---
title: "Backed by 19,000 Convenience Stores Selling Energy Drinks, What Are PetroChina's Chances?"
description: "Following Sinopec's coffee sales, PetroChina has now ventured into energy drinks, expanding its side businesses. Recently, PetroChina Anhui Sales Company launched its own new product 'Haoke Zhili' at its 2020 work conference, with the sales launch held in the non-oil exhibition area. According to PetroChina, the formula of Haoke Zhili adds natural ingredients like guarana and green tea powder to traditional taurine energy drinks. The product comes in a 310ml modern can, priced at 5 yuan (RMB, same below) per can, and is currently only available at Kunlun Haoke convenience stores in Anhui PetroChina gas stations."
author: "时代财经TF"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2020-01-12"
categories: "Consumer & Categories, Retail Formats"
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citation: "时代财经TF. “Backed by 19,000 Convenience Stores Selling Energy Drinks, What Are PetroChina's Chances?.” New Distribution, 2020-01-12. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/backed-by-19-000-convenience-stores-selling-energy-drinks-what-are-petro-358963c5/"
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# Backed by 19,000 Convenience Stores Selling Energy Drinks, What Are PetroChina's Chances?

> Following Sinopec's coffee sales, PetroChina has now ventured into energy drinks, expanding its side businesses. Recently, PetroChina Anhui Sales Company launched its own new product 'Haoke Zhili' at its 2020 work conference, with the sales launch held in the non-oil exhibition area. According to PetroChina, the formula of Haoke Zhili adds natural ingredients like guarana and green tea powder to traditional taurine energy drinks. The product comes in a 310ml modern can, priced at 5 yuan (RMB, same below) per can, and is currently only available at Kunlun Haoke convenience stores in Anhui PetroChina gas stations.

**Following Sinopec's coffee sales, PetroChina has now ventured into energy drinks, and the 'two barrels of oil' are increasingly diversifying their side businesses.**
Recently, PetroChina Anhui Sales Company's new own-brand product 'Haoke Zhili' made its debut at the 2020 work conference and the fourth session of the third workers' congress, with the sales launch held in the non-oil exhibition area.
According to PetroChina, the formula of Haoke Zhili adds pure natural ingredients such as guarana and green tea powder to traditional taurine energy drinks. The product comes in a 310ml modern can, priced at 5 yuan (RMB, same below) per can, and is currently only sold at Kunlun Haoke convenience stores in Anhui PetroChina gas stations.
Launching its own energy drink is another move by PetroChina in its non-oil business.
In its 2019 semi-annual report, PetroChina stated that in the non-oil market, the company strengthens cooperation with well-known brand suppliers (COFCO, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, etc.) on one hand, and seeks quality local suppliers on the other, to jointly produce the 'Kunlun Haoke' series of own-brand products. Before launching Haoke Zhili, PetroChina had already introduced its first own-brand product, Wuyishan Mineral Water.
**"Whether it's PetroChina or Sinopec, with the advancement of mixed-ownership reform in such large central enterprises, companies need to continuously diversify their product categories to seek new growth. Energy drinks have relatively high profit margins and are also a necessity for gas station customers."** Food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng expressed his views in an interview with Time Finance on January 7.
**-01-
**Don't Let the Water Flow to Others' Fields**
**Compared to other energy drink brands, PetroChina's biggest 'gold mine' may be its massive number of convenience stores.**
According to official data, as of the first half of 2019, PetroChina operated 21,000 branded gas stations nationwide, of which 19,000 had Kunlun Haoke convenience stores, with a marketing network covering 31 provinces, regions, and municipalities, generating annual revenue of 22.3 billion yuan. Along with the expansion of gas stations, Kunlun Haoke convenience stores have also spread across many cities and suburbs, with the majority of customers being car drivers and passengers.
Perhaps for this reason, **gas stations have always been a 'battleground' for energy drinks.**
> When Red Bull first entered the Chinese market, it attracted its first batch of 'pioneers' with the slogan 'Cars need fuel, I need Red Bull,' and now contributes over a billion yuan in revenue to Sinopec gas stations annually;
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> In its 2019 China market plan, Carabao allocated 40% of its products directly to the PetroChina and Sinopec systems, mainly covering traditional channels and gas station channels;
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> Lehu also drives significant sales through gas stations;
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> At the end of 2019, Dongpeng Special Drink launched a 'thousand-box stack, ten-thousand-box stack' display project at major gas stations nationwide, stacking 2,500 products to turn every gas station into a super store, kicking off the Spring Festival marketing campaign...
"It's a bit late; they should have used their own channels earlier. Better to sell their own products than others'," said brand marketing expert Chen Wei, who believes PetroChina has been wasting its resources by not utilizing its channels sooner.
Data released by Kunlun Haoke also confirms Chen Wei's view: Guizhou Xiayun Gas Station established a Kunlun Haoke convenience store in 2009, and from 2015 to August 2016, packaged beverages generated revenue of 3.85 million yuan, with Red Bull alone contributing 1.1 million yuan.
Chen Wei believes that retail brands with sales channels launching own-brand products is becoming a trend. **"FMCG sales emphasize promotions; when both the product and the channel are your own, with no middlemen, you can be more confident in running promotions."**
According to Time Finance, Kunlun Haoke convenience stores at Anhui PetroChina gas stations have already started a 'half-price, half-gift' promotion for Haoke Zhili: for fuel purchases over 200 yuan, each can is priced at only 2 yuan.
On another level, whether it's PetroChina or Sinopec, the commercial returns from their gas station convenience stores are far from matching the paper value suggested by their store numbers.
The habit of domestic residents preferring to shop in malls, coupled with drivers' low willingness to shop at gas stations, has turned gas station convenience stores into 'commercial islands.'
The per-store sales data of gas station convenience stores also indirectly confirms this view. According to the '2018 China Convenience Store Development Report,' Kunlun Haoke's 19,700 stores generated approximately 20 billion yuan in revenue, with daily sales per store around 2,800 yuan; Sinopec's Yijie convenience stores, with 27,200 stores, generated 51.9 billion yuan in revenue that year, with daily sales per store around 5,200 yuan. These figures are far lower than the over 40,000 yuan revenue data of brands like 7-11.
"PetroChina has now changed its assessment criteria for store managers and staff, placing higher demands on gross profit. Whether it's launching mineral water, coffee, or energy drinks, relatively higher profits may allow operators to extract greater economic value from gas station convenience stores," Chen Wei said.
**-02-
**Creating Another Red Bull?**
Nowadays, under the cultivation of Red Bull and others, the domestic energy drink market seems to have unlimited prospects. **And the dispute over Red Bull's ownership in China has also left more space for other brands.**
According to Nielsen data, due to the trademark dispute in the past two years, Red Bull is expected to release at least 7 billion yuan of market space. Faced with such a big cake, many companies want to grab a share while the industry is full of variables.
But at least for now, focusing solely on gas station drivers and highway passengers is not enough for PetroChina to leverage this market. Moreover, consumers' acceptance and recognition of a new brand still requires considerable time.
Take Huabin Group as an example: to address the Red Bull trademark dispute, Huabin Group adjusted its product structure, with 'War Horse' being the most important piece, even expected by Huabin to become the next Red Bull.
Although at the launch of War Horse, outsiders believed it could quickly grow by relying on existing channels and customers, the results show that 'recreating Red Bull' is not simple. According to Huabin Group's 2019 operating data, War Horse's sales that year were 1.33 billion yuan, a significant increase, but still far below Red Bull's 22.3 billion yuan sales.
In addition, **the lack of product differentiation, severe homogenization in the industry, and insufficient brand power of own brands will also cause Haoke Zhili to face considerable competition.**
Time Finance learned that PetroChina Anhui Non-oil Sales Branch applied for the 32nd class trademark for 'Haoke Zhili' in August 2019, which is still under review.
"The channel advantage is obvious, but long-term sales will depend on product quality, reputation, and brand promotion," Chen Wei pointed out to Time Finance.
Overall, whether it's launching mineral water or venturing into coffee and energy drinks, the 'two barrels of oil' have been making efforts in non-oil business in recent years, which is complementary to their main business. In addition to beverages, they are also trying businesses like selling vegetables and lottery tickets, seemingly with the intention of gradually transforming into comprehensive service providers while enriching their services.
Source: Time Finance TF
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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 时代财经TF
- Published: 2020-01-12
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/backed-by-19-000-convenience-stores-selling-energy-drinks-what-are-petro-358963c5/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pHMgYVheKr9dJRtuAQ_8Uw

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