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Beverages

Bottle shock

Nongfu Spring is a hit with tipplers and investors alike

Business | Sep 12th 2020 | XIAMEN

整理 | 小白

Beverage /'bev(ə)rɪdʒ/  n.  (除水以外的)饮料

Nongfu Spring  农夫山泉

be a hit with sb   ( = be liked by them ) 是某人喜爱之物

tippler  /'tɪplə(r)/  n.  喝酒的人，酒徒

 

“We are not manufacturers of water. We are porters of nature.” So goes a

famous quip by Zhong Shanshan, the 66-year- old founder and boss of

Nongfu Spring, China’s most popular brand of bottled water. On September 8th the Hangzhou-based bottlerlisted on Hong Kong’s bourse to spectacular fanfare. Demand for shares from retail investors outstripped  supply by

1,148 times (see chart).

The share price shot up by 60% over the first three days of trading. Its market capitalisation reached $53bn. Mr Zhong, who still owns 84% of Nongfu Spring, is now China’s third-richest person, narrowly trailing two tech moguls: Jack Ma of Alibaba and (unrelated) Pony Ma of Tencent.

porter  /'pɔːtə/  n.  （火车站、机场等的）行李搬运工人，脚夫

农夫山泉的广告语：We are not manufacturers of water. We are porters of nature.  我们不生产水，我们只是大自然的搬运工。

quip /kwɪp/  n.  俏皮话；妙语

bottler /'bɑtlɚ/  n.  装瓶工人；装瓶公司

bourse  /bʊəs/  n.  证券交易所

fanfare  /'fænfeə/  n.  （与某一事件有关的）喧闹，广告，热议

outstrip /aʊt'strɪp/  vt.  数量上大于…

trail /treɪl/  v.  拖，拉; 拖在后面  

mogul  /məuˈɡʌl,ˈməuɡʌl/   n.   大亨；有权势的人

Rising disposable incomes and public anxiety about the safety of tap water, which is unfit to drink in most of China, have fuelled demand among Chinese for the bottled variety. Consumption per person of bottled water rose from 41 litres in 2014 to 59 litres in 2019, according to data from Mintel, a market-research firm. Americans, by comparison, guzzled an average of 141 litres last year. That suggests Chinese bottlers still have plenty of room for growth, not least because tap water in America is (typically) potable.

tap water n.  (U)   自来水

guzzle  /'gʌz(ə)l/  v.  狂饮；猛喝；暴饮；(英国英语)狼吞虎咽

not least  adv.  尤其，特别

potable /'pəʊtəb(ə)l/  adj.  可饮用的；适于饮用的

Nongfu Spring is the runaway industry leader. It accounted for 29% of the volume sold in China in 2019. Foreign brands such as fiji Water, Evian (owned by Danone) and Aquafina (part of PepsiCo) are easily spotted in many Chinese supermarkets. But none has a market share greater than 6.5%, reckons Mintel.

runaway  /'rʌnəweɪ/  adj.  轻易的; 迅速的; 控制不住的

 

One reason for Nongfu’s success is its effort to cater to all market segments. Stingy folk can buy a mass-market 380ml-plastic bottle for as little as 1.5 yuan ($0.22). The well-heeled may opt for the glass-bottled version, which comes with “award-winning” designs and retails for 30-45 yuan. In between you can get a lithium-rich liquid which is claimed to benefit the nervous system. Total revenues across Nongfu’s waters increased by 42% between 2017 and 2019, to 14.3bn yuan. Gross margins held steady at an impressive 60%.

stingy  /'stɪn(d)ʒɪ/  adj.  小气的；吝啬的

well-heeled /'wel'hi:ld/  adj.  有钱的；富有的

opt /ɒpt/  vi.  [+for]  选择，挑选

lithium /'lɪθɪəm/  n.  (U)  锂

gross margin  n.  (C)  毛利

Nongfu sceptics point out that the bottled-water industry, in China and elsewhere, has few technical barriers to entry. The main raw material is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic that is cheap and easy to process. No special knowledge is required. Evergrande, a Chinese property developer, boasts its own line of bottled water called Evergrande Spring. The water itself tends to be an afterthought.

polyethylene /ˌpɒlɪ'eθɪliːn/ 聚乙烯

terephthalate /ˌterəf'θæleit/  对苯二酸盐(或酯)

polyethylene terephthalate  聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯

property developer n.  房地产开发商

afterthought  /'ɑːftəθɔːt/  n.  事后的想法

Not in Nongfu’s case. As its aggressive marketers never tire of stressing, it possesses water-extraction permits for ten of China’s most famous unspoilt bodies of water—from Thousand Island Lake in the eastern province of Zhejiang to Mount Tianshan in the remote western region of Xinjiang. The permits, granted by local governments for up to 30 years, are a moat against competitors. Loris Li, an independent analyst of China’s beverage industry, observes that “the quality of the original water source” can be a strong point of brand differentiation.

body /'bɒdɪ/  n.  大量；大批；大堆

body of water   水域

moat  /məʊt/  n.  护城河

Nongfu Spring has another edge: it is seen as close to Chinese officialdom. At high-level political summits, rows of Nongfu bottles arranged on tables are a common sight. As sources of advantage go, it doesn’t get better than this in China.

edge /edʒ/  n.  (U)  优势

officialdom  /ə'fɪʃəldəm/  n.  (U)  官僚；当官的人

农夫山泉即农夫山泉股份有限公司原名“浙江千岛湖养生堂饮用水有限公司“，其公司总部位于浙江省杭州市，系养生堂旗下控股公司，成立于1996年9月26日。

Zhong Shanshan  钟睒睒

钟睒睒（shǎn），男，浙江诸暨人，大学学历。1993年创办养生堂有限公司，打响了养生堂龟鳖丸、朵而胶囊等品牌。1996年在杭州投资创立农夫山泉股份有限公司，打造出农夫山泉、农夫果园、尖叫等国内知名饮料品牌。

现任农夫山泉股份有限公司董事长兼总经理、养生堂有限公司董事长。

在2019福布斯全球亿万富豪榜，以18亿美元当选第1281位。2019福布斯中国400富豪榜，钟睒睒排名第186位。2020年9月8日，农夫山泉上市，钟睒睒晋升中国新首富。（网络资料）

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