Yesterday, I read an article saying it was the 300th day of 2020. Because of the pandemic, time has felt somewhat chaotic. For the FMCG market, the sudden disaster meant the Spring Festival consumption peak season was gone, people no longer visited friends and relatives with gift boxes, and there was much less laughter and joy. Many categories were dormant for months, and countless FMCG companies saw their performance fluctuate as a result.

In the face of such a disaster, both manufacturers and distributors faced a common challenge: how to recover the lost sales? At the same time, with performance pressure, how could 'partners' like manufacturers and distributors safely navigate this period of trust crisis?

Looking back, it's common to see manufacturer-dealer relationships break down in times of difficulty. Distributors may voluntarily exit, and companies may cut off distributors from time to time.

However, when I recently communicated with a distributor I know well, he expressed great satisfaction with the manufacturer he works with. You know, since the outbreak, 9 out of 10 distributors have been complaining, but he was the only one who gave me positive feedback.

This boss, surnamed Chen, has been representing Six Walnut for ten years. He started his business with borrowed money, and the rise of Six Walnut led to his success. After the outbreak, Boss Chen faced inventory backlog and cash flow difficulties. Until today, his business has recovered and the crisis has passed. Although sales have fluctuated, he told me he is full of confidence in Yangyuan Company.

**-01- **Crisis Turned Opportunity! Six Walnut Builds a New Type of Manufacturer-Dealer Relationship

During the pandemic, I heard too many distributors complain that 2020 was tough, sales hadn't recovered, inventory was piling up, and manufacturers were powerless. But among Six Walnut's distributor network, it was different. They received a promise of 'never abandon, never give up.'

Here are statements from several distributors.

'When the pandemic was at its worst, the inventory pressure was suffocating, but by July, the inventory was cleared. Now we're selling new stock. General Manager Deng personally led a team of regional managers to visit me, which really put my mind at ease,' said Mr. Zhang from Suqian Zhengxi Trading. The Mr. Deng he mentioned is the deputy general manager of Yangyuan Beverage.

'Yangyuan is very responsible. At my peak, I had nearly 100,000 units in inventory including at terminals. The company didn't give up on me. Several leaders came to my warehouse to inspect and gave me plans to clear inventory, including for the college entrance exam season, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. The company has been helping me plan all along,' said Mr. Gao from Taizhou. 'Now sales have basically recovered.'

Mr. Chen from Jingjiang City told me: 'I've been doing Six Walnut for 10 years. You could say I grew up with the company. This pandemic made me feel that the company stands with me. The company is truly practicing the 'Five Co-constructions.' Many companies talk about co-development and co-responsibility, but not many actually do it. Six Walnut has done it.'

In fact, the 'Five Co-construction' principle of Six Walnut has existed for a long time. Since the early days of Yangyuan Beverage, it has been supporting and cultivating distributors' marketing capabilities and networks, helping them improve in areas such as self-management and market sales. During the pandemic, Six Walnut launched a series of measures to overcome difficulties together with distributors. For partners, their business recovered quickly, reducing significant losses; for Six Walnut, the greater gain was consolidating 'people's hearts.'

The market changes rapidly, and 'black swan' events like the pandemic can happen at any time, unpredictable. But as they say, adversity reveals true friendship. When these distributors were in their most difficult times, Yangyuan Beverage did not abandon them, and the manufacturer-dealer relationship will be further solidified and elevated. Moreover, this event gave distributors enough confidence to trust Yangyuan Beverage.

For a company to truly last fifty or a hundred years, the key is having enough support to weather difficulties. After the pandemic, these distributors who were not abandoned today will give Yangyuan Beverage the most solid support in the future. From this pandemic, it is clear that Yangyuan Beverage's implementation and adherence to the 'Five Co-constructions' principle is evident to all, and a company firmly supported by its distributors will not be fundamentally affected by short-term market fluctuations or its long-term development process.

**-02- Yangyuan Beverage's Determination and Boldness in Transformation

Beyond the unchanged commitment to partners, it is actually the transformation of Yangyuan Beverage and its star brand 'Six Walnut' that is truly impressive.

In deep research on this company, an insider told me that Yangyuan Beverage has made significant strategic adjustments and changes, starting from basic market demand, to product matrix development, marketing system, and internal organizational structure.

The source said that the pandemic accelerated the pace of organizational restructuring at Yangyuan Beverage. In the first half of the year, they completed good responses from product to channel. The newly established Product Strategy Department, Channel Strategy Department, and Brand Strategy Department are highly interconnected, with greater structural consistency, avoiding resource waste and better supporting long-term strategy implementation.

In terms of product strategy, Six Walnut has changed its previous stereotype of 'no product innovation.' In just the first half of the year, it launched multiple new products such as 'Six Walnut Matcha+', 'Plant Milk', 'Kamuning', and '1L Tetra Pak'. The recently launched high-end new product 'Six Walnut 2430' has been widely praised.

This strategic adjustment is a transformation oriented towards value innovation.

Take 'Six Walnut 2430' as an example. After detailed market research, adhering to the concept of excellence, they leveraged existing technology to the fullest to create a 'healthy all-rounder' product with '0 sugar, 0 flavoring, 0 cholesterol,' each 240ml can of walnut milk containing 24g of walnut kernels.

As soon as the product hit the market, it won over a host of true fans and also gained recognition from experts and scholars. Through Six Walnut 2430, we can see Yangyuan Beverage once again perfectly implementing its unique health concept. The launch of 2430 is expected to change Yangyuan's product landscape, upgrade its core products to high-end, and add a powerful player to Yangyuan's expansion in the 'healthy consumption' market.

Similarly, in terms of marketing system and channels, Six Walnut has basically completed the construction of an online and offline platform content ecosystem. On the basis of intensively cultivating traditional channels, it strengthens terminal outlets and deepens the existing market; in response to the rise of new consumption scenarios, it actively develops live-streaming e-commerce, community group buying, O2O, etc., continuously expanding market increment.

It can be seen that from corporate management to product innovation and upgrade, to the optimization of channel structure and marketing system, Yangyuan Beverage, after a small trough, has shown a good state with the potential of a 'century-old enterprise.'

This industry insider told me that Yangyuan Beverage is a company worthy of respect.

You know, in a large enterprise, changes involving organizational structure adjustments often encounter huge internal resistance; product strategy adjustments also face many difficulties, even causing market pain and affecting short-term performance, requiring significant effort and resources. Yet Yangyuan Beverage did it without hesitation, with firm steps, completing various reforms with overwhelming momentum. This is a boldness that many large enterprises lack.

**-03- **## Trends + Structural Dividends: A New Surge for Six Walnut

If good manufacturer-dealer relationships and strategic transformation adjustments reflect Yangyuan's sense of responsibility and corporate boldness, then the trend is the market's response to 'hardworking' companies. Many industry insiders expressed the same view: Yangyuan Beverage is bound to usher in a new explosive point after this pandemic.

What is the trend? After the pandemic, 'big health' has become more prominent. With the rise of consumer health awareness, the plant-based milk beverage industry has also welcomed its own concept trend. On the other hand, after years of development, the industry inevitably shows a trend of oligopoly, and Six Walnut, as the industry leader, will also reap this dividend.

As the pioneer of the walnut milk category, Six Walnut's brand has long been firmly rooted in consumers' minds, and it holds absolute discourse power in this category. Today, as brand concentration increases, this advantage has formed a barrier that new products and brands find hard to break.

Furthermore, the more a food and beverage product represents health, the more its health attributes and food safety are scrutinized and amplified. Six Walnut has an incomparable advantage in this regard.

As early as 2014-2018, among global new food and beverage product launches, the average annual compound growth rate of products with 'plant-based' claims had already reached 68%. The development of plant-based milk abroad even affected milk sales. The pandemic only acted as a catalyst, accelerating this trend.

In the domestic market, in recent years, large or emerging food companies such as Nongfu Spring, Mengniu, Yili, and Coca-Cola have quickly joined the 'plant-based' track, each leveraging their strengths. But so far, no product has emerged that can support a large-scale market, and the gap with Six Walnut remains huge. This is why many people still believe Six Walnut will lead the industry's development.

Interestingly, just recently, Thailand's TCP Group, the owner of the 'Red Bull' brand, granted Yangyuan Beverage the exclusive distribution rights for Red Bull Annejie in all channels north of the Yangtze River. Since the cooperation is still short, not much is known about performance, but the reason why TCP Group, an international food and beverage giant, chose to cooperate with Yangyuan Beverage is worth pondering for industry practitioners.

After experiencing the sudden difficulties of the pandemic, Six Walnut has welcomed the dividends from the dual trends of oligopoly and 'plant-based'; coupled with its solid quality foundation; the new organizational and marketing systems after strategic adjustments; and the just-tested, highly coordinated distributor team, it can be said to have occupied 'favorable timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony.'

The birth of Six Walnut can be said to have created a legend that amazed the entire industry. Now, after the baptism of the pandemic, Six Walnut, showing vigorous vitality in all aspects, is highly likely to set off a new wave.

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