Chapter 52 1. Surprise

This is indeed the turn of spring and summer with constant news, enough to make all the media colleagues excited. On April 24, 2000, Zhong Jinjin, president of Hainan Yangshengtang Co., Ltd., announced at a press conference held by the company that scientific experiments have proved that drinking pure water for a long time is not beneficial to human health, and its affiliated "Nongfu Spring" has since Pure water is no longer produced, but only natural water. Before and after this, an echoing advertisement suddenly appeared on TV stations from the central government to various provinces and cities:

A teacher used pure water and natural water to compare the growth of daffodils.The picture shows that the growth rate of daffodils raised in natural water is significantly faster than that of daffodils raised in pure water. The teacher lost no time and loudly asked a group of students sitting around him: "Is there any difference?" "Yes!" The innocent children replied in unison. "Now do you know what kind of water to drink?" The teacher asked again without losing the opportunity. "Nongfu Spring is a bit sweet." The innocent children replied in unison again.

At the end of the screen, there is a line of eye-catching subtitles: Nongfu Spring decided to stop producing pure water and produce all natural water. That's not all. On May 25th, Yangshengtang Company announced in Beijing that it would invest one million yuan to jointly launch the "National Teenagers Striving to Be Little Scientists" campaign with the China Youth Science and Technology Counselor Association.The specific content of the activity is a biological comparison experiment between natural water and pure water. By observing the different effects of the two kinds of water on goldfish, garlic and tea, let the children tell themselves "what kind of water is more beneficial to life".

According to Yangshengtang, this activity was officially launched on May 26 in more than 2,700 primary schools in 21 large and medium-sized cities across the country, in order to produce a large number of "little scientists" among the 300 million children in the country through experiments. There was thunder on the flat ground, and the storm suddenly rose.A series of actions by Yangshengtang immediately disrupted the already uneasy drinking water sales market in China. It is said that in 1987, Qingdao Laoshan produced the first bottle of mineral water in my country. By the mid-1990s, the number of drinking water enterprises including mineral water, purified water, space water, and distilled water had grown to 1,500, with an annual sales volume of 2.9 billion liters. , ranking second in Asia.Among them, pure water is rising rapidly, with about 1,200 manufacturers, and its sales account for 90% of the total sales of drinking water, with an average annual growth rate of more than 20%.According to a survey, more than 50% of urban consumers drink or often drink pure water.It can be said that it was the advent of pure water that set off a drinking water revolution in which Chinese people "buy water to drink".Facing the huge market space for purified water, in 1996 Wahaha introduced seven of the world's most advanced modern production lines made in Germany and Italy. With a good brand reputation and excellent product quality, it won the indisputable No. A chair.Guangdong Robust is next, and Nongfu Spring of Yangshengtang claims to be the third largest drinking water industry in China.

In fact, as early as 1999, the outpost of the pure water competition of Nongfu Spring raised the first smoke.From June to July of that year, Channel 5 of CCTV aired an advertisement for the water source of Nongfu Mountain Spring, claiming that the water source of Nongfu Mountain Spring was taken from the depth of 70 meters in the first-class water body of Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang Province, while the "polluted water used by ordinary pure water enterprises is Although it can be purified and purified, the water quality has undergone fundamental changes, just like a dirty white shirt can hardly be restored to its original state no matter how much you wash it.” On July 14, Beijing Guoxin High-Tech Development Corporation therefore sued Zhejiang Qiandaohu Yangshengtang Drinking Water Co., Ltd. in the Beijing Chaoyang District Court. Apologize.Later, on October 20, an additional request for compensation of 100,000 yuan was made.

In 2000, in the face of Nongfu Spring’s all-out war against the city, the pure water industry was forced to fight back collectively. On April 27, 10 pure water companies including Sichuan Blu-ray, Yibao, and Tianhe formed an alliance in Chengdu and issued a "joint statement", severely condemning Nongfu Spring, and said that they would resort to law if necessary; On May 30, the Guangdong "naval division" fired on the "farmer".16 bottled water manufacturers including Jingtian, Danone Yili, Yonglong, and Dinghu Spring, as well as relevant experts and heads of industry associations gathered in Guangzhou Tianhe Hongcheng Plaza. Denounce Nongfu Spring.

The climax comes in June. Many pure water companies who usually compete for market share and refuse to give in to each other feel that it is time to unite.But what if the dragons have no leader?Someone must climb up and call out to order the world.They all set their expectant eyes on Wahaha, the leader of the industry. On June 4th, Wahaha distributed "hero posts" to the pure water associations and manufacturers all over the country, and issued an invitation letter to hold a seminar on maintaining the healthy development of the pure water industry.The letter stated: "In order to safeguard the healthy development of China's pure water industry, we call on all colleagues engaged in the pure water industry to unite, take action, and use legal means to defend their own interests, so that the illegal behavior of 'Nongfu Spring' will be punished as it should be. .”

On June 7th and 8th, it was raining heavily. The China Beverage Industry Association and 69 pure water companies from 18 provinces and cities across the country gathered at the Zhejiang Hotel in the western suburbs of Hangzhou.An official of the Wuxi Beverage Industry Association even brought the official seals of 20 or 30 companies with him, and was fully ordered to resolutely support all decisions to counter Nongfu Spring's malicious attack on purified water. The meeting finally passed the "Joint Statement on Calling on Relevant State Departments to Quickly Stop the Unfair Competition of Yangshengtang, Harm Consumers, and Harm the Healthy Development of the Drinking Water Industry."

What is dramatic is that on June 8, Yangshengtang Company published a banner advertisement under the front page of the "City Express" published in Hangzhou, saying, "It is a joy to have friends from afar——Welcome journalists from all over Hangzhou to visit 'Nongfu Spring Natural Water 'Two major water plants in Qiandao Lake'.At 8:30 that night, Yangshengtang held a press conference at Hangzhou Xizi State Hotel, which is less than 2,000 meters away from Zhejiang Hotel, and sang an anti-Taiwan drama in the same city. On June 15th, the Yangshengtang company, which was still full of enthusiasm, went to Guangzhou again, and published an invitation advertisement in the local media, "Use water instead of wine, would you like to share a bottle with a 'farmer'?".But to Zhong Jinjin's disappointment, none of the drinking water production enterprises in Guangdong that he invited came to participate in the so-called "drinking water production and development symposium".The Bottled Drinking Water Branch of the Guangdong Provincial Light Industry Association even issued an "urgent notice", pointing out that "this is another commercial trick arranged by the company (Nongfu Spring) to harm others and benefit itself", and asked member units to consciously boycott the meeting.

Almost at the same time, representatives of the Hangzhou Conference, elected by 69 pure water companies, formally submitted complaints against Nongfu Spring to five departments including the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Health.A person in charge of Yangshengtang Company said in an interview with the Beijing media that he is not afraid of the joint appeal of the purified water companies, and that "the bigger the trouble, the better." On July 13, Yangshengtang Company sued Wahaha Company in the Beijing Higher Court, claiming that Wahaha "spread a large number of false facts, which brought a great impact on the normal production and business activities of Nongfu Spring producers", and filed a claim of 30 million yuan.

Challenges, confrontations, wonderful selling points are endless.No one thought that it was not the angry purified water manufacturer that put an end to this, but a few small maggots. Since June 16, various media outlets in Nanjing have reported that a local Mr. Yang drank 12 swollen maggots from a bottle of Nongfu Spring bought in a small shop, causing him and his wife to drink water. Scared.Mr. Yang then sued Yangshengtang Company in the Jianye District Court of Nanjing City, demanding compensation of 35,000 yuan for mental damage.A few days later, Jiang Minfan, vice president of Yangshengtang Company, said at a press conference in Nanjing that "there is a famous hall here" and "this is definitely a conspiracy." Thousands of guns bombarded "farmers" The situation seems to have taken a turn for the worse.Yangshengtang, which has always been aggressive and attacked everywhere, began to taste the feeling of being "encircled and suppressed".House seemingly endless rain.The uproar of the "maggot incident" has not yet subsided. On July 19, Zheng Xueqin, a Guangdong consumer, sued Yangshengtang again to the Guangzhou Haizhu District Court.The cause of the case is that Yangshengtang Company deliberately concealed the pollution of its water source, deprived consumers of the right to know, and demanded a refund of the purchase price for the three boxes of Nongfu Spring and double compensation of 252 yuan, as well as 50,000 yuan for mental damage.During the trial of this case, it was revealed that "Nongfu Spring" was still a trademark within the opposition period, and its registration with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce had not officially come into force. On November 7, Yangshengtang Company withdrew its lawsuit against Wahaha. Finally, this pure water dispute, which was provoked by a "farmer" and attracted countless eyeballs, started lively and ended quietly.