Beijing News (reporter Wang Ziyang) On June 25, Danone confirmed to the Beijing News reporter that it has recently reached an agreement with Shenzhen Mutual Commerce co., Ltd. to sell the Yili brand and factory. The sale includes Yili's vat and bottled water brands, as well as two factories. In the future, Danone will adopt a model that focuses more on the overall development of the national market to achieve efficient operation of sales and production.
The sale is based on an assessment of the water business
On June 25, a reporter from the Beijing News found on the enterprise inspection that Shenzhen Danone Yiliquan Beverage Co., Ltd. had changed the company's market entity type, supervisor information, foreign capital to domestic investment, legal representative and other information on June 16. At present, the major shareholder of the company is Zhao Ziming, the investor has changed from Guoxiang Investment Co., Ltd. to Shenzhen Mutual Communication Commerce co., Ltd., and the company has also changed from a limited liability company (wholly owned by a legal person from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao) to a limited liability company (a legal person wholly owned by a natural person investing or holding).
It is understood that Yili Mineral Water is a brand of Danone Group, which has a history of development in China for more than 30 years, and related companies include Shenzhen Danone Yili Beverage Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Danone Yili Spring Beverage Co., Ltd., Danone Yili Trade (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., Danone Yili (Huizhou) Beverage Co., Ltd. Four companies with independent legal personality, the previous chairman is Gu Peiji. The above four companies, except for Danone Yili Trading (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., the remaining companies have completed the change.
On June 25, Danone China's Drinking Water and Beverage Division confirmed to the Beijing News that it had recently reached an agreement with Shenzhen Mutual Commerce co., Ltd. to sell Its Yili business to the company, including the Yili vat water and bottled water brands and two factories in Shenzhen and Longmen.
Danone said that the company made this decision after a full, comprehensive and objective assessment of the drinking water business in China. In the future, we will adopt a model that focuses more on the overall development of the national market to achieve efficient operation of sales and production. Danone is confident that its imported water business, including Evian and Volvic, will grow in the Chinese market in the future. As for the financial details of the transaction, Danone said it would not disclose it.
Yili bottled water was previously discontinued
In January 2019, Danone's Yili Ganmen plant officially stopped production. The relevant person in charge of Danone Group told the Beijing News reporter at the time that in order to adapt to the rapid changes in the local market, Danone decided to make business adjustments and completely stop the production and sale of Yili bottled water, but bottled water was not affected.
In fact, the Yili mineral water brand that was sold by Danone this time has been pushed by Da Neng. In 2016, Danone launched a new packaging for Yili products. In May 2017, Danone launched the Yili cartoon fun bottle for the children's bottled water market, which is another major brand entering the children's water market after Nestlé and Evian. In September 2017, Yili "squeezed out" Kunlun Mountain and became a customer of Didi Chauffeur. Similar to the previous Kunlun Mountain products, the Yili bottle is also clearly marked with the words "Didi Chauffeur", which is a customized model for Didi Chauffeur. For Yili Bottled Water, which has been working hard in the southern market for more than 30 years, this hand in hand with Didi, in the eyes of the industry, is the first step for Yili to go north.
However, in the northern market, other competitors such as 5100 have been deeply cultivated for many years, and yili, as a brand that consumers are not familiar with, is still very difficult to open the market. At that time, Danone said that it hoped to establish a comprehensive and diversified brand pattern through Evian, Bodo, Fuwerk, Extreme Lan and Yili.
Beijing News reporter Wang Ziyang
Edited by Zhu Fenglan Proofreader Jia Ning