Uni-President to sell JV stake (3)

Master Kong led the domestic fruit juice market for the nine months through September with 22.1 percent while Uni-President ranked third with 13.3 percent, the NBS data showed. In other beverage sectors like pure water drinks, herbal tea, carbonated drinks and other canned drinks, Uni-President was not even in the top four.

Apart from the unfavorable sales channels, sales of Jinmailang's beverages have been hurt by a lack of efficient brand promotion and involvement in safety scandals, Zhao Yong, a beverage analyst from Shanghai-based Haitong International Securities Group, told the Global Times Tuesday.

A Jinmailang beverage distributor in Jiangsu Province has alleged since May 2009 that the company's tea drinks have quality problems.

Jinmailang and Uni-President's business overlap may be another reason to separate the two, Zhao said. The former mainly makes tea drinks, while the latter makes a range of beverages including tea drinks.