Chapter 818 – Invitation for cooperation
To make this dream come true, Feng Yu had to increase his brands’ awareness. He needs a powerful brand to control the industry.
Currently, there are only two famous Chinese brands in the US. Wind and Rain, and Jianlibao!
Wind and Rain brands have many popular products. Bladeless fans, humidifiers, VCD, DVD patents, etc. The brand is known for its home appliances, and some of its products are already the market leaders.
Jianlibao is currently the leader of the Chinese beverage industry. Their total sales last year were more than 4 billion RMB and their profits were more than 400 million RMB. They have branches in more than a dozen countries and are selling in more than 30 countries.
Although Lehaha is catching up with Jianlibao in the Chinese market, it was only limited to China. Lehaha’s products are only selling in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. They had tried to enter Japan but withdrawn due to poor sales. The Japanese do not want to buy their products after they found out it is a Chinese brand. Zhong Qingxian was upset and even lost weight over this.
Jianlibao is the leader in China, followed by Lehaha, Le Baishi, Coconut Tree, Zhen Zhen, Rising Sun Group, and many other brands. The total sales of these companies were more than 3 billion USD. What was the US beverage companies’ total sales last year? 10 billion USD!
China has a population of 1.2 billion, and the US has only 200 million. The differences in consumer spending in the two countries are too significant.
Feng Yu has always wanted to bring Lehaha out of China. In his previous life, Le Bashi had tried to do this but failed. During Le Bashi’s peak, its sales are not more than 25 million USD. They were doing worse than Jianlibao now. Even the Coconut Tree is doing better than them.
The US FDA is the strictest in the world. If any beverage can pass the FDA test, the drink will not have a problem to pass the checks in other countries.
Jianlibao was able to pass the FDA checks and managed to secure a footing in the US.
But Jianlibao’s development in the US had hit a bottleneck. This was mainly because Jianlibao only have one drink, and the US still has two beverage giants.
Jianlibao had an opportunity to work with Pepsi. They had planned to compete with Coca-Cola together, but during the negotiations, Jianlibao’s head, Li Jingwei, said something which was very arrogant. “Pepsi is a leader in the international beverage industry. I represent Jianlibao to welcome you to join us and manufacture our products!”
Li Jingwei wanted Pepsi to become one of its contractors!
There were rumors that Pepsi’s representative’s face changed. Pepsi had offered lucrative terms for this cooperation. Jianlibao will help Pepsi to market its drinks in China and suppress Coca-Cola. On the other hand, Pepsi will help Jianlibao market their drinks in the US.
This was an exchange of their market, and it’s a win-win situation for both companies. But Li Jingwen was too arrogant and belittled the two beverage giants. It was also because their products targeted different consumer segments.
Jianlibao’s product is a sports drink, targeting sportsmen. It is a healthier drink and Pepsi, and Coca-Cola is only soft drinks to Li Jingwen. He felt that these soft drinks will not be able to stop Jianlibao in the US.
At the start, Jianlibao’s introduction to the US market is going on smoothly. China’s top beverage company had entered the US market and succeeded in expanding its market share in the US.
But when the two coke companies realized that they were unable to penetrate the Chinese market and their home ground had been invaded by Jianlibao, they started to suppress Jianlibao.
It was not only in the US. The two companies suppressed Jianlibao in many other countries. After the two beverage giants worked together against Jianlibao, Jianlibao overseas development become limited.
Just when Jianlibao needed help, Feng Yu contacted the head of Jianlibao’s US operations, Lin Qishu.
Jianlibao had bought one whole level of a building as its US headquarters. Their office is not far from the Empire State Building. Feng Yu was now very famous in the US because of the newspaper reports. When Lin Qishu received Feng Yu’s call, he agreed to meet him immediately.
Feng Yu met Li Qishu in a meeting room on the top floor of the Empire State Building.
“You are Mr. Feng?” The newspapers did not publish Feng Yu’s photograph, and Lin Qishu does not know Feng Yu. But there is only one person in the meeting room and he asked. Lin Qishu felt the person in front of him was not Feng Yu as he is too young.
“Manager Lin, nice to meet you. I am Feng Yu.”
Lin Qishu recognized Feng Yu’s voice, and he shook his hand. He still could not believe that this young man is Feng Yu.
“Mr. Feng. Nice to meet you.”
“Manager Lin, are you curious why I invited you over today? I will not beat around the bush. I want to help Jianlibao.” Feng Yu said with a smile.
Lin Qishu frowned. “What do you mean by this? Jianlibao does not need any help.”
Lin Qishu thought Feng Yu wants to buy a stake in Jianlibao, and he will not agree. Jianlibao is a successful state-owned enterprise, and no outsiders can buy a stake in it.
“Really? How come I heard that Jianlibao is rejected from selling your products in the major supermarket chains?” Feng Yu had heard about this.
Entering the major supermarket chains will increase the sales and profits of the company. If Jianlibao is not able to enter the supermarkets, they will never be able to compete with the two cola companies in the US market.
Lin Qishu looked at Feng Yu. Although this was not a secret, no one will know if they did not do research about Jianlibao. Mr. Feng had gathered information about Jianlibao?
“Mr. Feng, you can help us? I need to be clear with you. It is not that Jianlibao is refused entry to the supermarkets in the US. We are still negotiating and haven’t agreed on the terms.”
Jianlibao wanted the same terms as the two cola companies. They wanted a shelf reserved for them in the best location with eye-catching signages. But the supermarkets do not agree. Although Jianlibao had some brand awareness in the US, to the supermarket, it is still not on the same level as the two cola companies.
There is another important reason. Jianlibao only has one type of drink. How can one drink occupy one whole shelf?
“What if I can help you all get more attractive conditions?” Feng Yu smiled and asked.
