Domestic beverage industry has narrowed its innovation space

Beverage industry: Only 10 new products can survive

2015 inventory

New products, new products or new products. In the face of the still-not hot summer and the overall weak consumption environment, beverage companies can only use new products to stimulate consumption, and there are also successes. However, innovation does not mean absolute success. A beverage industry source stated that as the domestic beverage industry becomes more mature, the space for innovation is narrowing, the survival rate of new products is not high, it is already below 10%, and the life cycle of new products is also shortening. . After the buzzing new wave, the beverage market next year will test the ability of R&D and investment, marketing and promotion. Who can make new products into explosion models? Who is the real winner?

Unification into new product winners

If pushing new is the main theme of the beverage industry in 2015, then a unified enterprise will certainly be the best protagonist. According to the statistics of the Beijing Commercial Daily, the number of new beverage products introduced during the year was no less than 10, and following the successful launch of the new product of Haizhi in 2014, the company launched a series of Chinese beverages such as drinks, fruit and vegetable juice micro-engraving series, and fruit juice drinks. Series, chilled tea Kosuke students, assam small milk tea, ready-to-drink coffee Yaha HEY series and brand new Longduo ready-to-drink coffee, as well as UNIYES head road squeezed coconut milk, functional drinks UNI SPORT, and Tetra Pak tea milk tea Wait. According to Zhu Danpeng, a researcher at the China Brand Institute, the number of unified new beverage products is not only double in number, but also the beverage category involved is also the largest. This is rarely seen in the beverage market in the past two years.

In fact, unification is both a leader in the new wave of beverage companies and a microcosm of many companies in the new wave. In addition to the unification, food and beverage companies showed unusual enthusiasm for new products in 2015. In early December, food giant Wahaha launched a variety of new products at the company's 2016 sales conference: Wahahad Tea, Hong Kong-style milk tea drinks, Wahaha “cat” coffee, and Wahaha “warming” chanterelle malt plant Drinks, Wahaha "little through the orange" and "light through the lemon" series of drinks, Wahaha red dates, yogurt drinks and so on. These new Wahaha products will be launched in the market by the end of the year and will add more options to the shelves. In the eyes of industry observers, the number of new Wahaha products is unprecedented.

New products mean new beginnings, and the hope of success is also accompanied by the risk of failure. In the eyes of the industry, companies are keen to introduce new products, but also because they saw the success of previous cases, followed by follow. Taking unification as an example, unifying the 2015 semi-annual report shows that in the first half of this year, the company’s beverage business revenue was 8.109 billion yuan, an increase of 0.2% over the same period in 2014. Although overall growth was slower, individual categories performed outstandingly under the new product. For example, in the first half of the year, the unified juice business’ revenue increased by 26.3%, which is the contribution of the new product Haizhiyan. In addition, the unity has repeatedly affirmed in its financial report that the new product has contributed to the company's beverage segment.

The bitterness behind the new product

While unifying the success of new products, there are also many companies that are sad because of new products. However, even if they fail, the company's new enthusiasm continues to grow. Especially for small and medium-sized beverage companies, new products are eliminated and updated very quickly. In Zhu Danpeng's view, beverage companies are keen to have new products deeper this year.

“The new products in the Chinese beverage market are emerging one after another, but there is a common phenomenon that the life cycle is getting shorter and shorter. A few years ago, new beverage products would experience the life cycle of import, growth, maturity, and recession, but now many new products have transitioned directly from the import to the recession. The growth and maturity stages are directly omitted, and under such a macroscopic environment, beverage companies can only test the water market with new products, and try to find out which one is the largest single product. The more the consumer environment declines, the more frequently the company launches new products. "Zhu Dan Peng is such an evaluation."

The so-called downside of the consumer environment means that the growth of the beverage industry has been weak. Unity mentioned in its financial report that due to changes in the macro-environment and economy, the growth of the beverage market has slowed down, and there has also been a clear shift in consumer goods. Traditional tea, fruit juices, etc. are fruity water, vitamin drinks, and energy. The substitution of beverages and plant proteins, and changes in consumer preferences have brought new opportunities and challenges. Another giant, Master Kong, also mentioned in the third quarter report of this year that, according to Nielsen, the sales volume of the Chinese beverage industry in the third quarter of 2015 only increased by 0.3% year-on-year, and sales increased by 2.5% year-on-year. Due to unstable weather and the current relatively conservative consumption atmosphere, Master Kong’s turnover in the third quarter beverage business was US$1.638 billion, which was 5.26% lower than the same period of last year.

The consumer groups of beverages are shifting towards younger age, and the lack of loyalty of young consumers to the products has directly led to difficulties for beverage companies to make new products into large single products. “The life cycle of Wahaha Nutrition Express, Kangshifu Bingcha, and unified green tea are 5-10 years old, but it’s hard to assert that the unified students and the sea’s words will survive for many years because of consumers’ The key to changing consumption habits too quickly is whether new products can cater to this change for a long time.” Zhu Dan Peng frankly said.

Xu Xiongjun, an expert in the marketing strategy of the food and beverage industry, added that the new product of the beverage has not only shortened its life cycle, but also its survival rate. “According to the laws of the industry, the survival rate of new beverage products is generally around 10%, and it has now been reduced to 5%. This is directly related to the above changes in the consumer environment and competition.”

From single product to explosive test

Although the life cycle of new products is shortening and the survival rate is declining, industry insiders have also suggested that since the gross profit margin of the beverage industry is still considerable, if the product survives for two years, it will generally be able to realize returns. "From research and development to production and promotion, the introduction of a new beverage product will require about 60 million to 80 million yuan, which will guarantee a two-year sales hotline and a slight surplus," said Zhu Dan Peng.

However, the fact is that there are only a few new products that can be sold out in the spring to ensure that there are not enough new products for two years. Therefore, truly effective promotion of new products does not stop at the introduction of new products. The key is to ensure the vitality of new products. Asked the beverage companies about their questions.

Xu Xiongjun further introduced that the beverage company's new push methods are currently divided into two categories: one is pure innovation, the innovator of the fresh category, and the other is the “category killer,” that is, relying on strong brand capabilities, to do powerful New product replicator. Specifically, the first category will rely on strong innovation teams, R&D teams to constantly introduce new products, and even become the pioneers of beverage new products. In this category, the performance of unified enterprises is more prominent. The second type of companies generally have strong product productivity and brand influence, but in the new products are mainly imitation, for example, if the rise of functional beverages, will soon launch their own brands of functional beverages single product; if the plant protein beverage is very Fire will also follow up to launch this category. Xu Xiongjun said that in the domestic beverage production enterprises, the second type of companies are mostly. This has also led to a serious homogenization of the beverage market, and at the same time it has also enabled truly innovative companies to stand out.

In Zhu Danpeng's view, innovation means an increase in manpower and material resources. Therefore, in 2016, the competition in the beverage industry will continue unabated, and the frequency of new product launches will not be reduced. However, due to higher costs and low survival rate, companies New products will also be more cautious. "Actually, for domestic beverage manufacturers, product productivity is not a problem, and the biggest challenge is how to grasp the habit of consumption habits. Companies that are on the market will have the opportunity to make new products into large single products, thus feeding companies. Performance.” Zhu Dan Peng frankly.