Beverage tycoon Zong Qinghou has announced a five-year, 5 billion yuan ($820 million) plan to diversify his beverage empire by collaborating with liquor producers in the hometown of the country’s most famous liquor brand, Moutai. Zong, who got his start as a frozen snack vendor in Hangzhou, has built an empire based on bottled water, soda and other nonalcoholic beverages. Now, his Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. will work with Jinjiang Liquor Co., Ltd. in Moutai county, Guizhou province. The two companies will integrate local small and medium-sized distillers to develop a new brand. Moutai’s unique, finite resources and the complex procedures involved in producing the liquor also convinced him to make the investment.