Returning does not mean victory or success; time has taken away the past, along with consumers' former tastes and habits. 1983 is destined to be unforgettable. That year, the first Santana was assembled successfully in Shanghai, a rock band composed of Wong Ka Kui, Wong Koon Chung, and others was formed, and Nintendo released the legendary FC and Donkey Kong, whose short protagonist would become the familiar Super Mario. That year also saw the births of internet entrepreneurs such as Luo Min of Qudian, Xiao Wenjie of Lexin, Chen Ou of Jumei, and Zhang Yiming of ByteDance, who would later make waves in the internet world. It was also in this year that the first Spring Festival Gala kicked off, with audiences participating in interactive voting for the first time and the show being broadcast live for the first time. The term "hotline" originated from this gala, as so many people called in that the telephone lines overheated and the underground wires emitted steam, giving rise to the term. In the same year, the Beibingyang brand made its first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala: on stage were hosts like Ma Ji, and below the stage were actors seated at tables, with Beibingyang bottles placed on those tables. The following year, Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao performed the sketch Eating Noodles on the Gala, becoming an instant hit. For over a decade afterward, every New Year's Eve featured the pattern of "a changing Gala, but a steadfast Zhu-Chen duo." More than ten years later, after performing the sketch Prince and Postman, Chen Peisi bid farewell to the Gala stage, and has not returned since. Not long after, Beibingyang announced a production halt. The first beverage brand to appear on the Gala, like Chen Peisi, never graced that stage again. Now, for a brand to appear on the Gala, it must pay a hefty price; for instance, Baidu, the title sponsor this year, paid 900 million yuan. As history rolls on, many people miss Chen Peisi on the Gala, many remember 1983, and of course, many still cherish Beibingyang soda. -01- The Glorious Era Glass bottles with metal caps and a polar bear sticker printed directly on the bottle—this is the initial impression Beibingyang soda left on people's minds. In Beijing's hutongs, bottles were lined up on large ice blocks with semicircular grooves. When a customer arrived, the shopkeeper would deftly flip off the cap with an opener, producing a "pfft" sound as the orange aroma burst from the bottle. Taking a big gulp, the fizz rushed straight to the head—this was a shared memory for people in the 1980s. In the 1980s, Beibingyang's factory was still located on Yong'an Luolin Road in Chongwen District, Beijing. At that time, both sides of the road were crowded with pedal tricycles and small trucks waiting to return empty bottles, the empty Beibingyang bottles clinking and clanking in cardboard boxes. It is no exaggeration to say that nearly all of Beijing's self-employed vendors and itinerant traders gathered there, simply to get their hands on the then-popular Beibingyang soda. An elderly person recalled: "At that time, shops in streets and alleys would place a large block of ice at the entrance, with round holes chiseled into it. Beibingyang bottles lay in these holes, and the shopkeeper would occasionally turn the bottles to ensure even cooling. Every evening, these shopkeepers would load the empty bottles onto small trucks or pedal tricycles and haul them back to the factory to return them, then bring back a full load of Beibingyang. Sometimes, if they went too late, they wouldn't return until the next day." At that time, Beibingyang's production was 840,000 bottles, and even with the production workshop running day and night, supply still couldn't meet demand. It was said that if the conveyor belt broke, workers would have to pull it forward by hand, even if their arms swelled like sticks, production couldn't stop. The origins of Beibingyang soda can actually be traced back to 1951. At that time, the capital Beijing was in a state of recovery, and due to limitations in warfare and technology, a complete meteorological recording system was only established that year, which is why 1951 is also known as "the warmest year." But for the predecessor of the Beibingyang factory, the "Beijing New Ice-Making Factory," it was a "cold winter." After years of war, the factory faced enormous difficulties in capital, equipment, technology, and talent. Although the factory resumed production that year with the efforts of all employees, focusing on ice pops as the main product and soda as a sideline, production capacity was extremely low. By 1956, the wind of supporting the capital's construction blew from all over the country to Beijing. Major enterprises across the nation moved north, and Watson's, which had a strong presence in the Shanghai market, responded to the nation's call and relocated entirely to Beijing. Watson's had been producing soda since 1900 and was the first company in China to do so. With this northward move, Watson's brought two modern soda bottling lines to the capital and chose to cooperate with the Beijing Food Factory, whose predecessor was the Beijing New Ice-Making Factory. As early as 1950, the Beijing New Ice-Making Factory had officially registered the "Beibingyang" trademark and the snow mountain polar bear logo, which would become famous for half a century. The cooperation happened during the early years of the People's Republic, when people's quality of life was steadily improving, and they began to consume in pursuit of their aspirations. However, since the consumer market was just emerging, supply often couldn't keep up with demand. Watson's brought modern production lines to Beibingyang, which increased production and gradually allowed Beibingyang to dominate the Beijing soda market. During the same period, there were also Glacier soda from Beijing's northern city and Tiantan soda from Chongwen District. These two sodas were made with artificial flavors, saccharin, and coloring, known as "three-ingredient water," and were low-end sodas harmful to health, later banned by the state. But Beibingyang was different. Old Beijingers regarded the sediment precipitated from the orange pulp in the soda as "the real thing," seeing it as proof of Beibingyang's authenticity, and they could drink as much as they wanted. Even when a family's monthly income was only about twenty yuan, and Beibingyang's price rose from 15 cents to 50 cents and then to 1 yuan, it couldn't stop children or adults from wanting to buy it. In 1961, Beibingyang's total output value was 55.379 million yuan, with a profit of 8.781 million yuan—the best performance the food factory had achieved since 1949. -02- The Legendary Exit "Survival of the fittest" is an iron law of nature, and of course, the market is no exception. In the year of reform and opening up, Coca-Cola announced its entry into the Chinese market, becoming the first foreign company to enter China. Three years later, PepsiCo signed an agreement with the Chinese government to build a Pepsi bottling plant in Shenzhen, becoming one of China's first foreign partners. From then on, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi entered the Chinese market, beginning a long war that continues to this day. To capture Chinese market share, both sides racked their brains, using every means at their disposal, fighting tooth and nail. And their tactics, Beibingyang had already experienced in the 1980s. At first, these foreign sodas had a dark brown liquid, similar to Chinese herbal medicine, giving a medicinal feel. Beijing residents were not impressed; they preferred Beibingyang with its fresh orange flavor. In 1994, with changes in the market environment and the implementation of reform and opening-up policies, most domestic enterprises rode the wave of reform and initiated a wave of joint ventures with foreign capital. At that time, state-owned enterprises hoped to bring in advanced management models and new vitality through foreign partners. But ideals were plump and reality was skinny; things were not as simple as imagined. After the joint ventures, foreign capital continued to increase investment, becoming the actual controlling shareholders of major factories. To promote their own brands, domestic brands including Beibingyang were deliberately shelved, their production capacity gradually suppressed, and they were slowly marginalized. As the market share of "foreign sodas" in China increased, they employed more and more tactics. They continuously used various marketing methods already tested abroad to win consumer attention, such as bundling sales with Beibingyang soda, offering prizes under bottle caps, giving away branded merchandise, advertising heavily in crowded places, and selling only "foreign sodas" in "foreign fast-food" restaurants. Gradually, the large ice blocks at shop entrances in streets and alleys disappeared, and billboards were replaced with red-and-black Coke ads. People seemed to prefer Pepsi, which had crossed the ocean, over the once-popular Beibingyang soda. At that time, nationwide, besides Beibingyang Food Company's joint venture with Pepsi, there were six other famous beverage factories: Bawangsi Soda, Tianjin Shanhaiguan Soda, and Wuhan Bridge Soda, which cooperated with Coca-Cola; and Qingdao Laoshan Cola, Chongqing Tianfu Cola, and Guangzhou Asia Soda, which partnered with Pepsi. Without exception, all six suffered the same fate as Beibingyang soda. In the following decade or so, Beibingyang soda was hard to find on the market, with only Beibingyang purified water continuing production. The other six domestic beverage brands were also gradually abandoned by Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It wasn't until years later that the domestic business community understood this was a strategy by international companies to eliminate local competitors and gain access to their sales channels. This incident later gained a shocking name in the industry: "Water Drowning Seven Armies." Later, Xing Huiming, Party Secretary of Beijing Yiqing Chemical Industry Group, the parent company of Beibingyang, said: "At that time, everyone said 'the foreign moon is rounder than the Chinese moon.' We learned management and technology from the West, but we lost our own things." In 1999, Beibingyang soda officially ceased production. The original factory site on Anlelin Road, once bustling, was sold for residential development. The original Beibingyang factory was relocated to Daxing, and the workshop that once produced "Beibingyang" was converted to produce "Yili" bread. Employees were reassigned, some absorbed into Pepsi, and some laid off. The "Beibingyang" soda was like ice exposed to the scorching summer sun—it completely evaporated. -03- The Comeback In November 2011, Beijing's north wind swept the earth with its fierce battle flag, roadside shrubs clung to their last hopes for warmth, and broken branches and withered lotus leaves drew a clear line with autumn's romance. Beibingyang officially returned with the slogan "You drink soda, I drink Beibingyang," and this was a long journey home. In 2007, Yiqing Chemical Industry Group, which managed Beibingyang Food Company, negotiated with Pepsi to reclaim the "Beibingyang" brand rights. After much back-and-forth, the negotiations finally concluded with an agreement to return, on the condition that "no carbonated beverages would be produced under the Beibingyang brand for four years." After obtaining the Beibingyang operating rights, Yiqing Group hoped to implement a dual-brand strategy, merging its Beibingyang Food Company with its Yili Food Company, with one focusing on soda and the other on bread. In terms of management, Yili Food Company would manage Beibingyang Food Company on behalf of the group. In meetings to formulate Beibingyang's comeback strategy, senior executives were divided into two factions, each holding their ground. Some believed that Beibingyang had been away from the beverage market for so long, and the market was a red ocean, so a return would surely fail. Others argued that Beibingyang was a cultural symbol of Beijing, rooted in the memories of old Beijingers, and that "at least Beijingers would recognize it." Beibingyang's return was thus postponed repeatedly amid such discussions. A turning point came in 2010 when Li Qi, the newly appointed general manager of Yili Food Company under Yiqing Chemical Industry Group, decided to lead the effort with a registered capital of 30 million yuan, and set the goal of bringing "Beibingyang" soda back to the market when Pepsi's ban expired in 2011. What people remember about Beibingyang is the last hint of aroma lingering in the throat. The taste of a beverage lies in its formula; every soda claims to have a unique recipe. The most legendary in the carbonated beverage industry, Coca-Cola, is rumored to have kept its secret formula for 120 years. In 2010, Li Qi found the preserved Beibingyang archives in a warehouse left by the "Beijing Food Company." The formula was handwritten on white paper, kept in a blue plastic folder marked with "Permanent Storage (Secret)." Opening the folder, the yellowed secret recipe exuded an air of age, yet the handwriting was perfectly clear. The secret recipe seemed mysterious, but its ingredients were simply water, carbon dioxide, concentrated orange juice, white sugar, additives, and orange oil. The uniqueness of "Beibingyang" soda lay in the orange oil. Orange oil is extracted by cold-pressing and separating fresh orange peels, serving as a natural flavoring and coloring agent. It is the most precious part of an orange; one ton of oranges yields only 6 kilograms of orange oil. The source of the oranges determines the quality of the orange oil, and the quality of the orange oil determines the taste of the soda. Back then, the "Dahongpao" oranges from Wanzhou, Chongqing, were highly praised, growing only along a 100-kilometer stretch of the Three Gorges riverbank. Dahongpao oranges have a firmer texture, are rarely eaten fresh, and are mostly used for canned goods. Compared to ordinary oranges, their aroma is refreshing and not cloying. The fruits mature in early to mid-June, just in time for the peak soda-selling season, and old Beibingyang chose them as its raw material. More than a decade later, the orange processing plant that old Beibingyang had set up there had disappeared with the cessation of production. In 2010, Li Qi went to Sichuan for inspection and, at an orange processing plant in Nanchong, encountered a former partner who had processed oranges for old Beibingyang. Thus, Nanchong became the raw material source for the new Beibingyang. The raw materials were found, but the restoration of Beibingyang's taste was still not smooth. The Beibingyang produced according to the original secret recipe tasted terrible. Many factors affect the taste of soda, such as air, water, and equipment. After more than ten years, everything had changed, so the taste naturally changed too. Li Qi gave the first batch of new Beibingyang to former factory employees to taste. The old Beibingyang's "orange aroma and strong fizz with a biting sensation" was completely absent, replaced by excessive sweetness. These difficulties were not resolved until Li Qi met Ma Qian. -04- Rebuilding Beibingyang Ma Qian is now 62 years old. He joined the soda workshop of the Beijing Food Factory in 1972, had close contact with the production of Beibingyang soda, and was very familiar with the equipment in the old Beibingyang production workshop. In the 1980s, Ma Qian was sent by the company to Iraq to assist in local beverage production. Through this opportunity, combined with his previous work at the factory, he gained exposure to both the old Beibingyang production equipment and advanced Italian and German machinery. Li Qi met Ma Qian at a equipment exhibition in Beijing. When Ma Qian learned that Li Qi wanted to rebuild Beibingyang, he said: "Everything I rely on for a living now was learned at Beibingyang; all my skills were given to me by Beibingyang. Everything I know should be given back to Beibingyang without charge." The equipment problem was finally solved. Li Qi's journey to replicate Beibingyang lasted nearly half a year. He had lost count of how many modified formulas he had tried. Fortunately, the last batch of test products received approval from the old employees. The subsequent work went much more smoothly. Li Qi hired young designers with overseas study experience to redesign the bottle and logo of Beibingyang soda. The new bottle and logo retained traces of the traditional Beibingyang while incorporating subtle new details, such as Braille on the bottom of the bottle. Before the launch, Beibingyang held tasting events in Beijing, inviting media and citizens to taste for free, hoping to find the right price positioning through public opinion. After the survey, they found that old Beijingers born in the 1970s and 1980s accepted a price between 0.5 and 1.0 yuan, while the post-90s generation accepted a range of 2 to 3 yuan. Finally, Beibingyang decided to price the glass-bottled soda at 2.5 yuan per 248ml bottle, and the canned version at 4.5 yuan per 330ml can. However, comparable bottled sodas on the market had a capacity of 400ml per bottle at the same price, and canned Coca-Cola was also 330ml but priced at only 2.5 yuan. This pricing strategy undoubtedly added an even more unpredictable element to Beibingyang's future in the market. In November 2011, the biting cold wind mercilessly stripped away people's harvest joy, and Beibingyang officially returned to the market. Just as in memory, the glass-bottled Beibingyang soda was mainly sold through small shops in streets and alleys. This symbol of "old Beijing" was back in the sight of Beijingers. Within just two months of launch, Beibingyang turned a profit. By 2012, Beibingyang soda sales exceeded 1 million cases, with revenue over 60 million yuan. In 2014, revenue surpassed 100 million yuan, and shortages occurred again. That year, Zhang Jiayi, Yan Ni, and Guan Xiaotong starred in the urban drama A Servant of Two Masters, and the beverage featured throughout the show was the returning Beibingyang. -05- Hard to Recreate Glory Beibingyang has indeed been making efforts in recent years. Last year, Beibing Food Company established a production base in Ma'anshan, Anhui Province, covering about 129 mu (approximately 8.6 hectares). This is also Beibingyang's first production base outside Beijing. The establishment of this production base means that Beibingyang, an old brand, is officially expanding from Beijing to the whole country. At this base, Beibingyang's production capacity will be greatly increased, with an annual output of over 300 million bottles. In 2019, Alibaba announced its "New National Goods Plan" to help old brands sell and achieve annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan. Beibingyang chose to cooperate with Alibaba's Hema Fresh, expanding sales channels from small shops on Beijing's streets to dual channels in Hema and Yili bakery stores. To appeal to young users in the new era, Beibingyang also boldly launched yogurt. New retail not only brings more attention and market to the brand but also uses digitalization to help enrich the brand's product offerings. But returning does not mean victory or success. According to the "China Beverage Industry Brand Reputation Research Report" released by the CSISC Big Data Research Laboratory in 2015, Coca-Cola had the highest reputation index among carbonated beverages at 6.59, Pepsi was 1.52, Fanta (same series fruit soda) was 1.36, Jianlibao was 0.9, and Mirinda was 0.61. Beibingyang's reputation index was only 0.3. The importance of reputation to a brand is self-evident. In the last century, Beibingyang could win a good reputation through its authenticity and thus defeat other sodas in the market at the time, but now the data speaks for itself. Especially in today's highly competitive Chinese beverage market, the quality of reputation largely indicates the quality of a brand. Time has taken away the past, and also taken away consumers' former tastes and habits. It has been 8 years since Beibingyang returned to the market. During these 8 years, Beibingyang has gradually expanded from the Beijing region to the national market, setting up distribution points in many cities across the country. Perhaps for Beibingyang, this is undoubtedly a huge success, but returning to the essence of business, it has only come back, that's all. Just as Chen Peisi never returned to the Spring Festival Gala, neither did Beibingyang. However, for those who regard Beibingyang as a nostalgia for past life and an emotional anchor, coming back is enough. Yet, as Li Qi watches old Beijingers sip the soda while reminiscing about the past, only he knows that Beibingyang soda is no longer the original taste. Source: Luming Finance (ID: luminglab) Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted. China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media Dedicated to FMCG manufacturer and distributor transformation and channel digital solutions Copyright | Business Cooperation | Project Consulting | Reader Submissions