Jianlibao was once called 'China's Magic Water'! It was the first beverage in China to add alkaline electrolytes, pioneering the concept of sports drinks for the Chinese people, and it is a national brand! Yet it could not escape the arrangements of 'fate,' experiencing gains and losses, prosperity and decline, and great ups and downs. Now, as it prepares for listing, we hope that after hardship comes sweetness, and we see its glory again! In 1984, it became famous worldwide due to the Los Angeles Olympics; at that time, Jianlibao was really thriving. Looking at Jianlibao's ingredient list, it includes water, white sugar, fructose syrup, honey, food additives (carbon dioxide, citric acid, potassium chloride, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, acesulfame potassium, steviol glycosides, sunset yellow), and edible flavors. It is a carbonated fruit-flavored beverage. Nowadays, carbonated fruit-flavored drinks are nothing special, but in the 1980s, it was a novelty! Jianlibao's most glorious sales revenue was in 1997, reaching as high as 5.5 billion yuan. Even today, that annual sales figure is remarkable. But it was precisely at Jianlibao's most glorious moment that its fate took a turning point. First: After 1996, carbonated beverage competitors like Coca-Cola began to lay out their national market strategies beyond big cities. Additionally, many beverage companies such as Wahaha, Robust, Master Kong, and Uni-President entered the market in force, increasing the variety of beverages available to consumers, but Jianlibao did not innovate its products. Sales began to loosen. Second: Over more than a decade, Jianlibao made a lot of money, and the boss became a bit inflated, wanting to earn even more, so he started diversified investments, leaving the company with insufficient funds and energy to consolidate and deeply cultivate the Jianlibao beverage market. At this time, competitors like Coca-Cola and Pepsi were spending heavily on building brands and channels, and Jianlibao, short on cash, had no power to fight back. Third: Jianlibao had too many levels of distributor agency, leading to an overly long distribution channel, making it difficult to control the final link with consumers. Fourth: The founder of Jianlibao had entanglements with the local government and failed to handle the relationship with the local government well! From its peak in 1997, Jianlibao declined until it was acquired by Uni-President in 2005; the founder was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011. Jianlibao, once famous across the country, gradually faded from consumers' sight, remaining in many people's memories. Many people say the government was the reason for Jianlibao's decline, but I think the main problems were internal; external forces at most gave it a push to accelerate its decline. Today, I saw a report from Beijing Business Today saying that due to the intervention of CITIC Group, Jianlibao is planning to go public. If it succeeds, it is worth celebrating. Because as early as 1993, Jianlibao was listed by Guangdong Province as one of the first batch of companies to go public. Perhaps because Jianlibao was not short of money at the time, or because the founder did not want to be constrained after listing, it did not go public. Later, in 1997, it wanted to list but failed. If Jianlibao succeeds in preparing for listing this time, its listing journey will have been delayed by a full 25 years. The current beverage market environment is different from the past when one company dominated. To revive its former glory, the road ahead will not be smooth. First: The overall sales of carbonated beverages are sluggish; Second: Niche categories and personalized flavors are prevalent, making it increasingly difficult for a single product to dominate the market; Third: The development of e-commerce, especially the popularity of mobile internet, requires changes in relying solely on traditional distribution channels and marketing strategies. If Jianlibao goes public, it will bring in huge funds to focus on R&D and product innovation, vigorously promote channel and brand reshaping, and with consumers' nostalgia for Jianlibao (like Beijing's Arctic Ocean soda), as long as the company does not 'kill' itself, it will develop in a good direction! What is the relationship between Jianlibao and CITIC Group? What are the chances of this listing succeeding? Jianlibao's major shareholder is Baoliwei (holding 67.19%). In 2017, Baoliwei pledged its shares to Beijing Chunxin Capital Management Co., Ltd., the only subsidiary of CITIC Asset Management Co., Ltd. engaged in equity investment and fund management. Beijing Chunxin Capital Management Co., Ltd. is a professional platform for CITIC Asset's investment and financing, fund management, operation of listed and unlisted company equity, and industrial fund investment. Go Jianlibao! When Chinese people and foreigners talk about which awesome food companies your country has, we can proudly say: Jianlibao! Source: Food Matters -END-