---
title: "Impressive! China Completed in Just 20 Years What Took European and American Countries 80 Years in Beverage Development!"
description: "The beverage market is a key goldmine in China's food industry, with frequent dark horse successes. Starting in the 1980s, China's beverage industry took only 20 years to nearly complete the entire development process that took European and American countries 80 years."
author: "New Distribution"
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published: "2018-04-25"
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# Impressive! China Completed in Just 20 Years What Took European and American Countries 80 Years in Beverage Development!

> The beverage market is a key goldmine in China's food industry, with frequent dark horse successes. Starting in the 1980s, China's beverage industry took only 20 years to nearly complete the entire development process that took European and American countries 80 years.

The beverage market is a key goldmine in China's food industry, with frequent dark horse successes. Starting in the 1980s, China's beverage industry took only 20 years to nearly complete the entire development process that took European and American countries 80 years.

**A Brief History of China's Beverage Development**

In the 1980s, for ordinary people, "beverages" meant soda from the corner store. Many places in China had a beverage factory, and producing soda was an essential item; at that time, 90% of beverages were soda.

In 1982, the state included beverages in the "national planned management products."

In 1983, the "Eight Major Soda Factories": Beijing's Beibingyang, Tianjin's Shanhaiguan, Shanghai's Zhengguanghe, Guangzhou's Yazhou, Shenyang's Bawangsi, Chongqing's Tianfu Cola, Shandong's Laoshan Cola, and Henan's Shaolin Cola, accounted for 42% of national production.

In 1984, a "Chinese magic water" was born—Jianlibao emerged. As China's earliest electrolyte sports drink, Jianlibao was expensive; a regular 355ml can cost 3 yuan.

Before 1990, the beverage industry had planned economy characteristics, directly managed by the Chinese government.

After 1990, China's beverage industry began market-oriented development, competition became increasingly fierce, and most of the famous "Eight Major Soda Factories" shrank or disappeared.

In 1992, new beverage brands stood out. "Wahaha" shifted from health products to beverages, from purified water to "Future Cola," transforming into a market star.

In 1993 and 1994, the China Light Industry Federation signed cooperation agreements with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, allowing them to set up bottling plants but requiring them to retain 30% of domestic brand beverages.

Starting in 1993, Xuri Group, founded with 30 million yuan investment and supply and marketing cooperatives as its foundation, became a beverage giant with annual sales of 3 billion yuan after just a few years of development.

In 1999, the first "Top Ten Beverage Industry" evaluation was held. Wahaha, Robust, Jianlibao, Huiyuan, Lulu, and others were listed; subsequently, Taiwan's Master Kong and Uni-President successfully entered the mainland beverage industry.

After 2000, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo continued rapid development in China; century-old international brands like Nestlé and Red Bull expanded their investments; Uni-President and Master Kong represented Taiwanese beverage forces; Wahaha, led by Zong Qinghou, grew tenaciously in the cracks between foreign and Taiwanese capital, becoming an outstanding representative of the Chinese beverage industry.

...

**Major Industry Waves in China's Beverage Sector**

In the mainstream beverage market, a new hotspot emerges every few years, and giants rush in. During the development of China's beverage industry, several major industry waves gradually formed: carbonated drinks, bottled water, tea drinks, fruit juices, functional drinks, dairy-containing drinks, herbal tea, and plant protein drinks.

**Carbonated Drinks**

In the 1980s, a carbonated drink craze swept China. Jianlibao was the most influential brand of this period, standing out uniquely and being hailed as "Oriental Magic Water." In 1978, Coca-Cola entered the Chinese market by donating bottling lines, then set up bottling plants in various forms across China, weaving a networked production and sales structure. PepsiCo adopted a follow-the-leader strategy, closely trailing Coca-Cola's development in China.

**Bottled Drinking Water**

In 1996, targeting secondary pollution of tap water, Wahaha launched Wahaha Purified Water with high standards and significant investment, sparking a revolution in the drinking water sector. Bottled drinking water became the mainstream beverage in the mid-to-late 1990s, giving rise to a large number of brands such as Robust and Nongfu Spring.

**Tea Drinks**

Xurisheng is considered the pioneer of tea drinks. In 1993, with supply and marketing cooperatives as its foundation and 30 million yuan investment, it chose a consumer-familiar but market-lacking entry point, creating a new "ice tea" concept. Within a few years, it achieved sales of 3 billion yuan, becoming a beverage giant. Its huge success attracted many powerful competitors to follow suit. The real tea drink boom began when Master Kong started terminal displays in 1999; by 2001, tea drinks gradually reached a climax in China, with many companies fully following suit.

**Fruit Juice Drinks**

From the mid-1990s, the strong domestic fruit juice brand was "Huiyuan," with 100% concentrated reduced juice and Tetra Pak packaging, mainly targeting families and hotels. In 2001, Uni-President's "Fresh Orange Duo" pioneered PET-packaged 25% orange juice drinks, targeting mass immediate consumption, and became an instant success. Many beverage companies were inspired and quickly followed (e.g., Master Kong's Fresh Daily C in 2002, Wahaha Juice, Coca-Cola's Qoo), and in 2003, Nongfu's Nongfu Orchard further upgraded the fruit juice consumption boom, ultimately creating a colorful fruit juice market.

**Functional Drinks**

After the SARS outbreak in 2003, health-oriented drinks began to win consumer favor, leading domestic beverage giants to invest in functional drinks from 2004. Robust's "Mizone," Wahaha's "Activate," Nongfu's "Scream," Uni-President's "Physical," Master Kong's "Jinpao," and Huiyuan's "He+She" all emerged. In particular, the success of "Mizone," with its appeal of "replenishing body water and essential vitamins to keep the body energetic," drove a new wave of functional drinks.

**Dairy-Containing Drinks**

In the late 1990s, with the strengthening of health concepts and the booming milk market, various dairy-containing drinks and plant-based drinks opened their own markets, such as AD Calcium Milk, Shuangwaiwai, and later popular ones like Nutrition Express, Fruit Milk You, and milk tea nutritional drinks like Xiangpiaopiao and Youlemei.

**Herbal Tea**

Since 2005, with the overwhelming advertising of "Afraid of getting heaty? Drink Wanglaoji," herbal tea became a new fashion in mass consumption. Later, JDB also promoted the rapid development of herbal tea functional drinks. The success of herbal tea marked the revival of traditional Chinese health practices, introducing plant ingredients with medicinal and food homology into beverages, becoming a new trend in functional drinks.

**Plant Protein Drinks**

Plant protein drinks were launched earlier, but only gradually gained a place in the beverage market from the 1980s-1990s. The most representative brands were Lulu Almond Milk and Coconut Palm Coconut Juice, forming a pattern of "North Lulu, South Coconut Palm." However, due to regional and taste differences between north and south, the category was never scaled up significantly. It wasn't until 2005 when Six Walnuts was launched, with its functional appeal of "Use your brain often? Drink Six Walnuts" and extensive advertising, that sales rapidly increased to over 10 billion yuan within a few years, driving many small and medium enterprises to follow suit with walnut milk plant protein drinks, ultimately achieving the "golden age" of plant protein drinks.

After experiencing multiple industry waves—carbonated drinks, bottled water, tea drinks, fruit juices, herbal tea, dairy-containing drinks, and plant protein drinks—China's soft drink industry has entered a "new normal" stage.

In 2015, China's soft drink production reached 176.61 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%. In 2016, the total cumulative production of the beverage industry was 183.452 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.90%. From 2006 to 2015, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of China's soft drink production was 18.3%; from 2006 to 2010, it was 26.6%; and from 2011 to 2015, it was 10.7%.

Currently, China's beverage industry has entered a "new normal" stage of slowed growth. Under the influence of this macroeconomic environment, the annual growth rate of China's soft drink industry has slipped below 10%, thus requiring more differentiated competition.

Nowadays, as consumers pay more attention to health and natural concepts, their beverage choices tend to be healthier. The decline in traditional carbonated drink sales is irreversible, and the market battle among protein drinks, herbal tea drinks, and plant-based drinks is increasingly fierce.

Article from: Distributor WeChat Journal

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