---
title: "Should Distributors Take on This Year's Hottest Product: Black Water?"
description: "Every year, one or two beverage products become hot in China's market; last year it was coconut juice, the year before that lactic acid bacteria drinks, and this year, fermented juice and black water are the topics. This article discusses the origins of black water, its marketing hype, and advises distributors to be cautious about carrying domestic knockoff versions."
author: "赵波"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-04-05"
language: "en"
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markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/should-distributors-take-on-this-year-s-hottest-product-black-water-017422e5.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-4p0IH5x7XiLMQburw2Evg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%BB%8A%E5%B9%B4%E7%81%AB%E7%88%86%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%8D%E5%BE%97%E4%BA%86%E7%9A%84%E9%BB%91%E6%B0%B4%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E5%95%86%E5%88%B0%E5%BA%95%E8%A6%81%E4%B8%8D%E8%A6%81%E5%81%9A-017422e5.md"
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---

# Should Distributors Take on This Year's Hottest Product: Black Water?

> Every year, one or two beverage products become hot in China's market; last year it was coconut juice, the year before that lactic acid bacteria drinks, and this year, fermented juice and black water are the topics. This article discusses the origins of black water, its marketing hype, and advises distributors to be cautious about carrying domestic knockoff versions.

Every year, there are one or two hot beverage products in China's market. Last year it was coconut juice, the year before that lactic acid bacteria drinks. This year, I haven't heard of any particularly hot products, but if I had to name one, I'd say fermented juice and black water are the topics.

Today, let's talk about the legendary black water. First, let's take a poll to see what everyone thinks of this product.

Let's talk about the origin of this product:

**Who invented this black water?**

It is understood that this product originated in the United States. BLK was invented by sisters Jacqueline and Louise Wilkie back in 2008. At the time, they were both working in development at a brewery, but unfortunately, their mother was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and had only one year to live. So the sisters put down their work and tried giving their mother water infused with fulvic acid, which ultimately saved her life. **---Obviously, the above paragraph was made up to fool people.**

BLK black water (US version) entered the Chinese market as early as 2012. Although it wasn't on shelves in supermarkets and other physical stores, it was selling like hotcakes on major e-commerce platforms. If you want to try something new, you can go to e-commerce platforms.

Speaking of this black water from the US, it is said to contain the rare element fulvic acid. What is that?

I searched Baidu Baike and was shocked—fulvic acid seems to be all-powerful.

"Fulvic acid is an extremely complex yellow organic substance with bioactive properties. It is the ultimate aerobic decomposition product of all living matter. It has unusual traits and abilities, capable of changing and transforming molecular combinations, containing almost all organic and inorganic substances. It also has the property of fusing molecules." —Baidu Baike

**Obviously, that paragraph was also modified by the brand's Chinese marketers.**

In reality, fulvic acid and humic acid are the main components of humus. I don't know how they came up with "rarely found in nature." Also, shouldn't minerals be inorganic salts? What is fulvic acid, a group of organic compounds, doing here?

I think most people would rather drink the so-called "rare, healthful fulvic acid black water" than "a solution of the main components of soil humus, which we don't know the use or toxicity of," right?

Not to mention that after searching for a long time, all the papers on fulvic acid are about soil, water quality, and such. Even the Baidu Baike entry that was modified by marketers has to admit, "Fulvic acid has been recognized by the scientific community, but it has not been widely applied in the medical field."

In short, **people who buy this water are doing it to show off. They want to elevate their status, and that's enough.**

**Alright, let's dig into the so-called black waters made by domestic companies that are jumping on the bandwagon.**

I won't name them one by one, but if the US black water is for showing off, then I completely don't understand why these domestic ones, which are just juice in a black bottle, are sold so expensively.

Let's first look at what domestic black waters are made of:

Some are made from mulberry juice, some from blueberry, and some are knockoffs of Monster Energy's "Monster" drink. These are the ones you can see in the media. There are also some unknown small factories that fill black bottles with flavoring + coloring + water.

My advice to distributors for these products is: choose carefully, try with small shipments, or it's better not to carry them at all.

Why not?

These products, to put it bluntly, are knockoffs of BLK's bottle, using low prices to fool distributors and consumers. The quality, concept, and brand cannot support the price and market of this product. They just rely on packaging to fool consumers.

In addition, I investigated the ex-factory prices of various brands, and they are not low—over 30 yuan. Where does that price come from? Obviously, these small factories have no intention of doing long-term business with this product; they just want to make a quick buck and leave.

Some distributors are fooled by the manufacturers' grandiose claims of support and selling points, and in a moment of excitement, they pay and order some goods. Some small factories require a minimum order of just 300 pieces. Because the packaging is relatively novel, distribution is fast, and many consumers can't resist buying a bottle to try when they see it. This gives distributors the illusion of a hot seller, thinking they've found a treasure.

The problem is, after the second round of distribution, once consumers have tried it, it becomes difficult to move the product quickly again.

This product's packaging has no intellectual property protection, and the contents have no technical content. This year, it's likely that 30 to 50 knockoff brands will appear in the market. These brands have no marketing skills, and in the end, it all comes down to price. In the end, the first movers will suffer the most.

My advice to distributors: when choosing products, be sure to see the consumer trend clearly. Consumers are now rational. Those concepts that don't land and flashy packaging should be chosen with caution.

On a side note, nowadays, a product's success in the market is not like before, where you just distributed it and relied on the manufacturer's support and ground-level distribution to sell well.

Have you noticed that Evergrande Spring Water's overwhelming advertising can't move consumers either? Why?

The main consumer group for beverages is mostly teenagers aged 15-30. The oldest were born in 1986. This generation is hard to fool. They have a very high awareness of brand, quality, and value for money, and they have easy access to information. So, for non-branded, miscellaneous products, if they don't have extremely compelling selling points, it's best not to carry them if you can avoid it.

In addition, distributors are still the preferred partners for traditional FMCG companies in China for market promotion. But small companies don't have the ability to do market development. The manufacturers' salespeople at trade fairs fool one truckload at a time. They don't care about how to operate in the market or how to promote the brand. Most of the distributors who are fooled are newcomers who have just entered the industry and have no channels. This results in many "one-truck deaths," where the goods die, the market dies, and the distributor loses money.

In WeChat groups, friends often ask me what to do if the product they just got an agency for isn't selling. I usually tell them: after clearing the inventory, either pull out, or first work as a second-tier distributor for first-tier brands for a few years, and then talk about it once you have channels.

As for whether to do it or not, distributor friends, you decide for yourselves. If you think I'm wrong, feel free to leave a comment and argue.

********-END-********

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