Coca-Cola's 2-Yuan Water Era Collapses, Wahaha's 1-Yuan Attack Causes Market Share to Plummet—Who Is the Biggest Winner?

Looking back, the bottled water market in China was once quite harmonious. Nongfu Spring dominated with natural water, C’estbon held the second spot with purified water, and Baishui Mountain reigned in mineral water. Each played their own niche, and everyone tacitly pushed prices to around two yuan, with consumers gradually accepting that even drinking water should have some quality. But then, after Zong Qinghou passed away in 2024, public opinion shifted, and Wahaha suddenly became the outlet for national sentiment. Product shortages and wild consumer spending emerged. After Rong Fuli took over, she seized the opportunity, and Wahaha launched a full-scale offensive like they had been injected with adrenaline. They flooded channels with freezers, expanded shelf space, and prices hit rock bottom, moving so fast it was dizzying.

Wahaha’s approach was indeed ruthless. In 2024, they tendered to maintain over 610,000 freezers and added 100,000 more, instantly strengthening their control at the retail end. Especially targeting Guangdong, Wahaha’s main base for C’estbon—once hardly seen there, now they were making a strong push. The data showed that in the first half of 2024, Wahaha’s packaged water market share skyrocketed from 4.17% in February to 20.04% in May, with total sales soaring by 188%. The group’s overall scale also returned to the 70 billion yuan level, with bottled water becoming the biggest contributor. By the first ten months of 2025, their market share stabilized around 16%, with sales growth fluctuating between 5% and 25%. Such growth would make anyone envious.

Meanwhile, C’estbon’s situation was grim. The first bottle was launched in 1990, at a time when the market was still blank. C’estbon gradually built nationwide recognition for purified water. In 2015, it even briefly overtook Nongfu Spring to become the leader. Though it later ceded the top spot, it kept a firm hold on the purified water segment. But with the price war, C’estbon couldn’t hold the 2-yuan price point anymore. Wahaha, already pursuing low prices, forced C’estbon to lower prices as well, causing chaos in distribution channels. Distributors bought at 1 yuan, and retail outlets sold at 0.9 yuan or even 0.85 yuan—price inversion became normal. Relying on manufacturer rebates to survive, who still had the energy to sell properly?

China Resources Beverage’s financial report best illustrates the problem. In the first half of 2025, revenue was about 6.2 billion yuan, down 18.5% year-on-year, with net profit dropping 28.6%. The packaged water business earned 5.25 billion yuan, nearly 1.6 billion yuan less. Nielsen data is even clearer: from December 2023 to December 2024, C’estbon’s market share declined by 1.8 percentage points, while Wahaha gained 2.3 points, and Nongfu Spring only increased slightly by 0.2%. Hurun’s 2025 end-year Top 100 Food and Beverage list shows China Resources Beverage’s value dropped 28%, ranking first in decline. Since over 90% of the company’s revenue comes from packaged water, if this segment collapses, the entire business is shaken.

Think about it—consumers used to spend a few extra cents to enjoy a “familiar taste,” but now they’re just a few cents away from switching brands. Who isn’t distressed about their wallet? But in the long run, this price competition actually harms the entire industry. Thin profit margins weaken innovation. Everyone focuses on sales figures but forgets whether water is for quenching thirst or for health. Wahaha is now pushing inventory aggressively, raising thresholds for distributor meetings from 10 million to 15 million yuan, and cutting small distributors altogether. In 2026, they still shout “Number One at the retail end,” with increased display fees and promotional giveaways. What about C’estbon? Channel enthusiasm has waned, and their business is too narrow—breaking the deadlock seems difficult.

This water war has become a tug-of-war, gradually turning into a consumption war. Wahaha leveraged the situation and established a foothold; Nongfu Spring’s green bottle purified water also gained a share, remaining relatively stable; but C’estbon seems to have been drained of strength, retreating step by step. So, how much is this water really worth? Will consumers someday tire of this few-cent tug-of-war and seek something else? To turn things around, C’estbon needs to quickly address its shortcomings—restructure channels, expand categories—no longer putting all eggs in one basket. Wahaha’s aggressive tactics also need to consider sustainability; they can’t rely on low prices forever.

Markets always have ups and downs, and this price war has almost stripped everyone bare. Who will laugh last? Perhaps it’s not about who cuts prices more fiercely, but who first remembers that selling water is ultimately about trust and quality. Consumers drink a bottle of water, but what they’re really thinking about is that sense of security and familiarity. Hopefully, this battle will end soon, so that when we buy a bottle of water, we won’t have to worry about whether we saved five mao or lost five mao. After all, life is already competitive enough—water should be simple.