FMCG News

  1. Nongfu Spring Withdraws Lawsuit Against Beijing Times, Bears 546,000 Yuan in Filing Fees NetEase Finance learned that the long-awaited reputation infringement dispute between Nongfu Spring and Beijing Times has finally come to an end. Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd. submitted a withdrawal application to the Beijing Chaoyang District Court on the 13th of this month, and the court also dismissed Beijing Times' lawsuit against Nongfu Spring, drawing a close to this public focus that lasted over four years. As previously reported by NetEase Finance, in April 2013, Beijing Times published a series of reports on Nongfu Spring's applicable standards. Nongfu Spring subsequently issued statements on Weibo and major national media claiming the reports were untrue, sparking the widely watched "standard gate" incident. On July 23 and August 6, 2013, the Chaoyang Court accepted two reputation rights cases: Beijing Times suing Nongfu Spring and Nongfu Spring suing Beijing Times. In its complaint, Nongfu Spring stated that from April 10 to May 7, 2013, Beijing Times published a series of false reports that lowered Nongfu Spring's social evaluation, seriously infringing its reputation rights and causing huge economic losses. It demanded Beijing Times cease infringement, delete the related reports, publish a written apology in Beijing Times and on jinghua.cn for 30 consecutive days, and compensate for economic losses of over 200 million yuan. Beijing Times' complaint showed that after its April 2013 reports, Nongfu Spring, from April 12 to 19, 2013, issued statements on Weibo and major media claiming the reports were untrue and that the newspaper and reporters lacked "news ethics and conscience." Beijing Times argued that Nongfu Spring's actions seriously infringed its reputation rights, demanding Nongfu Spring restore its reputation by publishing an apology in designated media space, format, and position to eliminate the impact, and pay a symbolic 1 yuan in economic damages. This case was dubbed a lawsuit of 200 million yuan "PK" 1 yuan in claims. According to NetEase Finance, this nearly four-year litigation marathon recently concluded. The Beijing Chaoyang District Court's ruling (2013) Chao Min Chu Zi No. 30976 stated: The plaintiff Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd. and defendant Beijing Times reputation dispute case was filed on August 6, 2013. Nongfu Spring submitted a withdrawal application on June 13, 2017. The court held that Nongfu Spring's withdrawal did not violate relevant legal provisions, and per Article 145, Paragraph 1 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, permitted the withdrawal, with the case acceptance fee of 546,000 yuan borne by Nongfu Spring (already paid). In the case of Beijing Times suing Nongfu Spring, the Chaoyang District Court also recently ruled to "dismiss the plaintiff Beijing Times' claims." However, the judgment also noted that "Beijing Times' related reports were objective" and "news sources were clear." Regarding the conclusion of this mutual lawsuit, NetEase Finance contacted a responsible person at Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd., but as of press time, no response was received.
  2. Japan McDonald's Launches Calpis Milkshake Japan McDonald's, in collaboration with Calpis, will release a lactic acid-flavored McSHAKE milkshake containing Calpis nationwide from June 21. The cup is specially designed in blue and white, available in two sizes, priced at 120 and 200 yen respectively.
  3. Cheetos Cheese Snack Ad Wins Three Gold Lions, Plus Other 4 "Grand Prix" Works Cheetos cheese snacks are a fairly popular snack brand under Pepsi, with various promotions from mascots (like the sunglasses-wearing leopard) to small toys like Cheetos shapes. This year, a Cheetos marketing campaign won Gold Lions in three categories, called the Cheetos Museum, exhibited in New York. The museum's origin: people noticed that when eating Cheetos, each piece is not uniform; some look particularly strange, like seahorses, guitars, the Statue of Liberty... So Cheetos collected nearly 130,000 oddly shaped cheese corn sticks from the public, created a photo collage, and selected the best shapes for physical exhibition.
  4. Fonterra Recalls Odd-Tasting Milk in New Zealand, Says China Market Unaffected According to The Paper, New Zealand dairy company Fonterra is investigating a customer complaint about "odd-tasting milk" in the southern North Island. The company has recalled several batches of Anchor blue-label milk with shelf life before late June, stating the China market is unaffected. After the incident, Fonterra Managing Director Leon Clement stated in a notice that these products pose no safety risk, but they have recalled affected milk from the supply chain. Preliminary investigation results indicate that "a small number of farms added too much brassica plants to cow feed, causing a change in milk taste." Corporate Headlines
  5. Jinmailang Starts IPO Process; Experts Call Its 100 Billion Plan "Armchair Strategy" After separating from partners in its instant noodle and beverage businesses, Jinmailang has finally launched its IPO dream plan, claiming it aims to reach 100 billion in scale. However, industry experts are not optimistic about Jinmailang's listing plan, directly stating that Jinmailang lacks core competitiveness, has always followed, imitated, and cloned others' products, and is currently insufficient to support its IPO. Its 100 billion target is "armchair strategy."
  6. Cainiao Network Invests 8.5 Billion Yuan to Establish Logistics Warehousing Fund Recently, Cainiao Network announced cooperation with China Life to jointly establish a logistics warehousing fund. This is also the first logistics warehousing fund established by Cainiao Network. Cainiao will participate in the unified operation of the fund, manage fund assets, and gradually inject some logistics real estate projects in the future.
  7. Nestlé Eyes Freshly, Leads $77 Million Funding Round According to Fortune, New York-based healthy meal delivery startup Freshly announced on Tuesday that it raised $77 million in a new funding round, led by Swiss food giant Nestlé, with participation from existing investors Highland Capital Partners, Insight Venture Partners, and White Star Capital. Jeff Hamilton, President of Nestlé's food division, said in a statement: "The traditional food model is shifting, and we continue to see more health-conscious consumers seeking new options and services that easily fit their lifestyles." The new funds will be used to help Freshly expand in the U.S. market. Including this round, Freshly has raised $107 million since its founding in 2015. Creative Space Here, everyone is different Girls all have big bellies Boys are polite and courteous But one day One of the girls suddenly loses her belly Then... Thai B-Bing Line beverage ad -END-