Guangzhou Wanglaoji
3 min readWong Lo Kat Herbal Tea
Wong Lo Kat，now known as Wanglaoji，is a famous Chinese tisane in Guangdong Province，China.In 1828，it was created by Wong Chat Bong，who was born in Heshan city，Guangdong Province，during the reign of Daoguang.
History of Wong Lo Kat Herbal Tea
Wong Lo Kat Herbal Tea originated in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and is cooked with certain Chinese herbals.Among the various herbal drinks in China，WongLo Kat Herbal Tea has been the most famous brand.It was set up in mid Qin Dynasty and lasted for 175 years in China.Its brand name enjoys a stellar reputation and appreciation in southern China and the inventor was considered the founder of herbal medicine drinks in the country.
Wong Lo Kat Herbal Tea has also spread to other countries along with the flow of Chinese immigration.
In the 50s of the 20th century，Wong Lo Kat Herbal Tea split into two branches；one merged into state owned enterprises in Mainland China and developed into Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.，producing all types of traditional herbal medicine.Descendants of Wang’s family brought the other branch to Hong Kong，producing the original recipe under the company JDB Group，a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Hung To Group Co.，Ltd.
Mainland China
After the foundation of the People’s Republic of China，Wong Lo Kat（pronounced “Wanglaoji” in Mandarin）in mainland China has been owned by the government.
“Wanglaoji trademark holder，Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical，whose name waslater changed to“Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co.，Ltd.”，a subsidiary of the state-owned Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited，licensed the right to use the“王老吉”trademark to Hong Kong Hung To Group Co.，Ltd.，who marketed the Wong Lo Kat product in red cans，meanwhile the 250ml green carton version has been produced by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical themselves.
In 1997，Hung To Group and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical signed a trademark license agreement.Hung To Group had legally gained the right to use“王老吉”and，its subsidiary，JDB Beverage Co.，Ltd.，had been the producer of the red can version of Wong Lo Kat in mainland China.JDB Group also used the traditional English name Wong Lo Kat in mainland China，which is the“Wanglaoji”in Cantonese spelling since 1828.
The trademark license was renewed in 2000 to make it valid until 2 May 2010.In 2002 and 2003，two additional extensions were signed，extending the validity to 2013 and 2020 respectively.
The sales by JDB increased more rapidly than by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical.The sales of the red can version was at more than 1 billion RMB while the green carton version had annual sales of 80 million RMB in 2004.In 2008，the red can’s sales exceeded 10 billion RMB.Its annual sales volume in 2007，2008 and 2009 topped in Chinese beverage can products.
In April 2011，Guangzhou Pharmaceutical submitted a”Wang laoji”trademark issue for arbitration.On 9 May 2012，China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission ruled that the two additional trademark contracts were invalid and the valid trademark agreement was expired in 2 May 2010.Thus Hung To Group and JDB had no right to use”Wanglaoji”trademark after that date.Since 2011，it had been explicitly printed“produced by JDB”on red can products.Several days after the arbitration，Guangzhou Pharmaceutical started to produce its own red can Wanglaoji beverage.
