A customer compares dairy products at a supermarket in Shanghai. Bright Food Group Co now holds a 5.7 percent share of China's 174 billion yuan dairy market, ranking it fourth in the domestic market, according to Euromonitor International. [Photo/China Daily]

But Ge Junjie does so with his eyes wide open to pitfalls

Ge Junjie doesn't drink milk or alcohol. As vice-president of Bright Food Group Co, Ge often needs to convince people how he manages to run a business that he himself doesn't engage in much during his leisure time.

So here is his winning formula: "Because I don't drink them myself, I try my best to sell them."

Ge, 54, joined the Shanghai Tangjiu Group Co Ltd 33 years ago upon graduation with a degree in accountancy. The company, a major manufacturer and distributor of candies and alcohol, became a fully owned subsidiary of Bright Food in 2006, which now ranks as China's second-largest food vendor by revenue.

Bright Food was formed amid a series of mergers and consolidations of State-owned assets. Shanghai municipal government is the company's controlling stakeholder.

Today, the corporation has grown into a huge comprehensive food industry group that covers modern agriculture, food processing and production and food distribution. The group's total assets were valued at 82 billion yuan ($13.2 billion) and its revenue from primary business reached 75 billion yuan last year.

It now holds a 5.7 percent share of China's 174 billion yuan dairy market, ranking it fourth in the domestic market, according to Euromonitor International.