Wahaha Group denies any relationship with Guizhou Wamao Wine.

On September 28, Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. issued a statement on its official website, saying that it has recently been discovered that some companies have falsely used the name of Wahaha to promote Wamao Maotai-flavor liquor. Wahaha stated that it has not participated in any activities such as the production, sales, and promotion of "Wamao" wine, nor has it provided any brand, company name, or other authorization to the product. This product and its manufacturer have nothing to do with Wahaha.

So, what is the origin of "Guizhou Wa Mao Wine"?

"Wa Mao Liquor" Pengci Moutai

Similar packaging, the price is also 1,499 yuan.

A cylindrical white porcelain bottle with a red ribbon on the mouth and a red gold-rimmed label on the bottom of the bottle has the product name arranged from bottom left to top right - Hangzhou Wamao Wine Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wamao") Guizhou Wamao Liquor launched by Liquor Industry" is easily reminiscent of Maotai, the representative product of Maotai-flavor liquor, at first glance.

In addition to being very similar in packaging and name, "Guizhou Wa Mao Liquor" also costs 1,499 yuan, which is consistent with the official guide price of "Kweichow Moutai".

Source of Wamao Wine Promotion Pictures: Wamao Wine’s official WeChat account

According to the “Wamao Wine” WeChat public account, all the products of “Wamao Wine” Produced in the core production area of ??Maotai Town, Guizhou Province, the wine capital of China. It has outstanding advantages in climate, water source, soil, raw materials and technology. The wine body is light yellow and transparent, and the sauce aroma is outstanding.

The product packaging of "Wamao Wine" shows that the manufacturer is Changtai Wine Co., Ltd., Maotai Town, Renhuai City, Guizhou Province (hereinafter referred to as "Changtai Wine"). Public information shows that in November 2021, Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd. sued Changtai Liquor Industry for trademark infringement.

This year, Wamao Wine Industry launched two products, "Guizhou Wamao Wine" and "Wamao Xiaoha Wine", claiming to be based on market vision and market research. Mao Liquor Industry said that in recent years, Maotai-flavor liquor has gradually heated up, and its popularity has reached unprecedented heights. The capital market is also performing a crazy drama of "drunken life and dream of death".

According to data cited by Mao Liquor Industry’s official WeChat account, from 2010 to 2020, the domestic Maotai-flavor wine market grew at an average annual rate of 16%. The market size will reach 155 billion yuan in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 15%. In 2030, the market size is expected to reach 480 billion yuan.

On July 20, 2022, at the Wamao Maotai-flavor wine tasting meeting, Wamao Wine President Wu Jian claimed that his original intention was to "let people drink really good Maotai-flavor wine". Founded the Wa Mao Liquor and Wa Mao Maotai-flavor brands, and collaborated with well-known wineries in Moutai Town, Kweichow, to create two new Maotai-flavor wine products. He also said that in the future, Wamao Liquor Industry will take root in Maotai Town and insist on brewing only authentic Daqu Maotai-flavor liquor.

After Wahaha Group issued a statement, Wahaha Wine Industry also issued a statement the next day, saying that the commercial operation of launching Wahaha Wine Sauce had nothing to do with Wahaha Group, and it had never falsely used the name of Wahaha to promote Wamao Wine. .

The major shareholders behind Mao Liquor Industry are Zong brothers.

Although Wamao Winery claims that the business activities of Wamao Wine Sauce have nothing to do with Wahaha Group, 4 days before the announcement, the Wamao Winery WeChat official account released the Wamao Winery 2022 National Wealth Summit and A poster for Guizhou Wamao Wine Tasting said, "In 2016, Wahaha invested in the establishment of Zongsheng Intelligent, and in 2022, Zongsheng Intelligent invested in the establishment of Wamao Winery."

Tianyancha data shows that Wamao Winery was established In July 2022, the registered capital was 5 million yuan, and its business scope included the production of alcoholic products; liquor business; manufacturing of special equipment for food, wine, beverages, and tea production, etc. According to the equity structure of Wamao Liquor, it is a joint venture company jointly funded by Dali Zongsheng Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zongsheng Intelligent) and Hangzhou Zongsheng Commercial Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zongsheng Commercial) ***. The shareholding ratios are 70% and 30% respectively.

Public information shows that Zongsheng Intelligent is the major shareholder of Wamao Wine Industry, and its legal representative and chairman is the third brother of Zong, one of the early founders and chairman of Wahaha Group. Zong Houqing himself is also a director of Zongsheng Intelligent, and ultimately benefited from more than 14% of the shares.

Continue to sort out the shareholding structure. The top two shareholders of Zongsheng Intelligence are Hangzhou Zongcheng Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Zhejiang Wahaha Venture Capital Co., Ltd. The actual controllers of these two shareholder companies are Hou and Zong respectively.

In other words, the bosses of Wa Mao are mainly brothers Hou Hezong.