Source | Fun Talk
Starting to endure and plan at 14, and formally counterattacking at 40, Zong Fuli staged a real-life short drama of 'the eldest princess returns for revenge.' In this short drama, elements such as succession obstruction, inheritance disputes, and equity conflicts are gathered. According to the rhythm of short dramas, these extreme conflicts are often followed by high-frequency plot twists that bring satisfaction. But reality is not a short drama, and Zong Fuli is not a protagonist in a satisfying story; without superpower buffs, all she can do is enter the game herself and engage in close combat. In July last year, Zong Fuli launched a campaign that could be called a 'self-harming strike.' At that time, Zong Fuli proactively proposed to resign because she believed that some shareholders of Wahaha Group questioned the reasonableness of her management, preventing her from fulfilling her duties. At that time, there were only two possible outcomes: first, she actually resigned, and then she would not be the chairman of Wahaha now; second, she did not resign, and the other shareholders were convinced. The final result was the second option. Zong Fuli not only took over as chairman of Wahaha but also took over all shares of Wahaha Group held by Zong Qinghou, making a beautiful comeback. Although Zong Fuli's resignation caused a stir, it did not cause panic among partners. A distributor once said in an interview that as long as the Wahaha brand remains, business stability can be guaranteed. But recently, Zong Fuli launched another strike, this time directly targeting the 'Wahaha' brand. In the 'Notice on Carrying out the 2026 Sales Year Distributor Communication Work' circulating online, it is mentioned that the company decided to replace the brand with the new brand 'Waxiao Zong' starting from the 2026 sales year. Tianyancha shows that this trademark is held by Hongsheng Beverage, controlled by Zong Fuli. This means that if the unanimous consent of all shareholders of Wahaha Group is not obtained, the 'Wahaha' brand in the national memory may be completely shelved. This is certainly a result that no shareholder of Wahaha Group wants to see, including Zong Fuli herself. Currently, the Hongsheng system controls the beverage production line, while the Wahaha brand is in the hands of the diversified Wahaha Group. Once the production line and brand are separated, it means that brand work must start from scratch, and Wahaha Group, without the production line, would only be an empty shell. But Zong Fuli played this card anyway. Obviously, starting a new business is not her intention; she probably wants both the production line and Wahaha. If not, then no one should have them. The 'Wahaha' trademark is undoubtedly one of the most core assets of Wahaha now, with the brand value exceeding 90 billion yuan. Using a new brand is equivalent to erasing the value accumulated by Wahaha over decades during the Zong Qinghou era. But for Zong Fuli, this is also a helpless move. Currently, the 'Wahaha' trademark belongs to Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd., which is held 46% by Hangzhou Shangcheng District Cultural, Tourism, and Business Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., 29.4% by Zong Fuli, and 24.6% by the Grassroots Trade Union Joint Committee (Employee Stock Ownership Association) of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. This also means that although Zong Fuli took over all of Zong Qinghou's shares in Wahaha Group, she has not yet gained absolute say over the Wahaha brand while the employee stock ownership case is not yet settled. Before choosing this resolute path, Zong Fuli also tried a more moderate approach. A few months ago, she attempted to transfer the Wahaha trademark from Wahaha Group to Wahaha Food Co., Ltd., whose actual controller is Zong Fuli, with a total shareholding ratio of 62.466% and voting rights of 51%. But this path ultimately did not work. After that, Zong Fuli accelerated the process of 'de-Wahaha-ization.' On the one hand, she began to cancel Wahaha-related enterprises; on the other hand, she began to support new brands. For example, 'Waxiao Zong,' which is to replace 'Wahaha,' had already appeared in the market as early as May this year, with products such as Ningxiang Oolong sugar-free tea for sale. Perhaps the constraints of the Wahaha trademark made Zong Fuli realize the importance of trademark assets. After failing to transfer the Wahaha trademark, she began to apply for a large number of trademarks through affiliated companies. For example, Hongsheng Beverage Group Co., Ltd. currently has 147 trademark records, 60 of which were applied for after February this year. At its peak, Wahaha became famous nationwide with two hit products: Nutrition Express and AD Calcium Milk. In consumers' minds, Nutrition Express and AD Calcium Milk are almost equivalent to Wahaha. However, inquiries show that the 'Nutrition Express' trademark under the food and beer/beverage categories also belongs to Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd., and no valid 'registered' information for AD Calcium Milk has been found under these two categories. Among the trademark applications of Zong Fuli's affiliated companies, there is no application for these two hit products, only similar names like 'Youjian Express.' Without more cards to play, Zong Fuli can only bet everything on the new brand 'Waxiao Zong.' It can be said that this strike by Zong Fuli is even more thorough than the first. Signs that Zong Fuli wanted to 'set up a separate business' have long been apparent. Since taking over Wahaha, Zong Fuli has begun drastic reforms, not only changing employee and distributor contracts to Hongsheng but also replicating the supply, production, and logistics links within the Wahaha system to the Hongsheng system by establishing new production, sales, and procurement enterprises. That is to say, behind the vast beverage empire of Wahaha, the remaining assets are now far less than before. What can be done now is only to hold the bottom line of the 'Wahaha' brand assets. Replacing 'Wahaha' with 'Waxiao Zong' is actually an extremely risky path. Although some consumers believe that when choosing beverages, quality, taste, and cost-effectiveness matter more than the name, more consumers see Wahaha as carrying national memory, and the Wahaha brand is the most important reason for their consumption choices. More than a decade ago, Zong Fuli gave an interview. When asked 'What does Wahaha minus Zong Qinghou equal?' her answer was 'zero.' Now, Zong Fuli is facing a similar question: 'What does Wahaha minus Wahaha equal?' Perhaps the answer is already known. Before 'Waxiao Zong' passes the consumer test, there is already significant resistance among distributors. A distributor said in a media interview, '99% of Wahaha distributors will not do Waxiao Zong.' It is not hard to understand why Waxiao Zong encounters resistance from distributors. Without market validation, no one is sure whether the product will be a loss. In fact, even for Wahaha, distributors' confidence is under pressure. In 2024, under Zong Fuli's leadership, Wahaha's revenue surged by 20 billion yuan to the 700 billion range, returning to the peak of a decade ago. This should be a cause for celebration for any party in the Wahaha industry chain, but distributors are not happy. Because Wahaha distributors received sales tasks for 2025, which require growth based on 2024 figures. It should be noted that Wahaha's revenue surge was not due to new hit products but because of a wave of 'nostalgia consumption' triggered by Zong Qinghou's death, and a public opinion storm around Nongfu Spring also brought considerable traffic to Wahaha. But this growth is not sustainable, and the sales targets based on it have increased pressure on distributors. On the other hand, under Zong Fuli's 'iron-fist' strategy, Wahaha began to cut distributors with annual sales below 3 million yuan, which exacerbated the panic among small distributors. Some distributors also said in media interviews that the profit for Wahaha distributors is now very low, with gross profit margins of only about 10% and net profit margins of 2%-3%. After returns, breaking even is considered good. Wahaha's joint distribution system is built on trust, and the model of payment before delivery greatly alleviates Wahaha's capital pressure. Continuous pressure on distributors, coupled with brand renaming, will directly impact this model. Although 'Waxiao Zong' is to replace 'Wahaha' and can rely on Wahaha's original sales channels, it is not a new brand built from scratch, but gaining market recognition is not easy. In 2016, Zong Fuli also founded the new brand KELLYONE, which also relied on Wahaha and caught the sugar-free tea trend, but it has now basically failed. Currently, KELLYONE's flagship store on e-commerce platforms has cleared all 'products.' To make KELLYONE enter the circle of young people, Zong Fuli attached great importance to online operations and invested efforts in social media marketing, but the response was mediocre. Data shows that in 2024, KELLYONE's annual sales on Douyin were only 81,000 yuan. The sugar-free tea products under 'Waxiao Zong,' which were launched a few months ago, have not caused any stir, and no related product information can be found on major e-commerce platforms. A few months ago, Wahaha's change of packaging for its iced black tea product caused complaints among distributors. Changing packaging can already lead to inventory backlog, and the risk of changing to a new brand is even more imaginable. Now, Zong Fuli is under attack from all sides, which is the background for her choice of a destructive strategy. After all, without breaking, there is no establishing. In the eyes of outsiders, Zong Fuli has always been the ceiling of 'Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai only daughters,' at least before the inheritance dispute broke out. So naturally, after entering Wahaha, Zong Fuli was always seen as the successor, but the succession process was not smooth. As the saying goes, 'a new emperor, new ministers,' gaining the support of old ministers was the first hurdle. After Zong Fuli took over Wahaha, besides triggering employee rights protection incidents, she also went to court with former old ministers. The incident can be traced back to the restructuring period of Wahaha more than 20 years ago. After several equity transfers, the proportion held by formal employees at that time reached 24.6%. In 2018, Zong Qinghou made a major adjustment to the employee stock ownership system, where the employee stock ownership association repurchased all shares held by employees. After the repurchase, employees did not directly hold shares but could still enjoy dividend distribution. But after Zong Qinghou's death, some Wahaha employees raised objections to the repurchase agreement signed in 2018 and filed lawsuits. Currently, the only registered member of the stock ownership association is Zong Fuli. If she can obtain this portion of shares, she would own 54% of Wahaha Group and have a say in the use of the Wahaha brand. But this lawsuit is not yet concluded. At the end of last month, Zong Fuli also submitted complaints and reports to the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, urging them to speed up processing according to law. Her eagerness is not hard to understand. She is facing both external troubles and internal worries, and the inheritance dispute adds uncertainty to whether she can gain control of Wahaha Group. From the current progress of the billion-yuan inheritance case, the situation is unfavorable for Zong Fuli. According to the judgment, the assets in the HSBC bank account are trust property for which the three plaintiffs, Zong Jichang, Zong Jieli, and Zong Jisheng, have beneficial rights. Zong Fuli, who was once seen as the 'only daughter,' cannot dispose of, handle, or reduce the value of the assets in the account. The inheritance dispute has also served as a wake-up call for Zong Fuli. Du Jianying, the mother of the three 'younger siblings' competing with Zong Fuli for the inheritance, joined the company in the early days of Wahaha's establishment and has deep-rooted connections within Wahaha. Although Zong Fuli has taken a series of 'de-Du Jianying' adjustments, no one can be sure how deep this tree's roots go. Without being able to determine the extent of Du Jianying's influence on the employee stock lawsuit and whether the 'younger siblings' will be involved in Wahaha Group's equity disputes in the future, using a new brand may be the most effective quick fix Zong Fuli can think of. In the past decade, Nongfu has had deep roots in the beverage market, and new players have emerged endlessly. Without new hit products, Wahaha can only rely on its old products and old feelings. But after the inheritance dispute, the myth of the 'cloth-shoe richest man' is gone, and it will be hard to rely on the founder's halo. Of course, no matter what, Wahaha has not reached the point of being cleared. Who would have thought that Xiao Zong would take the initiative to clear out? Waxiao Zong is not 'Old Zong's' Wahaha, but 'Xiao Zong's' Wahaha. That is what she wants.