70 years of wind and rain, 70 years of profound changes. Over these 70 years, China's food industry has also experienced several important historical stages: from a state of ruin, to slow progress, rapid growth, and innovation-driven development, and is now striding towards a period of high-quality development.
The 2019 China Food Industry Entrepreneurs Annual Conference was held in Zhengzhou
On December 6, the 2019 China Food Industry Entrepreneurs Annual Conference and the "70 Years·Entrepreneurs Influencing China's Food Industry Process" Award Ceremony took place in Zhengzhou. The conference reviewed the growth journey of food industry entrepreneurs and brands since the founding of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago, jointly looked forward to future development opportunities for China's food industry, and awarded honorary prizes to entrepreneurs who have accelerated the development of China's food industry and made outstanding contributions.
In the month-long "70 Years·Entrepreneurs Influencing China's Food Industry Process" large-scale selection activity, Yan Bin, Chairman of Reignwood Group, stood out from 82 nominated entrepreneurs with over 660,000 votes, ranking first. Ms. Lu Zhan, President of Reignwood FMCG Group, accepted the award on behalf of Yan Bin.
Shen Chi, Executive Vice President of the China Food Industry Association, and other leaders viewed the achievements of China's food industry over the past 70 years.
Yan Bin founded Reignwood Group in 1984. Amidst China's reform and opening-up, he rapidly expanded into fast-moving consumer goods, green health industries, strategic investment industries, and financial leasing. Over more than 30 years, Reignwood Group has paid a cumulative 30 billion RMB in taxes, provided tens of thousands of social employment positions, and continuously contributed to public welfare and charity fields such as targeted poverty alleviation, earthquake relief, educational donations, and green environmental protection.
In the FMCG sector, in 1995, Yan Bin formally introduced Red Bull beverage products to China. To adapt to local conditions and take root in China, Yan Bin adjusted the formula, fully demonstrated the functionality and safety of the new formula Red Bull beverage, and successfully obtained the health food approval certificate for China Red Bull. At the same time, he cleared all obstacles for Red Bull's entry into the Chinese market. With the position and advantage of a "first mover in the functional beverage market," he filled the gap in the domestic beverage market. Through more than 20 years of cultivation, Red Bull became popular nationwide, and China's functional beverage industry achieved second place globally.
China Red Bull has been deeply engaged in the FMCG industry for nearly 25 years, forming 600,000 core terminals and 4 million channel terminals nationwide, with cumulative sales exceeding 180 billion RMB. It holds over 80% of the canned functional beverage market share and 60% of the entire functional beverage market share. It can be said to be the ballast stone of China's functional beverage industry, also demonstrating the significant contribution of China Red Bull and Yan Bin to China's food industry.
In a video speech at the conference, Yan Bin expressed that he felt the achievements of national development and hope for the future, and was deeply excited and proud.
China's food industry is transforming from quantitative change to qualitative change, and Chinese people have gone from eating enough to eating well, and then to eating healthily and fashionably. Food industry professionals bear great responsibility and glorious missions. He advocated that everyone work together with patriotic feelings and craftsmanship to provide high-quality healthy products for the people. Embrace the internet, integrate new technologies, and build a batch of national brands that can deeply participate in international competition.
Lu Zhan stated at the meeting that under the leadership of Chairman Yan Bin's spirit of "serving the country through industry" and "opening roads through mountains and building bridges across waters," after the efforts of hundreds of thousands of China Red Bull people over several generations, Red Bull has achieved some results. She believed that the 667,113 likes represented everyone's support for China Red Bull, as well as the trust and endorsement of China Red Bull employees, partners, and their families towards Chairman Yan Bin.
She also said that China Red Bull cherishes every honor and deeply feels that the deeper the trust, the greater the responsibility. The high-quality development of China's food industry relies on everyone's adherence to the belief in honest labor, the persistence in high-quality products, and the relentless pursuit of healthy and fashionable concepts.
Lu Zhan, President of Reignwood FMCG Group (first from left)
Ms. Liu Hong from Henan Shangqiu Jiafeng Company, which has cooperated with China Red Bull for 13 years, said that cooperation with China Red Bull is not just business, but a career. The relationship with the China Red Bull team can be described as being like family, "working together with one heart and one mind." In business, various problems arise, but they can always be resolved in time. Along the way, from bitter to sweet, they cherish it even more.
Since 2014, Reignwood Group has integrated global premium beverage brand resources, successively introducing brands such as Vita Coco, Capri-Sun, and VOSS, and independently developed and innovated the energy vitamin beverage brand War Horse. Through a powerful market network, it strives to lead, cater to, and satisfy changes in Chinese consumer habits and the upgrading of consumption concepts. Currently, Reignwood FMCG is actively building a diversified brand matrix, leading the domestic beverage consumption trend with green health and high-quality development concepts.
**-01- Starting from scratch, creating a legend in the consumer goods industry
Over 40 years ago, Yan Bin went to Thailand alone, overcoming language barriers and the hardship of finding work. With his hardworking spirit and keen market awareness, he built his first fortune from scratch in Thailand.
Yan Bin, Chairman of Reignwood Group
In 1984, Yan Bin founded Thailand Reignwood Group in Thailand, and in 1986, he established Hong Kong Reignwood International Group in Hong Kong, mainly engaged in property, tourism, and international trade. In 1995, Yan Bin "encountered" Chaleo Yoovidhya, the inventor of Red Bull, and decided to introduce Red Bull to China.
At that time, there was no functional beverage category in China, but Yan Bin firmly believed that the spring breeze of reform and opening-up would surely sweep across the land of China, that the Chinese consumer market would inevitably see huge potential, and that Red Bull would have a special impact and significance on the social consumer goods sector.
Some who experienced that era recalled: "At that time, Red Bull had no brand awareness at all. To let people try Red Bull, he sincerely gave cans of Red Bull to every passing taxi driver."
With Yan Bin's persistence and belief, China Red Bull gradually gained a foothold. Its sales volume surged from less than 200 million cans in the previous decade to 5.5 billion cans in 2015, setting off a fierce "golden can whirlwind" in the domestic beverage market. After more than 20 years of development, the domestic functional beverage market is now flourishing, and China Red Bull has been "constantly imitated but never surpassed."
Currently, China Red Bull has 4 modern international standard production bases nationwide, over 40 business units, linked with 5 brand operating companies, expanded to over 4 million sales outlets, forming 600,000 core terminals, and creating a multi-level FMCG sales network system composed of distributors, sub-distributors, and terminal outlets. It directly creates nearly 15,000 jobs, and the entire industry chain involves over 4.3 million jobs.
It is hard to imagine that such a huge sales network was built through the hard visits of early frontline salespeople using bicycles and tricycles. There is also the concept of "opening roads through mountains and building bridges across waters" that was always on their lips and empowered their actions.
**-02- Staying true and innovating, forging ahead in the health industry
After a company grows bigger and stronger, how to "maintain the business"? Andy Grove, President of Intel Corporation, once asserted: "For companies, innovation is the only way out. Eliminate yourself, otherwise competition will eliminate us."
As the founder of China's functional beverage market, Yan Bin is as passionate at work as if he had "drunk Red Bull." He once revealed: "I am an entrepreneur engaged in the real economy. Last year, I traveled on business for 195 days, flying 290,000 kilometers and 450 hours, equivalent to circling the earth 7 times. I saw and felt a lot in various countries and regions. We must have confidence in China's path and economic development, maintain strategic focus, and concentrate on doing our own things well."
Having been deeply involved in the beverage industry for over 20 years, Yan Bin has long understood that "only by being one step ahead can you stay ahead." Standing at the new trend of the beverage industry, Yan Bin launched his second functional beverage at the end of 2016 - War Horse Energy Vitamin Beverage.
War Horse brand activities interact with consumers
Based on the positioning of a national new energy beverage, War Horse Energy Vitamin Beverage took the lead in the industry by replacing caffeine and other functional factors with more natural and healthy instant coffee powder and d-ribose combination, which performed better in multiple evaluation tests conducted by authoritative testing institutions.
At the same time, in the first half of 2019, three War Horse brand beverages successfully obtained health food batch registration, meaning that War Horse has officially obtained the health food mark, gaining subsequent space and capability for development in the functional beverage market.
To cater to young people's pursuit of individuality and fashion, War Horse highlights distinct personality in beverage taste and packaging design, giving young consumers a strong "sense of identity." Its main red can packaging features embossed texture on both visual and tactile levels, enhancing the freshness and functional characteristics of the drink inside. In March 2017, War Horse fully launched market promotion.
After more than three years, in 2019, War Horse completed its annual sales target of 1.3 billion RMB, steadily entering the second tier of the domestic energy beverage market and becoming a new brand star in the functional beverage market in recent years. At the 2019 China Entrepreneur Boao Forum - Food Development Conference with the theme "New Consumption, New Forces, New Momentum," War Horse Company won the 2019 Food Seven-Star New Star Award.
Currently, Reignwood FMCG Group has laid out categories such as bottled water, juice, and coconut water, building a brand matrix covering all age groups, aiming to become a leading enterprise in China's beverage industry and creating its own unique beverage industry chain ecosystem.
**-03- Patriotic feelings, advocating the Jiageng spirit to unite efforts
As a representative figure of patriotic overseas Chinese businessmen, Yan Bin is highly reputable both at home and abroad. He was elected as a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and also serves as Co-Chairman of the Hong Kong "Belt and Road" General Chamber of Commerce, Honorary President of the China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs, and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Culture Promotion Society, among other official or non-official positions.
In 2018, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, at the 4th Silk Road International Forum held in Paris, Yan Bin emotionally stated in his speech: "My 20 years overseas and 20 years in China have given me many old, good, and true friends at home and abroad. My biggest feeling is: cooperation builds bridges, and win-win wins the world."
Regarding the "Belt and Road" national strategy, Yan Bin not only sincerely agrees but also actively contributes through actions. "I hope that through this platform, while conveying the 'Belt and Road' Initiative more widely, we can also better leverage the role of Hong Kong as an international financial center, connect patriotic figures from all walks of life in Hong Kong, serve the country's needs, showcase Hong Kong's strengths, and promote the construction process of the 'Belt and Road' at more levels," Yan Bin said when talking about his original intention.
In addition, Yan Bin learned by chance that Michael Yamashita, a famous photographer for National Geographic, had spent eight years retracing the historical routes of Marco Polo and Zheng He, photographing while walking and researching history while photographing, eventually forming a database of over 300,000 precious images.
This set of precious images has both artistic and historical value. The Reignwood Cultural Foundation selected the best of these images and planned the "Silk Road Journey - 'Belt and Road' Photography Exhibition Global Tour." To date, it has toured 17 stops globally, greatly enhancing the understanding and attention of people in related countries towards China's "Belt and Road" Initiative.
Silk Road Journey - "Belt and Road" Photography Exhibition Global Tour
Reignwood built a VOSS mineral water factory in Zhuxi, Hubei, a national deeply impoverished county. It took more than two years to overcome unimaginable difficulties such as autumn floods, landslides, collapses, floods, and snow disasters. "As the old saying goes, when drinking water, remember who dug the well; don't let honest people suffer. Today, 70% of the drinking water for people in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei comes from Shiyan and Danjiangkou Reservoir. The local people made sacrifices for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and protected the water source," Yan Bin said. "I also hope that with green development as the core, 'China's water' under ecological civilization construction can become 'the world's water.'"
As the founder of China Red Bull, from nothing to something, building Red Bull into a leading brand in China's functional beverage industry, Yan Bin has undoubtedly achieved great commercial success, but what he is most grateful for is this great era that allowed him to realize his ambitions.
Speaking of the future, Yan Bin's excitement was evident: "Next, I will do my own enterprise well, better integrate my personal career into the development of the motherland, and seize the rhythm of the times again."
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