Top News

Global Top 100 FMCG Brands List Released

Recently, Euromonitor released the "Top 100 Megabrands" white paper, ranking the world's most successful FMCG brands by global retail sales in fiscal year 2017. Global beverage brands Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Nescafé took the top three spots.

Tetra Pak Launches New Cube Packaging, Saving 40% Storage and Transport Space

Earlier this month, Tetra Pak announced the launch of a new cube packaging, designed to provide efficient packaging solutions for dairy, juice, and liquid food products, optimizing space utilization. The new packaging is the aseptic 65ml cube - Tetra Classic Aseptic 65ml Cube. Six of these can be combined into a cube, and compared with the same series of Tetra Classic Aseptic 65ml packaging, it uses less secondary packaging, saving about 40% space when transporting the same quantity of products.

Tetra Pak stated that this means products can be safely transported over longer distances at lower costs, reaching consumers at reasonable prices. Additionally, through material upgrades, the new packaging meets the growing demand for environmentally friendly packaging.

According to Tetra Pak's official website, the new packaging solution was already used in Southeast Asia in December 2018 for coconut milk packaging in the foodservice sector, and it is manually packed into various forms of secondary packaging boxes.

a2 Milk Appoints Li Xiao as New CEO for Greater China

Yesterday, a2 Milk announced the appointment of Li Xiao as the new CEO for Greater China, reporting directly to Peter Nathan, CEO of a2 Milk Asia Pacific. The appointment takes effect from April 29, with the position based in Shanghai. According to information, Li Xiao previously worked at several multinational and local companies, including Mars, Nike, Burger King, and Wanda Group's children's entertainment division.

According to a2 Milk's interim financial report released in February this year, during the reporting period, revenue from the Chinese market increased to NZ$171 million, up 50.1%, and EBIT from Chinese market sales grew 41.6% to NZ$68.4 million. As a2 Milk's market share in China expands, it is attempting to build a localized core executive team for the Chinese market. Since November 2017, the positions of Executive Vice President of a2 Milk China and Head of Emerging Markets Business Development, both directly responsible for leading the local Chinese team, have undergone personnel changes.

Chengde Lulu Sues Shantou Lulu Again

The nearly eight-year-long trademark dispute between the northern and southern "Lulu" brands has escalated again. The controlling shareholder of Chengde Lulu hopes to completely resolve the "Lulu" trademark dispute through litigation. Recently, Chengde Lulu announced that the Hebei Provincial High People's Court accepted the case filed by Wanxiang Sannong Group Co., Ltd. against Linlin Group, Shantou High-tech Zone Lulu South Co., Ltd., Hong Kong Feida Enterprise Company, and Chengde Lulu for damages related to connected transactions, and requested the court to declare the "Memorandum" signed by the four parties invalid.

This lawsuit is the fourth time Chengde Lulu has sued Shantou Lulu in recent years. It is understood that in June 2015, Chengde Lulu filed a civil lawsuit with the Shuangqiao District People's Court of Chengde City, claiming that the "Memorandum" and related agreements were invalid, but withdrew the lawsuit due to missing evidence. In August 2017, Chengde Lulu sued Lulu South and Beijing Walmart's Jianguo Road branch for patent infringement, but the case was dismissed by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court because all involved patents were invalidated during the acceptance period. In February 2018, Chengde Lulu again sued South Lulu and Beijing Rongcheng Wenhua Supermarket for trademark infringement, seeking over 90 million yuan in damages.

Yili's Qiaolezi and Zhenxi Launch New Products

As one of Yili's six major business divisions, Yili Cold Drinks owns well-known brands such as Qiaolezi, Zhenxi, Ice Factory, and Yili Ranch. Facing the upcoming summer of 2019, Yili Cold Drinks will use a combination of new product launches, down-to-earth marketing, and channel expansion to bring its performance to a new level in 2019.

As a classic brand of Yili ice cream, Qiaolezi launched four new products in 2019, including: Qiaolezi Xiao V Tong ice cream, Classic Qiao Silong ice cream bar, Matcha Cheese Crispy Cone ice cream, and the Qixuan series Blackcurrant Chocolate Crisp Layer + Pistachio ice cream. Among them, Xiao V Tong and Qiao Silong are highly anticipated.

Zhenxi, Yili Cold Drinks' premium and sophisticated brand, after launching Greek yogurt flavor and blueberry cheese flavor in 2018, welcomes a new partner in 2019 - Zhenxi Sea Salt Avocado Ice Cream. Made with Mexican imported avocado, refreshing sea salt, and micron-level technology, this delicate and tasteful Zhenxi Sea Salt Avocado Ice Cream is created.

Probiotic Health Foods Release Draft for Comments

Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation organized the drafting of the "Provisions for the Application and Evaluation of Probiotic Health Foods (Draft for Comments)". The draft clearly defines probiotics, the viable cell count of each strain during the shelf life of probiotic health foods, and the strain identification units. It explicitly states that production strains should use a seed lot system, and trial production units should establish strain archives. Additionally, health foods produced using dead cells and metabolites of microbial strains should be named after their actual functional ingredients, and cannot be named as probiotics.

Financial Reports

Yangyuan Beverage Announces 2018 Results, Net Profit 2.6 Billion Yuan, Plans to Distribute 2.26 Billion in Dividends

On the evening of March 25, Yangyuan Beverage officially released its 2018 annual report.

The report shows that in 2018, Yangyuan Beverage achieved operating revenue of 8.144 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.21%; net profit of 2.678 billion yuan, up 15.92%; and non-GAAP net profit of 2.288 billion yuan, up 20.96%.

It is noteworthy that Yangyuan Beverage plans to distribute "10 shares for 4 shares and 30 yuan cash dividend per 10 shares" to all shareholders. Specifically, Yangyuan Beverage plans to pay a cash dividend of 30 yuan (including tax) per 10 shares to all shareholders, and transfer 4 shares from capital reserve per 10 shares (par value 1 yuan per share), totaling a cash dividend of 2.26 billion yuan and a share transfer of 301 million shares. The dividend amount accounts for 84.40% of last year's net profit.

Tibet Water Resources Announces 2018 Results, Water Business Revenue 540 Million Yuan, Slight Decrease of 5%

On March 24, Tibet Water Resources announced its 2018 annual results.

The financial report shows that the company's revenue from customer contracts was 880 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5%; net profit attributable to owners of the company was 318 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1%; earnings per share were 0.1268 yuan.

The report shows that revenue from the water business segment in 2018 was 540 million yuan, a slight decrease of 5% year-on-year.

Among water products, revenue from "5100 Glacier Water" decreased by 9% in 2018 compared to 2017 due to changes in customer structure; although the market segment for "Gesangquan" products faces intense brand competition, revenue from "Gesangquan" products increased by 3% compared to 2017. The group's total water product sales volume increased by 2% compared to 2017. In 2018, the group's "5100 Glacier Water" sales volume increased by 3% compared to 2017, while "Gesangquan" product sales volume slightly decreased by 1% compared to 2017.

The report shows that the gross margin of the water business segment was 58%, compared to 65% in 2017. The decline was mainly due to rising raw material costs and changes in customer and product structure.

Zhujiang Beer Achieves Record Net Profit of 366 Million Yuan in 2018

On March 25, Zhujiang Beer released its 2018 annual report. During the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of 4.039 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.33%; net profit of 366 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 97.68%, reaching a record high; and beer sales volume of 1.2396 million kiloliters, a year-on-year increase of 2.45%. In addition, Zhujiang Beer stated that from January to March 2019, the company expects to achieve net profit of 21.4281 million yuan to 30.3564 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20%-70%.

Retail

Suning Xiaodian Reaches 5,000 Stores, Becoming the Largest Self-operated Convenience Store Chain in China

On March 19, Bian Nong, President of Suning FMCG Group, introduced at the 2019 Suning FMCG Group Strategic Cooperation Conference that Suning Xiaodian currently has 5,000 stores, covering 71 cities, 25,000 communities, and 75 million users, making it the largest direct-operated convenience store chain in China.

China Franchise Top 100 List Released, Yum China and McDonald's China Rank Top Two

The China Chain Store & Franchise Association recently released the "2018 China Franchise Top 100 List", with Yum China and McDonald's China ranking first and second respectively.

In 2018, the sales scale of the top 100 franchise chains was about 430 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.8%, with the growth rate up 1.8 percentage points from the previous year. The total number of stores was 177,000, with a franchise ratio of 93.2%.

Hongqi Chain Achieves Best Performance Since Listing, Net Profit Up 95.66%

According to Lianshang.com, thanks to measures such as continuously optimizing product structure, improving store management efficiency, and strengthening internal control management, Hongqi Chain achieved merchandise sales revenue of 7.220 billion yuan in 2018, an increase of 4.05% over the same period last year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the company was 322 million yuan, an increase of 95.66% over the same period last year. In terms of store expansion, during the reporting period, 146 new stores were opened and 59 stores were closed. In 2019, on the one hand, the company will continue to accelerate store expansion and seize high-quality store resources; on the other hand, the company will not forget its online business, continuing to strengthen the construction and development of online platforms, striving for simultaneous progress in both online and offline channels.

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