Reignwood Group's diversity exemplifies benefits of BRI

Beverage business

Riding the wave of the Healthy China 2030 initiative and rapid growth of the wellness industry, Reignwood leverages its global industrial resources to ramp up research and development while maintaining stable expansion in the functional and healthy drinks sector, providing consumers with healthier and more fashionable beverage options.

Zhao Yali, honorary director general of the China Beverage Industry Association, praised the company for its contributions to high-quality regional development at the association's annual convention in April.

The Red Bull brand in China is a pioneer of China's functional beverage segment and a model of cooperation between Chinese and foreign businesses.

In 1995, Yan Bin, founder of Reignwood, partnered with a Thai company and two Chinese state-owned enterprises to introduce Red Bull energy drinks to the Chinese market, and Reignwood subsequently established Red Bull Vitamin Drink Co Ltd to oversee production and promotion here.

To cater to Chinese consumers' tastes and habits, Reignwood localized the formula, flavor, name, packaging and brand of Red Bull, and its endeavors reshaped the domestic drinks market.

Data from market research organization Euromonitor International show that in just over 20 years,

China has become the world's second-largest producer and consumer of functional beverages.

Currently, Reignwood has eight production facilities across China -- six of them dedicated to functional beverages – and is capable of producing 5.2 billion cans of its proprietary brands annually.

Red Bull Vitamin Drink, located in Xianning, Hubei province, has recorded tens of billions of yuan in accumulative output value since its first Red Bull rolled off the production line in July 2006, contributing significantly to the growth of local economy.

Following in Red Bull's footsteps, other world-renowned beverage brands have established a presence in Xianning, enabling the sector to grow into one of the city's pillar industries. Xianning's high-tech industrial development zone alone is home to 12 food and beverage business above designated size, and their combined annual tax payment has surpassed 1 billion yuan ($136.9 million).

Through its beverage business, Reignwood aspires to create an international business brand rooted in China, which the company also considers as the key to Chinese businesses' efforts to boost high-quality development of the BRI.

In 2015, the group decided on a natural mineral water production project on the western slope of Shennongjia Mountain in Hubei province. After the company acquired an equity in Norwegian company VOSS in 2016, the VOSS natural mineral water project came on stream in June 2018 in Zhuxi county, Hubei,.

With an accumulative investment of 769 million yuan, the project has 92,000 square meters of floor space and has been equipped with 10 production lines, capable of producing various types of water products.

Currently, VOSS has 15 varieties of natural mineral water, natural spring water, soda water and flavored water, sold in nearly 50 countries and regions worldwide.