GPHL subsidiary, Wanglaoji held a grand ceremony in Guangzhou to celebrate its 190th anniversary on November 29th, during which the company pushed forward new strategies to further its goal to be the world’s top beverage producer.

Wanglaoji declared its mission to make the world more “propitious” and its vision to become the world’s top beverage brand. It will adopt three major business models, seeking development via product management, capital management and digital innovation.

The brand will continue to develop its talent pool and adopt advanced technology, and vitalize the TCM business with up-to-date marketing strategies.

Li Chuyuan, President of GPHL said propitiousness (a direct translation of “吉祥”） is people’s everlasting wish for happiness. “It’s also what the brand, Wanglaoji, has been striving for for 190 years,” said Li, “Wanglaoji will stick to its mission for the next 190 years.”

As for marketing, the brand will cater to the preferences of the young with the use of digital and online marketing strategies. During the ceremony, it launched the customized Wanglaoji packaging which enables customers to display the culture they love through the medium of a  herbal tea bottle.

The launch ceremony for Wanglaoji customized packaging

Wu Xiaobo, a financial columnist, said Wanglaoji’s customization strategy could help the brand create an emotional bond with young customers, improve the consumption experience and eventually upgrade the brand value.

Wanglaoji also formally announced its partnership with Alibaba during the ceremony. The two companies will cooperate in fields of big data and retail channels, aiming to boost retail development.

Li Chuyuan said Wanglaoji will strengthen cooperation with big brands and purchase small and medium beverage brands which own core products in their regions so as to inject more energy to the business.

Apart from GPHL’s senior staff members, both provincial and municipal government officials also attended the ceremony.

Thus far, Wanglaoji has built up a sophisticated overseas trade system covering 60 countries and regions worldwide. The U.S. is the biggest overseas market for Wanglaoji which is why the company recently set up their first overseas herbal tea museum in New York.

Xu Wenliu, CEO of Wanglaoji Health, said cultural difference is the major challenge for Chinese enterprises to go global. The Wanglaoji Herbal Tea Museum is a significant move to help expand the overseas market and promote TCM culture.

According to the company, Wanglaoji dominates in the herbal tea market and the sales volumes of the Wanglaoji herbal tea maintained doubt-digit growth in the first half of 2018.