High tea for Beijing Genki Forest

Fast-rising sugar-free beverage brand Beijing Genki Forest Beverage Co Ltd has built its first factory in Chuzhou, Anhui province, producing its milk teas, carbonated water and functional drinks.

The factory's first phase has three production lines, with a maximum production capacity of 450 million mainly 500-milliliter bottles per year.

Construction on the first phase was completed last month and products have already come off the assembly line in June.

The company, since its founding in 2016, quickly gained attention from consumers, with a presence in 53,286 convenience stores across China and the support of 131,375 offline retailers while expanding to more than 11 overseas markets.

It plans to start production at two overseas original equipment manufacturers in the near future, the company said.

Bing Qian, chief quality officer of Genki Forest, said they would continue to adopt high quality ingredients and advocate healthy lifestyles through their products.

Meanwhile, accurately understanding consumer preferences and transferring such knowledge into innovation and production capacity－as well as making products available at places convenient for consumers－are key for the company to grow quickly, Bing said.

Kantar Worldpanel China said the beverage sector has marched into the sugar-free era, with sales of low-sugar and sugar-free drinks up 13 percent last year. The overall beverage sector grew only at 0.6 percent in terms of sales.

Jason Yu, managing director of Kantar Worldpanel China, said self-owned manufacturing capacity will afford more control and reduce logistics costs as well as improve efficiency. The brand has been focusing on the convenience store channel, leveraging the expansion of this channel in first and second-tier cities.

Its penetration to social networking platforms and recommendations from online influencers have further expanded access to younger consumers, Yu said.

The rapid surge of Genki Forest in the beverage sector is mainly driven by the proper positioning of its bottled carbonated water products, said Li Chen, deputy director of the food and beverage sector at Mintel, a United Kingdom-based research firm.

"Genki Forest products have unleashed a strong desire for sugar and calorie-free carbonated water among younger consumers," Li said.

"Genki availability within retail channels and its easy-to-carry package have brought it closer to young people," Li added.

Genki case has illustrated that, despite strong dominance by established brands, a new disrupter is able to rise, boosted by quick innovation and accurate positioning to constantly attract consumers and adapt to market changes, she said.