An exclusive report has learned that Li Dou, a seasoned veteran from Mars Wrigley, has officially assumed the role of Chief Growth Officer (CGO) at White Elephant this week, after a mere three-month hiatus following his departure from Ping An Health, where he worked for five years. He will be responsible for overseeing the sales center and serving as Vice President of the digital center. It is understood that this position did not previously exist at White Elephant and was essentially created specifically for Li Dou.

Li Dou's extensive background, having worked for many years at Mars Wrigley where he rose to the position of Vice President of Sales, combined with his leadership experience at Ping An Health, now brings him to a private enterprise in a role like CGO, which is not a core executive position. This move on one hand reflects his courage to embrace new challenges, and on the other hand underscores White Elephant's intense desire for growth.

According to professional analysis, while voluntary demotions or pay cuts are common in the current economic climate, it is relatively rare to see a professional manager like Li Dou who is willing to accept such a compromised position and directly face the associated pressures and challenges. From another perspective, if he possesses strong business leadership capabilities and can drive significant growth and breakthroughs for the company, any reduction in salary due to the lower-ranking position could naturally be compensated for through performance-based incentives.

Next, let's analyze the current state of White Elephant, the challenges now facing Li Dou, and whether he has an opportunity to help "Lao Yao" (Yao Zhongliang, Party Committee Secretary, Chairman, and President of White Elephant Food Co., Ltd.) identify new growth drivers.

After years of development, the instant noodle market, or the broader convenient ready-to-eat food market valued at hundreds of billions, is undergoing profound transformation. The early market structure, characterized by a top tier dominated by the two giants Tingyi (Master Kong) and Uni-President, with numerous small and medium brands below, has now evolved into a new pattern: "one superpower, three strong contenders, many mid-sized players, and numerous small ones."

Leveraging robust production capacity, extensive distribution channels, and strong brand influence, Tingyi (Master Kong) has consistently maintained its leading position in the industry, holding a commanding market share with a significant,断层式 advantage. Uni-President, White Elephant, and Jinmailang constitute the following "three strong" camp, each holding their ground in the market and continuously competing for market share through differentiated strategies.

Furthermore, brands such as Nissin, Wugu Daochang, A Kuan Food, Yang Zhanggui, and Ma Liu Ji have already carved out their own market positions by leveraging their unique strengths. After lying low for many years, White Elephant has finally broken through the constraints of premiumization by relying on product innovation, traffic operations, and online channels, stepping into the spotlight of China's instant noodle industry in recent years.

White Elephant's counter-trend growth stems from its precise grasp of the market, having built a core driving system based on three pillars: brand marketing, product innovation, and market expansion. However, behind the glamour, White Elephant also has its unspoken difficulties.

Firstly, there is the overall downturn in the industry environment. Data from the World Instant Noodle Association shows that in 2024, industry sales fell by 2.4% year-on-year to 104.5 billion yuan, marking the fourth consecutive year of negative growth. Both cup noodles (55.8 billion yuan, -3.2%) and bagged noodles (48.7 billion yuan, -1.7%) experienced declines in both volume and price, reflecting the dual impact of shrinking consumption occasions and rising health consciousness.

Comparing the performance and strategic paths of the three major instant food giants—Tingyi (Master Kong), Uni-President, and White Elephant—reveals that the instant noodle industry is experiencing a complex game of "growing pains for traditional giants" and "overtaking on the curve by new, agile brands." Hidden risks in White Elephant's development are also gradually emerging.

For instance, there is an over-reliance on viral hit products; the repurchase rate for its cilantro noodle is less than 30%, and it lacks a superstar beverage单品 like Tingyi's (Master Kong) Ice Black Tea or Uni-President's Assam Milk Tea. Secondly, a second growth curve has yet to be firmly established.

In reality, White Elephant Food has been actively expanding into new businesses over the years. In 2011, it launched Fuxi Noodle Workshop, entering the fresh noodle market. Yao Zhongliang planned at the time to "open 5,000 Fuxi Noodle Workshop stores within three years," but the venture ultimately didn't even expand beyond Henan province. The reason was that all 150+ stores in Henan relied on a single central kitchen. While this ensured consistent food quality across stores, it inadvertently increased the company's operational costs.

Subsequently, White Elephant ventured into frozen food, launching products like Fuxi Old-Dough Steamed Buns and buns. In recent years, it has also ventured into self-heating hot pots, buckwheat挂面, universal soup bases, lazy cooking kits, as well as fire chicken noodles and bone soup rice meals. In 2022, beyond instant noodle products, White Elephant began launching products in e-commerce channels across categories like light meals, instant rice noodles (rice vermicelli), meat sausages, and snack foods. To date, over a hundred new products have been launched.

However, to this day, when consumers think of White Elephant, instant noodles are still the first thing that comes to mind; the company's second growth curve remains unestablished. How to navigate the overall consumer downturn and seize market share piece by piece in a saturated market? How to explore new growth points beyond instant noodles? These two persistent development questions, constantly echoing in Yao Zhongliang's ears, are the core reasons for recruiting Li Dou to join White Elephant.