Yongkang is awarded the title of "China Cup Capital"

Stainless steel insulated cups emerged as a rising star in the mid-1990s, from the prosperity of "raising glasses to celebrate" to the almost completely wiped out industry of "cup tools" in just four or five years. The thermos cup, which slid down like a meteor, faded out of people's sight. However, the Yongkang thermos cup enterprise, which survived after the waves washed away the sand, quietly elevated and grew this industry in obscurity. The rise, decline, and resurgence of the Yongkang thermos cup industry can provide many inspirations for the government and enterprises.

On the afternoon of November 6th, after the assessment and acceptance organized by the China Light Industry Federation, Yongkang City officially obtained the naming rights of "China Cup Capital". This is another golden signboard that Yongkang has gained after being awarded the title of "China Gate Capital". As one of the eight pillar industries of Yongkang Hardware, the cup industry has taken an absolute leading position in the domestic and international industry after years of development.

From "raising a toast to celebrate" to

Form a complete industrial chain

When people talk about the Yongkang cup industry, the most familiar one is the vacuum insulated cup. In fact, the history of the Yongkang cup industry is much earlier than that of insulated cup products. The Yongkang cup industry first started with enamel cups, and now there are nearly a hundred manufacturers of enamel cups and enamel tableware in Yongkang.

The stainless steel insulated cup industry, which currently dominates the cup industry in Yongkang, developed in the mid-1990s and is a product of Yongkang's "wave economy". At the end of 1996, there were over 1000 thermos cup production enterprises in Yongkang City, and there was a scene of "toasting together" and "all factories have cups" in Yongkang City. However, the large-scale deployment of similar production lines and the sharp increase in output have not brought the expected benefits to Yongkang enterprises. In fact, all enterprises that later joined this industry are basically in a loss making situation. By December, the roads in Yongkang were piled up with thermos cups, and the unit price had dropped from 300 yuan to over 10 yuan, which was not even enough to cover the cost! And this gap is less than a year before and after. In 1999, there were only a hundred or so companies sticking to the thermos cup industry. The thermos cup has become a "Waterloo" for many enterprises in Yongkang, and the Yongkang thermos cup industry has also fallen into a low point as a result.

In the fierce market competition, a group of Yongkang entrepreneurs realized that without quality, there can be no sustainable and healthy development of insulated cups. They took the lead in putting effort into quality. Feiying Group invested 45 million yuan to introduce the world's most advanced production lines from Japan and South Korea at that time. Pioneer Group avoided the domestic price war and focused on the international market, successfully entering the markets of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan in 1997, with exports accounting for over 80%. Hals and other enterprises have embarked on the path of specialized production, constantly researching the cup market and refining their product lines with targeted measures.

Lv Qiang, Chairman of Zhejiang Hals Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., is a witness to the rise and fall of the Yongkang thermos cup industry. In 1995, during the heyday of Yongkang thermos cups, I also invested in and established a thermos cup production line. However, the current situation of homogeneous and low-priced competition led me to lose out in the thermos cup market, "said Lv Qiang." But I did not give up easily, but insisted on the path of specialized production of thermos cups. "Nowadays, Zhejiang Hals Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. has become one of the larger thermos cup production enterprises in Yongkang.

After more than 10 years of development, Yongkang vacuum insulated cups have formed a complete industrial chain. From product development and design to processing and manufacturing, as well as market sales, from the pulling of insulation cup raw materials to plastic switches, rubber sealing rings, cup lids, cup bottoms, electrolysis, and sandblasting, each business link, production process, and accessory manufacturer has clear division of labor and tacit cooperation.

According to a sampling survey, the annual output of non vacuum cup products in Yongkang city is currently over 200 million, with an annual output value exceeding 2 billion yuan. Currently, over 90% of the various mouth cup products sold in the market can be found from manufacturers in Yongkang. By logging into the website of any Yongkang cup enterprise, you can find that the cup categories of Yongkang cup enterprises are very comprehensive, breaking away from the initial situation of only having a single stainless steel vacuum cup. At present, in addition to vacuum insulated cups (pots), the Yongkang cup industry also has 8 series of products, including glass cups, plastic cups, metal plastic composite cups, ceramic cups, enamel cups, and metal purple clay composite cups. There are nearly a thousand varieties of colors and varieties, including daily cups and pots, cartoon cups, car specific cups, sports water bottles, health cups, wine cups, and craft cups.

Nanlong Group has been producing high-end single-layer glass crystal cups since 2006, and its market sales have doubled year after year. So far, the monthly output has reached 60000 pieces. The annual sales of Hals Company's plastic children's cartoon painted cups are over 10 million yuan. Yongkang Zili Plastic Products Co., Ltd. has 42 injection molding machines with an annual output value of over 20 million yuan for various types of plastic cups. Currently, most of the best-selling car plastic cups in the market are produced by Yongkang. In the past two years, there have been some new functional cup products, such as silver cups that emphasize health functions, nano energy cups, selenium cups, micro electrolysis water makers, etc. There are also innovative products with prominent usage functions, such as insulated cups with USB interfaces, car heating insulated cups with cigarette lighter interfaces, and double section cups that are half filled with ice water and half filled with hot water.

At present, various cup products produced in Yongkang City account for 80% of the national total, and have an absolute advantage in foreign trade exports, "said Lv Wenguang, Chairman of Xianxian Group. Cup products sell well in 169 countries and regions around the world, including Japan, the European Union, the United States, and Canada. Among them, 90% of the cups sold in the Japanese market are produced in Yongkang.

Quality first, brand later

It is reported that in the late 1990s, a group of leading enterprises in the cup industry in Yongkang began to increase their investment in technology. Feiying Group invested 45 million yuan to introduce the world's most advanced production lines from Japan and South Korea at that time; Xianxian Group avoided the domestic price war and shifted its focus to the international market. In 1997, it successfully entered markets such as Japan and South Korea, with exports accounting for over 80%; Nanlong Group established its subsidiary Hongyuan CNC Machine Tool Co., Ltd. in 2000, specializing in the research and development of advanced production equipment, providing a solid support for cup industry production.

In 2000, Lv Qiang, the chairman of Zhejiang Hals Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., which returned to the thermos cup industry, paid special attention to product differentiation. In Lv Qiang's opinion, thermos cups are a small industry, but after experiencing the wave economy, they have a large market. The key is how to improve the quality and brand of products. In the thermos cup market, the competition is not just about price, but also about intelligence, management, and service. In 2003, Zhejiang Hals Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. proposed the idea of implementing a structural adjustment of insulated cup products, which identified the serialization, technologization, diversification of insulated cup products, and the extension of insulated cup products as important components of its development strategy. Based on this concept, Zhejiang Hals Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. has set a structural adjustment goal to focus on developing four series of products: cartoon cups, spray paint cups, coffee pots, and pressure pots. At present, Zhejiang Hals Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. develops a new product on average every week, and just a small cup has more than 40 patents.

In addition to Zhejiang Hals Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., Yongkang's Feiying Company, Nanlong Company, Xianxian Company and other insulation cup production enterprises have also increased their technological investment, introduced advanced equipment and technical talents, boldly innovated in insulation cup styles, patterns, packaging, etc., and successfully developed a series of insulation cup products with their own characteristics, which are highly welcomed by domestic and foreign markets.

Zhejiang Loulong Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., which entered the thermos cup industry in 2002, was one of the last companies in Yongkang to enter the thermos cup industry. At the beginning of production, Lou Long established its market positioning as only producing mid to high end tailless vacuum insulated cups. Although it does not have an advantage in scale, its accurate market positioning, coupled with the brand effect accumulated by Shanglong in the cutting tool and anti-theft door industries for many years, quickly adapted to this market and opened up a market for its own products. Xiongtai Group, Linyan Group, Mastercard and other enterprises have also surpassed the sea in product development and market expansion, each showing their own strengths, but they adhere to one principle - resolutely not engaging in price wars, and building their own brands.

The development of the cup industry has received strong support from the Yongkang Municipal Government, guiding the cup industry towards differentiated competition and a quality-oriented approach through activities such as establishing the city through quality and promoting the development of famous brands. Since 2005, insulated cups have been listed as a key industry in the "Thousand Enterprise Brand Cultivation Project" actively implemented by the quality supervision departments of Zhejiang Province and Yongkang City. The government has guided the establishment of industry associations to guide enterprises on the path of improving quality and creating famous brands. It has also actively sought to establish the Zhejiang Stainless Steel Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center locally, providing effective quality and technical support for enterprises at their doorstep.

At present, the thermos cups of five brands in Yongkang, namely Feiying, Nanlong, Xianxian, Hals, and Xiongtai, are all famous brand products in Zhejiang Province. There are three well-known Chinese trademarks and over 300 authorized patents in the industry.

Establishing standards and holding the power of discourse

In recent years, a large number of cup production enterprises in Yongkang, such as Nanlong, Hals, Xianxian, Xiongtai, Mastercard, Feiying, and Baokang, have increased their investment in science and technology, introduced advanced equipment and technical talents, completed the second update of product production equipment, and transformed and upgraded their enterprises. They not only export various cup products to domestic and foreign markets, but also, with the help and support of local governments and quality supervision departments, seize the opportunity of industry development and participate in the drafting and formulation of the National Standard for Stainless Steel Vacuum Cups (mandatory).

At present, the mandatory standard formulated with the participation of six enterprises in Yongkang City has been officially submitted to the Expert Committee of the National Standards Commission for review and approval, "said Chen Jiabin, Deputy Director of the Jinhua Quality Supervision Bureau. First class enterprises sell standards, second class enterprises sell technology, and third class enterprises sell products. After more than 10 years of development, Yongkang's cup manufacturing enterprises have successfully achieved a" three-level leap "and established their leading position in the domestic cup industry.

For this reason, after successfully winning the title of "China's Gate Capital" last year, Yongkang has been striving towards the "China Cup Capital". On the morning of November 6th, the "China Cup Capital" assessment team from Beijing conducted on-site inspections of large, medium, and small cup industry enterprises such as Xianxian Group, Hals Industry and Trade, and Sihai Cup Industry in Yongkang City. After summarizing and negotiating the assessment results, they issued assessment opinions, stating that Yongkang Cup Industry is the main production and sales base, brand gathering place, standard leader, and innovative research and development base of the national cup industry. It meets the assessment standards of large scale, excellent products, and strict standards required by the assessment team, and unanimously confirms that the title of "China Cup Capital" will be awarded to Yongkang.

This means that Yongkang will have more say in the World Cup industry, "said Ying Gaofeng, President of Yongkang Stainless Steel Products Industry Association and Chairman of Nanlong Group.

While striving for the golden signboard of "China Cup Capital", Yongkang City has also formulated a three-year development plan for the cup industry. According to the plan, leading enterprises in the cup industry in Yongkang will establish five technical centers, conduct research on processing technology, transform traditional production processes with high technology, actively apply new materials and processes, improve product quality, and develop more high-quality, functional, healthy and environmentally friendly, fashionable and trendy new products that meet national standards.

The entire industry will actively introduce outstanding design talents and strengthen product design, "said Ying Gaofeng. He closely follows the trend of daily consumption, boldly innovates the style, pattern, packaging, etc. of cups, designs more new products to meet market demand, and further guides market consumption, becoming a leader in fashion consumption. Guide design agencies to establish design centers in Yongkang to provide product design services for small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to the plan, in the next three years, Yongkang Cup Industry will develop more than 100 new products annually, with a new product output value of over 2 billion yuan. The Yongkang Cup Industry Association also plans to establish an industry cluster marketing and promotion organization, actively organizing enterprises to participate in various international exhibitions and professional procurement conferences in groups. Simultaneously utilizing various channels such as media news reports, industry academic seminars, and participation in industry standardization organizations to enhance the status and international influence of the Yongkang Cup industry cluster.