Click the image for details These events all took place in the past year of 2018. 01 JDB Leadership Change Turmoil Shortly after the 2018 Spring Festival sales battle ended, JDB Group Chairman Chen Hongdao issued a statement removing Mainland President Wang Qiang and Deputy General Manager Xu Jianxin from all their positions, handing them over to the HR department for legal processing, and appointing Li Chunlin to take charge of all JDB and Kunlun Mountain affairs. Subsequently, JDB Group entered a period of major upheaval. Two-thirds of its national staff were laid off; upstream clients, unfamiliar with Li Chunlin, ceased cooperation; and the distributor team, due to unpaid company fees and payments made without receiving goods, left JDB nearly paralyzed for eight months. In particular, two major suppliers, COFCO and ORG, took JDB to court, demanding legal responsibility for JDB's failure to inject its brand into Qingyuan JDB Concentrate Juice Factory. During the turmoil, Wang Qiang never spoke out, silently enduring all misunderstandings, and eventually co-managed Aumu Dairy with his former leader Tao Yingze. Li Chunlin, meanwhile, was plagued by rumors that he would be fired by Chen Hongdao. Fortunately, they both pulled through. At the turn of the year, JDB played the nostalgia card, inviting former COFCO Packaging head Wang Jinchang to serve as JDB's chairman. Seven days later, COFCO Packaging and JDB reached an agreement to continue supplying 70% of packaging in 2019. Subsequently, ORG also expressed continued cooperation in 2019. JDB then launched slim gold cans and frosted gold cans of JDB. In the future, the market will see four JDB variants: red can, gold can, frosted gold can, and slim gold can. Life goes on. COFCO Packaging staff and JDB staff 02 Yili Former President Turmoil In 2018, Yili's first-quarter financial report came later than usual. While financial journalists pondered what to write, two reporters chose an unconventional path: Liu Chengkun and Zou Guangxiang. Liu Chengkun's article "Out of Ulan" used homophonic puns from talk shows to vividly depict a young man named Mr. Pan rising to power. Self-media person Zou Guangxiang even asserted on his public account that Pan Gang had been taken away by police. Perhaps because Zou's claim was too outrageous—after all, Pan Gang soon attended Yili's distributor semi-annual meeting—attention focused on Liu Chengkun. Well-known media figure Wang Zhian said: "Innuendo is everyone's right." For a considerable time afterward, some Weibo accounts and a few public accounts formed a wave of Yili-bashing. Yili did not back down, directly accusing former president Zheng Junhuai of orchestrating the incident. The controversy brought up the old Zheng Junhuai fraud case, and surprisingly revealed that despite the large amounts involved, Zheng was released from prison quickly, showing signs of becoming the next Jianlibao's Zhang Hai. Unlike Zhang Hai, who fled after release, Zheng Junhuai, with support from former subordinate Qin Heping, acquired Heilongjiang Hongxing and then ousted Qin Heping. In this "incident," Yili lost 10 billion yuan in market value. Ultimately, Liu Chengkun and Zou Guangxiang were convicted of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Yili strongly criticized why no one pursued Zheng Junhuai. Soon after, Liu Chengkun was released from prison, and the jail time made him seem more like a fighter. However, after this incident, WeChat account bans became even more "sharp." 03 Huiyuan Suspension Turmoil Due to suspected illegal lending of 4.2 billion yuan in listed company loans, Huiyuan was suspended on April 2, 2018. It was expected to resume trading within a month, but months passed, and there is still no sign of resumption. At that time, two months after the suspension, CEO Cui Xianguo left his post. Due to complex salary settlement issues at Huiyuan, he had to resign from his position but remain employed. As the first media to report this, we were threatened by a certain Li from Huiyuan's marketing department with a lawsuit for defamation. However, he couldn't even get past Tencent's review. △Cui Xianguo At that moment, Wu Xiaopeng, who succeeded Cui Xianguo, appeared in the public eye. Li was embarrassed, but many questions remained—Wu Xiaopeng had no prior experience in the FMCG industry, or even in sales. His most notable role was as co-president at Gold Mantis, mainly responsible for financial investment. How could such a person lead Huiyuan out of trouble? At the time, people thought his financial background would quickly lead to Huiyuan's resumption, but over six months later, there is still no sign. Of course, this didn't affect Wu Xiaopeng's "status" at Huiyuan. Insiders revealed that because Wu Xiaopeng was a classmate of Zhu Xinli's daughter Zhu Shengqin, it was seen as Zhu Xinli paving the way for Zhu Shengqin. On January 10, 2019, Xu Qingliu resigned as non-executive director, and on January 13, Cui Xianguo resigned as executive director due to retirement. What will 2019 hold for Huiyuan? 04 Hershey's Sale of Jin Sihou Turmoil Don't think Huiyuan's tragedy was sealed the day it didn't sell to Coca-Cola. Selling doesn't guarantee a good outcome either. Take Jin Sihou, for example. This was a tragedy destined from the start of the acquisition. In 2014, Hershey, the largest U.S. chocolate maker, acquired Jin Sihou for 2.4 billion yuan and assumed over 500 million yuan in debt. After paying 80% of the fee, Hershey hosted a banquet for all Jin Sihou distributors in Jiuzhaigou, asking them to voice market problems. This "feedback" revealed to Hershey how many pitfalls it needed to fill, leading to reluctance to pay the remaining 20%. As a result, former Jin Sihou owner Zhao Qisan took Hershey to court. Eventually, both sides reached an agreement, and Hershey paid 235 million yuan in 2016. Earlier, to meet acquisition sales targets, Jin Sihou used the long-standing practice of shipping goods before payment, with city managers as guarantors. However, these goods were not sold to consumers, so no payments came back. Hershey then sued distributors and city managers to recover those private loans. The losing city managers found they could no longer contact Zhao Qisan. After layoffs and lawsuits, Hershey's performance declined year after year. In 2018, Hershey sold Jin Sihou to Henan Yuxiang Food. Media reported the sale price was 260 million yuan, with its prime real estate projects taken by COFCO. After selling Jin Sihou, Hershey began internal personnel cleanups—foreign companies have it tough too. Who knows if Jin Sihou can still carry the banner of Chinese candy after its return? 05 Shuanghui African Swine Fever Turmoil Lao Na doesn't like Shuanghui because this nouveau riche reeks of money. Back when the clenbuterol scandal broke, Wan Long's casual apology and distributors shouting "Long live Wan Long, long live Shuanghui" felt like a return to the Qing Dynasty. It wasn't until later, after seeing the faces of real estate tycoons, that I felt a bit relieved. This African swine fever incident affected not only Shuanghui but also the entire national pig market. However, Shuanghui was the first major company found to have the disease. A source from Taiwan, China, said they detected African swine fever in discarded ham sausages from three-way customers, and the sausages were Shuanghui brand. Chicken soup for the soul says don't look for a boyfriend in the trash, but "they" are happy to find food in the trash. Regardless of the source's motives, it's undeniable that Shuanghui has a poor reputation in the meat products industry. At that time, the "dragon-phoenix fight" with Chundu and the acquisition of U.S. premium meat company Smithfield didn't elevate its status; instead, using imported U.S. meat lowered the purchase price of pigs from farmers. We must admit this incident dealt a heavy blow to China's entire meat products industry. Eliminating African swine fever could take 5-10 years, requiring Shuanghui, Jinluo, and Yurun to set aside differences and work together. 06 Beingmate ST Removal Turmoil To remove the ST label, Beingmate founder Xie Hong, who had been "hiding" behind the scenes, stepped forward again. Although Xie Hong is the founder, Beingmate reached its peak under professional managers like Liu Ji. To some extent, Xie Hong's return marked the beginning of Beingmate's decline. As the second-largest shareholder, Fonterra naturally didn't want Xie Hong to be both chairman and general manager. After several rounds of negotiation, Bao Xiufei, chosen by Fonterra, became general manager. At that time, Bao Xiufei had just completed his first three-year contract with Friso, and after being denied a board seat at Friso, he was idle at home. Fonterra and Bao Xiufei hit it off immediately. Rumor has it that Bao Xiufei signed a contract without performance targets, and he demanded to bring his team into Beingmate, just as he did at FrieslandCampina. To balance Bao Xiufei's power, Xie Hong hired Zhang Ying, a former colleague of Bao Xiufei at Wyeth. To achieve the common goal of removing the ST label, Bao Xiufei brought Friso's well-known national distributors to Beingmate and brought his own team. Of course, this inevitably led to a large number of original Beingmate employees "stepping aside." It's said Beingmate will also face a wave of layoffs to make way for the Friso team. Unlike typical professional managers who arrive quietly, Bao Xiufei immediately tied his brand to Beingmate, organized media briefings, and personally attended various dairy industry events... After a round of "staking territory," the binding of Bao Xiufei and Beingmate was basically complete. For a founder like Xie Hong, only such methods could complete the power grab. It's a tactic, but also a way for professional managers to protect themselves; we won't criticize it. In contrast, Zhang Ying, who didn't bring a team, left dejectedly after three months—though he went to a better position, replacing Bao Xiufei as Friso's national marketing director. Now, Xie Hong and Bao Xiufei can set aside all differences to remove the ST label. Once successful and Fonterra lets go, will there be an internal struggle between the "old Beingmate people" who see Xie Hong as the boss and the "new Beingmate people" who see Bao Xiufei as the boss? 07 Xiangpiaopiao Professional Manager Departure Turmoil Unlike Bao Xiufei, who fought for his rights, Xiangpiaopiao's professional managers just kept their heads down and worked. Although they brought some of their own people, Xiangpiaopiao didn't hand over its best assets to Lu Yifu from the start. Despite his title as national head, Lu Yifu mainly handled the new milk tea product. Jiang Jianqi valued his ability in the gift market. After some effort, Jiang Jianqi and the old Xiangpiaopiao team felt they had learned enough of Lu Yifu's "gift-giving" skills, and there was no need to keep paying high salaries to the former JDB team. After all, old-timers were Jiang Jianqi's trusted confidants, and the milk tea showed no future after half a year of effort. So Jiang spent a year poaching Lu Yifu's team and half a month "cleaning" it out. The "consequence" was that Xiangpiaopiao's stock price fell below its issue price. Jiang Jianqi had to change course and offer equity incentives to the executive team, but the conditions were extremely harsh, or goals that could never be achieved. Now, Xiangpiaopiao is again building a team for its restaurant brand Lanfangyuan. But with Lu Yifu's case as a precedent, what professional manager would choose Xiangpiaopiao? If attracted by high salaries, they might plan to earn in one month what they used to earn in a year. So not everyone can be Bao Xiufei; more will become cannon fodder. 08 Tianwo Boss Investigation Turmoil Due to involvement in Bright Dairy corruption issues, Nanpu Group founder and chairman Lin Jianhua was taken away for investigation by relevant authorities. As a distributor-founded and listed company, Nanpu Group created countless glories, and even the rise of brands like Red Bull and Nestlé owed much to Nanpu's contributions. Nanpu also created its own brand Tianwo, with Li Xiaolu as spokesperson. Just as Li Xiaolu and Jia Nailiang's marriage ended in 2018, Tianwo's 2018 was also difficult. Because of Lin Jianhua's investigation, Lin Qi was forced to take over early. Besides Tianwo's 1.6 billion yuan debt and ongoing operations, his internet-celebrity wife made headlines for flaunting a 120 million yuan house. Later, Tianwo shareholder Shanghai Fosun found unemployed former JDB deputy general manager Xu Jianxin to serve as Tianwo's operations director and director. However, due to Fosun's delayed payments, Xu Jianxin left after six months, along with CFO Wu Wennan, a former Mengniu CFO who had served three months. On January 3, 2019, executive president Yan Zhixiong left after six months. Now, Tianwo is like a broken drum beaten by all. If Lin Qi can "fight" a path for Tianwo, his life will be elevated. 09 Red Bull Whereabouts Turmoil The commercial blockbuster "Where's Red Bull?" is still playing. Recently, the brand lawsuit between T.C. Pharma and Huabin Group will be heard by the Second International Commercial Court, and it's said the dispute could be resolved within two years. Huabin has also been subtly releasing its 50-year operating rights contract to the media, vigorously building momentum. △Left: Red Bull founder Chaleo Yoovidhya; Right: Huabin This year, the battle intensified. Under T.C.'s strong efforts, the Beijing joint venture factory was shut down. Other factories suddenly went into maintenance, causing short-term supply interruptions. T.C. didn't fare much better—starting in April, it said Red Bull Anaji would launch, but by the end of 2018, besides some trademark progress, there was no sign of the product. There were even rumors the team had disbanded and was taken over by Wang Rui's other company, Ran Shili. Distributors who had paid for Anaji were waiting anxiously, and it's said T.C. is considering refunding them. After all, they don't know when production will begin. The T.C.-Huabin fight benefited countless fake Red Bulls, like British Red Bull, American Red Bull, and Spanish Red Bull. But the most impressive were the Wei brothers, self-proclaimed trademark hunters, who used a Guangzhou Red Bull to crack down on their fellow fakes. Remember, they had fought an eight-year lawsuit with Huabin over producing Red Bull vitamin drinks. It was such lawsuits that made Huabin think its Red Bull lawsuit would drag on too. Guangzhou Red Bull, while waving the flag of a national brand, played the role of "imperial inspector" for the Red Bull brand—a流氓 with legal knowledge is terrifying. But as the saying goes, "The higher the cliff, the stronger the wall," and someone even more clever directly registered Sichuan Tiansi Beverage. With the Chinese Red Bull and Thai Red Bull fighting, T.C. also got lively. So someone registered a Tiansi Beverage to take an unconventional path. And the company is even foreign-invested, called T.S. BEVERAGE Co., Ltd.—it's just the pinyin of Tiansi plus the English translation of beverage, which is indeed quite intimidating. However, Thai T.C.'s letters are T.C. It feels as ridiculous as saying foreigners celebrate 520, but some people like to call it a national brand. Please, spare the title of national brand. 10 Nongfu Spring Acid-Alkaline Turmoil In 2018, another superstition was debunked: the famous acidic body constitution. First, Robert Young, the American founder of the acid-alkaline balance theory, was fined $105 million, causing the pseudoscience promoted by domestic followers to collapse. First, Liang Shuanglin, who calls himself the father of China's alkaline constitution, still shamelessly said the acidic constitution theory is correct. After all, this "father" makes a living by selling his own son, so he has to cling to it, just like Shu Yuhui being investigated doesn't stop those who believe in Quanjian. Then, Hualin's "acid-alkaline balance," which claimed to be legal MLM, was exposed by the public. The aftermath slightly affected Nongfu Spring. Over the years, Nongfu Spring has tried hard to equate surface water with mineral water. The acid-alkaline test strips it gives away at supermarket entrances rely on the folk pseudoscience that acidic constitutions need alkaline water. Sued by C'estbon for unfair competition, Nongfu lost but insisted it lost the case, not the truth. However, the "truth" is the pseudoscience that "alkaline water is healthier than acidic water." A self-media account even twisted Nongfu's famous slogan: "We're just movers of liars." Of course, unlike Quanjian and Hualin, which were universally condemned, Nongfu still has some reputation among the public thanks to product innovation. Those bullied by Nongfu—Wahaha, Master Kong, C'estbon—dare not act rashly. After all, on the bottled water street, ask who's the boss. Nongfu stomps its foot and throws three punches, and these three rivals fall. How will China's water-blind masses find their way? The future still depends on Nongfu... Source: Food Headlines (ID: fbc180) New Distribution will hold the 2019 (5th) FMCG + Internet Conference during the Chengdu Spring Sugar & Wine Fair from March 16-18. This conference will focus on the theme "Breakthrough" , with in-depth discussions among brand owners, supply chain service providers, distributors, and retailers. Compared to previous conferences, this summit will be fully upgraded. In addition to original topics like channel innovation, city distribution logistics, and distributor transformation , it adds new marketing cases, IP + FMCG empowerment, community group buying, and innovative retail as parallel forums. Through three days and ten high-density, high-quality expert sharing sessions, we believe every brand owner and distributor can learn the latest business models, expert insights, and practical methods, finding new tools and approaches for their 2019 breakthrough and returning to high-speed growth. ****Conference Time: March 16-18, 2019 Conference Venue: Longfeng Hall, Chengdu Longemont Hotel Conference Topics 2019 5th FMCG + Internet Conference Date | Time | Venue | Topic 3.16 | Morning | Main Hall | B2B Session Afternoon | Main Hall | Regional Market Digital Precision Main Hall | Brand Channel Digitalization Session 3.17 | Morning | Parallel Forum 1 | Social E-commerce Parallel Forum 2 | New Logistics, New City Distribution Afternoon | Parallel Forum 1 | How Community Group Buying Reconstructs Value Chains? Parallel Forum 2 | IP Empowerment for Brand Growth 3.18 | Morning | Sub-venue | New Marketing Open Class Parallel Forum 2 | How Distributors Achieve Iterative Upgrades? Afternoon | Sub-venue | New Marketing Open Class Registration Registration is now open. Long press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register. 66% early bird discount tickets limited to 200, grab yours now...! Add conference staff to register Click "Read Original" for more details -END-