Tetra Pak versus Greatview: the Battle Beyond China

Tetra Pak, the world's largest manufacturer of aseptic packaging materials, is a typical market leader that faces growing challengers around the world and runs the risk of becoming embroiled in antitrust cases. Greatview Aseptic Packaging Company Limited ("Greatview") is an exemplary Chinese national champion that penetrates into developed markets, which are usually saturated with only a few key players. The case describes how Greatview emerged and challenged Tetra Pak, which set industry standards largely by using the tying and bundling strategy and the innovation and patent strategy. Since 2003, Greatview has actively influenced the Chinese government to establish and enforce an antitrust law, which supports the company as it positions itself as the best alternative to Tetra Pak for reducing customers' single-supplier risks and costs. In 2011, Greatview announced the building of its first overseas plant, in Germany, to penetrate into Tetra Pak's home market of Western Europe-the world's largest market for aseptic packaging. In 2013, although Greatview announced ambitious factory expansion plans, its challenges overseas are huge. Meanwhile, Tetra Pak realized that its European patent was not able to protect its historic innovation, aseptic technology, from being imitated. Even more complicated, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, China's market regulator, launched a national investigation against Tetra Pak, accusing it of misusing its dominant position to limit competition. Both companies need to devise their next competitive moves.

• Antitrust laws
• Patents
• Innovation
• Business and government relations
• Globalization
• Business growth
• Competitive advantage