Recently, the FMCG industry has seen a series of regrettable events: Danone sold Robust, Coca-Cola sold its China bottling business, Evergrande Group sold its FMCG division, COFCO sold Golden Monkey and then Wugudaochang, and Shengmu Dairy sold shares. Now, another heavyweight and legendary company is about to be sold: Guangdong Jianlibao, once known as the "Oriental Magic Water."

In the 1990s, even beverage giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi had to yield to Jianlibao. After its capital chain broke in the early 2000s, the troubled brand has been kept alive through multiple ownership changes, eventually being acquired by Uni-President, which is now selling it. The recent passing of Jianlibao's founder, Li Jingwei, adds a touch of tragedy to the brand. It is reported that "Uni-President sold 100% of Jianlibao Trade's equity to Jianlibao Group for 950 million yuan," according to a reply from Uni-President China. The authorization will expire in December 2016, and the handover is expected to take place in January next year. Uni-President has invested in Jianlibao Trade for nearly 10 years, and this share transfer has generated a 2.5-fold return on investment. Jianlibao Group approached Beijing Chunxin Capital Management Co., Ltd., under CITIC Asset Management, and after multiple negotiations, all parties agreed that Chunxin Capital would support Jianlibao Group in acquiring 100% of Jianlibao Trade's equity from Uni-President for 950 million yuan. The authorization will expire in December 2016, and the handover is expected in January next year. The Road Uni-President Led Jianlibao Through When mentioning Jianlibao, most people's memories are stuck in the image of its founder Li Jingwei looking up to the sky with tears, or the new products launched in recent years that are hard to remember and have performed lukewarmly. Even industry observers who have followed food and beverages for years only have the impression that "it's about to die..." In fact, for over a decade, Jianlibao has been on the road to revival. Uni-President Enterprises Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Uni-President) has been the "master" of Jianlibao Trade for nearly ten years. "In 2004, Guangdong Jianlibao Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Jianlibao Group) faced a debt crisis due to capital shortages. With the support of the Sanshui District Government, a trading company was established, implementing a management model that separated ownership and operation, effectively helping Jianlibao Group overcome its financial difficulties. Until 2005, with the recognition of the original shareholders and the Sanshui District Government, it began various forms of business cooperation with Uni-President China, a subsidiary of Uni-President. After a two-year磨合期, Uni-President finally gained the trust and support of all parties in 2007, invested in Jianlibao Trade to acquire 99.91% of its equity, and later acquired the remaining shares from minority shareholders to fully own Jianlibao Trade." said a representative from Uni-President China in a reply to New Financial Observer. However, at that time, Uni-President did not want the equity of Jianlibao Trade, but the entirety of Jianlibao. According to media reports, in October 2004, Uni-President, disregarding Jianlibao's complex history, signed an agreement to acquire the company, which had been glorious in the 1990s, for $100 million, and also assumed its debt of about 5 billion yuan at the time. Few know why this cooperation ultimately failed, and the compromise was that Jianlibao was split in two. Within two years, Uni-President designed and launched at least seven sub-brands for Jianlibao. The "Next Love Sports" drink was a key product. On this basis, Jianlibao Trade also launched three new brands in some provinces and cities across the country: nutrient drinks, ice cream soda, and chocolate soda. In July 2010, the new general manager of Jianlibao Trade, Li Shizheng, personally took to the streets to promote new products. Uni-President even tried to use its mature marketing team in first- and second-tier markets to distribute the new "Next Love Sports" series, setting an additional promotion fee of 4 yuan per box, and even bought a 60-second ad on CCTV5 for the first time. Uni-President was transforming Jianlibao according to its own ideas, gradually abandoning the old flavors and trying to launch new products suitable for young people in first- and second-tier cities. However, launching new products in this market means facing fierce competition, and the cost and effort are often greater than in fifth- and sixth-tier markets. Due to limited investment, Jianlibao's new products did not become an instant hit as Uni-President expected, nor did the scenario predicted by Li Wenjie before his departure that "everyone would drink Next around the Asian Games" come true. Jianlibao intended to make a strong comeback, but it faced many difficulties. Jianlibao is very important to Uni-President because it bears the burden of perfecting product categories and creating new growth points for the company. So Uni-President spared no expense to make Jianlibao return strongly. Although Uni-President made great efforts in marketing and channels, Jianlibao faced two major challenges: brand aging and fierce market competition, which were only better addressed in the past two years. Sources revealed that Jianlibao is expected to achieve sales of over 2 billion yuan in 2017. Uni-President has "kept it alive" (brand licensing) several times over the past decade, "and now it can finally let go," said an industry observer. Today, the overall growth rate of the food and beverage industry is slowing down, and it's better to focus on your own business than to operate a "rented" brand. This is similar to its "abandonment" of Jinmailang this year. However, for Jianlibao, whether it's a blessing or a curse is hard to judge. "It looks like a good thing. After all, CITIC Group is a central enterprise and will definitely invest more in market expenses," said the aforementioned employee. What Path Should Jianlibao Take Next? Jianlibao's new factory has been under construction since the end of 2014. Earlier in 2016, employees of Jianlibao Trade protested the relocation, but in the end, they moved. Jianlibao moved to a "new home," and the old factory was demolished. The demolition project, which lasted several months, attracted much attention in Sanshui District. Memories mixed with "denunciations," and some even commented: "The soul is gone, keeping the shell is useless, so just demolish it." About 15 kilometers from the old factory, in the China (Sanshui) International Water Capital Beverage and Food Base, Jianlibao's new factory has been completed, with four production lines already in operation. The new factory covers an area of 274.14 mu, with a building area of about 120,000 square meters, integrating production, office, and warehousing functions. According to the plan, in addition to maintaining the original fastest canning production capacity in Asia, the new factory will add 300,000 tons of hot-fill and aseptic filling capacity, with an annual production capacity of 65万吨. Currently, Jianlibao has ventured into fruit juice, fruit soda, black tea, soda water, and fruit soda yogurt products. Based on the existing Jianlibao brand, it has derived sub-brands such as Pal爆果汽, 第5季, 轰茶君, 多漾水, and 斯尔达希. Such a complete product range seems surprising, but it makes sense. In this era where users' needs are increasingly personalized, if Jianlibao wants to usher in its second spring, it must adjust its product categories according to different regions and user groups to win back the beverage market. 第5季: A composite fruit drink that subverts traditional orange juice Pal爆果汽: A new type of drink targeting young people 轰茶君: A tea drink in the kombucha series 多漾水: A typical soda water product 斯尔达希 Jianlibao Trade, which has been separated from Jianlibao Group for many years, is about to "return home." For Jianlibao, will it soar or face turmoil? The road to rebirth is not easy. We wish the national old brand Jianlibao can return to its former glory! This article is compiled and published by References: New Financial Observer, Food Industry Entrepreneur -END- The best FMCG distributor learning platform in China Focusing on providing professional, practical, and useful tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent article selection | 002 Distributor market operations | 003 Terminal visit management | 004 Sales supervisor skills | 005 Sales improvement techniques | 006 Channel expansion | 007 Managing distributors | 008 Distributor development | 009 Distributor internal operations management | 010 Team management | 011 Efficient distribution techniques | 012 Sales manager's eighteen skills | 013 KA operation methods and strategies | 014 First lesson for new salespeople | 015 Internet, brand | 016 Distributor B2B transformation | [Long press QR code to follow]