The Singapore HQ will serve as Walovi’s global operations hub, overseeing brand promotion, channel management, cross-border investment, and talent acquisition. The company is also exploring local filling and co-manufacturing models to improve regional responsiveness.
Additionally, Walovi has signed with Baosteel Packaging for supply-chain co-manufacturing in Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia.
“Walovi’s globalisation strategy is to carve out a clear niche in the global beverage market – to become the world’s leading natural plant-based beverage brand. Walovi’s arrival in Singapore and the establishment of its international headquarters is not about ‘going out’ – it’s about ‘growing up’, connecting consumers worldwide through a natural, healthy lifestyle and natural plant‑based beverages,” said Fang Dafeng, Chairman of Walovi Great Health.
The Chinese beverage giant also unveiled X-Hero, an energy electrolyte drink that was launched for the first time outside China.
The drink is formulated with ginseng and coffee bean extracts and without synthetic taurine or caffeine. Walovi positions the product around what it describes as a shift from post-exercise recovery towards everyday vitality.
X-Hero comes as energy and functional drinks expand across Asia, with brands increasingly combining hydration, energy and wellness positioning.
The global strategy also appears to be broadening Walovi beyond its traditional herbal tea identity – X-Hero moves into the electrolyte and energy space, while the company’s stated ambition is to build a wider natural plant-based beverage portfolio.
The choice of Singapore leverages its status as Asia-Pacific’s capital gateway – according to OECD, Singapore is home to one-third of Fortune 500 regional HQs.
Furthermore, Walovi said Southeast Asia is now its fastest-growing overseas market, with exports to Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia each doubling year on year in the first half of 2026.
The move also highlights Walovi’s localisation strategy. Its Indonesia-Classic Can uses Indonesian-language packaging, while the Global Can is aimed at younger consumers across international markets. The company has also signed cooperation agreements with Indonesian distributors.
Shortly after launching its Singapore HQ, Walovi officially unveiled its Indonesia‑Classic Can and Global Can series on September 1.
Tailored to local tastes and consumer preferences, the Indonesia‑Classic Can features Indonesian‑language packaging, while the Global Can targets young consumers across international markets. The brand has also signed strategic market cooperation agreements with major local Indonesian distributors.
The expansion combines product localisation with infrastructure and brand-building. Walovi has described its international strategy as encompassing product, channel, brand, culture and investment, with its latest Southeast Asian partnerships covering consumer research, co-manufacturing and Singapore retail distribution.
Walovi is also partnering with Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University on brand and consumer research, suggesting that localisation will extend beyond packaging and distribution as the company develops its overseas proposition.
Southeast Asia’s tropical climate drives steady demand for refreshing drinks. The region similarly has a long‑standing culture of herbal drink consumption, which aligns closely with Walovi’s core brand positioning.
Earlier this year, Walovi has also expanded into the Middle East, tapping into the food-as-medicine trend as part of its global strategy.
How Walovi is translating China’s food-medicine tradition
Walovi’s herbal drinks are rooted in the traditional Chinese concept of “internal heat”, or “shanghuo” (上火) – a state of bodily imbalance that can be associated with symptoms such as sore throat, mouth ulcers and dryness.
In Chinese food culture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), certain foods and herbal drinks are considered “cooling” and are traditionally consumed to help restore balance.
These concepts may be foreign to those unfamiliar with Chinese food culture and TCM.
Research on the East-West “food-medicine continuum” has found substantial differences in how food-medicine products are understood and regulated across regions, potentially creating barriers to cross-cultural communication.
This cultural gap is one reason WALOVI’s choice of Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland as its global brand ambassador is notable. His international profile gives the Chinese beverage brand a familiar face as it introduces its products to consumers beyond China.
It also reflects a broader localisation challenge: the brand needs to make its proposition culturally accessible without stripping away the heritage that differentiates it.
The brand is taking a different approach in its home market, where Chinese actor Zhang Linghe serves as another brand ambassador, which can be seen as a bridge between the brand’s historical heritage and modern youth culture.
The brand is taking a different approach in its home market, where Chinese actor Zhang Linghe serves as another brand ambassador, which can be seen as a bridge between the brand’s historical heritage and modern youth culture.
For WALOVI, global expansion is likely to require more than exporting a Chinese beverage concept. Its Singapore base, localised products, consumer research and global ambassador strategy point to an effort to make that heritage legible to consumers in markets where its original food-health proposition may be less familiar.
