Since 2016, the battle between Red Bull Vitamin Beverage Co., Ltd. ("China Red Bull") and its foreign partner Thailand Tencel Pharmaceutical and Health Care Co., Ltd. ("Thailand Tencel") over the Chinese market for Red Bull Beverage has become increasingly fierce and is currently in court. There are dozens of cases being tried.
Although there is no final conclusion yet, the market war between the two parties has become increasingly fierce.
Recently, some online media published an article saying that an insider broke the news that China’s Red Bull products are “four-no products.”
The relevant person in charge of China Red Bull responded: "This is a deliberate and irresponsible rumor. Every year at the critical time of sales, competitors launch a large-scale malicious hype on economic disputes that are still under trial and have repeatedly reported small businesses. Merchants took the opportunity to promote their product expansion, which has seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of China Red Bull and upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain, as well as the interests of consumers."
The origin of the 50-year agreement, but everyone insists on it
China’s Red Bull and Thailand’s Tencel have been at odds for 30 years, and the first 20 years of cooperation can be described as close.
On November 10, 1995, China National Food Industry Corporation ("China Food Company"), Shenzhen Zhonghao Group Co., Ltd. ("Zhonghao Company"), Zhongtai Red Bull Vitamin Beverage Co., Ltd. (i.e., China Red Bull), and Thailand Tian The four parties of Silk Medicine and Health Care Co., Ltd. signed an "Agreement" (hereinafter referred to as the "50-year Agreement"), which clearly stipulates that only China Red Bull has the right to exclusively produce and sell Red Bull beverages in China. The agreement is valid for fifty years from the date of signing. Take effect.
China Red Bull has realized the legal production and sales of Red Bull beverages in China based on the Chinese shareholder Zhongshi Company providing the Ministry of Health approval of the Red Bull beverage formula and Zhonghao Company providing the bullfighting trademark. After more than 20 years of hard work, China Red Bull has transformed the unknown Red Bull beverage into a It has become a leader in China's functional beverage market, with annual sales revenue reaching 20 billion yuan for 10 consecutive years.
The person in charge of China Red Bull said that the huge success of Red Bull beverage in the domestic market has aroused the covetousness of foreign shareholders.
In order to achieve its goal of producing Red Bull beverages and monopolizing the Chinese market, it not only maliciously violated the non-competition stipulations in the "50-year Agreement", but also poached the former general manager team of China Red Bull to jointly establish a new company to exclusively sell Red Bull beverages. Seize the Chinese Red Bull market.
China Red Bull said: In order to achieve the goal of quickly annexing the Chinese market, Thai Tencel related parties violated the 50-year cooperation agreement in the "50-year Agreement" and took advantage of China Red Bull shareholders controlled by it before the agreement expired. identity, maliciously obstructed China Red Bull from applying for relevant licenses, and spread false statements in the market that the China Red Bull trademark license contract had expired.
Repeatedly reporting small and micro businesses to seize the market
Dozens of litigation disputes between China Red Bull and its related parties and Thailand’s Tencel are currently being heard in court.
Among them, disputes over trademark use are being heard by relevant courts.
China Red Bull revealed that an effective court ruling has determined that China Red Bull has the exclusive right to license the Red Bull trademark based on the "50-year Agreement". China Red Bull enjoys the rights stipulated in the "50-Year Agreement", that is, the exclusive right to produce and sell Red Bull beverages for 50 years. s right.
Based on the effective ruling, China Red Bull certainly has the right to use the Red Bull trademark.
However, Thailand Tencel and related parties have not admitted to signing this "50-year Agreement", and they are obviously lying openly.
The dispute case has not yet been concluded. It is obviously unjust and reasonable to conclude that the trademark license contract has expired and enforce the law based solely on the statements of one party.
Data from the relevant departments of China Red Bull show that in 2023, there were 1,217 merchants across the country who received malicious complaints from Thai Tencel agents and third-party companies, including 1,183 complaints of trademark infringement. Currently, 1,210 merchants have been properly dealt with, and their products have been unblocked or restored to shelves. Accounting for 99%, the number of products involved was 97,740 boxes.
In fact, this has caused interference to the normal operations and lives of China Red Bull’s vast number of small and micro merchants.
The cases involving China Red Bull are complex and involve many ongoing cases including shareholder qualification disputes between China and Thai Red Bull, which is controlled by Thailand's Tencel, and contract disputes over the "50-Year Agreement." As reflected in recent reports on China Red Bull's licenses on the Internet, It is not simply a question of the expiration date shown on the surface of the license.
While these cases have not yet been concluded, China Red Bull is still operating legally in the industrial and commercial registration system.
The renewal of the product barcode certificate for "Red Bull Vitamin Functional Drink" has been processed in accordance with the law and has not been cancelled. It complies with the relevant provisions of the "Commodity Barcode Management Measures" and can circulate in the market normally.
Be wary of "cyber law enforcement" accidentally harming enterprises
Three-no products include no manufacturer name, no production date, and no quality certificate (or production license).
Whether the "Red Bull Vitamin Functional Drink" product is a "three no's product" should be determined by the relevant national departments, rather than initiating online discussions and being adjudicated by the company or public opinion. It is also not allowed to fabricate the "four no's product" out of thin air and damage the credibility of the country and law enforcement agencies.
China Red Bull once entrusted Hainan Red Bull Company controlled by foreign shareholders to produce Red Bull beverages for nearly 20 years. It currently entrusts market entities such as Red Bull Vitamin Beverage (Hubei) Co., Ltd. (production license number: SC12742120100013) to produce Red Bull vitamin functional beverage products. Sign a legal and valid entrusted production contract to process and produce Red Bull beverages, which meets the food production license conditions.
The trustee for the production and sales of China Red Bull strictly complies with the requirements of laws and regulations such as the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China", "Implementation Rules of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China", "Food Production License Management Measures", "Health Food Supervision and Administration Regulations" Implement registration and organize production and sales, which is legal and compliant.
The national and local governments attach great importance to and emphasize the promotion of healthy and high-quality development of the private economy.
As a well-known Chinese enterprise in the country for 29 years, China Red Bull is involved in an industry chain with an annual revenue of RMB 100 billion and direct employment for millions of people. In some major consumer provinces, annual sales have stabilized at one billion or hundreds of millions of yuan, contributing to the local economy and people's livelihood. Also made outstanding contributions.
Before the final judicial decision was made on the China Red Bull series dispute, so-called insiders and "consumers" broke the news through the media, concocted new concepts and Internet gimmicks to create topics, and even fabricated public opinion, using false public opinion to mislead grassroots law enforcement agencies, dealers and Consumers have regarded the media and public opinion as tools to pursue their own interests.