-01- Not long ago, Wahaha's Zong Fuli terminated the endorsement contract with Wang Leehom, once again putting Wahaha in the spotlight. On one side is a highly popular public figure, and on the other, a long-established giant in the beverage industry—it's hard not to attract attention. While people lamented the abrupt end of a 20-year partnership from 1998 to 2018, they also focused on Wahaha's next moves. Recently, news of Wahaha opening offline beverage shops spread quickly, with franchise promotions appearing on social media platforms. As early as 2017, Wahaha opened pop-up stores and created various tea drinks using its products, the most famous being AD calcium milk tea with cheese foam, which became a classic nostalgic hit. However, after that, there was no further news of Wahaha collaborating with tea drinks. Now, the sudden offline store franchise recruitment has caught many off guard. Recall that in October this year, Zong Qinghou, during his attendance at the Forbes Global Presidents Conference, expressed no concern about performance and was determined to increase next year's sales by at least 50%, reaching the 70 billion yuan mark. It is known that Wahaha peaked in 2013 with sales of 78 billion yuan, after which it declined. Now facing the 70 billion yuan threshold again, it seems Wahaha is aiming to return to its peak. -02- Now, with Wahaha entering the offline milk tea shop business, it's uncertain whether the 70 billion yuan revenue target will be met. According to the "Cooperation Manual" released by Wahaha, the company will use "childhood memories" as a product highlight, offering a rich combination of seven major series—"AD, milk, fruit, ice, hot, refreshing, and cheese"—with about 50 individual products. It will launch three bestsellers: specialty AD calcium milk, lactic acid yogurt drink (Yogurt Wow), and cheese nutrition express, positioning them as "national trend nutritional drinks," targeting the mainstream female consumer group aged 16-35, with prices ranging from 10 to 30 yuan per cup. In terms of store design, Wahaha will create a trendy, internet-famous style, aiming to become a "check-in destination" for young people. There will be three store formats: startup, standard, and flagship, with the franchise project officially launched in December. Additionally, the total investment for a Wahaha milk tea shop is 280,000 yuan, including store evaluation, design, decoration, equipment, and technical training. Specifically: teaching and implementation service fee of 50,000 yuan, covering theoretical and practical training for store managers and staff, delivery project guidance, and operational maintenance; store construction service within 30 square meters for 130,000 yuan, with additional costs at 3,000 yuan per square meter; full equipment service for 80,000 yuan; material fee of 20,000 yuan; and a cooperation deposit of 20,000 yuan (refundable). The project is currently operated by Guangzhou Wahaha Health Beverage Co., Ltd., established in October 2019, with Wahaha Commercial Co., Ltd. as one of its legal shareholders. The legal representative and chairman of the latter is Zong Qinghou, Wahaha's leader, which basically confirms the authenticity of Wahaha's offline milk tea shop project. Moreover, the "Cooperation Manual" includes a message signed by Zong Qinghou, stating that this is Wahaha's third venture and hoping every partner can "realize self-worth and social value." Wahaha's founder, Zong Qinghou, is a late-blooming entrepreneur. He started his business at 42 and, after 32 years with Wahaha, announced a second venture at 72, shifting from safety to health and entering high-tech industries. While everyone was watching where the over-30-year-old Wahaha would go, it has now embarked on its third venture—offline milk tea shops. -03- Currently, the milk tea industry is extremely hot, with shops everywhere from malls and cinemas to streets and alleys, making it a popular industry for entrepreneurial investment and franchise. As of 2019, there have been 23,664 newly registered milk tea enterprises nationwide, setting a new historical high. Leading brands are also accelerating store openings: as of November, InWE Tea opened 25 stores, Lelecha 32, Nayuki 152, and Heytea 222. According to the "China Milk Tea Industry Market Demand and Investment Planning Analysis Report" released by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, based on comprehensive estimates of China's population, urbanization rate, and milk tea prices, the potential market capacity for milk tea is expected to reach 98.6 billion yuan, approaching the 100 billion yuan level. Young consumers who pursue novelty and individuality have become the main consumer force, with 6-10 purchases per month being the most common frequency. The rising tea beverage market has naturally attracted many brands to cross over and "rob" the market. For example, Luckin Coffee launched its franchisable Xiaolu Tea brand in the second half of this year to quickly capture third- and fourth-tier cities. Wanglaoji also followed the trend and quickly launched milk tea shops, and even White Rabbit, a candy maker, launched tea beverage shops, which once became internet-famous. As a godfather-level brand in the beverage industry, Wahaha naturally enters with its classic products to share the pie. However, as the milk tea industry heats up, many problems have also emerged. In the second half of 2016, the number of closed beverage shops began to exceed the number of new openings; in 2017, closures reached 1.3 times the number of openings; in 2018, only 18.8% of milk tea shops survived; now, nine out of ten tea shops are not profitable, and the industry is in a state of "only one in ten survives." The reason for this situation is simply that the market growth rate cannot keep up with the store growth rate amid economic downturn. In 2018, domestic beverage sales increased from 47.2 billion yuan to 50 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%; meanwhile, the number of stores rapidly increased to 410,000, a year-on-year increase of 74%. Although both figures are rising, the growth rate of stores far exceeds that of the market size. The industry has seen oversupply, and with too many players competing for limited resources, survival of the fittest is perfectly demonstrated. Of course, this does not mean that the dividend of the milk tea industry has disappeared. As mentioned earlier, it is estimated that China's milk tea market capacity will reach the 100 billion yuan level. Moreover, milk tea is increasingly becoming a daily necessity, with post-90s and post-00s gradually becoming the main consumer groups. This audience has a characteristic: they are interested in new things and have a certain herd mentality. The milk tea market grows at a rate of about 10%-15% each year. Economic authorities analyze that China is expected to become the world's most promising tea beverage consumer country in the future. Will Wahaha, with the aim of seizing the last wave of dividends, make a strong entry into the milk tea shop business? With its national brand and national trend positioning, will it achieve a king's return like Beibingyang, Pechoin, and other domestic products that have undergone a trend baptism? Compiled and edited by Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.