Source | FMCG Jianghu As Dongpeng Beverage listed in Hong Kong and received a warm reception from the capital market, many FMCG brands are also preparing to go public: Jinxing Beer filed an application on January 13, which, if successful, would make it the 'first Chinese craft beer stock' in Hong Kong; a few days later, Junlebao Dairy also filed an application, planning to raise funds for factory construction, capacity expansion, and brand marketing... Above the surface, this is a significant leap for brand owners toward capitalization and scale; beneath the surface, the businesses and future destinies of thousands of distributors are also stirring. Under the spotlight of the capital market, every strategic turn by brand owners tugs at every nerve of the distribution network. Does listing bring surging momentum or invisible shackles? This transformation is playing out in distinctly different scripts across different brands. Dongpeng Beverage: Moving Forward Under Pressure Amid Certain Growth Dongpeng's listing is not just a capital leap for the company itself, but also injects a potent growth booster into its nationwide distributor network. "The company has money now, and its tactics are indeed more assertive," said a distributor from South China. The listing proceeds are clearly earmarked for capacity expansion and channel deepening; the commissioning of factories in Tianjin and Kunming directly supports offensives in weaker markets like North China and Southwest China. The intensity and frequency of terminal cooler placements, display rewards, and consumer promotions have all increased. More importantly, the leap in brand visibility has given distributors unprecedented brand confidence. However, the dividend of listing is not a free lunch; it comes with a price tag—higher growth pressure and heavier channel responsibilities. Dongpeng has set a revenue target of 27-29 billion yuan for 2026, which means maintaining an annual growth rate of over 26%. This target will be broken down layer by layer to every region and every distributor. "Tasks are increasing year by year, especially for new products, where task volumes double," admitted a distributor from Central China. Dongpeng is vigorously promoting second-curve products like 'Bushuila' and 'Hong Kong-style milk tea,' but the inventory and promotion costs during the new product incubation period are largely borne by distributors as trial-and-error costs. At the same time, Dongpeng requires distributors to pay in advance, and the pressure is considerable. The strict payment policy tightens the capital chain, as he said: "After paying, there's little working capital left for the whole year; it's tightly bound." Furthermore, Dongpeng's management is becoming increasingly refined and digitalized; every shipment must be tracked online, compressing the space for traditional, extensive management. Despite this, most Dongpeng distributors still choose to 'move forward under pressure.' The core reason is that Dongpeng provides a clear and continuously validated growth path. As of the third quarter of 2025, its terminal outlets have exceeded 4.3 million, with over 3,200 distributors, and channel scale is growing by about 10% annually. More importantly, this 10% channel expansion has driven a 22% revenue increase for the Dongpeng Tequila mega-product and a 33% overall company revenue increase, proving that output per outlet is continuously improving. Coupled with the clear blueprint of the '1+6' multi-category strategy, distributors can see a sustainable growth curve. In the current market environment, following a brand on an upward trajectory, even under burden, is better than struggling in a stagnant market. Essentially, this is a two-way commitment based on growth certainty. Distributors are willing to bear some risk and cast a vote of confidence in Dongpeng's future; Dongpeng, in turn, with a clear path, sustained output, and predictable returns, makes this journey under pressure a worthwhile endeavor. China Resources Beverage: A Cycle of Internal Friction Amid Growth Stagnation Unlike Dongpeng, which is on a high-growth track, China Resources Beverage, as a listed industry giant, presents another reality of mature enterprises in a stock market. Its challenges are not unique but represent common pressures faced by similar companies during industry transitions. In the first half of 2025, China Resources Beverage's revenue fell 18.52% year-on-year, and net profit dropped 28.63%. Its core packaged water business faces strong pressure from Nongfu Spring and the recovery impact of Wahaha, while its beverage business, which has been nurtured for years, still contributes a relatively limited share of revenue; the cultivation of new growth engines will take time. Against the backdrop of growth stagnation, the pressure to maintain a decent financial report for the listed company inevitably shifts downstream along the channel chain, triggering a series of distorted actions. This is not unique to China Resources but a common phenomenon in the FMCG industry during adjustment periods. It may manifest in the following ways: To meet short-term sales targets, forcing inventory on distributors becomes a direct tactic, leading to high channel inventory and tight capital chains. To alleviate inventory and capital pressure, some distributors are forced to sell at low prices to recover cash. At the same time, to sprint for market share or meet promotional targets, low-price competition between channels is sometimes tacitly allowed or even led. "E-commerce sells at 19 yuan, distributors sell at 23 yuan—how can we do business?" a distributor lamented. The collapse of the price system further weakens the channel's willingness and ability to promote new products, as there is no excess profit or confidence to cultivate the market. Difficulty in moving new products and high return rates, in turn, exacerbate inventory and capital problems, making attempts to find new growth sources extremely difficult. Meanwhile, chaotic market prices make the application and verification of market expenses exceptionally complex and slow. "Hard to get expenses, slow verification" has become a common complaint. Some distributors, to survive, resort to irregular operations, further disrupting market order, leading brands to be more cautious in expense reimbursement, and thus manufacturer-dealer relations shift from collaboration to gaming and suspicion. Dialectically speaking, China Resources Beverage's predicament is a common challenge faced by many mature listed FMCG companies. The status of a listed company requires it to demonstrate determination for growth and transformation. Whether it's price wars, channel reforms, or new product strategies, these are necessary attempts to respond to market changes. However, when these strategies are transmitted top-down, if they fail to fully consider the channel's capacity to bear and reshape interests, and fail to establish transparent, timely interest compensation and risk-sharing mechanisms, they easily convert short-term performance pressure into long-term depletion of channel partners. From this analysis, it's clear that brand listing acts like a magnifying glass, amplifying and pressurizing existing manufacturer-dealer relationship models, growth health, and trust foundations by multiples. Through this magnifying glass, we see the core demands of the distributor community with clarity: whether brand owners can bring certain growth and returns. As long as the path is clear and profits are predictable, even if tasks are mountainous and pressure is constant, the channel is willing to view it as a 'sweet burden' and turn it into forward momentum—this is the underlying logic of moving forward under pressure in the Dongpeng case. Conversely, if the brand itself lacks growth momentum and wavers in strategy, yet tries to convert all capital market expectations into single-metric inventory pressure and cost shifting onto the channel, then even the most solid distribution network may be backfired. In other words, a healthy manufacturer-dealer relationship is never about one-sided demands or sacrifices, but rather, under clear strategic logic, forms a symbiotic flywheel of 'brand-driven growth, channel-consolidated market.' Listing simply makes every engagement and rotation of this flywheel more visible and more critical. 【Moving Toward the C-End】The 11th China FMCG Conference Time: March 16-18, 2026 Location: Chengdu, China