On July 1, Hua Bin Group, the operator of Red Bull in China, announced the official introduction of Norwegian premium water brand VOSS into China, with products available in sparkling and still variants, each with a net content of 375ml.
VOSS is the fourth beverage brand under Hua Bin Group, following Red Bull, Vita Coco natural coconut water, and children's drink Capri-Sun.
The VOSS brand belongs to Norwegian premium bottled water manufacturer Voss of Norway ASA (hereinafter referred to as VOSS), which was acquired by Hua Bin Group in January this year. Hua Bin Group has not disclosed its shareholding ratio in VOSS or the amount paid. According to earlier reports by The Wall Street Journal, VOSS revealed that Hua Bin agreed to acquire slightly more than 50% of its shares for approximately $105 million. A source close to Hua Bin Group told Jiemian News that Hua Bin Group acquired 51% of VOSS's shares through the acquisition.
This is similar to Hua Bin Group's approach in 2014 when it introduced American plant-based protein drink Vita Coco. In July 2014, Hua Bin Group acquired 25% of Vita Coco for approximately $165 million and began distributing Vita Coco products in China.
Public data shows that VOSS, founded in 1998, has a sales network in nearly 50 countries worldwide, with last year's revenue of $77.5 million (approximately RMB 516 million), a year-on-year increase of nearly 25%. The U.S. market contributes about 70% of the company's total revenue, where VOSS water is the designated water for numerous Michelin-starred restaurants, Four Seasons Hotels, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, W Hotels, and other world-class hotels, and often appears at leader meetings and major sporting events.
In the Chinese market, VOSS was previously sold on e-commerce platforms such as Yihaodian and Alibaba, with a price of around RMB 20 per bottle and annual sales of approximately $2 million (about RMB 13.316 million).
The source of Hua Bin's VOSS water is Zhuxi, Hubei, where Hua Bin has built a production base with a capacity of 250,000 tons.
However, Yan Bin's expectations for VOSS go far beyond this. He declared that the Zhuxi mineral water project, based on the initial phase of 250,000 tons capacity, will immediately plan a second phase to ensure that within 5 to 8 years, the capacity reaches 1 million tons, with an output value of over RMB 10 billion and tax payments of over RMB 800 million, becoming a leading player in the premium water sector.
According to Hua Bin FMCG Group, by 2020, the global water market's annual sales are expected to reach $246.6 billion (approximately RMB 1,641.739 billion), and China's bottled water sales will leap to the world's first. As Chinese consumers' demand for quality of life increases, the demand for premium water will also grow, which provides an opportunity for VOSS's development in China.
Hua Bin is not the only one optimistic about China's premium water market. Nongfu Spring launched its premium glass bottled water in February 2015, available in sparkling and still variants, priced at around RMB 50, targeting high-end dining, hotels, and premium supermarket channels. Earlier entrant French premium water brand Evian has already captured 25% of China's premium water market.
Judging from the sales performance of Vita Coco and Capri-Sun over the past year, Hua Bin's path to creating "another Red Bull" is still long. However, any new brand needs time to be recognized by consumers. If Hua Bin, with its successful experience in operating Red Bull, can maintain patience and continuously adjust to market changes, then VOSS's future is still promising.
Zhao Bo's Comment on Hua Bin Introducing VOSS to China:
In China, in the fast-moving drinking water market, there are only consumption scenarios, not consumer groups. Consumption scenarios are divided into physiological needs and scenario needs.
Premium water has huge consumption capacity but no specific consumer group, which is why the domestic drinking water market priced above RMB 5 has not seen improvement.
Hua Bin's accelerated layout and expansion of its product line in the FMCG sector in the past two years can be seen as preparation for Monster's entry into China. Because once Monster is introduced to China by Coca-Cola, Hua Bin is well aware that Red Bull's market share will decline rapidly. The competition between Red Bull and Monster in the U.S. already illustrates this.
Data shows that in the U.S., Monster Beverage's market share grew to 39% in 2014, while Red Bull's market share decreased to 43% in the same year. In other words, Monster Beverage increased its market share in the U.S. by about 34% over 12 years, while Red Bull declined by 27% during the same period.
Hua Bin, which has been operating Red Bull in China, cannot be unaware of this. Diversified strategic layout, with premium water being one of the best choices for Hua Bin at present, is exactly the same as JDB's layout of Kunlun Mountain in the past.
But whether it can open up the situation in China remains to be seen.
At the request of our distributor friends, the third B-end e-commerce inspection class of this public platform will visit Wan Shang Yi Zhan, Yun Bao Shang Meng, and Wei Jie City Distribution from July 9-12. Distributor friends interested in transformation can join us for on-site inspections:
Organization Form
- Company visit
- Actual market case visit
- On-site explanation
- One-on-one communication
Participating distributor friends only need to pay a registration fee of 200 yuan. Time: July 9-12, 2016. Location: Changsha, Xiamen.
Interested distributor friends can register by long-pressing the QR code below.
When adding friends, please reply "Third Registration".
Previous Inspection Enterprise Cases:
Yishang Logistics Model Inspection (Second B-end E-commerce Inspection Group Yishang Logistics)
Caiba Model Inspection
Jinhuobao Model Inspection
Beiquan Model On-site Inspection
Piduoduo Model On-site Inspection
-END-
China's best FMCG distributor learning platform Focusing on providing professional, practical, and applicable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly
The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry
Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base
| 001 Excellent Article Selection | 002 Distributor Market Operation | 003 Terminal Visit Management | 004 Sales Supervisor Skills | 005 Sales Volume Improvement Tips | 006 Channel Expansion | 007 Managing Distributors | 008 Distributor Development | 009 Distributor Internal Operations Management | 010 Team Management | 011 Efficient Distribution Skills | 012 Sales Manager's Skills | 013 KA Operation Methods and Strategies | 014 First Lesson for New Sales | 015 Internet, Brand | 016 Distributor B2B Transformation |
[Long press QR code to follow]