Sanmark: Transition from “Barreled Oil” to “Bottled Oil”

In March 2023, Qu Ming, chairman of Sanmark Corp. (Sanmark) in China, faced a strategic dilemma. Sanmark was a global leader in barrelled nutritional plant oils and served over 700 clients across more than 40 countries. But when the overseas market became saturated, the chairman decided to target the Chinese market by focusing on bottled oil sales to overcome growth limitations abroad. Qu successfully transitioned from business-to-business (B2B) exports to the business-to-consumer (B2C) market in China, shifting focus to bottled nutritional oils and growing sales from ¥2 million in 2019 to ¥50 million in 2023. However, the limited consumer base for nutritional oils in China made it difficult to meet marketing goals. The company explored three different paths to breaking through in this niche market: Should Sanmark premiumize its already established brand Blue Uncia as a luxury health brand? Should it instead diversify into mass-market edible oils? Or should it pivot to a new segment by repurposing production by-products into functional food powders?