Facing a trademark licensing crisis, Huabin has made two-pronged preparations, but making Warhorse the second Red Bull is already impossible. In mid-April in Beijing, temperatures rose to 20 degrees Celsius, and the beverage peak season often begins at this time. Previously, Warhorse drinks, which had been circulating on the market as images, are the new functional drink brand under Huabin Group, the parent company of Red Bull. They have now appeared in retail channels and are accelerating distribution. A reporter's visit found that Beijing's FamilyMart, Linjia Convenience, Quanshi Convenience, and some mom-and-pop stores have completed distribution, but channels like 7-Eleven, Haolinyin, and Yonghui Member Stores have not yet been completed. A convenience store in Fengtai had not even put new price tags on Warhorse products. Currently, Warhorse includes two products (carbonated and non-carbonated), with a specification of 400ml, and a retail price of 5.8-6 yuan in Beijing. On shelves, Warhorse is often placed together with Mizone, Dongpeng, and Heika products, not with Red Bull or Monster. In addition to Beijing, Warhorse products can be seen in Henan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and other places. On Taobao, multiple sellers are offering Warhorse, and some even label it as "Red Bull quality" in keywords or images. Judging from Taobao sales, Warhorse drinks are more often driven by other products sold by the sellers. For example, a seller in Dongguan, Guangdong, primarily sells Guobeishuang, a children's juice drink under Huabin Group, while another store sells both Guobeishuang and Vitacoco coconut water, the latter also a plant-based protein drink under Huabin Group. Warhorse drinks have been externally regarded as a substitute if Huabin fails to renew its contract with Red Bull, which stems from Red Bull's background in China. Public information shows that Red Bull was founded by Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1966. In 1984, Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz founded Red Bull GmbH and holds 51% of Red Bull shares. In 1987, Red Bull was sold in the Austrian market. In 1995, Huabin Group introduced Red Bull to China. Previously reported, the brand usage period of Red Bull Vitamin Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Red Bull) expired at the end of last year. Currently, its parent company Huabin Group has been negotiating with the brand owner, Thailand's TCP Group (hereinafter referred to as Thai Red Bull), and major shareholder Austrian Red Bull for several months over brand authorization. There are even rumors that COFCO Group is in contact with the Thai side to discuss Red Bull trademark authorization. However, so far, there has been no progress on the Red Bull trademark authorization. Red Bull drinks produced on March 30 can still be seen on the market, and Red Bull has remained silent on this matter. Regarding Warhorse drinks themselves, Huabin has not conducted key promotions or forced distributors to "stock up." In this regard, Zhu Danpeng, a commentator on China's food industry, told Jiemian News that this is actually Huabin's clever move. If the Red Bull contract is successfully renewed, Warhorse will become its brand in the low-end market segment. If not, Warhorse will become the main brand, complementing Monster and Austrian Red Bull in terms of channels and tiers. In the future, it is not ruled out that a more high-end product than the previous Red Bull will be produced. According to Zhu Danpeng's analysis, at this point in time, the signing between the two parties is still unclear, "and it might be hanging in the balance." In mid-April, Guangzhou has already entered summer, and temperatures in most northern cities are gradually rising. Early summer is approaching, which should be the time for functional drinks to be heavily promoted and distributed. If the renewal between Red Bull and Huabin is still unresolved, it is estimated to be quite uncertain. He revealed that because Red Bull products are produced in limited quantities, many distributors have started hoarding. Among them, a distributor in Shenzhen has hoarded 200 million yuan worth of Red Bull products. On the other hand, the recent acceleration of Warhorse distribution makes people feel that there is great uncertainty between the two parties. Currently, Monster and Gold Can Red Bull are priced at around 6 yuan, in the same price band as Warhorse. However, Warhorse's packaging is PET, with no highlights and even rough design, plus the advertising slogan "Fighting power, coming right away," which was even mocked by an internal employee as "rural style." "Sales are not good." A person in the FMCG industry in Henan told reporters that Warhorse has no market awareness and sales are not good. Moreover, since Red Bull is still a product under Huabin, Warhorse is "just a supplement and cannot be openly advertised." On Taobao, sales of Warhorse drinks are almost single digits or even zero. Obviously, Huabin does not want to deliberately promote Warhorse until the situation is fully clear, which makes Warhorse look more like a counterfeit product on the market. "The reality is that except for people related to FMCG who know that Warhorse is from Red Bull's family and may replace or supplement Red Bull in the future, consumers do not know. In the eyes of consumers, this is a counterfeit product," the above FMCG insider said in his own self-media article. In Zhu Danpeng's view, in the future, Warhorse's way out is more as a cleaner in the low-end market. Although the current price is 6 yuan, from the design and packaging materials, Warhorse's pricing is inflated. In the future, it will definitely use special offers to compete with products in the 4.5-4.5 yuan price band. Although it cannot become the second Red Bull, it can at least beat some counterfeit products in the lower-tier markets. Source: Jiemian Reporter: Zhao Xiaojuan -END-