In the trillion-yuan beverage market, tea drinks have achieved new breakthroughs. Data shows that in 2020, the largest segment of China's soft drink industry was packaged drinking water, holding a 37.64% market share, followed by ready-to-drink tea at 19.64%. Additionally, the domestic tea beverage market is growing and is expected to reach 96.9 billion yuan by 2025. In 2022, due to the pandemic and fluctuations in bulk raw materials, the beverage industry faced downward pressure, but some brands still achieved good results. For example, China Resources C'estbon saw double-digit growth in both overall revenue and net profit, and its Chinese tea brand Zhiben Qingrun also performed well in the market. In convenience stores and hypermarkets in many cities, we can see neatly arranged shelves of Zhiben Qingrun and consumers purchasing it. With the rapid expansion of the tea beverage market, many brands have entered. Although C'estbon's Zhiben Qingrun tea beverage was launched not long ago, it has gained recognition from consumers and distributors. How did it achieve this? Building a Beverage Matrix Why Did C'estbon Focus on Healthy Herbal Tea? According to public information, C'estbon, as a leading brand in packaged drinking water in China, has been expanding its business into a dual-engine pattern of water and beverages in recent years. As of early 2023, it has multiple well-known brands including Honey Water series, Holiday series, Zuowei Chashi, and Moli, covering categories such as near-water beverages, juices, tea drinks, sports drinks, milk tea, and coffee. With consumption upgrading and increased health awareness, consumer demand for tea beverages continues to rise. As early as 2019, C'estbon entered the tea beverage market with its sugar-free tea Zuowei Chashi. After achieving notable success, in August 2021, it launched low-sugar Zhiben Qingrun Chrysanthemum Tea, officially entering the Chinese classic beverage track, also serving as a supplement to sugary tea drinks. According to New Distribution, within less than a year and a half, Zhiben Qingrun Chrysanthemum Tea established itself in the market and became one of the tea beverage brands with good sell-through. Distributor Mr. Liang from Guangzhou, who represents C'estbon, reported that Zhiben Qingrun was taken on as soon as it launched, and it has high acceptance in the terminal market. The taste and flavor are also well-received by consumers, so he is optimistic about the Zhiben Qingrun series. Another distributor, Mr. Zhang, gave similar feedback, noting that the taste and packaging of Zhiben Qingrun are relatively novel, and with good market turnover, these two products will have significant growth potential in the future. Sales representatives Xiao Hu and Xiao Zhu from C'estbon in Guangzhou believe that Zhiben Qingrun products have good sell-through and positive feedback from terminal stores. Additionally, because the packaging, taste, and price are consumer-friendly, repurchase rates are high, and they expect continued growth this year. Sales representative Xiao Yan from Shenzhen said that the product's price point is moderate and within consumer acceptance, so customers and consumers are willing to try new products. The taste and packaging perform well, and public acceptance is high. Meanwhile, consumers have also given positive reviews of Zhiben Qingrun. Ms. Guo, a white-collar worker in Shanghai, said she frequently buys Zhiben Qingrun Chrysanthemum Tea recently, and its refreshing taste helps relieve work fatigue. Student Zhang said he prefers Zhiben Qingrun Lemon Tea, especially as it cuts through the greasiness of hotpot. Similarly, on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Weibo, many netizens have shared their consumption reviews and recommendations for Zhiben Qingrun. Now, Zhiben Qingrun products are available nationwide in supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, and even in e-commerce and vending machine new retail scenarios. So in the fiercely competitive tea beverage market, what exactly did C'estbon do right with its Zhiben Qingrun herbal tea brand? The Taste of Memory Deconstructing the Strength Behind Zhiben Qingrun The Chinese market is vast and deep, with a huge consumer base, meaning all categories are full of opportunities. Of course, in the booming beverage market, it is still difficult for brands to achieve sustained growth because the entry barrier for beverages is low. To stand out in competition, brands must have their own highlights and characteristics. Zhiben Qingrun has set its sights on the highly promising segment of herbal tea. How did it grow so quickly in such a short time? First is brand endorsement. As a tea beverage brand under C'estbon, a leading packaged drinking water brand, Zhiben Qingrun has natural brand power. Of course, this brand power refers not only to consumer awareness and reliance but also to the channel strength accumulated by C'estbon over many years. Its packaged water business achieved double-digit growth on a base of over ten billion yuan, which is truly remarkable. This is inseparable from C'estbon's strong brand influence. The beverage industry is undergoing transformation, and leading companies have more resources and advantages to better respond to market changes and risks. From C'estbon's counter-trend growth in 2022, we can see that under the dual effect of strong brand power and channel power, consumers have developed high stickiness and brand dependence on C'estbon, and they extend their loyalty to its other brands. This is why, in just a year and a half, Zhiben Qingrun achieved good market sell-through. Leveraging C'estbon's brand influence and distributor channel penetration, Zhiben Qingrun completed the breakthrough from 0 to 1 for new products in a short time. Second is product strength. As a representative of Chinese herbal tea beverages, Zhiben Qingrun meets consumers' needs for health and functionality with strong product strength. Currently, Zhiben Qingrun has two products: Chrysanthemum Tea and Lemon Tea. The Chrysanthemum Tea contains about 8 Hangzhou Tongxiang Hangzhou White Chrysanthemum flowers per bottle, paired with yellow rock sugar, while the Lemon Tea contains about half a lemon per bottle, paired with Yunnan large-leaf black tea, providing consumers with a cool, sweet aftertaste and a refreshing, greasiness-cutting experience. The clean ingredient list meets consumers' demand for healthy beverages. At the same time, Zhiben Qingrun opens up more usage scenarios for consumers, such as cooling and relieving heat, alleviating work and study stress, and cutting through greasiness, making it widely applicable in dining, office, and daily drinking scenarios. In terms of packaging, the Zhiben Qingrun series features a Chinese aesthetic design style, using national trend packaging to blend the historically rich Chinese tea culture with the personalized needs of young consumers. With warm yellow tones and a fresh, elegant image, the brand is empowered, and through simple packaging design, the product image becomes more distinctive and cultural. For example, Zhiben Qingrun Chrysanthemum Tea uses simple and clear calligraphy, with intuitive color and line combinations, evoking the taste of memory. Because chrysanthemums are inherently universal, the designers of Zhiben Qingrun turned this universality into brand personality, integrating category and brand value, making it easier to attract consumer attention in terminal displays. For consumers, the Chinese style they see is not a deliberate marketing copy but the natural result of blending with the product, becoming a highlight of visual communication and evoking childhood memories with Chinese style. Finally, there is channel strength. The growth of beverages comes from channels, from channels close to consumers. Zhiben Qingrun, with C'estbon's strong brand power, has natural advantages in channels, but it does not rely solely on C'estbon's channels. Instead, it breaks into new channels through its own product advantages. For example, entering branded convenience store chains to face consumers directly, and using online e-commerce channels to shorten the distance between products and consumers. At the same time, information about Zhiben Qingrun can also be seen on C'estbon's official Weibo. With these three pillars—brand power, product strength, and channel strength—Zhiben Qingrun has attracted consumer attention with its healthy tea, natural ingredients, Chinese national trend design, and refreshing, cooling product features. Behind the Popularity of Zhiben Qingrun The Rise of Chinese Tea Drinks With strong brand endorsement, distributor promotion, and consumer recognition, Zhiben Qingrun has become one of the representative brands of Chinese tea beverages. However, in the view of New Distribution, the popularity of Zhiben Qingrun is not only due to its own unique advantages but also inseparable from the rise of the Chinese tea beverage track. According to data, the market size of Chinese tea beverages is between 40 billion and 50 billion yuan, and the rapid growth of this category is driven by new consumption, new marketing, and new technology. It is well known that tea beverages have a wide audience and are not limited by season, suitable for drinking all year round. At the same time, most consumers are not satisfied with simple product features but combine products with scenarios, social interaction, personalization, and cultural confidence. Therefore, for brands, relying solely on product functionality cannot fully increase consumer dependence on the brand. There are currently many Chinese tea beverage brands on the market, but none have achieved the reputation and high repurchase rate of Zhiben Qingrun, because most brands remain at the product stage, failing to resonate with consumers or build strong channels. Perhaps in 2023, Zhiben Qingrun will become a best-selling brand in the Chinese tea beverage segment, and for beverage distributors, this is an excellent opportunity to enter the herbal tea segment.