Wahaha to become global player

Wahaha to become global player

BEIJING: Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., China's largest beverage
company, wants to become a consumer goods company of global scale
by expanding its brand into new areas such as children's clothing
and personal-care products.

In a meeting with reporters at the weekend, company Chairman
Zong Qinghou laid out the company's plan to become a diversified
consumer goods multinational. He said Wahaha is also planning to
open drinks factories in Indonesia and Thailand, probably next
year.

"I want to make this company big and strong, and I see that
the big companies in the world all have diversified operations,"
Zong said.

"This year our main goals are to continue to expand our
beverage products, and to do well in children's clothing," he
said. "In the second half of the year, we will develop some new
types of daily-use products, such as shampoo."

He defended the plan to expand beyond the company's core
beverage business, arguing that "for fast-moving consumer goods,
the sales channels and sales methods are all pretty much the
same."

"There still isn't a strong brand of children's clothing in
China," Zong said, nothing that while China is a major maker and
exporter of textiles and clothing, most of that is done under
contract for foreign companies. -- Dow Jones