China Business Daily (reporter Zhou Ziyi / photo)The energy drink market, which has been quiet for a while, is making waves again. The two major “Red Bulls” are still “entangled” in disputes, and the protracted “Red Bull War” may cause variables. On the other hand, Dongpeng Beverage, a rookie in the functional beverage market, released its first annual report card after its listing, but it was very eye-catching. In the eyes of industry insiders, Dongpeng Beverage may be the biggest winner in this battle.
A showcase of functional drinks in a supermarket in Beijing.
Dongpeng Beverage’s report card is dazzling
On February 28, Dongpeng Beverage’s first annual report card after listing showed that in 2021, this rookie in the functional beverage market will achieve revenue of 6.978 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 40.72%; net profit attributable to its parent is 1.193 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.9%. %. Among them, the main product Dongpeng special drink revenue accounted for 94.66% of the company’s revenue.
Regarding the increase in revenue, Dongpeng Beverage said that the main reason is that the company continued to implement the omni-channel intensive cultivation strategy in the Guangdong region, and at the same time opened up national sales channels, which led to an increase in the sales volume of 500ml gold bottles and other beverages, resulting in a substantial increase in revenue. .
From a regional perspective, in 2021, Dongpeng Beverage’s Guangdong region will achieve revenue of 3.199 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.67%; East China region will achieve revenue of 772 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 79.07%; Southwest region will achieve revenue of 432 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 65.37%; The North China region realized revenue of 339 million yuan, a simultaneous increase of 45%; the central China region realized a revenue of 753 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.32%. Dongpeng Beverage said that the national development has achieved remarkable results, and the proportion of revenue in Guangdong has dropped from 49.99% to 45.94%.
Wang Mingheng (pseudonym), a distributor of Dongpeng Beverage, introduced to a reporter from China Business Daily that Dongpeng Beverage is currently conducting a national layout, recruiting many new distributors, and launching activities such as “One Yuan Enjoy This Product” and other activities. very good. More importantly, Dongpeng Beverage’s current strategy is intensive market cultivation. Manufacturers will be equipped with professional market distribution personnel to assist distributors, which is the key to its successful promotion.
Li Xianglei (pseudonym), a practitioner who has been deeply involved in the beverage industry for many years, also told a reporter from China Business Daily that Dongpeng Beverage has been deeply involved in the Guangdong market before, and has expanded significantly in Zhejiang, Fujian and northern markets in recent years. At the same time as regional expansion, it is also expanding its categories and launching coffee and other products.
“Red Bull War” or raw variables
It is worth noting that there is a new plot of the “Red Bull War” recently. On February 23, the official website of Red Bull Vitamin Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Red Bull) released “About 50 Years of China Red Bull”<协议书>The original statement” stated that on November 10, 1995, China Red Bull signed a 50-year agreement with Thailand’s Tencel, China Food Industry Corporation, and Shenzhen Zhonghao Group. Recently, China Red Bull has obtained the original of the agreement.
It is said that there are nine articles in the 50-year agreement. The first article stipulates that “only China Red Bull has the right to produce and sell Red Bull beverages in China” and “Thailand Tencel shall not produce or contract to other companies to produce or sell similar products of Red Bull beverages in China.” “.
In this regard, on February 28, Thailand’s Tencel told a reporter from China Business Daily that China Red Bull’s move, like all previous statements, was just an attempt to confuse the public. Regarding the 50-year agreement, the company has applied for forensic identification. The company said that after the expiration of the trademark licensing contract on October 6, 2016, China Red Bull repeatedly submitted and withdrawn copies and notarizations of the so-called 50-year agreement in several core cases in order to delay the progress of the proceedings. In the trial of the “Red Bull” trademark ownership case, the Supreme People’s Court clearly determined that the original 50-year agreement does not matter, and the final judgment of the case is a valid judgment based on facts and laws, and has nothing to do with the so-called 50-year agreement.
In fact, in the judgment of the Supreme People’s Court on December 31, 2020, China Red Bull rejected China Red Bull’s appeal because it failed to provide the original 50-year agreement, and the Supreme People’s Court determined that the agreement was “questionable”. Why did China Red Bull come up with the original 50-year agreement at this time? In this regard, on February 28, China Red Bull told a reporter from China Business Daily that the original was only submitted at this time because the original was just found. At present, the company has formally submitted the original 50-year agreement to the Supreme People’s Court as an important basis for the retrial of the case.
In addition to lawsuit disputes, the two sides also continued to stalemate at the market level. China’s Red Bull launched the energy drink product Warhorse in 2017, hoping to use it as a backup product, while Thailand’s Tencel launched Red Bull’s vitamin flavored drink, Red Bull Anaiji, etc., in an attempt to attack China’s Red Bull’s products. At the same time, Thailand Tencel also reached a cooperation with Yangyuan Beverage, which obtained the distribution rights of Red Bull Anaiji north of the Yangtze River.
Who is the biggest winner
The Red Bull battle is protracted, and it may end up being both losers. Beverage industry observer Ma Lei told the China Business Daily reporter that even if Thailand’s Tencel eventually wins the lawsuit, it will be difficult to win the market. One is that consumers of Red Bull products from Tencel in Thailand are generally accepted by consumers; the other is that Yangyuan beverage channels are mainly distributed in the township market in the north, which does not match the positioning of drivers and white-collar workers of Red Bull products, which is very helpful to the Tencel channel in Thailand. Small; Third, many Chinese Red Bull distributors have a lot of affection for the company. Even if they quit the company, many distributors will not choose Thai Tencel products, but choose other functional drink products.
The protracted tug-of-war between Red Bull and Red Bull has had a profound impact on the brand. Wang Mingheng believes that there is no winner in the Red Bull battle, but will have a greater impact on the brand at the dealer level and the consumer level. In fact, the sales of Red Bull products of Tencel in Thailand are not very good, and they can only grab a small part of the market of Red Bull in China through low prices, which has caused resistance from some distributors and consumers. Ma Lei also bluntly said that several Red Bull products on the market are similar in appearance, and consumers may find that the taste is different each time they buy, and they may think that there is a problem with the product, which is very harmful to the Red Bull brand.
Meanwhile, other functional drink brands are on the rise, especially Dongpeng Beverage. Dongpeng Beverage, which landed in the capital market last year, had revenue of 3.038 billion yuan, 4.209 billion yuan, 4.959 billion yuan, and 6.978 billion yuan from 2018 to 2021; the net profit in the same period was 216 million yuan, 571 million yuan, 812 million yuan, 1.193 billion yuan.
In addition, functional beverage products such as Wahaha’s Qili, Dali’s Lehu, and Zhongwo’s Physique Energy are also competing in the market. According to data from Sinolink Securities and Euromonitor, in 2020, the market shares of Dongpeng Special Drink, Physique Energy, and Lehu will be 15.4%, 9.2%, and 6%, respectively.
Wang Mingheng believes that in the “Red Bull War”, Dongpeng Beverage may be the biggest winner. On the one hand, the audience of Dongpeng Beverage is more young consumers such as the post-90s and post-00s, while the majority of Red Bull is the post-60s, post-70s, and post-80s, and the two form a dislocation competition; In the market, the profit for distributors is very low, and some distributors turn to represent Dongpeng Beverage products.
Ma Lei also believes that the rise of Dongpeng Beverage is due to the battle between Red Bull. In his view, in the previous functional beverage market, China Red Bull was very strong, leaving little opportunity for other brands to develop. While China Red Bull was struggling to deal with the lawsuit, Dongpeng Beverage began to take the route of sinking the regional market, targeting blue-collar consumers, and developing dislocation with Red Bull. In addition, the competition between Red Bull and Red Bull has caused many distributors who have feelings for China Red Bull to withdraw, and they would rather choose Dongpeng Beverage products than Thailand Tencel’s Red Bull products, which also gives Dongpeng Beverage a lot of opportunities.Return to Sohu, see more
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