Click 'Read Original' for details Source: Lan Xi (ID: techread) Uncovering the truth about a company is not a simple task. I quite admire Jiangxiaobai. On one hand, Jiangxiaobai's birth year is quite "quirky." In 2012, several brands that influenced an era emerged: ByteDance, Didi, Smartisan, Three Squirrels, Jiangxiaobai—regardless of size or success, they all had strong personalities. On the other hand, contemporary new-consumption brands like Diaoye Niunan and Huang Taiji have long vanished, but Jiangxiaobai is still alive, and over a hundred copycat brands haven't killed it. In the past decade, many have discussed Jiangxiaobai's surface-level aspects, with repetitive and biased reports that I don't quite trust. Marketing isn't valuable; what's valuable are the lessons from pitfalls and the experience of climbing out. In my observation, Jiangxiaobai is "not that good" and "not that bad." It has suffered losses and enjoyed successes, making many "useful" and "useless" explorations. This company actually likes to hide itself, with a consistent style of "if it's not done well, don't tell others." The sorghum field was started in 2015, but they only talked about it three years later. How did they acquire land, breed, and scale in between? They didn't say. Fruit-flavored sorghum liquor began internal testing in 2017 and launched three years later. Why did it take so long? What happened in between? They didn't say either. I believe that this company, surviving in the baijiu industry dominated by giants, must have its own tricks. I also believe that only by delving into the core of operations, extending the time horizon, and capturing clues can one reveal a company's true face. During my investigation in Chongqing, I found that besides obvious things like the distillery and sorghum fields, Jiangxiaobai has an unmissable but overlooked touchpoint: the tavern. Further investigation revealed that it operates four different types of taverns, which integrate Jiangxiaobai's product and brand, consumption scenarios, user interaction, and supply chain strategies. Moreover, there are many pitfalls, detours, and mistakes that Jiangxiaobai hasn't disclosed. There are two taverns in the world: one on the street, one in the heart Currently, taverns seem to have become a trend. Helens, with 372 taverns nationwide, is the industry leader and recently filed for an IPO. At the same time, Anhui's Laoxiangji, with 600 direct stores, is piloting in Shenzhen with a "fast food + tavern" model to create a leisure scene. Dalian's Xijiade opened a "dumpling tavern" with the slogan "Dumplings with wine, the more you drink, the more you have," creating a novel experience; popular hotpot chain Coucou opened its first "hotpot + tavern," focusing on low-alcohol cocktails, with tea, wine, and hotpot... Coffee shops and tea houses are also exploring the "tavern business." Starbucks has created "Bar Mixato" to offer a fusion experience of coffee and alcohol; Nayuki Tea has "mixed in" alcohol, gradually opening Nayuki Wine House "Bla Bla Bar" nationwide. In China, there are currently about 35,000 taverns, while Japan has 160,000. Jiangxiaobai often compares itself to Japan's low-alcohol and whiskey categories, suggesting that the Japanese market represents the future of Chinese alcoholic beverages. Indeed, taverns can be closely linked to releasing personal emotions. In fast-paced life, a "tavern" can help press the pause button. Everyone needs a tavern to pour out their hearts and warm each other; everyone should visit a tavern. In Japan, the greater the social pressure, the better the tavern business. So it's no wonder taverns frequently appear on city must-eat lists, with long queues being common. After opening after the National Day holiday in 2018, Jiangxiaobai Tavern's fame seems to have stayed in Chongqing. Reports say that Jiangxiaobai Tavern doesn't care about table turnover rate, scale, or revenue per square meter; it only seeks to make guests comfortable in eating, drinking, and psychology. Yet it has become a "self-sufficient, sustainable" business model. △ Jiangxiaobai Tavern is more like a secluded corner away from the city's hustle and bustle Some reports say Jiangxiaobai is a "flavor lab" studying food and wine pairing, but others say it might be a "wine-selling research institute" that collects consumer opinions and studies methods for selling alcohol in restaurants. Is it that magical for a distillery to cross over into taverns and do well? After all, there have been magical cases like Eslite Bookstore, Diaoye Niunan, and Grandma's Home, but they all eventually became ordinary. Wine flavor, food flavor, human touch: How much gold is in the "flavor lab"? The tavern is at the foot of Zhaomu Mountain in Chongqing, with a square a hundred meters away planted with ginkgo trees—rare in Chongqing. It's not in a bustling area, with some dining options nearby but not yet a mature cluster. Strictly speaking, it's not a good location for nightlife. Opposite the tavern is Jiangxiaobai's branch office area. In the early days, Jiangxiaobai said this was an open-to-the-public canteen where you could drink, a "product experience center," to facilitate employees' dining and drinking, and incidentally conduct product testing. This seems like giving themselves a "way out"—in case of poor management, it's okay. Inside the tavern, various Jiangxiaobai products are displayed. Next to the cashier, there's a long counter with various bottles—this is the tasting area. If you're a first-time visitor and don't know what to drink, you can try a few drinks at the tasting area. A sommelier will introduce the taste and characteristics of each product, helping you choose your preferred drink before you sit down to eat and drink. But it's mainly Jiangxiaobai's own products, plus purchased whiskey. This tavern avoids other Chinese baijiu types; there's no Moutai or Lao Cunzhang. That's understandable, as it's Jiangxiaobai's own store. Why whiskey? Those accustomed to Jiangxiaobai's taste often upgrade to international spirits like whiskey and brandy. In this store, food serves the wine, and dishes are developed around "drinking snacks." On the menu, each dish is paired with a recommended drink, including Jiangxiaobai, Sanwu Zhiyou, Jiangji Gaoliangjiu, Luxi Shaoguo, and other known or unknown products—all under Jiangxiaobai Liquor Industry. Of course, there are also cocktails. △ On the menu, signature dishes are marked with recommended food and wine pairings A waiter introduced that "wine shouldn't overpower the food" and "food and wine complement each other" are the tenets of this "flavor lab"; the store regularly introduces new dishes and pairings, possibly Sichuan, Cantonese, Hunan, or unknown folk cuisines. One dish is fried pork knuckle, somewhat like German pork hock. But perhaps due to ingredients, the dishes are a bit pricey. Fortunately, all the wine is reasonably priced. Reports say, "If you're a solo drinker, the staff will kindly sit with you for a few drinks and listen to your story." "Jiangxiaobai Tavern doesn't emphasize table turnover; it treats guests as friends. Human touch over business might be its biggest feature. No matter how late guests drink, staff won't rush them out." After midnight, there were still three tables of guests. We didn't test the staff's limits and left first. After the experience, I found two rumors true: 1. The food and wine pairing experience is good; 2. Service is enthusiastic, but the human touch varies by individual. However, one point is unrealistic: the experience summarized here is hard to replicate across over a million terminals, as not every restaurant can match its dishes. The biggest significance is product awareness and testing. Staff said the store has received over 100,000 visitors in three years. In other words, possibly 100,000 people have experienced Jiangxiaobai's food and wine pairing. Street taverns are the best expression of easy-drinking Finally, Jiangxiaobai made a "bad move" Actually, this isn't Jiangxiaobai's first tavern. In 2017, the first domestically built aircraft carrier was launched, the Xiongan New Area was established, Trump took office and started a trade war with China, the 19th Party Congress emphasized building a community with a shared future for mankind, and "the people's growing need for a better life and unbalanced, inadequate development" became the main social contradiction. In a pivotal year for the economy, national consumption was sowing new seeds. We checked relevant materials and found that in that year, modified minibuses, under the banner of "rescuing urban youth from loneliness," drove into the streets of 100 cities including Suzhou, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Chongqing. This was Jiangxiaobai's mobile street tavern. △ Jiangxiaobai's street tavern let more people taste Jiangxiaobai's flavor "A shot of chicken-blood wine," "a breath-relief wine," "none-of-your-business wine," "not-so-bad wine"... The names look bizarre, but it's as if the tavern is saying: whatever you're thinking, I'll sell it. Of course, the most important thing is good taste. These drinks use Jiangxiaobai as the base, mixed with various beverages like Sprite, iced tea, orange juice, etc., creating "mixed drinks," and importantly, customers mix according to their own taste—DIY, with user participation. As for the price, one story for a glass of wine. But did this operation have any actual commercial closed-loop effect? A Jiangxiaobai staff member told me: "We didn't do any activity effect evaluation at the time; the best and worst results were the same. We just thought it was fun and did it." "In every city, we left the impression that Jiangxiaobai can be mixed with other drinks." "Like a music caravan, singing wherever we go, with no destination, no profit or loss..." Looking back now, it's easy to see that after the street tavern experiment, more and more people realized that liquor can be mixed with juice, and can be drunk while shopping or watching movies. This isn't 'marketing'; it's 'experience.' After appearing in over 100 cities, the street tavern collected preferences from diverse customers nationwide, providing ideas for new products, which later triggered the birth of another hit product, Guolifang. This reminds me of Jiangxiaobai's grand user co-creation conferences, where users gave feedback, and Jiangxiaobai optimized products and brands accordingly, later creating products like Guolifang and Sanrenyin. Liquor paired with juice and drinks can create a good experience. What about food and wine pairing? Can it also be a good experience? That year's mobile street experiment laid the groundwork for the later Jiangxiaobai Tavern. Unfortunately, this easy-drinking expression lasted only two years, and after that, those blue-painted mobile taverns were never seen on city streets again. From streets to fields, Perhaps form over substance Imagine if Jiangxiaobai's street tavern had continued long-term; it could have left a unique mark in each city, cultivated more seed users, and helped more people understand Jiangxiaobai's taste. In 2017, low-alcohol drinks weren't yet a hot topic or a trend, but Jiangxiaobai had already begun its "easy-drinking" experiments, thinking about how Chinese baijiu could win over new consumer groups. If it had persisted, Jiangxiaobai might have reaped a better decade, potentially pushing Chinese alcoholic beverages into a new era. In Japan, low-alcohol mixed drinks have already surpassed beer, whiskey, and sake to become the top category. However, after 2018, Jiangxiaobai's street taverns gradually withdrew from major cities and faded from memory. By spring 2021, Jiangxiaobai launched a series of "Earth Taverns," moving from streets to fields. △ The Earth Tavern in the sorghum field is a niche celebration In March and June this year, Jiangxiaobai held "Flower Field Wine" and "Peach Garden Tavern" on its sorghum fields at Jiangji Farm, inviting many drinkers to enjoy spring and drink, just like the street taverns—mix your own, drink your own, with the earthy scent of sorghum fields, tasting the liquor brewed at the nearby Jiangji Distillery. The Earth Tavern was likely to release an important message: we are serious about baijiu, and our full industry chain is complete: sorghum fields, orchards, and the ecology of a baijiu production area. Perhaps this also lets many see that labels like "first-generation internet celebrity" and "copywriting liquor" are the biggest misunderstandings. The ultimate significance of this tavern is to stimulate and attract new users, expand consumption scenarios, and hold various beach taverns, desert taverns, grassland taverns, etc., thereby increasing consumption frequency. But the foot traffic and attention for "Earth Taverns" are destined to be low, and they haven't gained much popularity, with a suspicion of "content over form." If it wants to scale in the future, it can only rely on user self-organization. Urban street taverns and food-and-wine taverns are the best "solution" for Jiangxiaobai's product experience. Jiangjin Shaojiu and the People's Tavern: Heritage significance over market significance After the Dragon Boat Festival, Jiangxiaobai's sales staff shared photos of drinking in an ancient town in a drinkers' group. The Chaotianzui Sichuan Opera Teahouse in Baisha Ancient Town, Chongqing, had become a "tavern." The jars and bowls in the tavern were marked with the brand, and earthen bowls were piled on tables. Elderly men and women in the ancient town listened to Sichuan opera under the shade, chatting about the vicissitudes of the past. A woman in her seventies also drank from a large bowl. △ Town residents drink sorghum liquor brewed at Jiangji Distillery at Jiangji People's Tavern They were drinking jarred sorghum liquor from Jiangxiaobai's distillery, "Jiangji Distillery," and the "Jiangji People's Tavern" was operating here, with good liquor at fair prices. "When you drink water, remember who dug the well." This "son of Jiangjin" is quietly passing on heritage in the liquor town in another form. The uncles may not drink Jiangxiaobai, but they all drink the jarred sorghum liquor brewed by Jiangxiaobai. According to Jiangxiaobai, as the distillery ages, the old liquor at Jiangji Distillery increases, and the quality base is getting better. A detail: "Jiangjin Shaojiu Brewing Technique" is an intangible cultural heritage, and its fourth-generation inheritor has been the chief technical officer of both Luxi and Jiangji distilleries in recent years. No wonder some people think Jiangxiaobai's taste has changed subtly in recent years—perhaps the characteristics of Jiangjin Shaojiu have become stronger? Baisha Town once had a glorious brewing history. In his book "The Forgotten Glory," Chongqing historical and cultural writer Sima Qingshan wrote: "In the late Qing and early Republic, there were two major liquor towns in the southwest: one was Moutai, the other was Baisha... In terms of production scale and coverage, Baisha at that time even surpassed Moutai." No one cares what it was like a hundred years ago, but these elders' aura of "drinking liquor like tea" speaks to the town's historical heritage. Unlike the other three taverns, Jiangji People's Tavern focuses on the local heritage of Jiangjin Shaojiu, allowing residents of Baisha Town and even all of Jiangjin to taste authentic sorghum liquor. We didn't study this tavern much, but it shows Jiangxiaobai's old liquor reserves and its ability to develop multiple liquor types. Will Jiangxiaobai enter the traditional baijiu market in the future? No one can say for sure. Buddhist-style development, where are the boundaries? After detours, where is the antidote? After analyzing the four taverns, the overall feeling is that Jiangxiaobai has never "ascended to the altar"; it has always been "finding its way under the altar." The street tavern let users understand the easy-drinking nature and plasticity of Jiangxiaobai's liquor, but it wasn't sustained or promoted. It would be great if this tavern could be revived. The Earth Tavern lets people return to the countryside for a thrill, but it's hard to scale; picnics are low-frequency consumption, and it's unrealistic for users to go to the wild often. This tavern should be discontinued. The People's Tavern is a carrier of a liquor town's culture, but its influence is limited due to its remote location. One such tavern is enough. Jiangxiaobai Tavern can integrate the previous three formats, letting users experience good food-and-wine pairings, gather feedback, and improve product interaction and refinement. But one is too few; the experience of food-and-wine service may not spread beyond Zhaomu Mountain, with weak replicability—unless it opens more direct or franchise stores. Implementing unified food-and-wine pairing across over a million diverse dining channels is just a dream—except for Jiangxiaobai with peanuts. Yet it hides the experience of a new-consumption company, and it's the specific remedy for Jiangxiaobai's future taste disputes: Do user experience, do user experience, do user experience. In fact, anyone who tries Jiangxiaobai with peanuts might understand what light-aroma sorghum liquor is all about. The peanut pairing differs from sauce-aroma and strong-aroma liquors. With light-aroma liquor, peanuts aren't greasy and are slightly sweet. △ Peanuts with Jiangxiaobai have become an unspoken consensus among diners But Jiangxiaobai hasn't articulated or executed user experience well; it's too "honest" and "restrained," too unskilled at explaining to the new generation and old drinkers why it makes light-aroma sorghum liquor. Chongqing is a highland for the catering industry, with countless hotpot, grilled fish, Jianghu cuisine, and dry pot restaurants, as well as many national chains. Jiangxiaobai certainly has the capability to run a restaurant, and if it wanted to expand taverns, it wouldn't lack resources to operate hundreds. For Jiangxiaobai's "second rise" in the next decade, I believe the origin and driving force will be "user experience." Taverns won't become Jiangxiaobai's main business, but they will definitely become a base for attracting seed users. Epilogue: Jiangxiaobai surpassing Jiangxiaobai People love stories of underdogs rising and civilians taking revenge, so some have written Jiangxiaobai, which grew from the cracks of giants, as a dragon-slaying youth. People also love stories of heroes at their end and beauties with gray hair, so these same people have written Jiangxiaobai as a dragon, pulling it down from the altar. But only by stepping inside a company's operations can one complete the process of disenchantment. In this decade, Jiangxiaobai has made many explorations, taken many detours, done many useless things, and abandoned many useful ones. But it must have been the street tavern's trial that made the formal "Jiangxiaobai Tavern" possible. Brands that explode through marketing and then fade into obscurity are everywhere; those that survive a decade must have more than just one factor. Don't be fooled by Jiangxiaobai; "only marketing" might be a smokescreen it set up itself, hiding its true face. Don't be fooled by the flood of articles either, thinking Jiangxiaobai only excels at marketing. Jiangxiaobai once had nearly a hundred imitators and copycats. After time's baptism, the evil spirits have dispersed. Jiangxiaobai is changing, surpassing itself. It can iterate four times on a tavern format; what about the brand? Products? User service systems?...... Internet brands often talk about "user experience," but new-consumption brands related to food and drink mention it less. Looking back at the rise and fall of new-consumption brands in recent years, many have been fleeting. ** Jiangxiaobai may have gotten here through marketing or supply chain, but I believe it's ultimately due to user experience. However, what it has done is far from enough. Before publication, we received a message. A friend at Jiangxiaobai said that Jiangxiaobai Tavern might open a second store in Ciqikou, Chongqing. With dim lights and bustling crowds, Chongqing's nightlife gives rise to all sorts of magic. PS: From September 23-25, 2021, the 2021 (4th) China FMCG Conference, hosted by New Distribution, will open in Shanghai. Focusing on industry trends + practical cases + growth connections, 3,000 FMCG practitioners will gather. 10 themed forums cover new retail O2O, community group buying, short-video live e-commerce, distributor transformation, rise of new-consumption brands, new alcoholic beverage insights, distribution B2B supply chain, omnichannel marketing, B2B2C new technology applications, etc., with operators from various segments bringing the latest case studies. Confirmed heavyweight guests so far include: 1. Tao Shiquan, founder of Jiangxiaobai; 2. Yao Xuhong, General Manager of Meiyijia Holdings; 3. Lu Xiuqiong, Global Expert Partner at Bain & Company and former VP of Marketing for Coca-Cola China; 4. Chen Xiaodong, Senior VP of Nestlé Greater China; 5. Zhang Fujun, President of Lee Kum Kee China; 6. Bi Chaojiao, General Manager of China Resources Snow Breweries Marketing Center; 7. Yang Hongbin, VP of Junlebao Dairy Group; 8. Yang Shun, COO of Lipton Greater China; 9. Zhang Yipeng, General Manager of Kuaishou E-commerce SKA Brand Operations Center; 10. Li De, E-commerce GM of Gold Hongye Paper Group...** A grand gathering for FMCG professionals—you must be there! Are you "watching" me?****