In the beverage market around the turn of the millennium, Wahaha and Robust were the two leading companies. From ad calcium milk to bottled water, from tea drinks to jelly pudding, the competitive momentum of the two companies is no less than that of Nongfu Spring and C'estbon in the bottled water field today, and Yili and Mengniu in the milk beverage field.
However, Wahaha still occupies an important position in the beverage industry, but Robust has long since "disappeared".
At that time, it was a time when foreign brands were aggressively entering the Chinese market. French food and beverage giant Danone adopted the strategy of “acquire if it can’t beat it” and acquired Robust during its peak period in 2000. A year later, Robust founder He Boquan and the founding team were forced to resign, and this once-famous brand was hidden for more than ten years. This strategy was quite common among foreign-funded companies back then. After acquiring a brand's production line and sales channel, they usually "marginalized" the original brand so that their flagship brand could occupy the market faster. The young nurses acquired by L'Oréal Group in the early years also suffered a similar fate. In 2016, Robust was sold to Ying Investment Holdings by Danone. By this time, China's beverage market had already changed.
Robust once again launched the classic Robust ad calcium milk at the beginning of the new year. It may be difficult to create a big splash just by playing the "sentiment card" to those born in the 80s and 90s.
Back then, Danone Group established a joint venture with Wahaha, intending to bring this national beverage brand under its umbrella. Unlike Robust, Zong Qinghou firmly controls Wahaha and has successfully withstood dozens of lawsuits filed against Wahaha by Danone around the world. In the end, the "Dawa dispute" ended with Danone's withdrawal.
Zong Qinghou’s courage and strategy made Wahaha what it is today. Countless netizens spontaneously paid tribute to Mr. Zong. This is no accident, but stems from his persistence and persistence in national brands.
