---
title: "Thirty Years of Health Products: Before Quanjian, How Wahaha, Robust, and Nongfu Exited the Health Product Industry"
description: "The article reviews the history of health products in China, highlighting how early industry leaders like Wahaha, Robust, and Nongfu Spring transitioned to FMCG, bringing their marketing tactics with them. It reflects on the industry's decline and the ethical concerns that led some founders to leave."
author: "纳兰醉天"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2018-12-31"
language: "en"
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# Thirty Years of Health Products: Before Quanjian, How Wahaha, Robust, and Nongfu Exited the Health Product Industry

> The article reviews the history of health products in China, highlighting how early industry leaders like Wahaha, Robust, and Nongfu Spring transitioned to FMCG, bringing their marketing tactics with them. It reflects on the industry's decline and the ethical concerns that led some founders to leave.

**In the world of health products, the more ruthless you are, the more wealth you gain. An even more exaggerated saying goes: 'Everyone dies, either from Putian or from Quanjian.'**

"China's most advanced marketing concepts almost all started with the health product industry. It was only when the big names in health products switched to FMCG that FMCG marketing became so rich." A few days ago, when chatting with an industry veteran about China's marketing history, he sighed: **Today's so-called marketing theories were mostly figured out by health product practitioners back then. Over thirty years have passed, and marketing has actually regressed, yet the number of people being fooled keeps increasing.**

Health products, once a man-eating beast, were strictly controlled by the state, falling from a peak of 300 billion yuan (twenty years ago) to less than 10 billion at the trough, and now to 40-50 billion. If not for Hongmao Herbal Wine and Quanjian, people might have forgotten the beast's former glory.

Today's FMCG giants Zong Qinghou, Zhong Shanshan, and He Boquan are typical examples of those who turned from health products to FMCG. They introduced the health product marketing system into the FMCG industry, which led to decades of prosperity in FMCG.

**1**
**Wahaha**

Regarding the history of health products in China, the industry generally believes the landmark event was in January 1985 when Yang Zhenhua (female), an associate professor of genetics at Fujian Agricultural University, developed the 851 nutrient solution. The brand name was simple and straightforward, commemorating the product's development in January 1985. Similarly, the health product industry's promotional strategies in subsequent years were also known for being simple and crude.

The true first year of health products was actually 1988.

That year, health products suddenly boomed. Brands like "Apollo," "Angli No.1," and "Wahaha" emerged, with combined sales exceeding 100 million yuan. Although sales were lower than Jianlibao's 270 million, the entanglement between health products and FMCG over the next decades was inevitable.

We must admit that in that era of "wild growth," it was impossible to fully distinguish between beverages and health products. For example, Jianlibao, as China's number one beverage brand, had early experiences very similar to health products. After all, the early description of Jianlibao invented by Ouyang Xiao was "can help athletes quickly recover strength, and ordinary people can drink it too." This concept was very characteristic of health products. In CCTV ads, Li Jingwei cleverly came up with the slogan "If you want to be healthy, drink Jianlibao." In hindsight, it was also a "beverage" with "health functions."

However, in 1993, when Jianlibao's market share was taken by health products like Apollo and Feilong, Jianlibao employees also planned "some elderly people who had been bedridden for years miraculously got out of bed after drinking Jianlibao," and even sent Jianlibao to Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital for clinical trials ( _isn't this similar to many milk powder companies feeding newborns "first mouthful of milk"?_ ), turning a product that relied on sports marketing into a magical panacea.

For entrepreneurs with social conscience like Li Jingwei and Zong Qinghou, the harm of such propaganda was quickly recognized. Although sales increased in the short term, what about the future? Such "lies" could only be covered by more "lies." Li Jingwei stopped such ads, and Wahaha began its transformation.

Wahaha was established in 1987. In 1988, Zong Qinghou was inspired by the slogan "If you want to be healthy, drink Jianlibao" and came up with "Drink Wahaha, eat with a good appetite." This slogan made Wahaha's children's health products famous.

In 1989, Wahaha was named Wahaha Nutritional Food Factory, reflecting the typical concept of "medicine and food share the same origin." To some extent, it was this concept that provided a breeding ground for health products.

In 1990, Wahaha's sales exceeded 100 million; in 1991, with the support of the Hangzhou government, Wahaha acquired Hangzhou Canned Food Factory and formally established the Wahaha Group. Just when everyone thought Wahaha, with government support and expanded production, would continue to gallop in the health product industry, Zong Qinghou suddenly changed the company's direction.

In 1992, Wahaha shifted to the beverage market and exited the health product industry. It should be noted that in 1991, the health product market had just exceeded 10 billion yuan in sales.

In the following thirty-plus years, **no matter how many difficulties Wahaha encountered, even when it was almost swallowed by Danone, Zong Qinghou never considered returning to health products.** This persistence is why Wahaha, despite being "difficult," still has sales of over 40 billion yuan.

Importantly, when Zong Qinghou led Wahaha's transformation, **he also introduced the joint distribution system he had operated in the health product industry into the FMCG field**, becoming a model for the FMCG industry thereafter.

**2**
**Nongfu Spring**

Now, when we search for "Ma's Army" on Baidu, it refers to a northwestern warlord force that controlled Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and other areas during the Republic of China period. But in the 1990s, Ma's Army represented a group of Chinese middle- and long-distance runners trained by Ma Junren.

Left: Ma Junren

In 1993, Ma's Army won three gold medals in the women's 1500m, 3000m, and 10000m at the World Championships. For a while, legends spread about Ma's Army athletes "drinking turtle blood, eating ginseng, venison, and sea cucumber." A reporter from Zhejiang Daily keenly sensed this was a huge business opportunity. So he resolutely quit journalism and founded Yangshengtang, and the turtle turtle pill launched the same year became an instant hit. He was Zhong Shanshan, who would influence China's beverage development for decades.

Unlike Zhong Shanshan, a "poor reporter," He Boquan already had considerable strength at that time. In 1989, He Boquan leased the Robust brand. In 1992, he formed Today Group. In 1993, He Boquan spent 10 million yuan to buy a formula from Ma Junren and named it "Life Nuclear Energy." He creatively played with distribution rights auctions, and with "Coach Ma's bowl of nutritious soup" and He Boquan's innovative marketing, Life Nuclear Energy became hot before it even sold.

However, because the name "Life Nuclear Energy" was too complex, it was not as popular as "Chinese Turtle Essence" and "Turtle Turtle Pill," which had no connection to Ma's Army. Later, "Chinese Turtle Essence" was exposed as "the whole factory couldn't use one turtle," and the doping scandal of Ma's Army **made people realize that the so-called "turtle blood" was just a legend, more like "dog blood" spilled by the health product industry.** There was no secret formula at all.

Soon, He Boquan also withdrew from the health product industry and, imitating Wahaha, entered the beverage industry, launching the Robust brand. In 2000, He Boquan sold Robust to Danone and became an investor—Today Investment. Lao Na wants to say that Today Investment, Capital Today, and Toutiao have no relationship; they just have similar names.

Unlike Zong Qinghou and He Boquan, who were just passersby in the health product industry, Zhong Shanshan never gave up on the health product industry and introduced excellent cases from it into the FMCG industry.

Yangshengtang's turtle turtle pill was an instant hit, but the product's lifespan was too short, a flash in the pan for Zhong Shanshan's business empire. Importantly, Yangshengtang was nothing compared to giants like Sanzhu, Feilong, Apollo, and Giant.

By 1995, health product marketing had reached world-class levels. To carve out a path in the health product industry, traditional marketing strategies were far from enough for Zhong Shanshan and his Yangshengtang.

Zhong Shanshan used his intelligence and invited celebrity endorsements. Many would say, "What's so clever about that? Didn't the health product industry all use celebrity endorsements?" In this regard, you are wrong. At that time, the health product industry did not use celebrity endorsements; "Hou Yaohua" and others learned from Zhong Shanshan. At that time, the health product industry used simple and crude consumer experiences, with consumers testifying in person, or even simpler text descriptions. After all, celebrities at that time were not very attractive to the public; in consumers' minds, they couldn't afford what celebrities ate, unlike today's consumers who realize that celebrities use the same things as us...

Zhong Shanshan's celebrity endorsement was a first.

However, the celebrity was not famous at the time—Ni Hongjie, who years later played Zhu Wushuang in "My Own Swordsman." It should be noted that before Zhu Wushuang, Ni Hongjie was known to consumers for shooting the Tingyang underwear created by Bao Hongsheng (chairman of Hongmao Herbal Wine), the founder of the Mengpai product. So inviting Ni Hongjie was no different from other health product consumer experience ads at the time.

The stroke of genius was in the ad for Duo'er capsules, where Ni Hongjie had a neutral short haircut and wore a silk scarf around her neck. After the ad aired, rumors spread that "Yangshengtang hired a shemale to shoot the ad" and "Yangshengtang's model always wears a scarf to hide her Adam's apple." Years later, people would comment on the ad: "Yangshengtang played the concept of the demon Ni Hongjie so well that it attracted consumers' attention."

Imagine, in 1995, with limited communication channels, who would care about who an unknown company like Yangshengtang invited to endorse? But when you have a gimmick like hiring a shemale as a spokesperson, it naturally attracts attention. Of course, Zhong Shanshan and his Yangshengtang would never admit to such hype. But judging from Zhong Shanshan's later style and Yangshengtang's fame at the time, it's hard to imagine who would have the mood to "spread rumors."

**Creating concepts, attracting attention, and using vivid comparisons to overturn existing concepts**—this is the promotional strategy Zhong Shanshan has never abandoned since then. When the health product industry entered a cold winter due to strict controls, Zhong Shanshan did not give up on it; he retained the Yangshengtang brand and expanded into medicine and beauty.

When he announced his entry into the beverage industry, his first shot was aimed at the "purified water" market, which already had a certain market share. He launched Nongfu Spring, the "porter of nature." He created one concept after another and staged one attention-grabbing marketing campaign after another, all reflecting his style from the health product industry. For example, he placed narcissus flowers in purified water and his Nongfu Spring water for comparison. Because the narcissus in Nongfu Spring water bloomed more vigorously, his water was better than purified water. **Zong Qinghou commented on Zhong Shanshan's behavior: "Narcissus blooms better in manure water; does that mean manure is good for human health?"**

The reality is that Zong Qinghou, who exited the health product market early, could not compete with Zhong Shanshan in hype; few paid attention to his doubts. Later, Zhong Shanshan proposed the concept of water source, forcibly trying to equate "surface water" with "mineral water." Eventually, the state established naming rules for drinking water, with only three categories: natural mineral water, purified water, and other drinking water. **Nongfu Spring water (2-yuan bottled water) was classified as "other drinking water."** As for the acid-base tests Nongfu Spring conducted in supermarkets, they were completely debunked when the American master who proposed the acid-base body theory was fined.

Now, the entire water industry is afraid of Nongfu's marketing tactics. After the acid-base concept collapsed, no one dared to criticize Zhong Shanshan. And consumers, brainwashed by Nongfu Spring since 2001, certainly cannot distinguish whether water really has so many magical effects. **It can be said that drinking water is only one turn away from going from basic physiological needs "quenching thirst" to "curing all diseases" like "Hongmao Herbal Wine."**

**I think it's time for us to reflect: Can water avoid the path of health products?**

**▌Follow-up:**

Besides these FMCG companies originating from health products, many health product concepts have been widely applied in the FMCG field. For example, the brain-boosting concepts for middle and high school students, such as "Life No.1," "3A Never Forget," "Brain Relax," etc., basically show that health products and beverages are only a line apart. This is why when giants chose to switch industries, they all chose the beverage industry.

Compared to today's health product companies that often "cross provinces" (for legal disputes), previous health product companies were more low-key; if they fell, they would just start over.

**However, the only thing that can stop the development of health products is the conscience of the founders.** I remember a health product practitioner saying: "I gave up this industry because my conscience couldn't bear it. You could say promoting blood sugar lowering, blood lipid lowering, or brain-boosting is mild, but many people really pin their hopes on health products, delaying treatment time. That's really cheating people out of their life-saving money." In 1998, Shi Yuzhu's classmate Song Jun abandoned his thriving health product career and invested all his 500 million yuan fortune into desert management in Alxa. Perhaps he was really looking for a spiritual home...

Source: Food Headlines (ID: fbc180)

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