Recently, a Weibo netizen @问水行舟远_ posted that the chicken sausages purchased online at Bestore’s official flagship store had a complete outer packaging, but after unpacking, it was found that the chicken sausage packaging was damaged and there were maggots on it. It is reported that the production date of the bagged product is January 30, 2021, and the shelf life is 180 days.
After the incident, the netizen communicated with Bestore. The screenshot shows that Bestore customer service has changed the compensation issues several times, from a refund of 43.44 yuan (4 bags of products) to a refund of 108.6 yuan based on 10 times the unit price of the product, and then a refund of 1,000 yuan. At the same time, Bestore customer service stated that after a refund of 1,000 yuan, the netizen could no longer make a second complaint from other channels, and would no longer hold Bestore any responsibility, and agreed not to publish pictures and text related to this complaint on the Internet. But the netizen refused, hoping that Bestor would apologize publicly.
After the public opinion was fermented, Bestore responded that the same batch of products has been investigated and no similar problems have been found yet.
Not the only case, the supplier has been fined for violating the Food Safety Law of China
When browsing this topic, a financial reporter from China Broadcasting Network found that in addition to the above-mentioned netizens, many netizens had the same experience. For example, they had found hair, ants, paper shells, etc. in Bestore’s food packaging. However, there were some problems in dealing with the problematic products. Netizens said that the customer service said they could not verify and only agreed to refund.
Black cat complaints show that Bestore has complained about 600 cases. The complaints mainly focus on food safety and quality, involving the appearance of foreign matter and deterioration in food.
According to public information, Bestor was founded in 2006 and listed on the A-share main board in February 2020. It is mainly engaged in the research and development, procurement, sales and operation of snack foods.
Bestore prospectus shows that the processing link is completed by the supplier. Bestore stated that in terms of product quality assurance, the company has formulated a complete product quality control system to ensure the full chain of food through regulatory measures such as supplier access management, supplier evaluation and evaluation and elimination management, factory quality management, and food safety inspection management. Safety.
Bestore stated in the prospectus that from 2016 to the first half of 2019, the company’s top five suppliers had a total of 5 administrative penalties due to food safety or quality issues, and the relevant suppliers have paid relevant fines in time and actively implemented rectifications. According to data, from January to June 2019, Bestor had 122 suppliers with a purchase value of more than 2.5 million yuan.
The supplier of the product in question is not Bestor’s top five suppliers. According to the official Bestore store, the supplier is Hubei Wugongji Food Co., Ltd. At the same time, Tianyan Check showed that the company was established in 2012, and its business scope includes the production and sale of meat products, fish products, soy products, pastry products and pre-packaged foods.
It is worth noting that Hubei Wugongji Food Co., Ltd. is not the first time a food safety problem has occurred.
In November 2020, Hubei Wugongji Food Co., Ltd. was confiscated by the Market Supervision Bureau of Dongxihu District, Wuhan City for violating the Food Safety Law, 3395.5 yuan of illegal income, and a fine of 20,000 yuan. At the same time, a judgment issued by the People’s Court of Kaifu District, Changsha City in January 2018 showed that the plaintiff purchased the “Black Flag Food” meat floss noodles at Metro Mall. The manufacturer was Hubei Wugongji Food Co., Ltd., and the product was due to physical and chemical reasons. The index moisture reached 13.3 g/100 g, which exceeded the “≤4 g/100 g” standard stipulated in the “National Standard for Cooked Meat Products”, and the product quality was judged to be unqualified.
One year after listing, Hillhouse Capital significantly reduced its holdings
Tianyancha shows that Bestore completed Series B and Series C financing in September 2017 and December 2017. The financing amount was 505 million yuan and 316 million yuan, respectively. The investors were Hillhouse Capital.
Public information shows that Hillhouse Capital’s Zhuhai Hillhouse Tianda Equity Investment Management Center (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as “Zhuhai Hillhouse”), HH LPPZ (HK) Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Hong Kong Hillhouse”), Ningbo Hillhouse Intelligence Before the Bestor IPO, the three companies of Yuan Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as “Ningbo Hillhouse”) held a total of 46.8 million shares, accounting for 11.67% of the total share capital.
However, on February 26, 2021, Bestore announced that the three shareholders of Zhuhai Hillhouse, Hong Kong Hillhouse, and Ningbo Hillhouse, due to their own capital needs, plan to reduce their holdings through centralized bidding, block transactions and negotiated transfers. No more than 24.06 million shares, accounting for no more than 6% of the total share capital.
From the perspective of performance, Bestore’s revenue and profits have shrunk significantly compared to before the listing. Bestore’s revenue in 2018 and 2019 were 6.378 billion yuan and 7.715 billion yuan, an increase of 20.97% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 239 million yuan and 340 million yuan, an increase of 42.68% year-on-year. Bestore’s third quarter report shows that in the first three quarters of 2020, revenue was 5.53 billion yuan, an increase of 1.29% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 264 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 16.15%.
In terms of sales expenses, Bestore sales expenses in 2018 and 2019 were 1.24 billion yuan and 1.581 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.47%. At the same time, it explained in the annual report that the increase in expenses was mainly due to the increase in promotion expenses, transportation and storage expenses, and rental expenses. . In addition, Bestore’s sales expenses for the first three quarters of 2020 were 1.163 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.78%.
In the face of sluggish performance growth, shareholder reduction, product quality and other issues, it is still unknown whether Bestore can reverse the situation.
Source: CNR