In 1930s, malted milk essence was born. This is a kind of drink made of water, which used to be given to each other as a gift. Until the 1980s, malt extract was still regarded as a luxury drink among ordinary people, and adults were often unwilling to drink it, and children became the most direct users. With the development of food industry and the continuous blending of Chinese and western cultures, malt extract has become a long-term memory of China people. Because there are too many competing products and more and more products with more functions and more prices, it is difficult for malt extract to regain its former attraction.

1990 The annual output of "Fu" brand Lok Kou Fu reached 5 147. 1 ton, ranking first in the industry, and the sales coverage rate of all provinces and cities in China reached 85.7%. However, in its heyday, the "Fu" brand Lekoufu ended its "marriage" with Shanghai Coffee Factory for more than 30 years. 1993, Novartis Pharmaceutical established Novartis Food Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, and Shanghai Meilin Zhengguanghe Co., Ltd., which belongs to the coffee factory, transferred the production and management right of "Fu" brand Lok Koufu to Novartis. Since then, "Fu" brand, a national brand, began to attract foreign investment, but its sales did not go up a storey still higher. Since food is not the core business of Novartis, the business of "Fu" brand Lekoufu has not received much attention in the company's overall strategy. In addition, since the 1990s, the competition in the beverage market has become increasingly fierce, and new products for consumers to choose from are constantly emerging. The sales performance of "Fu" brand Lekoufu has begun to decline, and the brand appeal is not as good as before.

In 2002, in order to promote the further growth of its core health care business, Novartis Pharmaceutical Group adjusted its business. At that time, Novartis announced at its headquarters in Switzerland that it would divest the health and functional food business under the consumer health care department. Among them, the food and beverage business department was sold to United Food Co., Ltd. for $266.5 million. One of the changes brought to China by this global acquisition is that the production and operation right of "Fu" brand Lekoufu was transferred to Shanghai Food and Beverage Co., Ltd.

This company is a joint venture between United Food Group of Britain and Shanghai Meilin Zhengguanghe Group, with a total investment of more than 29 million US dollars.

The brand ownership of "Fu" brand belongs to the Chinese side-Meilin Group, and the foreign side enjoys the right to produce and operate. After the transfer of management rights and production rights, Win-Win attached great importance to the national brand "Fu". However, because the merger and acquisition of Novartis's food department is a global behavior, it takes some time and energy to integrate departments and adjust personnel, so the implementation of specific brand management will be relatively late. In fact, in 2003, it officially took over the business of "Fu" brand.

But at this time, "Yinglian" did not rashly invest too much in the brand "Fu". The first thing they need to determine is how much the brand "Fu" can do. After a period of market research, Yinglian found that national brands still have considerable development potential. In particular, middle-aged and elderly consumers over 40 years old are a nostalgic generation, and they have a high degree of trust in old brands.

This survey made the British Union full of confidence in reviving the "Fu" brand, and also prompted it to lock its primary development target in the middle-aged and elderly market. According to the market reaction, Lianying improved the traditional formula of Lekoufu and produced a product with stronger milk flavor. In addition to traditional formulations of Lok Koufu and malt extract, Fupai also has Lok Koufu with high calcium and low fat to meet the requirements of modern people for different tastes and nutrition.