摘要：“Nurture the Present, Venture Forward” is the theme of FBIF2025. This theme directly addresses the most pressing issue in the indu

​​On May 10, the Food and Beverage Innovation Forum 2025 (FBIF2025) Plenary Session was held in the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).

The current consumer market presents a multitude of challenges—rising supply chain costs and the need to rebuild resilience, increasingly fragmented channels and evolving retail models, upgraded health demands coexisting with intensified innovation competition. With these variables intertwined, the food and beverage industry has moved beyond the era of “rapid growth with ample resources” and entered a new stage that emphasizes refined operations and strategic resilience—a true test of internal strength.

“Nurture the Present, Venture Forward” may appear to be a single phrase, but it encompasses two critical actions:

First is “Nurture the Present”—maintaining a strong core, which tests a company’s internal capabilities: the resilience of its core business, the essence of its product strength, the efficiency of its supply chain operations, and the sophistication of its channel management.

Second is “Venture Forward”—exploring new growth areas, which tests a company’s courage: in a rapidly changing consumer environment, businesses must be bold enough to enter new tracks, adopt new technologies, and venture into new markets, continuously pushing the boundaries of growth.

At this pivotal moment of transition from “high-speed growth” to “high-quality growth,” and in a crucial phase where stock market competition and incremental market exploration coexist, the art of balancing defense and offense becomes an unavoidable challenge for every company. However, defense and offense, like “fish” and “bear's paw”, it is not easy to have both.

Nevertheless, we can still see many companies rising to the occasion and forging ahead. Some achieve breakthrough growth at key moments, others continuously find new leverage points amid volatility, and some maintain steady growth at their own pace despite a complex environment.

At the plenary session, senior executives from companies including McDonald's China, Yili Group, CR Beer, Eastroc Beverage, PepsiCo, WUMART, CP Group, China Feihe, and Hosen Capital shared their insights and reflections on topics such as growth, AI, digitalization, supply chains, retail, and marketing.

Key discussion points included:

一、Short-Term Looks at the Market, Long-Term Looks at Capabilities, and the Endgame Looks at Culture

At the beginning of the Plenary Session, Bella, the founder of FBIF, delivered a welcome speech on behalf of the organizers of FBIF2025.

In the short term, we look at the market; in the long term, we look at capabilities; and in the endgame, we look at culture. Companies today must look beyond the present and set their sights on the future. Bella concluded, “We believe that truly respectable companies may not always lead, but they are always moving forward.”

二、How Can Enterprises Create a New Growth Paradigm Amid Uncertainty?

Jason Yu, General Manager, CTR Market Research and Chairman of the Plenary Session, delivered a keynote speech titled “Strengthening the Foundation and Seizing the Momentum: Shaping a New Growth Paradigm Amid Uncertainty.” He reviewed the evolution of the food and beverage industry over the past decade and shared insights into current growth strategies.

Jason Yu shared his observations of the current consumer market. In Q1 2025, China’s urban FMCG market grew by 4.2% year-on-year, with the beverage category performing particularly well. Regionally, township-level markets saw a growth of 10.4%. Domestic brands showed strong momentum, growing by 5.8%, while imported products declined by 1.7% year-on-year. Consumer behaviors are also shifting—trends like the single-person economy, the silver economy, and out-of-home consumption are injecting new vitality into the market.

Amid a complex macroeconomic environment, Chinese enterprises today are showing a more stable mindset. According to a survey conducted at the beginning of the year among over 200 companies, “steady operations and profit growth” is a common goal for 2025. About 46.4% of companies aim to grow profits this year through cost reduction, efficiency improvement, product innovation, and supply chain reform. Behind this, the globalization and digital intelligence of the supply chain are key pillars of sustained development. Many enterprises are also evolving by creating new growth curves and exploring new paths for going global.

Jason Yu cited several examples: Nongfu Spring’s 14 major water sources provide the brand with strong resilience and flexibility; Mixue Bingcheng now derives 95% of its revenue from its supply chain segment; Eastroc Beverage’s electrolyte beverage business accounts for nearly 10% of its revenue; Weilong’s revenue from konjac shreds, kelp shreds and other vegetable products has surpassed 50%. Pop Mart’s overseas and China Hong Kong–Taiwan business now accounts for nearly 40% of total revenue, and BYD’s overseas revenue share is approaching 30%.

Jason Yu reminded the audience that AI may be a “compulsory question” for all enterprises. Around 75% of Chinese companies, especially medium and large ones, have already begun deploying AI applications. However, he also acknowledged that challenges such as compliance, data privacy, and AI hallucinations still pose risks.

In closing, Jason Yu quoted from Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Antifragile: “The wind extinguishes a candle and energizes fire,” encouraging Chinese enterprises to evolve and grow amid complexity and uncertainty, and to “Nurture the Present, Venture Forward”.

三、PepsiCo’s Four Secrets to Weathering Market Cycles

We are currently in an era of dramatic changes in the consumer market. Yet, regardless of how the environment evolves, every industry continues to have standout performers and fast-growing winners. New, young, and disruptive market participants are constantly emerging. In this context, how should companies compete? Where are the next growth curves and opportunities? How can businesses better pivot to capture emerging opportunities? And how can mature enterprises sustain long-term growth and win in the long run?

Iris Wang, Head of Strategy, BD & Ventures, APAC & Greater China, PepsiCo, delivered a keynote titled “Steadily Moving Forward Amid Challenges: PepsiCo's Resilience and Agility” sharing PepsiCo’s secrets of navigating market cycles.

First is gaining through long-termism.

According to Iris Wang, on one hand, supply chain efficiencies continue to improve with technological advancement, making products more accessible and more affordable—high-quality at a good price. On the other hand, compared to other mature countries and markets, China’s food and beverage categories still have immense growth potential, especially in per capita consumption. This is a fundamental source of PepsiCo’s long-term confidence in the market.

Second is seizing emerging opportunities.

Iris Wang emphasized that companies can identify growth opportunities by drilling into specific niche segments—finding opportunities on a micro level. This micro-targeting can also offer new insights when positioning brands and products. In the context of these diverse market structures, PepsiCo uses different product lines to meet increasingly segmented consumer needs.

Third is strengthening human-centric differentiation.

To address market saturation and channel transformation, PepsiCo focuses on building differentiated, defensible innovation. Iris Wang noted that creating a brand with differentiated value not only drives sales but also allows for more flexibility in pricing. This encourages brands to commit to long-term investment, as people-centric, differentiated innovation can yield substantial and widespread value.

Fourth is enhancing organizational capability and resilience.

Iris Wang stressed that the final "gain" must come from internal capabilities—developing internal “muscle,” or organizational strength. PepsiCo enhances agility and resilience through three strategic directions and six key areas, including: advanced systems, end-to-end supply chain capabilities, omnichannel reach, and deep consumer relationships. “We place great importance on talent diversity, cultural integration, and sustainability, all of which contribute to building a future-ready corporate culture,” Iris Wang added.

四、Rebuilding the Resilience and Growth of Physical Retail

Amid the dual pressures of consumer downgrading and technological leapfrogging, physical retail is entering a new cycle of structural transformation.

Daniel Zhang, Founder, WUMART; Founder, Dmall, delivered a keynote titled “AI-driven New Productive Retail: Reconstructing the Resilience and Growth of Brick-and-Mortar Retail.” He introduced the concept of "AI-driven New Productive Retail" under his “Five Loves” philosophy and, drawing on the practical integration of retail operations and AI innovation, systematically explained how AI can serve as an engine to build a retail model that combines operations, comprehensive digitalization, and intelligent systems.

Daniel Zhang emphasized that AI-driven New Productive Retail should be driven by both “data intelligence” and “ecosystem collaboration”.

Regarding data intelligence, Daniel Zhang explained that in the IT era, retail relied on ERP systems for centralized data processing—an inefficient model. In the digital age, data can be processed in real-time at the front-end using data warehouses, making access and integration highly convenient. This enables data-driven decision-making, task allocation, step-by-step problem resolution, and real-time responsiveness, vastly improving societal efficiency.

Regarding ecosystem collaboration, Daniel Zhang noted that China possesses the world’s most powerful supply chain network. In the AI era, competition is no longer about isolated points; deeper AI integration can eliminate data silos. Retailers, brand owners, OEMs, and producers must form healthy, collaborative upstream and downstream relationships to serve consumers.

In Daniel Zhang’s view, AI’s deep integration into retail is not only reshaping productivity but also driving a systemic transformation of production relationships and business models. For example, Dingdong Fresh is a digitally driven retailer whose capabilities are available to third parties. Dmall’s digital systems are now applied in other retail businesses like Pangdonglai. Dmall has also co-developed with NVIDIA to empower AI scenarios such as inventory clearance, customer service, and smart inspections.

Daniel Zhang concluded by emphasizing that AI-driven New Productive Retail must“put people first.” AI ultimately serves human needs—to improve human efficiency and well-being. “Everything we do is to make life better for those around us, to make society better, and to make humanity better.”

五、The Underlying Logic Behind the Growth of Functional Beverage Markets in Japan and Korea

Yoko Kaji, Marketing Director, Japan & Korea, Nihon Tetra Pak K.K., delivered a keynote titled “Decoding Trends in Japan and Korea: Healthy Opportunities for Growth”, aiming to provide insights and inspiration for the development of functional beverage categories in China.

Yoko Kaji shared an observation: over the past decade, small-size Tetra Pak formats in Japan have seen a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 4%. By 2024, 70% of the target consumers are elderly and adult groups, rather than the traditionally assumed children segment. South Korea shows a similar trend, reflecting the increasing demand among older consumers for functional health beverages, especially in convenient, single-serve formats.

Yoko Kaji focused on protein drinks to analyze market conditions and consumption trends in Japan and South Korea.

She noted that in pursuit of balanced nutrition, protein is a top consumer choice. In 2019, the penetration rate of protein products in Japan reached 20%, with constant innovation in sports nutrition products catering to various needs and scenarios. She also pointed out a clear differentiation in consumer perception between animal-based and plant-based proteins. For instance, animal protein products are associated with muscle gain and higher calorie intake, whereas plant protein is perceived to be with lower calories and health benefits—highlighting possible business opportunities within these distinctions.

For the South Korean market, she categorized ready-to-drink protein beverages into two main types: Balanced nutrition types, targeting general adult consumers; Sports nutrition types, favored by younger, more active consumers. She highlighted that in 2024, the market penetration of sports nutrition protein beverages increased—driven primarily by product innovation.

“Market changes drive product innovation, and behind product innovation lies packaging innovation,” Yoko Kaji emphasized. In Japan and South Korea, leading beverage categories include tea, water, liquid dairy, and ready-to-drink coffee—with diverse packaging formats. Among them, carton packaging is particularly favored by protein drink consumers.

Yoko Kaji concluded that standardized packaging designs may not always be the best fit. Companies must tailor packaging innovations to reflect social consumption structures, consumer needs, target demographics, and product characteristics.

六、How is Technology Reshaping the Food Industry?

Technology is rapidly reshaping the competitive landscape of the food and beverage industry. How can Chinese companies leverage their technical capabilities and cost-effectiveness to expand internationally?

George Yan, Founder & CEO, Clobotics, and Dr. JJ (John Jiang), CTO, CP Group, engaged in an in-depth dialogue on the topic “The Era of Intelligent Transformation: How Technology is Reshaping Competition in the Food and Retail Sectors”

Speaking on CP Group's collaboration with Chinese companies, Dr. JJ highlighted areas of focus including virtual banking, agricultural drones, retail robotics, and AI vision.

He emphasized that while Thailand lags in these areas, China possesses advanced technologies and successful implementation cases, offering strong support. Chinese companies are making leaps in innovation, with leading positions in high-speed rail, new energy vehicles, and communications technology. Additionally, in sectors like agriculture and retail, Chinese companies maintain a strong edge in terms of cost-performance ratios.

On the topic of international expansion in F&B industry, George Yan shared Clobotics’s entry into the Thai market. He pointed out that Thailand is an ideal entry point into Southeast Asia, recommending it as a priority market for Chinese companies seeking to go global.

Dr. JJ also shared his observations on the opportunities and challenges of the Thai market. He noted several important trends: “Food for Health”, “Ready to Eat”, and “Food Ingredients Supplement”. In terms of global expansion strategies, he advised paying close attention to local compliance (such as FDA approvals) and differences in payment systems.

George Yan concluded that as Chinese enterprises pursue internationalization, Southeast Asia—especially Thailand—is emerging as a promising starting point. He proposed that Chinese companies could adopt a “rural-encircling-city” strategy: first establishing a foothold in Southeast Asia, then expanding to broader global markets.

七、How to Build a Smart Supply Chain System

In today’s market environment, supply chain resilience has become increasingly vital for enterprises. As a key solution to this challenge, smart supply chains are drawing more attention. But what exactly constitutes a smart supply chain, and how can companies build one?

Jim Shi, Chief Supply Chain Officer, McDonald's China, shared insights under the theme “Digital Supply Chain Architecture: Empowering the Intelligent Future”, explaining his understanding of smart supply chains and how McDonald’s is constructing theirs.

He emphasized that digital and intelligent transformation is not merely a technological upgrade but a reinvention of organizational structures, operating models, process design, and even corporate culture. Properly seizing this transformation opportunity can be a rebirth for businesses.

“A truly digital enterprise must have business, IT, and data teams working as one”, said Jim Shi. He noted that real digital capabilities do not lie in the surface of the control tower big screen display, but in the integrated architecture ability from the bottom to the top and systematic construction ability.

Jim Shi further explained that the core of building a smart supply chain lies in connectivity—commercial, process, and technological. Only by fully leveraging these connections and building collaboratively with partners can an end-to-end smart supply chain be formed, enabling optimal resource allocation.

Therefore, digitalizing the supply chain is not just about internal improvements but also about enhancing the digital capabilities of partners.

McDonald’s China has recently realized the ability of “One Box, One Code”for goods through IoT technology, assigning each box of goods a unique ID, which is the first of its kind in the catering industry. Nationwide rollout is expected by the end of the year. This ability enhances supply chain traceability and creates a critical data bridge between upstream and downstream, forming the foundation for future smart supply chains.

“The success of this One Box, One Code project is thanks to the strong support of our supplier partners,” Jim Shi added. It also reflects the “three-legged stool” culture co-owned by McDonald’s and its partners, McDonald’s commitment to food quality and safety, and years of digital transformation efforts.

八、How Can Brands Break Through Traditional Marketing Bottlenecks?

In a market full of uncertainty and increasingly cautious consumer decisions, how can brands move beyond traditional traffic-driven marketing and achieve high-quality growth?

Mi Ou, General Manager of FMCG Division, Xiaohongshu, shared how Xiaohongshu builds marketing solutions for the food and beverage industry based on real user lives in a talk titled “From ‘Traffic Manipulation’ to ‘Consumer Engagement’, F&B brands' sustainable growth path on Xiaohongshu”.

To achieve sustainable growth, Mi Ou believes brands must shift their marketing mindset and methods—from short-term traffic capture to in-depth user cultivation, from working in isolation to leveraging the platform’s momentum, and pursue the holistic conversion of marketing campaigns.

What does “user cultivation” mean? Mi Ou explains that Xiaohongshu emphasizes starting from the person—understanding consumers’ needs, emotions, and lifestyles. It supports deep engagement through the “SPU × People × Scenario × Buying Point” framework. For “riding the momentum,” he suggests brands tap into organically emerging trends and content energy within the Xiaohongshu community, aligning with platform-driven marketing campaigns to amplify reach and effectiveness. As for “holistic conversion,” Xiaohongshu is more than a seeding platform. It enables end-to-end conversion: online to offline, in-platform to external, from discovery to purchase—helping brands build both awareness and sales.

Mi Ou concluded, “Feeling and reason go hand in hand; vitality and meaning move together. Xiaohongshu’s strength lies in sincere sharing and connections among users. These warm interactions become forward signals that drive industry growth. We look forward to cultivating long-term brand value together with food & beverage brands through people-centric marketing that outlines a blueprint for sustainable growth.”

九、Eastroc Beverage’s methodology for international expansion

Over the past decade, Chinese brands have entered a phase of rapid development, with Eastroc Beverage being a prominent example. Since the end of 2023, the company has stepped onto the global stage, making fast progress in establishing a presence in international markets.

How can Chinese brands successfully go global and sustain growth overseas? Bella, founder of FBIF, and Yajun Hu, Vice President, Eastroc Beverage, had an in-depth conversation on the topic “Resilient Growth through Dual Engines: Deepening the Domestic Market and Expanding Globally”.

“Our goal is to deeply enter local markets and make products of Eastroc Beverage mainstream there,” Yajun Hu stated. When selecting target markets, key factors include: supply chain advantages (e.g., tariffs and logistics costs), market size and growth, business environment, retail pricing, and team capabilities.

Yajun Hu mentioned four international business models Eastroc Beverage is exploring: pure agency system, wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, and franchise operations being explored. “There’s no definitive best model—we’re still exploring and plan to identify our go-global logic within three years.”

When asked by Bella if Eastroc Beverage has developed a methodology for international expansion, Yajun Hu shared three key takeaways:

1. Long-term mindset – Brands must plan sensibly and avoid short-term thinking or chasing quick wins.

2. Going overseas is a “0 to 1” breakthrough process, which must be led by the founder or core executives themselves to form an elite team and streamline the decision-making process.

3. Adopt a zero-based mindset – Regardless of domestic reputation, brands must start from scratch overseas. Begin with end consumers and real channel needs to guide product and market strategy.

“In my view, the top priority for going global is talent and organizational structure, followed by product strategy, then mainstream channel strategy,” Yajun Hu emphasized. Chinese brands often lack local market expertise—success requires blending local and Chinese talent to enable localized operations and overcome cultural mismatches.

In conclusion, Yajun Hu called on Chinese FMCG entrepreneurs to have the determination to go global, shoulder the responsibility of representing China’s brands abroad, and collaborate in pushing categories like beverages onto the international stage—achieving true global brand breakthroughs.

十、How Is Yili "Going Global"?

Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving global dairy landscape, Chinese dairy companies are actively expanding internationally to participate in global competition. As a representative of China’s dairy industry, Yili is offering its own experience through practical implementation.

At the Plenary Session, Ke Xu, Vice President, Yili Group, shared insights on Yili’s development path amid the new global dairy dynamics. He presented Yili’s strategic thinking and practical experience in internationalization to the attending guests.

Throughout its international development, Yili has adhered to a philosophy of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. With a global mindset and localized operations, it actively engages in partnerships, integrates into local communities, cultivates local talent, fulfills corporate social responsibility, and promotes local economic growth and prosperity—sharing the benefits of development with all stakeholders.

By centering on consumers, Yili has built a “Global Health Ecosystem” through three key chains: resource, innovation, and market.

According to Ke Xu, in the health food industry, international cooperation and the integration of high-quality global resources are crucial for meeting diverse consumer needs and addressing uneven resource distribution, and is the critical path to quality excellence. Over the years, Yili has continuously optimized its resource allocation, activating the synergy of its global network. On the one hand, Yili is actively engaged in overseas industrial deployment, building production bases and taking full advantage of local resources; on the other hand, Yili focuses on “exporting management, exporting standards, and exporting wisdom” and applies high-quality quality control standards throughout the global industrial chain, so as to provide consumers with high-quality products.

In the face of the personalized and diversified consumption needs of global consumers, Yili has built an open and cooperative innovation chain, leveraging the strength of its 15 innovation centers around the world and cooperating with external parties to gather the strength of the entire industrial chain to promote the development of new products and the application of new technologies. In the innovation cooperation, Yili focuses on the breakthrough of major scientific research issues. For example, Yili has overcome the separation and extraction technology of lactoferrin, the “milk gold”, by utilizing its global innovation power. It is the world's first lactoferrin directional extraction and protection technology, which has increased the retention rate of lactoferrin in room-temperature pure milk from 10% to more than 90%. In the process of building its market chain, Yili has gained a deep insight into the consumption habits of people in different countries, focusing on the development of “locally adapted” products, so that more and more consumers can taste Yili's high-quality products. In addition, Yili is endeavoring to polish the gold standard of China's dairy industry through precise and accessible brand communication in the process of going global.

Ke Xu concluded by reaffirming Yili’s confidence in global cooperation. Looking ahead, Yili will continue to promote global partnerships with an open, inclusive, and win-win approach, working towards the shared dream of “Global Health for All”.

十一、The “Art” of M&A from a Global Perspective

Compared with international giants that have mastered a dual-engine model of “capital + operations” through centuries of mergers and acquisitions, how can Chinese companies avoid the pitfall of “peaking at acquisition”? How can they turn acquisitions into engines of sustainable growth rather than financial burdens?

This topic was explored in depth during a panel discussion titled “From ‘Buying the World’ to ‘Integrating into the World’: M&A as a Breakthrough and the Reshaping of the Global Value Chain for Consumer Giants”. The panel featured Jason Yu, General Manager, CTR Market Research; Mac El-Omari, Co-founder, 6E Capital; Former Vice Chairman, Investment Banking, JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd; Non-Executive Director, China Feihe; Chunwu Zhao, President, CR Beer; Chris Wang, Founding Partner, Hosen Capital; and Curt Ferguson, Managing Partner, Ventech China.

Jason Yu opened the session from a global perspective by highlighting a recent trend: Chinese companies are shifting their globalization strategies from exporting products to exporting capital.

Chunwu Zhao, President, CR Beer

Zhao emphasized that among all M&A considerations, talent and team integration are most critical. Retaining key talent is most complex and identifying the right people is also challenging.

He stressed that companies must possess the ability to embrace diverse cultures, and leverage multicultural talent during M&A. Zhao added that leadership should consciously build a coexistence-oriented corporate culture—one that accommodates both risk-takers and risk-averse individuals, allowing diverse talents to thrive.

Zhao also delved into the concept of the “soft threshold” in M&A—namely cultural differences between merging companies. To overcome these barriers, he advised companies to prepare a thorough cultural integration plan in advance. Value alignment should proceed in phases, with ample time for adjustment. Overly rapid integration can lead to problems.

Mac El-Omari, Co-founder, 6E Capital; Former Vice Chairman, Investment Banking, JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd; Non-Executive Director, China Feihe

With 30 years of investment banking experience at J.P. Morgan, Mac El-Omari stated that M&A is one of the most difficult transactions to do in enterprise development and management—even more complex than financing or listing. He believes M&A can profoundly affect a company’s fate. He noted that a common case in the past is that when a foreign company acquires a Chinese company, it is often difficult to achieve true integration.

Mac EI-Omari adds that although Chinese companies are not as experienced in M&A as Western companies, they are better able to prioritize stability and prefer gradual integration. Retaining corporate independence and seeking coordination only in key aspects. This is different from Western M&A, which seeks to integrate quickly and maximize synergies. Chinese M&A is more focused on acquiring “people”.

However, there are always two sides to the coin. In Mac EI-Omari's view, the biggest obstacles to the successful completion of mergers and acquisitions are culture, communication and exchange. The management and control of the company cannot just be daily management, but deeper corporate governance. Mac EI-Omari adds that in order for Chinese and foreign employees to work together to accomplish a goal, a company needs to give a more multifaceted and compatible corporate vision, so that employees of different races and ages can share the same vision and move forward together with the same mission.

He reminded that today's Chinese companies have matured and are ahead of their time, from product quality, to international acceptance and diversity of products, to scientific research, to dark factory intelligence to SOPs, and so on. However, when considering the possibility of internationalization, M&A may not be the only effective solution. This is a topic that all Chinese companies should think about.

Chris Wang, Founding Partner, Hosen Capital

Chris Wang shared Hosen Capital's M&A experience in the food sector. One of the centers of Hosen Capital strategy is mid-market M&A, which involves various aspects such as food consumption, food supply chain and food technology, etc. In the past fifteen years, about two dozen M&A have been conducted, of which several are overseas M&A.

He pointed out that there is a stage-by-stage difference in the underlying logic of Chinese and Western companies in investment and M&A. Chris Wangexplained that M&A in developed countries in the West is more based on “capital, brand, technology overflow”, while China's manufacturing industry is more developed, and the starting point of its M&A is for “supply chain security”.

As for the soft threshold of M&A, Chris Wang believes that different cultural traditions and economic environments will lead to different ways of thinking and values, but there are some commonalities across cultures. He said, “Chinese companies go out with a certain degree of humility and acceptance in Chinese culture, which may be one of the keys to cross the soft threshold”.

Talking about talent retention after M&A, Chris Wang said that it is important to respect people, but definitely not to accommodate them, "Starting a business is actually a fiduciary. The fiduciary responsibility here is not only to shareholders and capital, but also to customers and products". Chris Wang concluded that Chinese enterprises capital to go overseas, do not have a sense of cultural superiority, but to have cultural self-confidence.

Curt Ferguson, Managing Partner, Ventech China

With 38 years of experience at Coca-Cola, Curt Ferguson takes an optimistic view of M&A. He believes that sometimes there are no “soft barriers” to M&A, such as culture or language, but rather that as long as companies are oriented toward a single goal, they will magnify their respective strengths.

“Chinese companies are leading in digitalization”, he said, “They can use digital tools to engage directly with consumers and understand their needs.” This capability, he noted, not only aids M&A but can evolve into a powerful business model.

In overseas M&A, Curt emphasized that the key to preserving brand identity is focusing on the consumer. When a company delivers on its promises to consumers and markets, brands in any country can establish a new competitive advantage locally.

十二、About FBIF2025

Under the theme Nurture the Present, Venture Forward, the Food & Beverage Innovation Forum 2025 (FBIF2025) and FBIF Food Innovation Expo takes place from 8-10 May 2025 at the National Convention and Exhibition Centre (Shanghai). In the forums, industry trends and innovation cases are explored for diverse F&B product categories, and in multiple perspectives, i.e., strategy, function & ingredients, marketing, channels, packaging, product development and etc. FBIF Wow Food Awards Ceremony and FBIF Food Innovation Expo, an exhibition of food innovations that covers over 62,000 square meters, brings a splash of inspirations. Over 47,000 attendees are expected to visit.

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