Wahaha chairman Zong Qinghou publicly stated that 'private enterprises may not necessarily be succeeded by children'; his daughter Zong Fuli has repeatedly sought independent entrepreneurship, saying she hopes to 'acquire Wahaha'. This time, the princess's fate has become the focus again. On November 18, Hangzhou Wahaha Group celebrated its 30th birthday. Chairman Zong Qinghou once again discussed the topic of Wahaha's succession, saying, 'The succession of private enterprises may not necessarily be by children; it could also be by the management team.' This brought the name of Zong Fuli, the only daughter of Zong Qinghou and widely recognized as the 'successor', back into the spotlight. From four or five years ago when he said 'it is estimated that half of the second generation of private entrepreneurs will not take over' and '(I) will work for at least another 20 years', to 2017's 'it could also be management succession', although Zong Qinghou has been trying to avoid linking his daughter with Wahaha's succession, people have long been expecting the heir to this beverage empire, and Zong Fuli seems to be the only clear candidate so far. Many signs indicate that Zong Fuli is trying to break the 'persona' imposed on her by the outside world. On July 14, her failed acquisition of Hong Kong-listed China Candy was seen by outsiders as an attempt to establish her own business. A year earlier, she became a topic of discussion because she led the launch of a customized fruit and vegetable juice that was completely different from Wahaha's previous products. Zong Fuli hopes people will set aside her family background and re-recognize her as 'Zong Fuli' herself, although compared to Wahaha's scale, her current achievements are not yet convincing enough for everyone.
Uncertain 'Succession' In the biography 'Zong Qinghou: The Principle of Universal Gravitation', author Chi Yuzhou mentioned that Zong Fuli's name is taken from the homophones of 'fortune' and 'benefit', reflecting Zong Qinghou's simple hope for his daughter - to have both fortune and benefit. For Zong Fuli, her father Zong Qinghou and the Wahaha he founded have brought her a high starting point in life, extending to material conditions, social prestige, business experience, and more; but this also means that over the years, the differences between Zong Fuli and Zong Qinghou have rarely been mentioned. In a 2016 media interview, she said her favorite occupation was freelancing, 'doing whatever I want, isn't that good?' Since 2010, Zong Fuli has been the president of Hongsheng Beverage Group Co., Ltd., which handles one-third of Wahaha's product OEM processing, mainly engaged in food flavors, machinery molds, printing and packaging, and beverage production. Within Wahaha, employees are accustomed to calling Zong Qinghou 'big boss' or 'big Zong', and Zong Fuli 'little boss' or 'little Zong'. Zhou Jiuming, a veteran of Wahaha and current production director of Hongsheng Group, once revealed his guess about the successor to the media: 'Since the daughter has entered the beverage industry, if not her, who else would manage Wahaha?' When it comes to career, Zong Fuli clearly distinguishes between herself and her father. For her, managing Hongsheng and developing new products is another form of 'entrepreneurship'. In proving her capabilities, Zong Fuli is as stubborn as Zong Qinghou. Zong Fuli proposed a form of succession like this - 'If I succeed, I hope to acquire Wahaha. That would be a form of ownership, not inheritance.' On the other hand, Zong Qinghou's earlier remarks about 'being able to work for another 20 years' made the succession timeline even more uncertain. In previous public media appearances, Zong Qinghou did not avoid the succession issue when talking about Zong Fuli, and his stance was consistent with this time. In 2014, he proposed that children might take over equity, but management succession was not certain, admitting that 'succession needs to be observed slowly'. In a mid-2015 interview, Zong Qinghou said that whether Zong Fuli is willing to take over should follow her own wishes, 'She has been abroad for a long time, and her perspective is different from domestic ones. Actually, as a private enterprise, Wahaha can also have management succession.' On the issue of succession, being willing to talk about retirement seems to be the only softening time has brought to the over-70-year-old Zong Qinghou. Proving Herself In 2011, Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli jointly participated in a program on CCTV's financial channel. The host asked Zong Qinghou, 'What does Wahaha plus Zong Fuli equal?' 'A stronger Wahaha.' The host then asked Zong Fuli: 'What does Wahaha minus Zong Qinghou equal?' 'Zero.' The glory of Wahaha seems to belong entirely to Zong Qinghou. Even after more than a decade in Wahaha, Zong Fuli's most well-known title is still 'Zong Qinghou's daughter'. Zong Fuli's first attempt to push herself to the market front line was in July 2016, when she launched the personalized customized fruit and vegetable juice product 'kellyone' - Kelly is her English name, and the English word 'one' suggests first and unique. This is a juice entirely in Zong Fuli's style, from product planning to production to promotion, all very different from Wahaha. Kellyone is more in line with internet thinking, fashionable and trendy, and small but beautiful, with restrained promotion and channels. 'Customization' is a highlight of kellyone. Users can choose which fruits and vegetables to mix into a drink on the 'kellyone' WeChat public account, or directly choose pre-made products. After ordering online, they can receive the juice as soon as the next day. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Zong Fuli invested several million RMB in the entire plan and built a 400-square-meter central kitchen. Initially, Zong Fuli conservatively estimated kellyone's production capacity at about 1,000 bottles per day; also considering the market's acceptance of natural cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices, the product was only available in Hangzhou and Shanghai. However, Hongsheng has never publicly disclosed kellyone's sales, and the results of the trial are unknown. At the end of May this year, at the national young private entrepreneurs' ideal and belief report meeting, Zong Fuli described kellyone as 'the transformation and upgrading of traditional food enterprises should also catch the fast train of the internet'. Regardless of the outcome, this attempt allowed her to have a position outside of Zong Qinghou and Wahaha: people at least know that kellyone is Zong Fuli's. And Zong Qinghou's remarks to the media on the occasion of Wahaha's 30th anniversary seem to be an echo of Zong Fuli's attempts. According to media reports citing Zong Qinghou's views, while Wahaha continues to develop the traditional food and beverage industry, it is actively developing health products business, and may launch products to lower blood sugar or promote sleep in the future to meet new market demands; in addition, Wahaha may acquire some high-tech industry companies in the future, and he has already been to the United States, Germany, and Israel to look for high-tech projects. Between Self and Compromise 'Can you see me?' Zong Fuli once asked reporters in an interview last year. As an entrepreneur, Zong Fuli was once hidden behind her father, only gradually gaining attention in recent years; as an individual, Zong Fuli is more often overshadowed by her entrepreneur identity. Zong Fuli defends her self and independence by being protective of her reputation. She therefore chose to keep a low profile, worried that too much contact with the outside world 'would assimilate me'. In life, Zong Fuli, as she describes herself, is 'quite childlike', watching Korean dramas, cycling to West Lake on weekends with good weather, and her favorite book is 'The Little Prince'. On social media, Zong Fuli prefers to show her personal side. After opening her Sina Weibo account in April last year, her first post was 'No one pays attention to me'. On Weibo, Zong Fuli shares her plants, birthday parties, and daily life with simple pictures or text, including work, such as the statement about the failed acquisition of China Candy in July this year. It is worth noting that her father Zong Qinghou's Sina Weibo is not in her following list. Zong Fuli is not completely unaffected. In 2012, she was elected as a 'Global Young Leader' of the Davos Forum and 'Fengyun Zheshang' of the year, and donated to Zhejiang University to build the 'Zhejiang University Fuli Food Research Institute'; in 2013, she was elected as a standing committee member of the 11th Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; in 2014, she established the 'Zhejiang Fuli Charity Foundation' and donated to Xi'an Jiaotong University to create the 'Xi'an Jiaotong University Fuli School of Food Science and Engineering'; in July this year, she was elected as vice president of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce. But Zong Fuli's edge has not completely faded. She has extended her strict and efficient work style to social affairs. The negotiation for donating to Zhejiang University to establish a food research institute took a year, and Zong Fuli set requirements for every specific matter, down to the professors hired and the practical use of each fund, and was evaluated as 'the most demanding donor'. Financial columnist Dongfang Yu once expressed optimism about Zong Fuli in an article comparing her with Yang Huiyan and Liu Chang: It may seem too sharp now, but she will eventually become the mainstream of future entrepreneurs. Nearly 30% of Family Businesses Have Not Considered Succession 'Now, the majority of private enterprises will definitely not be succeeded by children; in the end, it will be management succession, because most children return from studying abroad, have different perspectives, and are not willing to do the physical industry.' Zong Qinghou admitted on the 18th: 'So most children will not take over; their interest is not here.' On November 22, a Beijing News reporter tried to contact Wahaha Group regarding the succession issue but received no response. Broadening the view to private enterprises nationwide, some survey data seems to support Zong Qinghou's statement that 'children do not take over'. The '2016 China Family Business Health Index Report' jointly conducted by Zhejiang University and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, after analyzing 1,186 family businesses, found that the current state of family business succession in China is not satisfactory, and not all private entrepreneurs have complete plans for succession: 50% of 'first-generation entrepreneurs' have incomplete succession plans, and 25% of 'second-generation' are unwilling to take over. In addition, the report shows that among the surveyed family businesses, the proportion of entrepreneurs' children entering the enterprise has reached 60.96%, and more than four-fifths (81.70%) of the second generation have taken middle and senior management positions. But only 7.69% of enterprises have systematic succession plans and detailed written plans; 27.74% of enterprises have not even considered the succession issue at all. Zong Qinghou's planned retirement is also more gradual: 'I won't fully retire, but I will gradually do less, step back to the second line, push the young people forward, and let them take over.' -END-