Chinanews.com client, Beijing, January 4 (Peng Jingru) "This bottled coffee actually costs 15.8 yuan?" Ms. Wang couldn't believe the price of bottled coffee in the convenience store. She finally put the coffee back on the shelf and turned I walked into the fast food restaurant next to me and bought a large cup of freshly ground coffee for 10 yuan.
The price of ready-to-drink coffee is more than ten yuan at every turn.
The reporter observed in many supermarkets and convenience stores in Beijing that now, the price of ready-to-drink coffee seems to have changed from a “people-friendly route” to a “ladies’ setting”, instead of only the original price of 4-6 yuan, it has been upgraded to 10 -18 yuan, some even exceed 20 yuan.
There are old brands and new faces in ready-to-drink coffee.
The price of Nongfu Spring’s "Charcoal Coffee" series, sugar-free black coffee, sugar-free latte, etc. is 12.8 yuan; Starbucks glass bottle series prices range from 15.8-22.5 yuan; the price of Never Coffee is around 15 yuan; The price of Grey's "Ah! Coffee" is 14.8 yuan.
Starbucks and Nongfu Spring are familiar to everyone. The company that Never Coffee belongs to is Aiwo Kafei (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. According to Tianyan Check, its registration date is 2015 and the brand is positioned as an original specialty coffee brand.
Never Coffee claims that coffee is made directly from premium coffee beans, and the flavor is much better than ordinary bottled coffee.
Instant coffee sold in a convenience store in Beijing.
Photo by Peng Jingru, China News Service
"The price is similar to that of many freshly ground coffee, or even more expensive. If I apply for a KFC membership card, a cup of freshly ground coffee is only 10 yuan, and the actual price of Luckin Coffee is usually more than ten yuan." Miss Wang said Nowadays, some convenience stores and bakeries also sell freshly ground coffee at even cheaper prices.
Food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng said that since 2016, the number of coffee consumers in China has been expanding, and more and more players have come in. It is normal for ready-to-drink coffee to cost more than a dozen yuan.
"This aspect is related to the quality of coffee, and the other aspect also depends on the brand's positioning."
"The quality of coffee depends on the quality of coffee beans, milk, etc. For example, there are many types of milk. There are differences between fresh milk and powdered milk, as well as different sources of milk, and different protein content, which will affect the cost and pricing of coffee. "Zhu Danpeng said.
The ingredient list of a certain type of coffee indicates the type of coffee beans and the degree of roasting in detail.
Photo by Peng Jingru, China News Service
Ipsos research shows that 45% of consumers require optimized milk sources and 44% require high-quality coffee beans.
Nowadays, some brands have begun to work hard in this regard, saying that their own coffee is "professional roast", "freshly ground fresh brew", "cold brew", and so on.
Chinanews.com noticed that several coffees with a price of more than ten yuan, such as Never Coffee, have detailed the type of coffee powder in the ingredient list and whether the roasting degree is deep roast or medium-light roast.
The ingredients list of several ready-to-drink coffees with lower prices basically only indicate: water, coffee powder, milk, white sugar, etc.
"Lady" route, are consumers willing to pay?
Zhu Danpeng said that ready-to-drink coffee is relatively popular in the coffee market, which is different from freshly ground, but has a higher positioning than instant coffee.
"However, among the coffee drinkers, there are both'hardcore' characters, dependent people, and entry-level'xiaobai'. Different people have different coffee consumption ability, cognition and dependence. , This will naturally affect their choice of coffee."
Consumer Ms. Yuan said that she often buys ready-to-drink coffee, “Because it is convenient, you can buy it at any time without brewing. If the taste is better, I don’t mind the higher price.
"Ready-to-drink coffee is usually bought during business trips or meetings. It is not convenient to buy freshly ground at this time." Huihui (pseudonym), who claims to be a coffee lover, also believes that the advantage of ready-to-drink coffee is convenience, but she also said, If possible, freshly ground coffee is still the first choice.
"In terms of price, ready-to-drink is generally less than ten yuan I can accept, and more than ten yuan will only be bought when you want to try new flavors occasionally, and will not become a long-term choice." Huihui said.
Coffee lover Dahan (a pseudonym) said that he generally would not buy this kind of ready-to-drink coffee. On the one hand, the taste is not so good, and it is more like a drink. On the other hand, the price is high.
"Unless you want to drink coffee but can't buy it ready-made, or when you have a discount, you will buy it."
In a supermarket in Beijing, coffee brands are on sale.
Photo by Peng Jingru, China News Service
Dahan arranged a sequence for coffee: freshly ground is definitely the first choice, followed by hanging ear coffee, when you have no conditions to drink hanging ears, drink instant.
She said that compared to this type of ready-to-drink coffee, there are more people around who buy freshly ground and instant coffee.
"Some ordinary office workers or students, the demand for coffee is only refreshing rather than taste, most still choose instant, some of the price of ready-to-drink coffee is too high, but the demand is not great. People who love coffee will not buy instant. , Ready-to-drink, it's like milk tea lovers don't drink Youlemei, the fragrance is puffing." Dahan said.
Carbonated, fruity,
ready-to-drink coffee taste
"Hainer"
But the market for ready-to-drink coffee still looks very large.
A Mintel report in 2018 showed that from 2018 to 2023, the average annual compound growth rate of the retail sales of ready-to-drink coffee is about 15.5%. By 2023, 460 million litres of ready-to-drink coffee will be sold.
In addition, Euromonitor International data shows that China's ready-to-drink coffee market share is expected to reach 14.9 billion yuan in 2021.
In 2022, the global ready-to-drink coffee market is expected to grow by US$3.1 billion, faster than bottled water and soft drinks.
Some ready-to-drink coffee on the shelves of a Beijing supermarket.
Photo by Peng Jingru, China News Service
The number of coffee drinkers keeps growing, it depends on how you make them drink.
On the road to high-end, there are brands in order to better attract consumers and occupy sub-populations. It has become a new trend to add health effects to products.
There are brands that add slow-release casein, which advertises that it can meet the needs of fitness and muscle growth, and increase satiety to help reduce fat.
There are also brands that add vitamins and minerals, advertised that they can supplement the trace elements needed by the human body.
However, some consumers do not buy it, thinking that "coffee is coffee, and there is no need for so many extras."
However, even if the "Lady" route fails, many brands still arrange the "Ghost Horse" route.
The "2020 Innovation Trends of Instant Coffee" released by Ipsos shows that the flavor of instant coffee is showing a diversified trend.
"In order to attract juice-loving coffee consumers, foreign ready-to-drink coffee will blend with fruity flavors. In the past two years, domestic pioneering companies have begun to test the water and have successively launched bubble/fruit-flavored ready-to-drink coffees, such as St. Rex Carman Orange Cold Bubble coffee, charcoal and carbonated coffee flavored beverages.” The above report pointed out.
Regarding the current market segments of ready-to-drink coffee, Zhu Danpeng believes that there are opportunities for all market segments in the expansion period. "Before 2023, the industry will hardly enter a solidification period. The most critical future development is not the segmentation. It’s how the company’s customer stickiness, quality, scenarios, service system, and quality tune do, which determine the success or failure of the competition."
At a price of more than ten yuan, would you like to choose instant coffee or freshly ground coffee?
(Finish)