Recently, multiple listed beverage companies have released their Q1-Q3 2025 performance reports. Against the backdrop of slowing growth in the FMCG industry, the beverage sector shows a clear pattern of 'one side hot, one side under pressure.'
In our compilation of 12 listed beverage companies' Q1-Q3 performance, only 4 achieved double growth in revenue and net profit, 7 saw declines in both, and 1 had mixed results. Specifically, structural divergence is widening: functional beverages continue to lead, driven by single products and new scenarios; bottled water remains stable; while tea drinks and juices continue to face pressure amid shrinking demand and channel adjustments.
Some are surging, some are controlling losses, and some have just stopped declining. In the same industry, why are growth trajectories so different? What strategic choices are influencing their performance?
Growth Categories:
Functional Beverages: Unlocking Increment through Scenario Innovation
In the 2025 beverage track, functional beverages' performance remains impressive, with growth rates leading among core sub-categories. Their growth does not rely on repackaging or single-product expansion, but on finer scenario awareness and faster product adaptation capabilities.
Dongpeng Beverage, as a representative of the functional beverage track, delivered outstanding Q1-Q3 performance. The company achieved operating revenue of 16.844 billion yuan (+34.13%); net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.761 billion yuan (+38.91%), with Q3 single-quarter net profit growth reaching 41.91%. Its growth logic can be summarized as 'core single product stabilizing the base + sub-scenario breaking out':
On one hand, the classic energy drink continues to consolidate the basic market, achieving revenue of 12.563 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.4%, maintaining high repurchase in high-intensity work scenarios such as logistics and construction;
On the other hand, the electrolyte beverage 'Dongpeng Bule' launched for sports, outdoor, and other scenarios achieved sales of 2.847 billion yuan, with its share jumping from 9.66% to 16.91%, becoming the second growth curve.
The nationwide channel layout further amplifies growth advantages. As of the first half of 2025, Dongpeng Beverage has established a sales network covering 4.2 million terminals, achieving breakthroughs in non-core regions such as North China and Southwest, with revenue growing over 72% and 48.91% year-on-year respectively, effectively reducing dependence on the South China market.
At the same time, cost dividends also support profitability. In 2025, PET and white sugar prices entered a phased decline, coupled with economies of scale, the company's gross margin for Q1-Q3 reached 45.17%, and net margin rose to 22.32%, leading the beverage industry in profitability.
From an industry perspective, the growth of functional beverages is not an isolated case. Data from Mashangying shows that in Q1 2025, the market share of functional beverages grew 13.57% year-on-year, with demand for scenarios such as workplace refreshment and outdoor hydration continuing to release. Companies with advantages in 'big single products + omni-channel' are better positioned to seize this market opportunity.
Stable Categories:
Bottled Water: Divergent Game between Head and Regional Brands
As a basic category in the beverage industry, bottled water saw overall growth in the 3%-10% range in Q1-Q3 2025, but internal divergence is significant: head companies rely on scale and channel advantages to capture market share, while regional brands seek survival space through water source differentiation. The strategic paths of the two types of players are completely different.
From the head enterprises, Yili's 'Yike Huoquan' is a growth highlight in the bottled water track, with Q1-Q3 revenue growing 70% year-on-year, mainly driven by dual breakthroughs in brand and channels. Leveraging Yili's brand awareness in the FMCG field, 'Yike Huoquan' quickly entered the mid-to-high-end bottled water market, while launching low-sodium light mineral water for the maternal and infant group, meeting the safety needs of parenting families, and performing prominently in maternal and infant channels; on the channel side, it relies on Yili's existing network to quickly penetrate township terminals and modern channels, successfully achieving cross-regional expansion.
Among regional brands, Quanyangquan's development path leans more towards relying on water sources and OEM. In Q1-Q3, Quanyangquan achieved total operating revenue of 1.022 billion yuan (+13.68%), and net profit attributable to shareholders of 24.6738 million yuan (+15.2%). Its core competitiveness comes from two aspects:
First, relying on the high-quality water source in Changbai Mountain with metasilicic acid content three times the national standard, it has consolidated a stable user base in the Northeast market;
Second, by OEM for Hema's private label bottled water (the cooperation has lasted three years, with OEM volume increasing year by year), it leverages Hema's channels to reach consumers in first-tier cities nationwide.
Despite the impressive results, the shortcomings of regional brands are also obvious. Data from the first half of 2025 shows that Quanyangquan's revenue from the Northeast region still accounts for 86.09% of total beverage business revenue. Although external markets are growing rapidly, the base is still small. How to control costs while forming economies of scale in external markets is the next problem Quanyangquan needs to solve.
Under Pressure Categories:
Traditional Beverages: Short-term Adjustments amid Transformation Pain
On the other side, traditional beverage categories (such as plant protein drinks and traditional instant drinks) are generally facing growth pressure, with most companies seeing declines in both revenue and profit, requiring short-term adjustments to alleviate operational pressure.
From performance data, both types of companies show clear pressure: In the plant protein drink sector, Yangyuan ZhiPin's Q1-Q3 revenue was 3.905 billion yuan (-7.64%), with net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.119 billion yuan (-8.95%); Chengde Lulu's revenue in the same period was 1.956 billion yuan (-9.42%), with net profit of 384 million yuan (-8.47%). In the traditional instant drink sector, Xiangpiaopiao's performance is more severe, with Q1-Q3 operating revenue of 1.684 billion yuan (-13.12%) and a net loss of 89 million yuan (-603.07%), becoming a typical case of the difficulties faced by traditional beverage categories.
The core problems these companies face are common:
First, product iteration lags behind, relying on traditional single products for a long time, and new product development fails to meet current health-oriented and instant consumption demands;
Second, reliance on a single scenario, with insufficient penetration in daily consumption scenarios, leading to larger revenue declines in off-season;
Third, insufficient channel adaptation, with high dependence on traditional supermarket channels, slow layout in emerging channels such as community group buying and hard discount stores, missing incremental market opportunities.
Facing such difficulties, some companies are also trying short-term adjustments to alleviate pressure: Yangyuan ZhiPin, leveraging low-cost raw materials stocked in advance, achieved a 88.2% year-on-year increase in net profit in Q3; Chengde Lulu launched a new series of health water products, attempting to open new growth space; Xiangpiaopiao is focusing on the ready-to-drink business to form a dual-drive, with Q1-Q3 ready-to-drink product sales revenue of 833 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.92%, with revenue share exceeding the instant drink business for the first time, while also building new growth poles by deepening campus and bulk snack channels and expanding the catering track. However, these adjustments mostly remain at the short-term response level and have not yet fundamentally solved the core problem of shrinking demand.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the divergence in the beverage industry in Q1-Q3 2025 essentially reflects differences in companies' capabilities in cost management, channel adaptation, and innovation response. Specifically:
First, cost management capability. Under the normalized pressure of raw material price fluctuations and high logistics costs, companies need to shift cost control from passively receiving dividends to actively building barriers, internalizing cost advantages into sustainable operational capabilities.
Second, channel adaptation capability. Emerging channels capture increment, traditional channels stabilize the base. Companies that can quickly adapt to diverse scenarios are more likely to seize structural growth opportunities.
Third, innovation response capability. Health-oriented demand has entered a segmentation stage, with differences in demand across regions, scenarios, and demographics reshaping product logic. Companies need to move beyond the 'pan-health' logic and explore incremental space in sub-segments, rather than relying on a single hit product.
As the FMCG industry enters a period of value deepening and adjustment, the essence of divergence is whether companies can keep up with the structural shift in consumer demand from 'standardized supply' to 'personalized adaptation.' The real winners in the future will not only build solid foundational barriers but also develop operational capabilities to quickly capture trends, iterate products, and precisely implement them across diverse consumption scenarios, thereby maintaining competitive resilience amid industry cycle fluctuations.