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Haitian soy sauce, which was once a condiment giant with a market value of 530 billion yuan, is now in an unprecedented predicament. The most heart-wrenching thing is that their dealers have chosen to turn their backs, which has undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the company.
For an enterprise, such a collective departure of dealers is undoubtedly a catastrophic event to make matters worse.
Once passionate about the 100-year-old brand, these dealers are now questioning its trustworthiness. Under the pressure of the exodus of many distributors, Haitian Soy Sauce had to find its own survival while slowing down the pace of expansion.
The faces of the company's top management were full of solemnity, and they were deeply aware that if this reputational crisis was not resolved quickly and effectively, the former bright pearl of Haitian soy sauce would probably lose its luster completely.
The executives frowned, sometimes looked out the window, immersed in deep anxiety about the company's future development.
Looking back on the glorious history of Haitian Soy Sauce, we must go back to that passionate moment in 1982. That year, Pang Kang, a passionate college student, joined the soy sauce factory. With his excellent work attitude and extraordinary diligence, he quickly started from an unknown grassroots technician, and gradually rose to the top of the company by relying on his unremitting efforts.
In the 90s of the last century, under the wise leadership of Pang Kang, Haitian Soy Sauce successfully occupied 60% of the national soy sauce market share, which can be called the undisputed industry leader.
He is well aware of the importance of meeting the needs of consumers, and has invested heavily in in-depth cooperation with well-known institutions such as New Oriental to train a large number of chefs using Haitian soy sauce.
With the influence of these chefs and the bombardment of TV commercials, Haitian Soy Sauce quickly won the hearts of consumers and became a well-known brand.
In 2014, Pang Kang led Haitian Soy Sauce to successfully land in the capital market and achieve listing. Subsequently, with the advantages of excellent product quality and high brand awareness, Haitian Soy Sauce has shown an amazing ability to attract gold, the company's value has soared, and its market value has climbed to the peak of 530 billion yuan in a record!
I never expected that the once brilliant Haitian soy sauce would be mired in the quagmire! Everything has to start with the incident in 2022, when someone on the Internet suddenly revealed that the goods sold by Haitian soy sauce in the Chinese mainland market are actually significantly different from similar products exported to Japan!
Specifically, the ingredient lists of these two soy sauces are simply very different. The Japanese version of soy sauce is made from natural crops, but the Chinese version of soy sauce has a lot of chemical additives in the ingredient list, which raises questions about its safety.
In the face of such a huge wave of doubts, Pang Kang, the founder of Haitian Soy Sauce, seemed to be a little flustered. As a well-known company with a history of 100 years, it should have given a clear explanation and response to this concern of consumers.
Regrettably, however, Pang Kang failed to give a reasonable explanation, but instead took a tough stance and even issued a public warning, threatening to take legal action against the rumormongers.
This undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the incident. Consumers originally just hoped to get an answer to solve their doubts, but this reaction of Haitian Soy Sauce further deepened their perception that "Haitian Soy Sauce has double standards in its treatment of domestic and foreign consumers".
This was followed by a massive denunciation and boycott, triggering an unprecedented reputational crisis.
In the face of the flood of public pressure, Haitian Soy finally realized the seriousness of the problem. In order to salvage the situation, they had to seek the help of experts, hoping to calm the storm through professional interpretation.
A food expert, Nguyen Quang Feng, explained that while additives may sound worrisome, they don't actually have much of an impact as long as the amount used is well controlled. The state has strict regulations and standards for food additives, and the additives used in Haitian soy sauce are in line with national regulations, and its behavior is completely legal and compliant.
Another expert, Fan Zhihong, said that additives are not all harmful, and some additives can also effectively reduce the salt content of soy sauce, which is more beneficial to the human body.
However, although at this moment, we, as professionals, have already explained and verified the safety of additives with sophisticated science and technology, public opinion has always been strongly skeptical about related issues.
After all, many ordinary consumers do not have enough knowledge to identify which additives are safe and reliable, and which should be discardedIn order to regain the trust of consumers, Haitian Soy Sauce Company obviously cannot avoid this problem, and the only way to launch a pure natural and additive-free soy sauce product line is to provide consumers with more choices.
However, when Haitian Soy Sauce decided to launch an additive-free soy sauce product line, time had quietly passed and the market landscape had changed dramatically. A brand that has suffered a serious credibility blow is like a stained garment, and it is not easy to wash it thoroughly.
The data shows that in the first three quarters of 2023, the revenue and net profit of competitor Qianhe Flavor Industry have shown a substantial year-on-year increase, while Haitian Flavor Industry has fallen into the dilemma of negative growth.
What's even more distressing is that during the period from 2022 to 2023, the share price of Haitian Soy Sauce has fallen sharply from an all-time high of 124.68 yuan/share to 38.9 yuan/share, and the market value has almost evaporated by nearly 70%!
It is worth mentioning that although these new categories account for a relatively small proportion of revenue, the condiment business is still the core pillar industry of Haitian Group. This means that they must first regain the trust of consumers before they can regain their strength in the condiment market.
Otherwise, this century-old brand will be at risk of decay or even extinction.
In the face of such severe challenges, how should Haitian Soy Sauce find a breakthrough and regain its foothold? First of all, they must bravely face up to their doubts and actively communicate with consumers to answer their doubts.
The root cause of this crisis of trust lies precisely in the misunderstanding caused by information asymmetryAs a food company, Haitian Soy Sauce should provide consumers with an accurate and fair explanation in a more open and transparent manner, so as to dispel their deepest doubts In fact, if this way could have been adopted, perhaps today's situation will be very differentSecond, to rebuild consumers' trust in the brand, it is necessary to adhere to the "consumer-centric" The business philosophy of any brand is inseparable from the love and support of consumers.
It is precisely because of the strong support and love of the majority of consumers that Haitian soy sauce, a century-old golden signboard, can be in the forefront of the fierce market competition and become a leader in the industry! Once this fundamental is ignored, the influence of the product will gradually decline, and the light of the brand is destined to be dim.
Secondly, if you want to gain a long-term foothold in the highly competitive market environment and achieve sustainable development, you must attach great importance to the maintenance and promotion of brand value. Once a brand's reputation is damaged, the added value it brings is instantly lost.
From this point of view, the recent ingredient list incident has undoubtedly sounded a wake-up call for Haitian Soy Sauce, and made us deeply aware of the importance of brand value management. However, fortunately, the time-honored brand that has been baptized by wind and rain for a hundred years still has extremely high commercial value, as long as we take care of it with our hearts, it will surely be able to radiate new vitality.
To sum up, Haitian Soy Sauce urgently needs to change its mindset, give back to consumers with sincerity, and rebuild trust with practical actions. Stick to the brand's core values and never deviate from the original intention.
Only in this way can the dilemma be solved, and the dawn will once again illuminate the way forward.
When faced with doubts, bravely stand up and respond head-on, rather than choosing to run away, is a key step towards the revival of Haitian Soy Sauce.