Text|Zebra consumption Chen Xiaojing.On the morning of February 25, Wahaha's official Weibo released the news that Mr. Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of the company, passed away due to illness.
Zong Fuli, who has become the company's "second-in-command" two years ago, has once again stepped into the spotlight.
* The pursuit of this "Wahaha Queen" is not only the multiple labels on her body, but also the suspense of the power change of Wahaha's 100 billion business empire.
In the hands of Zong Qinghou, Wahaha has grown from a school-run factory to a large food and beverage group, and he has also been the richest man in China many times, becoming a legend in China's business community.
With the death of Zong Qinghou, how will the young Zong Fuli keep this family business and lead Wahaha to another height?
In 2018, Zong Fuli volunteered to become the public relations director of Wahaha Group, when the company was still in a trough.
In that year, Wahaha Group's operating income recorded 468900 million yuan, although it has stopped the downward trend for 5 consecutive years, but compared with the peak revenue of 782 in 20137.8 billion yuan, less than 30 billion yuan.
Later, Zong Fuli had an in-depth analysis of this. She bluntly said that the advent of the mobile Internet era has broken the boundaries of the traditional retail industry, and the competition of traditional consumer goods companies has intensified, while facing the challenge of innovation, and the company's adjustment to market changes is relatively slow.
At that time, although she was concurrently serving as the management of the group as Princess Wahaha, her father Zong Qinghou still had the final say in the decision-making of the company's affairs. What she can do is to use the knife in terms of product promotion.
Replacing product spokesperson Wang Leehom is the first fire she burned after taking office. According to her original words - Wahaha's consumer groups are children and young people, and Wang Leehom is old and no longer an idol of young people. Although, Wang Leehom has endorsed Wahaha for 20 years.
Subsequently, Zong Fuli was welcomed into the door by Xu Guanghan, an actor, singer and model born in 1990.
Faced with the surging controversy caused by the change of spokesperson, Zong Fuli directly asked: "From 20 years old to 40 years old, don't you feel tired?"”。
From another point of view, Zong Fuli's actions made Wahaha lucky. 3 years later, Leehom Wang's personality collapsed, and Wahaha successfully escaped.
The daughter of the clan came to the fore from behind the scenes, not only decisively in her career, but also more and more mature in her personal aesthetics.
Many years ago, she appeared at public events, with her signature thick bangs and long straight black hair, and with infinite proximity to the center of power, now, her image has undergone a great transformation, her hair is not breasts, her clothes are not tight, and her elegant temperament reveals a bit of ability.
Under the influence of Zong Fuli, people gradually see Wahaha, which is moving towards a younger age. Nutrition Express makeup, AD calcium milk mooncakes and ice cream products are coming.
At the end of 2021, Zong Fuli was appointed as the vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group, and her personal management style was further revealed.
Compared with her father, who does everything himself, Zong Fuli will rely more on team collaboration and strictly follow the regulations. This kind of change, Zong Qinghou once sighed before his death - the future development direction of the enterprise may be different.
Breaking the circle Zong Qinghou once said that among the second generation of many private enterprises in China, half are unwilling, and a very important reason is that they don't like the industry that their parents are engaged in.
Zong Fuli didn't think so. In an interview with "At least an hour", she believes that beverage is a very good sunrise industry.
20 years ago, Zong Fuli returned to China from studying abroad to participate in the internal affairs of Wahaha Group, and at first went to the grassroots workshop to exercise like a newcomer. Later, Zong Qinghou supported her with $10 million in entrepreneurial capital to establish Hongsheng Beverage Group, trying to run through the upstream and downstream of beverages. Hongsheng and Wahaha Group expanded across the country at the same time, investing in factories in various places.
Hongsheng, which is completely decided by Zong Fuli, started with only one beverage filling line, and now has 104 production lines, more than 44 subsidiaries and 16 production bases in China. In 2012, the operating income was 1087.4 billion yuan, one-fifth of Wahaha Group. In 2014, it ranked among the top 500 private enterprises in China.
Between Wahaha and Hongsheng, Zong's father and daughter have always maintained a tacit understanding: Zong Qinghou doesn't ask, and Zong Fuli doesn't ask for help.
Hongsheng Beverage Group is not only a downstream enterprise of Wahaha, undertaking product OEM business, but also expanding its own upstream and downstream industrial chain to become a comprehensive beverage group.
In 2016, Zong Fuli also launched a fruit and vegetable juice brand named after her English name, which is seen as her test in the beverage industry.
At the end of 2021, Zong Fuli got a bigger stage, was able to show her skills in products and marketing, and frequently went out of the circle.
The crossover of Nutrition Express Makeup, AD Calcium Milk Mooncakes, and the cooperation with Bilibili and the League of Legends Professional League have successfully introduced the Wahaha brand into subdivisions such as ACG, e-sports and trendy toys. This is what Zong Qinghou, who is born in the 40s, can't even think of it.
In terms of products, Wahaha has successively launched new products such as the sugar-free version of Very Cola, low-sugar drinks in tea, and electric soda, all of which are from Zong Fuli's handwriting.
She also tried to break the category pattern of "old three" large items, she had planned to make an egg yogurt, intervene in the yogurt category and so on.
However, these actions have only been launched in recent years, and under the impact of new and old brands, it remains to be tested by time and the market.
Zong Fuli has a lot of patience, and she makes no secret of her "liking" for her rival Nongfu Spring in the same city. In her opinion, there is much to learn from this opponent. Nongfu Spring has been unremittingly cultivating the pure tea beverage market for more than ten years, and finally ushered in an explosion last year.
Zong Fuli is not really at the helm, and there are not many opportunities to show space and make a big breakthrough, but as the Forbes article said, "parallel to his father".
What Zong Fuli wants to do is actually want to take over her father's scepter smoothly in an entrepreneurial state.
So, although she took a step, it was not fast. There may be two major factors that invisibly tie her up: on the one hand, she is persuaded that after persuading Zong Qinghou to "compromise first" in the event of a major conflict of interest in the company; On the other hand, it is necessary to feel the pulse of the consumer market.
In 2017, the 35-year-old Zong Fuli made a big bid to buy China Candy, a confectionery manufacturer based in Fujian Province and listed on the Stock Exchange.
Although the acquisition ultimately failed, Zong Fuli's attitude towards capital was once interpreted by the outside world as Zong Qinghou's attitude towards the listing of enterprises.
This interpretation may be wishful thinking.
Wahaha Group has since stated that the acquisition was Zong Fuli's personal behavior. Zong Fuli then said in her personal statement that although the acquisition was unsuccessful, it provided valuable experience for the company's future layout. She firmly believes that only by combining with the capital market will enterprises go further, which is what every company must do.
For a long time, Zong Qinghou's attitude towards listing is as firm as a rock, and the company is not short of money and resolutely does not go public. However, at the company's 30th anniversary celebration in 2017, Zong Qinghou's tone began to loosen: "Listed at the right time".
The difference in attitude towards enterprise capitalization between father and daughter is not only the collision between two generations of entrepreneurs, but also the difference in the perception of the capital market between two generations.
In an online program interview, Zong Fuli admitted that the only way to ensure the longevity of Wahaha's foundation is to go public. Standardize the operation of enterprises through listing to ensure that enterprises do not make and make fewer mistakes. In this way, business owners no longer stick to the details and focus on long-term development strategies.
Regardless of whether it is listed or not, Wahaha is now facing many old problems. At present, the competition in the beverage industry is intensifying, and it is no longer difficult to appear large single products similar to nutrition express and AD calcium milk.
With the death of Zong Qinghou, the era of Zong Fuli has arrived. And Wahaha's breakthrough is ultimately on her.