because of the price of 5 yuan a bottle, it was "shelved" by consumers. It is worth mentioning that in the past two years, the income of enterprises above designated size in the carbonated beverage industry has continued to show a downward trend, but Yuanqi Forest, which was founded just a few years ago, has set off a new trend with "0 sugar, 0 fat and 0 calories" and stole the limelight.

Feelings can always evoke memories and a lot of desire for consumption, but people's nostalgia will eventually fade one day, and the feelings card can't be played forever. Returning to reality, in the fiercely competitive beverage market, how to win the favor of a new generation of young consumers is the secret to the longevity of these domestically produced sodas.