Xi'an's time-honored soda - Bingfeng sprinted to the IPO to win the "first share of domestic soda".
In July, Xi'an Bingfeng Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Bingfeng Beverage) submitted a prospectus to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. According to the prospectus, Bingfeng Beverage intends to publicly issue no more than 60 million shares, and the total amount of funds to be raised is 669 million yuan, which will be used for projects such as the renovation and expansion of the glass bottle production line, the upgrading of the marketing service network, brand building and the construction of the information management platform.
This 70-year-old domestic soda has always been a household name in Shaanxi, with cool skin, meat sandwich steamed buns, and become the "Three Qin Package".
In the 1990s, it resisted the impact of coca-cola and Pepsico, two major international beverage giants, and became one of the few winners of domestic old soda after the impact. Since then, it has firmly occupied the Shaanxi market.
However, the upstream news (weChat: shangyounews) reporter noted that for many years, Bingfeng Beverage has not been able to get rid of geographical restrictions and has not really achieved the goal of going out of Shaanxi.
Is it to do the regional old brand, or to become a new brand in China?
When Bingfeng Beverage sprinted for IPO, all parties in the domestic beverage market were also exerting their strength, and a change in domestic beverages was surging in the dark tide.
The glass bottle of Ice Peak Beverage has remained unchanged for decades. Photo / Upstream journalist Jia Chen
In Shaanxi, drinking Bingfeng is a sentiment
What is Ice Peak? First-time tasters may wonder: it's just an orange-flavored soda, and it's not much different from similar drinks.
However, just like the difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, there is always a reason for lovers to love.
The difference between Bingfeng, as its advertising slogan says, "This taste is very Xi'an".
Bingfeng has a history of 70 years, making this orange-flavored soda engraved in the memories of generations of Shaanxi people.
In 1948, a businessman introduced a set of soda manufacturing equipment from Tianjin and was preparing to build a factory in Xinjiang. But heavy snow fell every day, and merchants and machines were forced to stay in Xi'an.
In 1951, the businessman used the machine in his hand to build the first soda factory in Xi'an at that time, the Northwest Soda Factory, in Machangzi, Xi'an East Avenue.
Later, it was another heavy snow, and the wells that produced soda were frozen, and the snow froze to form crystals, like a small mountain. Since then, this orange-flavored soda has been named "Ice Peak".
In 1953, the Northwest Soda Factory was taken over into the state-owned, and after the company was jointly operated, it was merged into the Xi'an Food Factory, becoming one of the six workshops of the plant. Since then, the workshop has continued the process and continued to produce this soda.
Nowadays, people only know "cool skin, meat sandwich steamed bun, ice peak" and called "Three Qin package", but in Xi'an, cool skin, meat sandwich steamed bun everyone has, and Ice Peak is the only one.
In film and television works such as "Loading Stage" and "Ordinary World", the shadow of Bingfeng can often be seen.
With a bang, the bubbles began to rise, and the orange-red drink began to rise. The young man drank from the bottle and burped loudly. Most people will press a slender straw into the bottle and sip its freshness and coolness.
Outside parks, movie theaters, shopping malls, barbecue stalls at night, and guests who break steamed buns in bubble bun restaurants do not forget to roar: "Boss, open another ice peak!" ”
No need to explain, in Shaanxi, everyone knows what Bingfeng is.
At the end of the 1970s, a bottle of Bingfeng cost 2 dimes, a bottle deposit of 8 cents, and adults did not forget to remind their children repeatedly, "After drinking, don't throw away the bottle, return it to the boss, and buy another cream popsicle." "Even collecting discarded Ice Peak bottle caps was one of the funs of children in that era.
In 1984, Bingfeng's sales had exceeded 10 million.
Some media once described the scene at that time: every day, at the entrance of the Guangming Cinema on Xi'an South Avenue, because the business was too good, the handle of the soda was broken; at the entrance of the Xi'an Food Factory at No. 55 South Alley, Lianhu District, Xi'an City, individual vendors waiting to receive goods could discharge the alley. The production workshop is fully shifted to maintain four production lines for 24 hours, and the supply is still in short supply.
In the 1970s and 1980s, when materials were relatively scarce, Bingfeng was comparable to a luxury product, adding a touch of flavor and atmosphere to the lives of Xi'an people.
For decades, Bingfeng's glass bottles have maintained the same bottle body, unchanged taste, and unchanged capacity.
In the eyes of Shaanxi people, drinking Bingfeng is a kind of feeling.
From 2018 to 2020, 80% of the sales revenue of Bingfeng Beverage mainly came from Shaanxi. Image credit/screenshot of prospectus
Successfully blocked Coca-Cola
In the 1960s and 1970s, many cities in China had well-known brands of soda with local characteristics, such as Beijing Arctic Ocean, Shenyang Bawang Temple, Tianjin Shanhaiguan, Shanghai Zhengguanghe, Qingdao Laoshan, Wuhan Bridge, Chongqing Tianfu Cola, Guangzhou Asian Soda... These sodas have even become the business cards of various cities.
Of course, Ice Peak is no exception.
At the end of the 1970s, international beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo returned to the Chinese market and began to infect major domestic beverage companies through Sino-foreign joint ventures and mergers.
At the time, Coca-Cola and Pepsi Had deep capital, advanced production technology, and extensive management and marketing experience. In cooperation with this international beverage giant, the original intention of domestic beverages is also to improve themselves through learning. But unexpectedly, this cooperation has laid hidden dangers for domestic beverage brands.
In the 1990s, after the joint venture between 7 major domestic brands such as Beijing Arctic Ocean, Shenyang Bawang temple, Tianjin Shanhaiguan, Qingdao Laoshan, Wuhan Bridge, etc., the brand was deactivated or was affected by the suspension of production, a few barely maintained operation, and the scale has shrunk significantly.
At the same time that domestic beverage brands are coming to an end, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo take the opportunity to accelerate their occupation of the entire Chinese beverage market.
Later, this economic history was called by the media as the "Seven Armies of Two Pleasures" in the domestic beverage industry.
However, in this merger war, Bingfeng became one of the few survivors, which also laid a better foundation for Bingfeng's future development.
The local media in Shaanxi had reviewed the merger war.
In 1995, Coca-Cola made a high-profile announcement to enter the Xi'an market. In order to beat Bingfeng, Coca-Cola made a decision: Coke in a glass bottle contained 50ml more than Bingfeng, and the wholesale price was 5 cents cheaper than Bingfeng.
In those days, 5 cents was a lot for drinks.
For a time, the price war entered a white-hot, and the sales of Bingfeng once fell sharply, and the annual sales fell below 10 million bottles. For Ice Peak, that shock was the darkest hour.
According to the official website of Bingfeng Beverage, in the 1990s, when Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola attacked the local Chinese market, Bingfeng still maintained a market share of 30%-40%.
The prospectus of Bingfeng Beverage shows that from 2018 to 2020, Bingfeng's market share in Shaanxi has always remained above 80%.
The comparison of the two data shows the fierceness at that time.
However, some insiders recalled that the decline in sales of Bingfeng lasted for about 3 to 5 months. After that, the Bingfeng production line remained fully open, maintaining an average of 500,000 to 700,000 bottle shipments per day.
It is reported that this fierce competition period lasted for 2 years, and in the end, Bingfeng became the only few survivors of domestic beverages.
After escaping the disaster, Bingfeng began to take the initiative to choose reform.
In 1997, the production of "Bingfeng" factory was renamed Xi'an Bingfeng Food and Beverage Company, and began the market-oriented transformation.
In July 2008, the company carried out joint-stock system transformation and established Xi'an Sugar and Wine Group.
As one of the national soda brands with a long history, Bingfeng has won the honors of "Xi'an Time-honored Brand", "Shaanxi Time-honored Brand", "Shaanxi Food Industry Best Popular Brand" and so on.
Many cities in China once had well-known brands of special soda. Image credit/screenshot of prospectus
Domestic beverage collective force to break the situation
From a market point of view, Bingfeng Beverage is undoubtedly a good business.
From 2018 to 2020, the financial report of Bingfeng Beverage shows that the operating income of Bingfeng Beverage is 286 million yuan, 302 million yuan and 332 million yuan respectively, with a year-on-year growth rate of 6% and 10% respectively, and the growth is relatively stable.
From 2018 to 2020, the current assets of Bingfeng Beverage accounted for more than 92%, mainly because the company mainly adopted the sales settlement method of "first payment and then goods" for distributors, which ensured that Bingfeng Beverage had sufficient cash and good asset liquidity. From 2018 to 2020, the real net profit margin of Bingfeng Beverage for three years even exceeded that of Nongfu Spring.
But the problem with Bingfeng Beverage is that It is also Shaanxi, and it is limited because of Shaanxi.
From 2018 to 2020, the sales revenue of Bingfeng beverages mainly came from Shaanxi, accounting for 87.44%, 81.73% and 80.23% respectively.
Although in the field of e-commerce, the sales of Bingfeng beverages are growing year by year. By 2020, annual sales revenue has accounted for 6.09%. However, in contrast, in the northeast, central China, south China, north China and other regions, the proportion of Bingfeng beverage sales revenue has not been able to break through 3%.
Difficulty getting out is one of the risks of Bingfeng Beverage. That is, there is a certain risk of concentration in sales areas, which restricts the development of the company's future outward expansion business to a certain extent.
Is Bingfeng Beverage going to be a regional old brand, or a new brand in China? This impact on the IPO, the choice of Bingfeng Beverage is obviously more than the latter.
At present, Bingfeng products are mainly orange flavored soda, supplemented by plant beverages such as sour plum soup.
The data of the Prospective Industry Research Institute shows that after years of survival of the fittest and market competition, the carbonated beverage market has formed a market pattern dominated by international brands Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, supplemented by domestic brands such as Arctic Ocean, Jianlibao and Bingfeng.
At present, domestic beverages are trying to break this situation through various means.
After being suppressed for 20 years, some other domestic old soda brands have also begun to return to people's vision.
Hachinoji soda returned in 2003, Laoshan Cola resumed production in 2004, Arctic Ocean soda made a comeback in 2011, Shanhaiguan soda restarted in 2014, and Tianfu Cola also announced its brand comeback in January 2016.
According to the prospectus of Bingfeng Beverage, from 2018 to 2020, the main competitors of Bingfeng Beverage in the carbonated beverage market include PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Arctic Ocean and Jianlibao; the main competitors in the plant beverage market include Master Kong, Wang Laoji, Xin Yuanzhai and Jiulong Zhai.
At present, in the field of domestic soda, from the perspective of market volume, the fastest growing is Beijing Arctic Ocean soda.
In June this year, Dahao Technology (603025. SH) announced that after the injection of relevant assets, the main products of the asset management company include the "Arctic Ocean" brand series of beverages. Since then, arctic ocean has completed the backdoor listing, and has begun to lay out factories in China. According to media reports, the Arctic Ocean's own revenue has approached 1 billion.
In contrast, the operating income of Bingfeng Beverage in 2020 is 332 million yuan, and the pressure to catch up in the future is indeed not small.
At the same time, after the return of Wuhan's veteran soda "Hankou No. 2 Factory" to the market, it has obtained two consecutive rounds of financing totaling more than 100 million yuan, and has become a new Internet celebrity product through the national tide soda.
Shortly after the release of the prospectus of Bingfeng Beverage, the news of Jianlibao's return to the Xi'an market also spread.
Some media quoted Jianlibao as saying that entering Xi'an is first of all because there is a factory in Xi'an; secondly, locals like orange flavored soda.
The upstream news reporter noted that at present, in some small shops in Xi'an, the retail price of Jianlibao glass bottled soda is slightly lower than that of Bingfeng. A price war seems to have sparked a new round of attention.
However, Bingfeng Beverage is focusing on product development, marketing and brand building.
In order to cater to the tastes of a new generation of consumers, in recent years, Bingfeng Beverage has launched new products including white peach flavored sodas and tea drinks. According to the prospectus, the fundraising plan will also use the main funds for marketing and brand building. The fundraising expansion project is also a paving stone for opening up the market in the future and improving market share and competitiveness.
Under the IPO of Bingfeng Beverage Sprint, whether the domestic beverage parties can break the oligopoly pattern of foreign brands needs to be observed, but it is certain that a change is surging in the dark tide.
Upstream journalist Jia Chen