Border War: Chinese Fight for Russian Brew

t_co

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Border War: Chinese Fight for Russian Brew | Buy Buy China

While foreign cola, beer and hard alcohol have made inroads to the Chinese market, other beverage categories remain wholly sui generis to the Middle Kingdom. Herbal tea, for example, is a lucractive market under siege in a protracted battle between Chinese beverage giants Wang Lao Ji and Jia Duo Bao. Waged in the courtroom and across media channels, both companies are out to dominate a drink little known beyond China. Now, a similar scuffle has erupted in China's chilly northeast, this time over a local brew originally imported from abroad.
The controversy takes place between Wahaha, a national food and beverage giant, and Qiulin, a local player in Harbin, Heilongjiang. The point of contention is kvass, a soda-like drink brought across Heilongjiang's provincial border with Russia during the late 19th century. Local brand Qiulin is actually named after late-19th century Russian trader Ivan Churin, whose company survives to the present day and still produces specialty meats and breads. Kvass continues to be popular in chilly Harbin: nowhere in China drinks more kvass than the country's great northeast. But Wahaha means to change all that.
Wahaha, sellers of energy drinks and dairy products, is undaunted by Qiulin's long stand as kvass king. Wahaha launched its own kvass drink earlier this year in time for Chinese New Year and aims expand the drink's market nationwide. With packaging and pricing similar to Qiulin, Wahaha faced stiff competition out of the gate: Qiulin boasted of an 800% sales jump during CNY 2013. But with Wahaha mounting a strong challenge behind advertising muscle, Qiulin is fighting back on the small(est) screen: Weibo. Qiulin's official Weibo account chided Wahaha that "even a knockoff takes some work, kvass is more than just malt and water." Wahaha CEO Zong Qinghou shot back that kvass is not a brand exclusive to Qiulin but a beverage category open to reinterpretation.
China suffers from an oversupply of firms in every sector: too many auto companies produce too many cars, low priced units drive down smartphone margins. The same equation is doubly true for FMCG, where local producers of food, medicine and cigarettes flourish within a disjointed national market. As China continues to retain its strong regional flavor, the "national vs. local" competition between Wahaha and Qiulin will be replicated in other locales and other sectors as the government pushes for consolidation to strengthen safety and create global brands. Will hometown favorites remain so? FMCG does not engender consumer loyalty, but Buy Buy China will keep an eye on our Weibo nonetheless.
Had Wahaha kvass for the first time a few months ago; was pretty good. Can @hello_10 or @Known_Unknown fill us in on what kvass is supposed to taste like, or what the best kvass brands are?

FYI - kvass currently holds about a 1% share of the total Chinese non-alcoholic beverage market.
 
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Known_Unknown

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Why am I supposed to know what kvass tastes like? :shocked:

You do know that just because I use the flag of the USSR doesn't mean I live there or am Russian, right? Neither is @hello_10 btw...
 
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pmaitra

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@t_co, I had gifted @W.G.Ewald a bottle of Kvass. He can tell you what it tastes like. :)
 
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amoy

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Competition!

Left - Wahaha Kvass
Right - Churin Kvass



And Churin bread


Never tried before. But after reading this ......
 

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