On January 7, the 2nd China New Alcoholic Beverage Development Conference was held in Jiangjin, Chongqing. Against the backdrop of weak consumption and the third wave of the liquor industry, Bottle Planet Group achieved a 12% revenue growth and a 31% EBIT growth in 2025 (unaudited), marking 27 consecutive months of steady growth. Bottle Planet Group Chairman Tao Shiquan delivered a keynote speech titled 'Innovation with High Quality: Bottle Planet Leads the Mainstreaming of New Alcoholic Beverages,' using a 50-year business timeline to assert that China's liquor industry is undergoing a critical transition from the 'first half' to the 'second half.' After 14 years of arduous exploration, Bottle Planet Group has pioneered the 'new alcoholic beverages' category, creating two champion products, Meijian and Guolifang, and assembling all production factors for new alcoholic beverages. In 2026, as the whistle blows for the second half of the liquor industry, Bottle Planet has set a clear goal: to drive the mainstreaming of new alcoholic beverages, with the long-term vision of becoming China's largest and most innovative new alcoholic beverage group. To achieve this, Bottle Planet focuses on five 'innovation with high quality' areas: creating champion products, upgrading retail and catering supply chains, assisting distributor transformation, building a talent platform for new alcoholic beverages, and promoting industry and production area development. 'We are participants and doers in new alcoholic beverages. What we most hope for is to hold everyone's hand, continuously self-motivate, and maintain entrepreneurial passion and innovative vitality,' said Tao Shiquan. He believes that Bottle Planet, after 14 years of hard entrepreneurial journey, can deliver a satisfactory answer in the second half. (This article is compiled from Tao Shiquan's speech at the 2026 2nd China New Alcoholic Beverage Development Conference, with some deletions, and has not been reviewed by him. We hope it inspires you.) China's liquor industry moves from the first half to the second half Bottle Planet's long-termism is 50 years up and down My topic is 'Innovation with High Quality: Bottle Planet Leads the Mainstreaming of New Alcoholic Beverages.' 2025 was a very difficult and challenging year. I especially want to thank two groups: first, the distributor and customer teams; second, every employee, including colleagues who have left the platform. We achieved a 12% revenue growth and a 31% EBIT growth (unaudited), which is not easy. In my personal view, short-term numbers are never the most important thing in running a business, nor is two consecutive years of growth. What matters more is the trend we are in. More important than the trend is discovering changes in the trend, and the most important is long-termism. Whether it's corporate development, personal career planning, or distributor and customer development, Bottle Planet firmly believes that seeing further and longer helps avoid wrong decisions, making long-termism a key commitment. How long is long-termism? Bottle Planet's long-termism is at least 50 years. While preparing the PPT, I realized that 2025 is the watershed of the first half of this century. Long-termism is the long-termism of two halves of 50 years. Up to the first half, there are two relatively certain conclusions: First, the incremental era of China's liquor industry has temporarily ended, with overall no growth. The new challenge today is: what to do if there's no growth? If there's no growth, can we develop with higher quality and focus more on quality? Second, the first half of China's liquor industry, dominated by baijiu, has basically ended. The dramatic changes in the first half are obvious, but the changes in the second half may far exceed our expectations. First Half What did Bottle Planet do and do right? Back to the company, what did Bottle Planet do in the first half? We fully participated in red ocean competition; the baijiu industry is very red ocean. We paid a heavy price, and the results were not proportional to the cost in a sense, but we are still satisfied and delighted because all efforts were for the second half. In 2019, we were the proposer of new alcoholic beverages. Bottle Planet has an important philosophy called 'thinking of danger in times of safety' – if you consider yourself safe, you are destined to decline. We firmly believe that innovation is the first element and function of an enterprise; without innovation, you will inevitably go downhill. At that time, we predicted that the baijiu business might decline, and the outlook was not optimistic, so we firmly laid out a second curve. Bottle Planet's two consecutive years of growth stem from that preparation in 2019. In the fourth quarter of that year, we launched the 'Hundred Regiments Battle,' first proposing new alcoholic beverages and distributing them to the market, with a large number of employees and customers participating. If we hadn't believed in new alcoholic beverages then, we wouldn't have done it, but Bottle Planet firmly believed that innovation could win the future, so we boldly did it. Seven years ago, Bottle Planet first proposed the new alcoholic beverage strategy How to define new alcoholic beverages? They are essentially based on new demographics, new needs, and new scenarios, generating new categories, developing new products, creating new drinking methods, and endowing new culture. With new alcoholic beverages, there are old, traditional, and classic ones; new alcoholic beverages are relatively innovative. A few years ago, we proposed how to do new alcoholic beverages. Internally, we have a 15-year plan for new alcoholic beverages, divided into three stages: the first stage is budding, from 2020 to 2024; the second stage is mainstreaming and scaling; the third stage is likely to see premiumization in the future. Bottle Planet is moving from niche to mass, from non-mainstream to mainstream We are currently in the second stage, and the theme of today's speech is mainstreaming. In this stage, we must break through, moving from niche to mass, from non-mainstream to mainstream. Pleasantly, in the first stage of new alcoholic beverages, the last five years of the first half (2020-2025), Bottle Planet achieved two small results: two categories and two brands have become champion brands in new alcoholic beverages. Meijian is the number one in the plum wine category, and Guolifang is the number one in the fruit wine category. In the first half, Bottle Planet completed the journey from 0 to 1. Although from 1 to 10 or 100 hasn't started yet, for us, a very important point in the first half was completing the comprehensive reserve of production factors. From land, factories, and equipment to teams, technology, upstream planting, and agricultural research, Bottle Planet has built a rare full-industry-chain hard power among new alcoholic beverage companies through long-term refinement. More importantly, our team has completed the accumulation of industry cognition, with innovation spirit and survival crisis awareness engraved in our bones. In the first half, we didn't win much, but we won complete production factors. This is our gain and the confidence for Bottle Planet to compete in the second half. 14 years to build a full-industry-chain production factor for new alcoholic beverages: farm + distillery Second Half To become China's largest and leading innovative category new alcoholic beverage group For the second half of the next 25 years, Bottle Planet's vision is to become China's largest and leading innovative category new alcoholic beverage group. The current core goal of new alcoholic beverages is to achieve 'quality, scenario-based, mainstream, and scale' – quality and scenario are the 'cause,' while mainstream and scale are the 'effect.' Supporting all this is the matching of the team's wild imagination with down-to-earth execution. Bottle Planet's products have won over 260 international awards cumulatively Back to the origin, we have confidence in the future for two reasons:
The value of alcohol lies in empowering a better life and stimulating cultural and artistic development, which is also the origin of Bottle Planet's mission;
Bottle Planet has internal passion and a spirit of self-motivated creativity. Based on this, Bottle Planet's innovation in the second half aims for high-quality results as the core goal, rather than simply pursuing sales and profit growth, focusing on five key areas: First, innovate for users, create high-quality products, and build champion products. Second, innovate for retailers. Become a high-quality supply chain solution for catering, chain, retail, and e-commerce enterprises. This year, we take a step forward and engage in the transformation and upgrading of retailers. Third, innovate for distributors' innovation, achieving the transformation of some distributors. Fourth, innovate for talent, become a talent platform, stimulate employees' creativity, and create and share with employees together. Fifth, strive to contribute to industry innovation and production area innovation as much as possible. Looking back at past development, we have created 1,360 direct jobs. We hope that in the second half, we can help the Jiangjin production area catch up – Jiangjin will inevitably become a new famous liquor production area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Launching New Year Art Meijian Creating champion products to create value for users Please allow me to once again show you colleagues who are not easily seen. In the second half, I hope everyone can have a newer understanding of Bottle Planet. We have transformed into an enterprise with complete hard power in R&D, production, scientific research, and supply chain, which are not easily seen. Bottle Planet thanked colleagues from various positions on site Improvement is a culture engraved in Bottle Planet's genes. Through more than 14 years of continuous improvement, we constantly discover problems and reform them. Over time, changes occur. For example, Meijian has won many quality awards, and the product is very competitive. Taking Meijian as an example, Bottle Planet currently has 50,000 tons of baijiu base liquor storage capacity and has built the world's largest 10,000-ton aged plum wine cellar, not for sales in the next two years, but to truly participate in mainstream competition in the next 25 years. At the same time, Meijian deeply cultivates scenarios such as wedding banquets, birthday banquets, family banquets, and New Year banquets. In 2025, New Year wine sales grew rapidly, and single-store turnover in channels like Yonghui and Hema hit new highs. The Year of the Horse is coming soon. Bottle Planet will continue to make Meijian New Year wine and create the New Year wine scenario. Artist Wen Chengwu painted a set of 'Fourteen Horses of Hexi' horse illustrations, which are very beautiful. Meijian has launched a co-branded product with him. I believe this product, with world-class aesthetics, internationalization, youthfulness, and contemporary aesthetics, combined with the oak barrel and original fruit body, is very competitive. 2025 is the first year of Meijian art wine mainstreaming. Meijian has cooperated with hundreds of artists, such as co-branded products with Cai Zhizhong, Jiang Youbo, Chen Xiaodong, etc., and has initially gained recognition from the art world. Why do the Meijian art wine series? Bottle Planet's pursuit of high-end is not about being expensive or shiny, but about culture and art. Meijian has always been committed to stimulating art and spirit. The Meijian art wine series adheres to the concept of 'everyone is an artist, everyone is an artist of life,' achieving sincere communication through fine wine and art. This is the meaning and value a product and a brand should have. The Meijian art wine series, combined with original fruit products, oak barrel products, and aged wine products, will form stronger competitiveness. In terms of product form, Meijian's large bottles will become mainstream, laying the foundation for scaling in the second half of the next 25 years. Mutual understanding and empathy Achieving transformation for some distributors The current environment is indeed very difficult. We strive to ensure that every cooperative distributor can smoothly transform. In 2026, our overall guiding principle for customer relationships must be mutual empathy and mutual understanding. In the past few years, we have insisted on not overstocking. The inventory cycle for Meijian and Guolifang has been controlled to about two months. If our employees or marketing managers ask you (customers) to overstock or pay back, you can complain to us. Bottle Planet does not uphold such a philosophy. Here, I want to share three guidelines for Bottle Planet's transformation in the past few years: First, must be low-consumption survival. Don't see a field with apparent big development and blindly follow the incremental era's inertial thinking. This is a serious problem. Do things more refined, appropriately slim down, streamline operating costs, and survive steadily – that's key. Second, must focus on effective operations. Regularly review whether there are ineffective positions, organizations, processes, or even meetings. Those superficial growth and prosperity can be completely abandoned. We must focus on truly effective operational actions. Third, only by doing the first two points well can we have the qualification and opportunity to seize transformation and grasp some breakthrough opportunities. Survival and development are two different themes. Learn to survive at low cost, then seek development. Ensuring survival allows for more ease in subsequent development. Innovating for retailers The most important customer – is the C-end 'Customer first' is a very important value for Bottle Planet. The most important customers are C-end customers, the second most important are retail customers, and distributor customers can only rank third: only by serving C-end and retail customers well can we (manufacturers) have food to eat. We have truly provided solutions for retailers, piloting for about two years, deeply participating in the transformation and upgrading of catering, chain, and e-commerce retail enterprises. In 2025, Bottle Planet's 'Treasure House Party' project with Meituan brought over 6 million in incremental revenue, becoming a benchmark case for instant retail; cooperating with catering brands like Peijie Hotpot, He's BBQ, Pingjie Hotpot, and Zhu Guangyu Hotpot, we created the consumption scenario of 'eat spicy and drink ice Meijian.' Bottle Planet's 'Treasure House Party' project with Meituan brought over 6 million in incremental revenue Retail enterprises today are facing a new supply chain transformation, with a wave of adjustments and reforms. If we join this wave together, there will be many opportunities. Winning the second half We are participants and initiators Who can win the second half and achieve development in the second half? Participants are not only us; we must join forces with retailers, distributors, employees, the entire industry, and production areas, and maintain firm determination and the right mindset to win the second half. Finally, I have two humble opinions on 'exerting force': First, anyone who wants to seize something new in the second half must break free from the inertial thinking of the first half. In 2025, there was an internet term 'laodeng,' which is absolutely a warning. Standing at the starting point of the second half of the liquor industry in 2026, one thing is certain: many tactics from the first half have failed, and new methods are not yet fully formed. But at least we can clearly define that past ineffective practices must be abandoned, and our current abandonment is far from enough. I especially want to remind distributor customers and all employees that in the second half, the biggest resistance to innovation is never market competition, but those stubborn old ideas in our minds. In 2025, the thing I invested the most energy in internally was establishing new concepts and breaking old ideas. In the second half, the investment will only be greater. Second, never be influenced by negative people. The current economy is under pressure, and industry development faces many obstacles, with problems like inventory backlog, team demoralization, and weak consumption emerging one after another. But if you are wrapped up in negative energy, you cannot self-motivate, let alone have long-term positive expectations for the future. If you are surrounded by negative energy, nothing can be accomplished. On adjusting mindset: Sometimes we position ourselves as beneficiaries, feeling we've enjoyed the era's dividends; but sometimes we fall into a victim mentality, feeling we haven't received due returns. But whether we place ourselves as beneficiaries or victims, it is essentially a passive mindset. In the second half, what I most hope for is to hold everyone's hand and be positive optimists together – we are participants and initiators, not passive waiters. Bottle Planet believes that if everyone works together, actively participates, continuously self-motivates, and maintains entrepreneurial passion and innovative vitality, always being positive and optimistic, opening roads through mountains and building bridges over waters, we can definitely deliver a satisfactory answer in the second half through innovation-driven, all-staff efforts, and joint struggle.