Zong Fuli, China's richest woman, and Wahaha have become hot topics in the food industry recently. First, the 42-year-old Wahaha leader Zong Fuli became China's richest woman for the first time with a net worth of 80.8 billion yuan. Then, some Wahaha distributors will sign contracts for 2025 not with Wahaha but with Hongsheng Beverage Group, involving 14 markets in total, indicating that Zong Fuli's pace of divesting from Wahaha is accelerating. Yesterday, at Wahaha's annual sales meeting, Zong Fuli announced that "Wahaha has successfully matched its performance scale from ten years ago in 2024," which means Wahaha has returned to a sales scale of 70 billion yuan. Interestingly, around the same time, the new Zong Shifu AD Calcium Milk, which claims to pay tribute to Zong Qinghou, was officially launched, making industry insiders sense a "melon" (drama).
AD Calcium Milk Organized by Former Wahaha Employees Is it riding on popularity or showing nostalgia? In July this year, during the "palace intrigue" between Zong Fuli and Wahaha, the Zong Shifu brand came into public view and was seen as Zong Fuli's trump card. Although Zong Fuli and Wahaha later stated that they had no connection with the brand, Zong Shifu's popularity has remained high. Now, Zong Shifu has attracted attention again. Recently, Zong Shifu's Yipin Zongshi AD Calcium Milk announced its launch. From the exposed product, it is very similar to Wahaha's classic big product AD Calcium Milk. (Image from the internet) So what exactly is Zong Shifu? Public information shows that this product is produced by Zong Shifu Beverage (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., and its full name is "Yipin Zongshi AD Calcium Milk." The company has also proposed ambitious goals of "locking in a production scale of 1 billion+ yuan, product categories of 10+, and sales share of 10 billion+ yuan." Zong Shifu's operator is Zhao Fangchen, a former Wahaha employee who served as a regional manager at Wahaha many years ago and personally experienced the rise and glory of Wahaha AD Calcium Milk. It is worth noting that this Zong Shifu AD Calcium Milk is produced by Hangzhou Wushang Food Co., Ltd. The company is known for its Wushang lactic acid bacteria and Wushang AD Calcium Milk, and its boss Ni Yongkang was also a member of Wahaha, joining in 2001 to lead the milk project development. In addition, at the initial stage of the Zong Shifu beverage project, Zhao Fangchen specially invited many former Wahaha employees to contribute ideas. From team building, brand positioning to product production, almost all were organized by these former Wahaha employees. So, is Zong Shifu AD Calcium Milk a product that rides on popularity or truly shows nostalgia? Some industry insiders said: "If this is a brand created by Zong Fuli herself, it will definitely sell well. If it's an outsider trying to exploit a loophole, it will only be despised by more people." Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in the Chinese food industry, told First Food Information: "This issue is a combination of both, depending on Wahaha's attitude. If Wahaha recognizes it, there's no problem. If Zong Fuli has objections, it may not work." What do you think about Zong Shifu AD Calcium Milk? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Wahaha's Sales This Year About 70 Billion Yuan Sales Staff Overall Income Increased by 30% Although Wahaha's attitude towards Zong Shifu AD Calcium Milk has not been revealed, it does not affect the holding of its annual sales meeting as scheduled. On November 7, Wahaha Group held its 2024 sales meeting. Zong Fuli revealed: "Wahaha has successfully matched its performance scale from ten years ago."
(Image from Wahaha's official account) Data shows that in 2013, Wahaha's performance scale reached a peak of nearly 78.3 billion yuan, and in 2014 it dropped to about 72 billion yuan, but in 2015, Wahaha's performance fell to less than 50 billion yuan. According to Zong Fuli's statement, this means Wahaha's sales scale in 2024 has reached about 70 billion yuan. In fact, Wahaha's 2024 has been a year full of ups and downs. In February this year, Zong Qinghou passed away, and Zong Fuli took over Wahaha. In March, Zong Fuli began strategic adjustments, increasing investment in offline channels, especially freezer placement, as part of the strategy to reshape Wahaha's offline channels. In addition, Wahaha's pursuit of performance has also affected distributors. According to media reports, a Wahaha distributor in Northeast China with 5 years of experience said that after Zong Qinghou's death, Wahaha's performance soared, and then the company issued aggressive performance growth requirements: in June, a 60% year-on-year growth was required; in July, 150%; in September, the original requirement was over 100% year-on-year growth, which was adjusted to 30% after protests; in some regions, a growth task of over 200% year-on-year was issued in October. In Zhu Danpeng's view, Wahaha's overall sales in 2024 will definitely increase significantly. Zong Qinghou, as a representative of Chinese private entrepreneurs, won respect from all walks of life. Consumers mourned him and thus bought more Wahaha products. "In Guangzhou, I visited and found that some distributors found it difficult to find sub-distributors. Initially, some small sub-distributors might sell less than 30 boxes a month, but now sub-distributors can sell three to four thousand boxes. This shows that the direction of public opinion is very critical, and Wahaha itself has also made a lot of efforts," Zhu Danpeng said. For the upcoming 2025, Zong Fuli pointed out that the key breakthroughs in 2025 will be in water and tea, with five major products developing comprehensively and balanced, implementing multi-channel network layout, tapping into multi-format sales potential, concentrating resources to strengthen terminal construction, achieving victory at the terminal in 2025, and maximizing the synergy between the sales team and distributor team.
81 Billion Yuan to Top the Rich List Zong Fuli Accelerates Divestment from Wahaha Wahaha and Nongfu Spring are both giants in the drinking water and beverage market and are often compared. On the 2024 Hurun Rich List, 42-year-old Zong Fuli stood out, ranking first among Chinese richest women with a wealth of 81 billion yuan, ranking 38th on the overall list. Zong Fuli's competitor Zhong Shanshan ranked second on the Hurun Rich List with a wealth of 340 billion yuan. However, even with the halo of being the richest woman, Zong Fuli has not been free from troubles. Although Wahaha's revenue soared in 2024, many problems still lie ahead. Currently, the aging of Wahaha's brand image is becoming increasingly prominent, and it urgently needs to regain youthful vitality. It is worth noting that emerging brands such as Heytea, Chagee, and Genki Forest have developed rapidly in the beverage market, posing a considerable impact on Wahaha's market competitiveness. In addition, Zong Fuli, known as the "Princess of Wahaha," wants to prove herself more than ordinary people. At present, in terms of transferring or divesting from Wahaha, she has already taken three major actions: 1. Abandoning Wahaha's old office building and having employees move to the Hongsheng office in Xiaoshan. 2. Taking back the shares that Wahaha gave to employees, requiring all employees to sign new work contracts with Hongsheng. 3. It is rumored that the 2025 sales contracts for 14 markets including Tibet, Qinghai, Heilongjiang, and Jilin will be transferred to Hongsheng Beverage Group.
(Image from the internet) At this point, Hongsheng Beverage not only has Wahaha's production lines but will also have sales lines, and resources will further tilt towards the Hongsheng system. Zong Fuli, standing on the shoulders of giants, has been trying to prove herself, such as acquiring Hong Kong-listed China Candy to go public through a backdoor listing; replacing the spokesperson for purified water; launching a brand beverage named after her English name Kellyone... However, after going through twists and turns, she still said, "Without Zong Qinghou, Wahaha is zero." So, in your opinion, how did Wahaha perform in 2024, and what trump card will Zong Fuli play next? Can she realize the billion-yuan dream that Zong Qinghou once proposed? Feel free to leave a comment below.