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Less than five months after her father Zong Qinghou passed away, Zong Fuli found herself in the center of the storm.

On July 18, a "letter to all employees of the Wahaha Group" revealed her complicated relationship with Wahaha and quickly spread on the Internet. The letter was signed by Zong Fuli. The resignation letter read: "I have decided to resign from the position of vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group from now on and will no longer participate in its operation and management."

This resignation letter caused an uproar in public opinion.

Four days later, Zong Fuli took over the positions of executive director of two beverage companies owned by her mother Shi Youzhen. Her uncle Zong Ze later said, "It's a good thing that Zong Fuli resigned. You are a professional manager in a state-owned enterprise, and you must behave yourself..."

The uncle's response once again pushed the incident to the forefront of public opinion.

Finally, on the evening of July 22, Wahaha’s official website issued a statement saying that in order to ensure the company’s stable and healthy development, after friendly consultation among all shareholders, Ms. Zong Fuli decided to continue to perform the relevant management responsibilities of the Wahaha Group.

The complex equity structure of Wahaha Group has already laid the groundwork for Zong Fuli's resignation.

In the eyes of the public, Wahaha is a warm and irreplaceable symbol of the times.

Five months ago, on the day Zong Qinghou passed away, it rained in Hangzhou and people lined up with umbrellas outside the Xiasha base of Wahaha Group.

The entrance was filled with flowers, AD calcium milk and Wahaha purified water. People from all over the world came in the rain to bid farewell to this old friend who had grown up with them.

Zong Qinghou is considered a good man by the people and a good father.

In the face of various discussions about Zong Fuli from the outside world, Zong Qinghou often affirmed and praised his daughter, saying that her management ability is better than his own.

In order to make Zong Fuli a good successor to him, he had been quietly paving the way for his daughter many years ago.

After Zong Qinghou passed away, his daughter Zong Fuli lost her father and the shoulders of a giant.

At Zong Qinghou's memorial service, Zong Fuli suppressed her grief and recalled the warm past with her father. At the same time, she took on the career that her father had worked hard for decades and took it upon herself to take over Wahaha. From then on, she embarked on the long road of taking over Wahaha.

But things are far from that simple.

The handover of power between Zong Qinghou and his daughter Zong Fuli is a more difficult process than imagined.

The empire that Zong Qinghou had worked hard to build over many years was almost about to be handed over to someone else.

This is the result of his life's work, but Zong Qinghou is Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli is Zong Fuli.

It is not difficult to see that the internal conflicts within the Wahaha Group are ultimately a struggle for control.

In that resignation letter, it was mentioned that some shareholders of the Wahaha Group had questioned the rationality of Zong Fuli's management of the Wahaha Group since the death of Chairman Zong Qinghou, which made Zong Fuli unable to continue to perform her management responsibilities for the Wahaha Group and its holding companies.

After Zong Qinghou's death, the ownership of Wahaha Group did not belong to Zong Fuli as the outside world believed.

The shareholders of Wahaha Group are composed of three parties: Hangzhou Shangcheng District Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. holds 46% of the shares, Zong Qinghou holds 29.4% of the shares, and the Wahaha Group Grassroots Trade Union Joint Committee (Employee Stock Ownership Association) holds 24.6% of the shares.

Judging from the proportion of equity, the major shareholder of Wahaha Group is Hangzhou Shangcheng State-owned Assets, which belongs to state-owned capital. This is a highly complex distributed equity structure.

Only then did people realize that the private company founded by a generation of practical entrepreneurs was essentially a state-owned holding company, not a family business.

In an official report of the Wahaha Group, Zong Fuli was introduced as “General Manager of Hangzhou Wahaha Group and President of Hongsheng Beverage Group”.

However, according to industrial and commercial information, in the current management of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd., Zong Fuli is not the vice chairman, nor the general manager, nor a shareholder of the group company. The chairman and general manager is still Zong Qinghou.

On the surface, Zong Fuli took over her father's business, but in fact, she does not hold any shares in the Wahaha Group to date.

Zong Fuli once said: "When you have autonomy over money, you have the right to decide what you do."

Now the truth has come to light. If the 29.4% shares left by Zong Qinghou after his death were not inherited by Zong Fuli, then she did not have much initiative in the world of Wahaha.

There are undercurrents beneath the surface, and perhaps Zong Fuli has to bring everything to the surface for discussion.

Zong Qinghou is undoubtedly a successful and respected entrepreneur. He is pragmatic, low-key, modest and humane.

His life is almost a microcosm of the history of China's private economy over the past 40 years of reform and opening up.

In 1987, 42-year-old Zong Qinghou took 140,000 yuan borrowed from everywhere and contracted the Hangzhou Shanghai School-run Enterprise Sales Department, which was the predecessor of Wahaha.

A year later, the children's nutritional liquid produced by Zong Qinghou became popular all over the country, and "Drink Wahaha and your meals will taste better" became a household slogan.

Wahaha children's nutritional liquid

Zong Qinghou’s “late success” is the result of the combined effect of his personal will and the times.

At the age of over 70, he still sticks to the front line. Zong Qinghou said that he has no hobbies, just work.

The poverty of his family in his childhood made Zong Qinghou very hard-working. Even after becoming the richest man, he still lived a frugal life. He always wore a pair of cloth shoes worth dozens of yuan and only flew in economy class.

To him, Wahaha is as important as life.

Many years ago, Zong Qinghou choked up and said:

"For me, there is only one Wahaha. It is the dream of my entire life, the meaning, value, label and symbol of everything. It is the proof that I exist in this world."

Zong Qinghou at the old Wahaha factory, where his business empire began

He is grateful for this era and serves this era.

Zong Qinghou values ​​human touch, and Wahaha has an unwritten rule that employees over 45 years old will not be fired. He spent 600 million yuan to provide benefits to employees, and also built welfare housing for employees in Hangzhou, where every inch of land is valuable.

Founded in the late 1980s, Wahaha is a childhood memory for many people born in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of them grew up drinking AD calcium milk. Wahaha is endowed with pure memories of the past without any impurities.

Zong Fuli's growth time is almost the same as the development process of Wahaha.

During the ten years from kindergarten to elementary school and junior high school, the once loss-making school-run factory was transformed into the Hangzhou Wahaha Nutrition Food Factory. Wahaha Eight Treasure Porridge, AD Calcium Milk, Mineral Water, and Nutri-Express were successively launched.

Zong Fuli as a child

When Zong Fuli was in elementary school, Wahaha was in its development stage and her parents were busy with work. After school, she carried her schoolbag to the company cafeteria to eat and shuttled between several college dormitories.

At that time, Zong Qinghou was working with universities to develop nutrient solutions and various Wahaha products.

In 1996, Wahaha purified water was launched.

In the same year, 14-year-old Zong Fuli went to the United States to study alone.

After graduating from high school, she entered Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, majoring in international business, preparing to return home and join the family business.

During these ten years, Wahaha has been moving forward steadily.

After graduating from university, Zong Fuli did not consider staying abroad, but returned to China decisively to stand with her father.

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

Unlike most rich second-generations who only know how to squander and do nothing, Zong Fuli's resume is solid.

In 2004, 22-year-old Zong Fuli returned to China after completing her studies and officially joined the Wahaha Group. She first served as deputy director of the Management Committee of Wahaha Xiaoshan No. 2 Base, starting from the grassroots level of production management and accumulating management experience.

Three years later, Zong Fuli took charge of Hongsheng Beverage Group and became its president. Hongsheng Beverage Group is a downstream enterprise of Wahaha. It undertakes product OEM business and expands its upstream and downstream industrial chain. It is a comprehensive beverage group.

With a background of studying abroad and full of vitality, Zong Fuli is undoubtedly highly expected by her father Zong Qinghou.

Whenever he talks about his daughter, Zong Qinghou is full of pride, saying: "She is better at management than I am at management. I give her 90 points."

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

Zong Fuli did not disappoint her father, she did achieve some results.

In 8 years, she built Hongsheng into a company with annual revenue of 10 billion yuan, entered the top 500 state-owned enterprises, and assisted Wahaha in independent production, with a profit margin even exceeding Wahaha.

However, the outside world does not care about these impressive resumes. What makes Zong Fuli well-known to the public is another thing.

In 2018, Wahaha's brand public relations department was officially established, with Zong Fuli as the director. After taking office, the first thing she did was to terminate the contract with spokesperson Wang Leehom.

Leehom Wang

Wahaha has been cooperating with Leehom Wang for 20 years, and has formed a deep brand memory in the hearts of the people.

It was 1998. The 22-year-old Wang Leehom was walking on the street in an orange T-shirt and holding a bottle of Wahaha purified water. He looked clean and beautiful.

A bottle of pure water was thrown into the air, and Wang Leehom stepped into the world of fame and fortune. Unfathomable days were waiting for him, and the altar and the mud were surging towards him, and there was no escape.

Leehom Wang

What is very embarrassing is that one year before being terminated by Zong Fuli, Wang Leehom had just received the "Honorary Employee" award personally presented by Zong Qinghou.

Over the years, the story of Wahaha and Wang Leehom's mutual achievement has become a legend.

Back then, Wang Leehom was an unknown person. It was Zong Qinghou who chose him among many celebrities. Because of his endorsement of Wahaha, Wang Leehom became popular and gained national fame.

In order to repay his gratitude, Wang Leehom never increased his endorsement fee after becoming famous.

According to Wahaha's financial director, "Wahaha was a major customer of CCTV at the time. With the help of Wahaha, Wang Leehom was able to appear on the Spring Festival Gala, hold concerts, and shoot music videos. At the time, Wahaha's offline layout was very dense. It could sell 2 billion bottles of pure water a year, and each bottle had Wang Leehom's head on it."

Zong Qinghou and Wang Leehom

Zong Fuli's move aroused public anger.

When asked by the media why she did not renew her contract with Wang Leehom, Zong Fuli gave a sharp answer:

"Because he is old and has aesthetic fatigue. He looks at the same spokesperson all day long, from youth to middle age, and from middle age to old age. And I don't like Wang Leehom, I can clarify that."

For a time, public opinion was in an uproar, and Zong Fuli suffered unprecedented abuse. She was accused of having low emotional intelligence and being ungrateful, and even Wahaha was labeled as a "heartbreaker."

In 2020, Wahaha officially announced that its new spokesperson is the young actor Xu Guanghan.

Xu Guanghan endorses Wahaha pure water

What is dramatic is that a year later, because of his divorce, Wang Leehom went from being the center of attention to being infamous.

Netizens began to turn against her, calling Zong Fuli a prophet with foresight.

From the very beginning, Zong Fuli was almost firmly chosen by Zong Qinghou as the successor.

Zong Qinghou will support his daughter Zong Fuli in doing anything, even if it conflicts with his own ideas. This was also the case when he terminated his contract with Leehom Wang. Zong Qinghou nodded in agreement despite huge pressure from public opinion.

Zong Fuli's experience of studying and living abroad has shaped her direct and self-centered personality. She has openly stated that she likes her competitor Nongfu Spring, and that Heytea is also good, but she is most afraid of others commenting that Wahaha is unfashionable.

Zong Fuli's style of doing things is swift and decisive, and she is known for her "iron-blooded tactics" within the group.

In addition to replacing spokespersons, Zong Fuli will also replace old employees who have done wrong. She is very decisive in decision-making, unlike Zong Qinghou's "humanitarianism".

When she just returned to China to take over Hongsheng, her father sent her confidant to assist her. However, due to differences in ideas, Zong Fuli fired the person on the spot. Zong Qinghou had to quietly invite the person back to his own system.

Wahaha has always taken "family culture" as its core and created a corporate culture with strong contemporary significance. Under the management of Zong Qinghou, many old employees who work for Wahaha have a strong sense of belonging.

Different from the "family culture" values ​​advocated by her father, Zong Fuli attaches great importance to systems and efficiency and is very strict with her employees.

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

This kind of decisive personality has both advantages and disadvantages. When she meets and negotiates with Wahaha executives, she always puts forward her demands directly.

My father, Zong Qinghou, always reminds me to be tactful in my dealings with others.

Since Zong Fuli returned to China after the millennium, she, as the only child of Zong Qinghou and the successor of the Wahaha Group, has been under strict scrutiny by public opinion for 20 years.

Zong Fuli was given absolute confidence by her father Zong Qinghou. She once said: "I don't mind being called the second generation. Standing on the shoulders of giants, the most important thing is to keep myself small and do a good job in the business."

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

In 2013, Wahaha Group's revenue reached 71.3 billion yuan. That year, Zong Qinghou became the richest man in China and was the talk of the town for a while.

Zong Qinghou once said that he wanted to create another Wahaha and strive to achieve annual sales of 100 billion within three years.

Unfortunately, in the following years, Wahaha's revenue did not make any waves and even declined significantly.

In an era when market consumption is closely linked to the Internet economy, various new types of tea drinks and milk teas are emerging one after another, and Wahaha seems to be getting further and further away from its consumers.

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

Putting aside the impact of milk tea brands such as Heytea, Bawangchaji, and Mixue Bingcheng, the bottled beverage market has undergone tremendous changes in recent years, with new beverages constantly emerging, such as sparkling water, zero-sugar and zero-fat oolong tea, and NFC juice...

Wahaha has not caught up with any of the booms in the Chinese beverage market. In today's ever-changing world, its star products are still the purified water, AD calcium milk, eight-treasure porridge and Nutri-Express from the 1990s.

An old classic product with slow iteration speed.

Wahaha was the leader in the bottled water market for many years. Later, Nongfu Spring became the industry leader through a series of marketing strategies and new product launches.

Wahaha Old Headquarters

In order to keep up with the times and not disappoint consumers, Zong Fuli has made a lot of efforts.

In recent years, Wahaha has launched more than 300 new products, and is nicknamed by the industry as the fastest "baby-making" company.

Zong Fuli launched her own brand Kellyone series in Hongsheng Beverage Group, which includes CHACHA juice tea, Angry Bobo soda water and other products. She also spent a lot of money to invite the popular traffic star Wang Yibo to be the spokesperson.

Wang Yibo endorses Angry Bobo soda water

These products are high-end, priced high, and have a short shelf life, making them difficult to sell into Wahaha's traditional channels.

Eager to prove herself, Zong Fuli not only launched a series of new beverages, but also revamped the Nutri-Express, which had not changed its packaging for ten years, and launched a variety of limited edition packaging, as well as a corresponding makeup palette.

It’s a pity that after many attempts, new products cannot escape the tragic fate of being quickly taken offline and are always one step behind the market.

The Wahaha tea brand run by Zong Fuli after she took over did not produce any single product that attracted widespread attention. Last year, Wahaha started making coffee, but it also suffered the same fate of being phased out at the speed of light.

Wahaha’s core consumer group has always been in third- and fourth-tier cities, and the trendy selling points it has launched do not match the customer base in third- and fourth-tier cities.

Zong Qinghou did not deny his daughter's series of innovations, but only said that young people today may not buy into their father's ideas.

"It doesn't matter if she does it right. If she does it wrong, I will clean up her mess."

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

On December 9, 2021, Wahaha issued an announcement announcing that Zong Fuli would serve as the company's vice chairman and general manager, which was considered by the outside world as the official handover between father and daughter.

However, Zong Qinghou did not retire after handing over the baton.

Two years later, Zong Qinghou said in an interview with CCTV with a smile that even though he had retreated to the second line, it was impossible for him to retire completely. He would watch the young people charging forward from behind and "change them around when they go astray and give them some advice."

In Wahaha Group, Zong Fuli is a professional manager who is subject to external scrutiny and tremendous pressure just because she is the daughter of Zong Qinghou.

Senior executives within Wahaha would think that she is not a very professional manager.

A senior who was assigned to assist Zong Fuli commented on her: "She is very anxious. No matter how well she does at Hongsheng, everyone still thinks she is a small umbrella protected by a big umbrella."

Zong Fuli believes that her father is a god-like existence in the Wahaha Group. She asks him for his permission on everything and has to ask him to solve any trouble. The tasks of other departments are to ask for instructions, report and execute.

She doesn't agree.

Youngization and strict institutionalization are the core of Zong Fuli's business philosophy. She asked her employees to call her by her English name Kelly or Fuli, but this did not gain the approval of her father and the "old men" of Wahaha.

Various signs have shown that the differences in the times and cultural concepts between Zong Fuli and Zong Qinghou have led to their differences in their attitudes towards corporate systems and human relationships.

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

When someone suggested that Zong Qinghou conduct “personalized customization” of Wahaha pure water, he responded decisively:

"It's not possible, not because of the technology, but because of the cost control. Personalized customization undoubtedly means higher prices."

The persistence and stubbornness of this traditional old entrepreneur cannot be shaken.

Zong Qinghou has always kept his distance from the capital market and insisted on not allowing Wahaha to go public. "I am an entrepreneur, not a capitalist. Wahaha is not short of money."

Zong Fuli wants to take Wahaha public. In her opinion, the development of any large enterprise is operated through capital means.

The difference in ideas between the two generations laid the fuse for future disputes. Once a strong person suddenly leaves an organization with firm beliefs, constant disputes will ensue, and this has always been the case.

On February 25, Zong Qinghou, the founder of Wahaha Group, passed away, marking the end of a generation of legendary entrepreneurs at the age of 79.

The obituary shocked the business community.

Jack Ma sent a couplet: "It is never too late to fight for life at 40, the spirit of a pioneer; starting a business is full of difficulties and striving for innovation day and night, the true nature of an entrepreneur."

Zong Qinghou and Jack Ma

On the day Zong Qinghou passed away, it rained continuously in Hangzhou.

The old gray-white building at No. 160 Qingtai Street was the old headquarters of Wahaha. Many people came here from afar to mourn the old entrepreneur, including retired employees of Wahaha and ordinary citizens.

92-year-old Wahaha retired employee bursts into tears when talking about Zong Qinghou

Someone said: "We are commemorating a kind and ordinary person."

Outside the courtyard are filled with flowers, AD calcium milk, eight-treasure porridge and Wahaha purified water sent by ordinary people.

The temperature in Hangzhou in late winter was only 8 degrees Celsius, and the rain did not stop the crowd from coming. They bowed three times outside the gate of the base.

"I felt like crying when I heard the news of Mr. Zong's passing. We grew up drinking his beverages. Rest in peace, Mr. Zong!"

People who came to remember Zong Qinghou

The hero has passed away, leaving behind a huge business empire. People have turned their attention to Zong Qinghou's only daughter, Zong Fuli.

This is a corporate succession that has attracted huge attention in China.

The huge Wahaha Group not only has wealth and power, but also potential dangers, huge secular expectations and cold eyes from corners.

But it is not easy to take on the main responsibility. Zong Fuli is faced with complicated shareholder relationships and a group of seniors who have followed her father through thick and thin and have worked for more than 30 years.

The fact that the veterans will obey Zong Qinghou does not mean they will do the same to Zong Fuli.

As early as 2011, when asked "What is the sum of Wahaha minus Zong Qinghou?", Zong Fuli answered categorically: "Zero!"

Now, with the passing of her father Zong Qinghou, Zong Fuli, who knew the importance of her father very early on, can appreciate the profound meaning of it more than ten years later.

At her father's memorial service, she said:

"Under my father's leadership, Wahaha has successfully found a way to survive. For me, this path is a journey of determination to fulfill my father's legacy and live up to the responsibilities and expectations on my shoulders. His shoulders were once my lookout tower for viewing the world, and now my hands will become the writers who continue to write the legend of his beverage."

In today's complex economic environment, many traditional enterprises are facing transformation, which is a difficult process. This means that the second generation of entrepreneurs face greater challenges than their fathers.

Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli

Wahaha and Zong Fuli, both born in the 1980s, are 5 years apart in age and both are now middle-aged.

Middle age is a hurdle for both individuals and businesses.

Many years ago, at an awards ceremony, Bai Yansong asked Zong Fuli, "Is Dad your idol?" She replied, "My dad is both my idol and not my idol. The main reason for saying no is that I hope to surpass him."

What is dramatic is that Zong Qinghou officially founded Wahaha at the age of 42, and Zong Fuli was also 42 years old when she took over. One can't help but sigh at the coincidence of fate.

Before taking over, Zong Qinghou had paved the way for his daughter. Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. has invested in 12 companies, covering almost the entire process of Wahaha from production to sales.

Among them, the company with the largest subscribed capital contribution is Hangzhou Wahaha Food Co., Ltd. Its major shareholder is Hangzhou Wahaha Hongzhen Investment Co., Ltd., which is 100% owned by Zong Fuli, with a shareholding ratio of 51%. Wahaha Hongzhen Investment Co., Ltd. is also the largest shareholder among the 12 companies invested by Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd.

In other words, the current Wahaha trademark belongs to a group company in which Zong Fuli does not hold any position, but apart from the trademark, Zong Fuli has almost controlled everything through Hongzhen Investment Co., Ltd.

Even so, Zong Fuli's succession was still bumpy.

Zong Qinghou might not have imagined that less than five months after his departure, the Wahaha Empire, which he regarded as the entire meaning of his life, would change so quickly.

There are so many people drooling over the big cake of Wahaha and wanting to have a piece of it.

When people leave, the tea gets cold and things are no longer the same.