---
title: "How Much Nongfu Spring Can Yijiupi Sell?"
description: "The FMCG B2B track now has few players left, and brand owners' attitudes vary widely: some like Coca-Cola and Master Kong actively cooperate, even at the expense of existing channel interests; others like major beer giants insist on regional protection to maintain their distribution systems. Yijiupi founder Wang Chaocheng once said publicly, \"Nongfu Spring prohibits all channels from cooperating with Yijiupi, but Yijiupi sells Nongfu Spring everywhere.\" This phenomenon is not limited to Yijiupi and Nongfu Spring but exists across the industry. The relationship between brand owners and B2B platforms is delicate, and neither side knows the actual sales volume."
author: "古月"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-09-17"
categories: "Dealer Operations"
language: "en"
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markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-much-nongfu-spring-can-yijiupi-sell-fbf36402.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/eUY4KEvw9pKZ8i9S5ivW4Q"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E6%98%93%E4%B9%85%E6%89%B9%E8%83%BD%E5%8D%96%E5%A4%9A%E5%B0%91%E5%86%9C%E5%A4%AB%E5%B1%B1%E6%B3%89-fbf36402.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-much-nongfu-spring-can-yijiupi-sell-fbf36402/"
citation: "古月. “How Much Nongfu Spring Can Yijiupi Sell?.” New Distribution, 2019-09-17. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-much-nongfu-spring-can-yijiupi-sell-fbf36402/"
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---

# How Much Nongfu Spring Can Yijiupi Sell?

> The FMCG B2B track now has few players left, and brand owners' attitudes vary widely: some like Coca-Cola and Master Kong actively cooperate, even at the expense of existing channel interests; others like major beer giants insist on regional protection to maintain their distribution systems. Yijiupi founder Wang Chaocheng once said publicly, "Nongfu Spring prohibits all channels from cooperating with Yijiupi, but Yijiupi sells Nongfu Spring everywhere." This phenomenon is not limited to Yijiupi and Nongfu Spring but exists across the industry. The relationship between brand owners and B2B platforms is delicate, and neither side knows the actual sales volume.

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The FMCG B2B track now has few players left, and brand owners' attitudes vary widely: some like Coca-Cola and Master Kong actively cooperate, even at the expense of existing channel interests; others like major beer giants insist on regional protection to maintain their distribution systems.
Yijiupi founder Wang Chaocheng once said publicly, "Nongfu Spring prohibits all channels from cooperating with Yijiupi, but Yijiupi sells Nongfu Spring everywhere." Literally, it seems provocative, but considering Wang's usual style, it might be understood in reverse. **Although cooperation is explicitly prohibited, it does not prevent Yijiupi from selling Nongfu Spring. This phenomenon is not limited to Yijiupi and Nongfu Spring but exists across the industry.** The relationship between brand owners and B2B is also in a delicate state. Whether there is cooperation on the surface or not, and regardless of the sales data on the platform, both sides are still uncertain about sales volume. For example, how much Nongfu Spring is sold on Yijiupi can be seen clearly, but due to chaotic pricing and unstable supply, the number is not reliable. So, how much Nongfu Spring can Yijiupi actually sell? Neither side knows, and neither has a clear idea. **What causes such chaotic intersection between brand owners and B2B?**
**Brand owners and B2B are inherently incompatible**
I chose Yijiupi and Nongfu Spring to start today's topic because both companies are industry leaders in their respective fields.
Yijiupi: Currently the B2B platform with the highest actual warehouse sales in China, it continues to secure large financing despite the capital winter and the industry no longer being a hot trend.
Nongfu Spring: Continues to grow rapidly in an industry with almost no growth, and its recently disclosed annual profit of 3.6 billion yuan makes peers envious. **In my view, the reason why neither side knows how much "can be sold" is, on one hand, they are inherently incompatible; on the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, at the execution level, both sides do not understand each other enough, filled with misunderstandings, distrust, and feigned ignorance.** On one hand, brand owners hope B2B can bring incremental sales and reduce channel costs to increase profits; while B2B companies aim to seize the existing market of secondary distributors and squeeze out competitors. **The goals of both sides are different and conflicting, and their inherent incompatibility leads to either no cooperation or many problems when cooperating. On the other hand, at the execution level, the lack of understanding is mutual: brand personnel do not know the B2B company's scale (sales), coverage density and depth (customer stickiness), company strategy and individual assessments, company and personnel stability, technical means, etc.; B2B personnel do not know the brand owner's requirements for price system and expenses, regional protection, distribution system and structure, sales assessment (new products), efficiency, etc.**
**What are the specific manifestations of the lack of understanding between brand owners and B2B?**
Although there is personnel flow between the two sides, including many executives moving from brand companies to B2B companies in recent years, these misunderstandings are still common, mainly in the following aspects: **For brand owners, the lack of understanding of B2B companies is mainly at these levels:** **1. Scale (sales):** Yijiupi, Lingshoutong, Meicai, etc., have annual sales exceeding 10 billion yuan, and some even claim to reach 100 billion. Although the overall scale of these B2B companies is an important indicator for brand owners, this scale is often unevenly distributed.
The scale within a specific region may be more valuable; for example, B2B companies in central cities have a much higher market share than in township markets; the measurement indicators for different categories are also not comparable: some companies excel in beverages, while others excel in snacks and daily necessities. **2. Coverage density and depth (customer stickiness):** Monthly active users, average order value, store types, order frequency, and price sensitivity all affect the value of cooperation between the two sides.
For example, Meicai is strong in restaurant stores, which brand owners' ground promotion personnel often do not visit, so brand owners are interested; but if Coca-Cola is already well-established in restaurants in a certain area, they may reject cooperation.
Price is the most effective testing method, but the marginal point is generally difficult to quantify. Here is a real data point, one-sided but perhaps providing some insight: on Yijiupi, two similar SKUs of Nongfu Spring's Oriental Leaf were priced one yuan above the guide price and two yuan below, respectively, and their sales in two days were about 50 boxes and 100 boxes.**
**3. Company strategy and individual assessment:** Today's startups often compress the strategic goals of traditional industries from one or two decades into just a few years, so everything changes very quickly, including KPIs.
For B2B companies, for example, some early B2B companies claimed to replace the brand owner's distribution system, but now they are constantly extending olive branches; some brand owners still have the impression that B2B is burning money recklessly, but in fact Yijiupi cares a lot about profit, Meicai pays attention to cash flow, and Lingshoutong is accelerating expansion after polishing.
In addition, B2B companies' assessment of individual employees is not single-dimensional and is divided in various ways: activity, profit, sales, out-of-stock rate, growth rate, etc., some assigned to procurement, some to sales.
**4. Company and personnel stability:** B2B companies are too unstable; in recent years, most companies have disappeared, mostly owing money to suppliers, even dragging down the brand owner's distributors, which leaves a very bad impression on brand owners.
Moreover, personnel stability is also a major issue. B2B company employees usually face high work pressure and intensity, and turnover is generally high. Frequent employee changes and uneven quality lead to poor communication between brand owners and B2B.
**5. Technical means:** As technology companies, B2B companies can basically implement any needs they can think of, such as data, promotions, and displays.
There are several points that are very useful for brand owners: regional division can be specific to streets and each store, and regional protection will be mentioned later; there are many display positions and exposure methods with good results; data is transparent, controllable, and real, and can be shared, for example, Xintonglu is willing to share completely with brand owners without affecting its own interests. **For B2B companies, the lack of understanding of brand owners is mainly at these levels:**
**1. Price system and expenses:** B2B companies now tend to respect the brand owner's guide price, but often find that they become the manufacturer's price platform with no sales, so they go to survey prices, but often get prices like one yuan for two bottles of Nongfu Spring.
The reason is simple: the guide price is basically the highest price in the circulation market, but manufacturers have irregular promotional expenses and also compensate customers for display expenses. When surveying prices, the owner may include them together.
So how should B2B price? Personally, I think it should refer to the prices of wholesale markets and secondary distributors, because the sales logic is similar, and the purchase price should also be referenced accordingly. For example, in a market where the channel is strong, you can only earn a delivery fee, but in some places, you can even purchase products lower than the purchase price.
**2. Regional protection:** This is probably the main reason why many brands cannot cooperate now. First, regional protection is a necessary condition for maintaining channel profits. If the channel has no profit, the brand cannot be good, so do not expect brand owners to compromise.
Each brand owner divides regions differently, and B2B companies are even more different, making it difficult to solve the problem of cross-regional sales. Although technically every company can distinguish, things are done by people.
**3. Distribution system and structure:** Some companies are direct-operated and very flat, while others have provincial agents, city agents, and then district agents. The channels of various brands are very different. For example, Coca-Cola's two bottling plants firmly control a large number of terminals, while Wahaha almost entirely delegates to distributors. So whether to negotiate with distributors or the manufacturer, locally or at headquarters, is not as simple as it seems.**
**4. Sales and new product assessment:** The most important thing in cooperation is to understand the other's needs. The heavy burden on brand employees is naturally sales, but details are also important: specific amounts, time nodes, growth rates, categories, especially new product assessments, etc. For example, if they do not talk about restocking at the end of the month or year, it means they have completed the target and are leaving room for the next stage; when launching new products, doing well can be very impressive.
**5. Efficiency:** Brand owners are mostly old companies with mature systems and standardized internal processes, but they may not be efficient. You might be anxious, but they are calm. For example, a friend told me that once he needed a document from the manufacturer, and it took nearly 10 people to get it to him; also, Meicai, because the supplier could not provide complete product qualifications, caused a "1 billion" big single product to be out of stock for several months in several cities.
**Brand owners and B2B: More mutual understanding leads to better cooperation results**
Yijiupi's development has affected Nongfu Spring's interests, and Nongfu Spring uses strict policies to maximize the protection of channel interests. But in reality, most surviving B2B companies have engaged in low-price cross-regional sales, and many brand owners have also used them to grow. These misunderstandings are the reason for the chaotic cooperation between the two sides. Of course, even with understanding, "how much can be sold" is still a complex game, and an accurate number is impossible. Finally, to conclude simply, without daring to make bold claims, for most brand owners, it is possible to basically cut off the supply to B2B companies, but it is also foreseeable that the B2B path can work. With huge traffic and data, who would not be attracted?
**What do you think about the cooperation between B2B platforms and brand owners? Welcome to leave a message for discussion!**


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 古月
- Published: 2019-09-17
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-much-nongfu-spring-can-yijiupi-sell-fbf36402/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/eUY4KEvw9pKZ8i9S5ivW4Q

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