Chi Forest, also known as Genki Forest, is a China-based company specialising in healthy low-sugar beverages.
In June 2025, convenience stores in Indonesia welcomed a new product line – Chi Forest’s ice teas, with flavors such as white peach jasmine and grapefruit green tea. This will not be possible if Chi Forest did not adopt a ‘localisation’ strategy which combines its health-driven product position with the need to adapt to the local market.
As early as November 2023, Chi Forest’s Hubei province production facility successfully secured halal certification from Indonesia’s BPJPH, paving the way for the company’s halal-compliant products to reach over 30,000 retail points across Indonesia. Localisation plays a crucial role not only in flavor selection, but also in terms of understanding of cultural nuance and building consumer trust.
Apart from Indonesia, Chi Forest has also aggressively expanded overseas, entering over 40 countries and regions within 4 years including the US, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia.
In the US, Chi Forest has to undergo tremendous regulatory hurdles before successfully entering the market in 2024, distributing to more than 591 Costco stores across the US market. Prior to this, Costco issued a food safety audit notice to Chi Forest’s factory. The audit included over 200 food safety criteria and took nearly 3 months of preparation. Chi Forest formed a dedicated task force to align with Costco’s global protocols and by May 2024, its Hubei factory passed the safety audit.
Tang Tang, Head of International Business at Chi Forest said, “These challenges have only strengthened our resolve to go global.” Each difficult step whether certification, logistics coordination or marketing strategy helps Chi Forest to build stronger capability for future growth.
In terms of flavor, Chi Forest’ R&D team has also carefully balanced aroma, sweetness and aftertaste, fine-tuning the formulas for international appeal. Signature Asian flavors such as white peach and lychee have become key differentiators in markets like the US, Indonesia and Australia.
Chi Forest’ success in exporting its beverages is a useful case study for beverage companies looking to export and to realise the importance of understanding local market requirements in terms of regulation, cultural differences and taste preference before making that plunge. In another word, companies that adopt globalisation strategy to expand need also to adopt ‘localisation’ strategy in each markets they are penetrating in.
