Can Xia Lan Zheng take the spotlight at the World Cup—will White Cloud Mountain resurrect Wanglaoji with Jilin?

The 2026 World Cup is in full swing, with Norwegian star striker Erling Haaland (known in Mainland Chinese as Haaland) drawing widespread attention for his performances on the pitch; off the field, the catchy ad he filmed for the Mainland Chinese herbal tea brand Wanglaoji is also taking over social media. Haaland’s Wanglaoji international edition “WALOVI” advertisement has brought the product more than 290k Instagram likes, but after the excitement, a more realistic question follows: with Haaland’s global fame, can Wanglaoji’s parent company Guangzhou Pharmaceutical (00874) truly turn things around?

Guangzhou Pharmaceutical’s performance and share price have faced continued pressure in recent years

Guangzhou Pharmaceutical’s recent results have been lackluster. In full-year 2025, the group achieved revenue of RMB 290k, up 3.55% year on year; attributable net profit was RMB 77.66B, up 5.21%. However, in the first quarter of 2026, while revenue rose 3.6% to RMB 2.98B, profit attributable to shareholders fell 2.1% to RMB 23.28B.

More concerning is the “natural beverages” business, with Wanglaoji herbal tea at its core. This segment recorded full-year 2025 revenue of RMB 1.78B, down 0.34% year on year, and has fallen below the RMB 9 billion threshold since 2024. Overall, the H-share price of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical has dropped by more than 30% over the past five years; as of July 6, 2026, the share price was HK$15.26. The 52-week high was HK$20.4 and the low was HK$14. As of the start of the year, the decline has exceeded 17%.

Bottleneck in the domestic market pushes internationalization

Wanglaoji faces serious challenges in the Mainland market. The growth rate of the Mainland herbal tea industry fell from 15% in 2015 to 3% in 2025. Young consumers are pursuing low-sugar and healthier drinks, and with fierce competition from new tea brands such as Nayuki (Nayuki’s Tea) and Mixi Ice City, the traditional herbal tea market is gradually becoming saturated.

At the same time, Wanglaoji is also dealing with a trademark dilemma overseas. Competitor Jia Duo Bao claims it has registered trademarks such as “WANG LAO JI” in 60 countries worldwide, forcing Guangzhou Pharmaceutical to create a new international brand “WALOVI” to differentiate. Against this backdrop, hiring Haaland as the global spokesperson is aimed at opening up international markets by riding the momentum of the World Cup.

International expansion shows signs of light

In fact, the international expansion of Wanglaoji began in August 2025, when the international cans were officially launched globally; in October, they rolled into the markets of Germany and Saudi Arabia. Data shows that over the past decade, the scale of Wanglaoji’s overseas market grew by 6.5 times, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 25%.

A screenshot of Haaland’s Wanglaoji advertisement:

Haaland’s signing as a spokesperson is the “final step into the door” for WALOVI’s internationalization. The ad adapts the fan anthem song “Haaland Song” into catchy lyrics: “Ha… Haaland… it’s hot, so drink (drink = Ha in homophone) Wanglaoji!” The concept of “reducing internal heat” was successfully pushed to an international audience. As of July 7, on the WALOVI IG account, one of Haaland’s posts recorded 317k Likes— the most popular post since the account was created for 1.5 years.

The road to a turnaround is still long

However, expanding herbal tea into international markets still faces structural challenges. Data shows that in 2022, herbal tea’s overall share in the global soft-drinks market was below 0.5%, with the consumer base highly concentrated in Chinese communities. Whether a single soccer star endorsement can truly open up the market among non-Chinese audiences remains to be seen.

Haaland’s mind-melting ad has brought Wanglaoji unprecedented international attention, but to convert this buzz into sustained overseas sales, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical still needs to put in more effort in areas such as product taste adaptation, channel building, and brand awareness. Whether Guangzhou Pharmaceutical can truly turn around likely isn’t as simple as hearing one “Ha.”