In 2020, China's annual output of beverages will be nearly 200 million tons. In China, in addition to the creamer produced by foreign-funded enterprises in Hollik, Ah Huatian and Gaole High, you can also buy Lekoufu, Liang Feng and Sugar Sugar House. Among them, Lekoufu is the earliest domestic malt milk creamer in China.
Speaking of Lekoufu, I have to mention one person. This person is Huang Chujiu, a native of Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, who was known as "one of the two and a half big sliders in Shanghai" and "the manager of the hundred houses" in the early 1930s.
Huang Chujiu moved to Shanghai with his mother when he was young, and from the beginning of learning Traditional Chinese medicine with his mother, he successively developed Aero Brain Juice, Dragon Tiger Ren dan and Ballantine Machine, and gradually developed into a diversified enterprise group with eight major businesses such as medicine, culture and entertainment, finance, tobacco, real estate, tea trade, bathroom, and candy. Including: China's first national capital pharmaceutical enterprise Dragon Tiger Company, Wuzhou Pharmacy, Sino-French Pharmacy, Jiufu Pharmaceutical and other 21 pharmaceutical companies, China's first entertainment newspaper "Big World News", China's first comprehensive entertainment venue Shanghai New World Amusement Park, Asia's largest entertainment center Shanghai Great World Amusement Park, New New Stage, Louwailou Roof Garden, China Film Company and other cultural and entertainment industries, day and night bank, Shanghai Night Market Physical Coupons Exchange and other financial industries, Fuchang Tobacco Company, Jiuxing Tobacco Company, Tobacco enterprises such as Dachang Tobacco Factory, as well as large and small industrial and commercial enterprises such as Samsung Real Estate Company, Hot Spring Bath, Yude Pond, Luochunge Tea House, Huanglongtai Tea Shop, Jiufutang Fanzhuang, Jiufu South Goods Store, and Maxkay Candy Store.
In 1931, in order to seek huang Chujiu's big world, Jin Rong of Shanghai Beach sent people around Shanghai Beach to spread "Huang Chujiu is sick", "Huang Chujiu is going to die", "Huang Chujiu's business is going to collapse as soon as he dies", resulting in the bank being run down day and night, the 59-year-old Huang Chujiu died of depression, and the business empire he founded fell apart, at that time, the Jiufu Pharmaceutical Company, which was headed by Huang Chujiu's son-in-law Zang Boyong and the third son-in-law Chen Xingwu was the manager, was very difficult to operate, and soon Chen Xingwu left Jiufu Pharmaceutical Company. Jiufu Pharmaceutical Company made it worse.
In order to get out of the predicament, Zang Boyong purchased the Swiss Ovomaltine (Ahuatian) "Huafu" brand malt creamer formula that was popular in Hong Kong at this time, and then added cocoa powder to the formula to develop a new malt creamer with chocolate sweetness, named "Lekoufu". As soon as the product was listed, the "Fu" brand Lekoufu was favored by the Shanghai market.
However, the good times were not long, in 1937, the Outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the continuous chaos, coupled with the soaring price of raw materials of Ah Huatian Company, when Shanghai was liberated in 1949, Jiufu Pharmaceutical Company was close to closure.
After liberation, from the second half of 1949 to September 1953, Shanghai launched the first phase of public-private partnership socialist transformation, and Jiufu Pharmaceutical became one of the first 406 households in Shanghai to realize the joint venture between the state and private capital, and the business was split into two parts: the pharmaceutical production part was restructured into the Yellow River Pharmaceutical Factory, and the Lekou Fu Malt Milk Extract was transferred to the Shanghai Coffee Factory.
During the Cultural Revolution, the "Fu" brand was changed to the "Shanghai" brand, and the "Lekoufu" was renamed Malt Milk Essence. However, exports are still sold under the "Fu" brand "Lekoufu" brand, especially in the HighLy Known Markets of Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia.
In the 1970s, the cocoa bean channel was interrupted due to imports from Brazil. Shanghai coffee factories had to adjust the product formula and develop the "Shanghai brand" reinforced malt milk extract.
After the reform and opening up, Shanghai Coffee Factory restored the traditional name of "Fu" brand Lekoufu, and the annual output reached 5,000 tons in 1990. Later, Shanghai Coffee Factory merged with Zhengguanghe Soda Factory to form Zhengguanghe Soda Co., Ltd. In 1997, when Zhengguanghe and Shanghai Meilin were reorganized into Meilin Zhengguanghe Group, Zhengguanghe transferred the production and operation of the "Fu" brand Lekoufu to Novartis Pharmaceutical Group Novartis Food Co., Ltd. By the beginning of the century, Novartis had transferred its two major food and beverage businesses to The United Foods Company. In 2002, the British United Food Group and Shanghai Meilin Zhengguanghe Group joint ventured to establish Shanghai Yinglian Food and Beverage Co., Ltd. In 2003, the British United Food Group transferred the "Fu" brand Lekoufu to Shanghai Yinglian Food and Beverage Co., Ltd., but Shanghai Merlin Group owns the brand ownership of the "Fu" brand Lekoufu, and ABT enjoys the right to produce and operate. In 2008, Shanghai Yinglian Food & Beverage Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned company of AB Food. At this point, after nearly 90 years of going around, Lekoufu, developed on the basis of the Ah Hua Tian formula, was reunited in Abba Foods.
At the same time, in addition to The Fu brand Lekoufu, there are other brands of Lekoufu in China, such as white ear malt milk, ginseng malt milk, bubble gum cocoa malt milk, milk plus calcium malt milk.
Flowers are not red. Recalling the story of malt milk creamer, which has been popular for more than a hundred years, the reasons for its transformation from prosperity to decline can be roughly as follows:
The first is to be disconnected from the change in health concepts. Malt milk, a high-calorie, high-sugar nutritional drink, was produced during world war I and world war II when materials were relatively scarce, and was produced in the context of the Antarctic And Arctic expedition, which well met the needs of people at that time. With the development of social economy, people's health concept has undergone tremendous changes, high calories, high sugar is no longer synonymous with health, fading out of the market has become inevitable. Therefore, the product must follow the market.
The second is the inability to cope with the impact of alternatives. With coffee, milk tea, Coca-Cola, Sprite and other better-tasting beverages entering the market, malt milk extract, which is heavier and not smooth enough to drink, has not changed much and has gradually been eliminated by the market.
Third, the pricing strategy is a mistake. In the 80s, a can of 800 grams of malt milk was sold for 40-50 yuan, and in 1987, my salary in the first year of college was less than 59.5 yuan, which shows that malt milk creamer was definitely a "luxury" in that era. However, in the same period, a bag of 1,000g of full-fat imported milk powder with richer nutrition and better taste is only about 60 yuan. Malt milk creamer in the "low-end market can not afford to buy, high-end market does not want to buy" dilemma, gradually fade out of the market has become inevitable.