China's homegrown cola sees future in `fashionable' drinks

[dArKeR]

Wahaha, maker of Future Cola, is battling Coca-Cola and Pepsi for dominance in the China market, and hopes juices and health drinks will give it an edge

By Julie Chao
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , HANGZHOU, CHINA

Zong Qinghou, head of China's largest beverage company, Wahaha

After laboring 15 years on a tea farm, Zong Qinghou returned to the city and a job riding his bicycle around town selling flavored ice pops. It was an early experiment in private enterprise at the elementary school where his mother worked, and he and his two employees hoped to grow it into a successful company.

Twenty years later, his humble enterprise is China's largest beverage company, Wahaha, with a nationally known brand name and revenues of US$1.3 billion last year. Zong has become one of the most influential entrepreneurs in China and his company's Future Cola has just been shipped to the US.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2004/06/20/2003175861

"Chinese people are even more fashionable than Westerners. We love the new and loathe the old." (This quote I guarantee you is 100% correct. I've lived it with the Taiwanese and Chinese.)