Market visit: "ice cream assassin" is rare The price of 3-5 yuan has become mainstream

"Ice cream assassins" are rare and high-priced products are declining

Ice cream and ice cream are clearly priced, and the price of 3-5 yuan has become the mainstream; Big brands control freezer resources, and it is difficult for latecomers to "divide the pie"

As the weather turns hot, ice cream and ice cream are fully "opened", and the cold drink war is about to break out. Last year's "ice cream assassin" caused a storm due to high prices and lack of labels, will it make a comeback this year? A reporter from the Beijing News recently visited 10 retail stores in Beijing, and the merchants all achieved clear prices. At the same time, ice cream and ice cream have gradually returned to rationality in pricing and taste innovation, and the price of 3-5 yuan has become the mainstream. However, there are still ultra-high-priced products of more than 15 yuan in the market. Merchants are more cautious in their choice, and some have suspended cooperation with some high-priced brands this year.

According to industry insiders, offline channels have narrowed in the past two years, and consumers have turned to cost-effective products, resulting in fierce competition in the ice cream market this year. In the market, there is a saying that "the one who gets the freezer wins the world", and the head brand firmly occupies the existing freezer resources, and increases channel investment and service, which makes it difficult for latecomers. Due to the limited resources of freezers, high-end chain convenience channels have high entry fees, becoming a gathering place for high-priced ice cream.

Market visits

Improvement of list price issues

In order to understand whether the phenomenon of "ice cream assassins" still exists, a reporter from the Beijing News recently visited 10 retail stores in Beijing, including 4 chain supermarkets, 2 chain convenience stores, 1 community supermarket, 1 dairy station wholesale point, 1 import commodity hall and 1 fresh market. Among them, the flower market store of the vegetable direct sales store in Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province, has posted product price tags on the side of the freezer, and the home and supermarket located on Huashi Street have also posted handwritten cold drink price lists above the freezer.

In the four large supermarkets of Shuntianfu, Wumart, Yonghui and Hema Xiansheng, the machine price tags for ice cream and ice cream products are generally lined up along the upper and lower edges of the freezer, and the labels roughly correspond to the products, but they cannot be aligned one by one. The Beijing News reporter randomly selected one or two cold drink products for testing, and the corresponding price tag could be found within tens of seconds. At Hema Fresh, consumers can also scan the QR code on the freezer to check the price.

In chain convenience stores such as 7-ELEVEN and convenience bee, merchants generally use a combination of machine price tags and graphic price tags. Among them, 7-ELEVEN flower market store adopts the freezer placement form of the combination of upper cabinet and lower bedroom, and most of the cups, bowls and bags of cold drink products in the vertical cabinets are convenient for product display and can be aligned one by one. Last year, the cold drink price tags in the convenience bee Zhengdong International Building store were centrally placed on the shelves above the freezer, which could not achieve the alignment of the goods labels, and this year, color graphic price tags were printed to facilitate consumers to check the prices.

Compared with supermarkets and convenience stores, the price presentation of ice cream in community supermarkets, wholesale outlets and import commodity halls is more diverse, including machine-made price tags, handwritten price lists, graphic price tags, and centralized prices for products in the same price segment. In an imported goods hall in the Chongwenmen New World store, in addition to sticking machine price tags on the edge of the freezer, merchants also affixed large prices on each ice cream package, such as the label of "Yili white peach oolong 9 yuan / box" on the lid of Yili Zhenxian ice cream packaging, and the label of "12 yuan / piece" on the "walrus milk can" of imported ice cream imported from Russia. In addition, some cold drink products also have the recommended retail price printed directly on the packaging, such as Zhongxuegao's Youzhi black tea ice cream.

High-priced products are still available

However, despite the obvious improvement in the price tag problem, high-priced products have not disappeared.

From the perspective of price distribution in different channels, chain convenience stores have the highest overall price of cold drinks. Among the 7 ice cream and ice cream products randomly counted by the Beijing News reporter in a store of 40-ELEVEN, only 5 is below 1 yuan, 5 are priced between 10 yuan and 18 yuan, and 10 are priced above 21 yuan, accounting for 52.5%. Among the 38 cold drink products randomly counted by convenience bee stores, only 5 were below 3 yuan, 5 were priced between 10 yuan and 17 yuan, and 10 were priced above 18 yuan, accounting for about 47.37%.

Among the high-priced "assassins", there are many products that cost more than 15 yuan. For example, in some convenience store channels, Dove Light Cheese Dark Chocolate Crispy Ice Cream Strawberry Flavor (62g) is priced at 18.9 yuan / bag, Mars' M&M's milk flavored ice cream (70g) is priced at 18.9 yuan / box, and Zhongxuegao strawberry white chocolate ice cream (75g) is priced at 22 yuan / stick.

The number of affordable products with a single price of less than 3 yuan has increased significantly in community small stores, cold drink wholesale, and ordinary supermarkets, and products with a single price of 3 yuan to 5 yuan have become the mainstream. For example, in the price list of 73 cold drinks in a community supermarket, products below 3 yuan accounted for about 26%, products with a price band of 3 yuan to 5 yuan accounted for about 53%, and a price band of 6 yuan to 10 yuan accounted for about 21%, and no products above 10 yuan were found. Among the 36 cold drink products randomly counted by another fresh food market, the proportion of less than 3 yuan accounted for about 11%, the proportion of 3 yuan - 5 yuan price band accounted for about 61%, the proportion of 6 yuan - 10 yuan price band accounted for 25%, and only 10 product above 1 yuan.

According to the owner of a community supermarket, the sales of high-priced ice cream above 10 yuan last year were not satisfactory, and this year it has suspended its cooperation with Zhongxuegao. Confectionery giant Mars has extended its Dove chocolate and M&M's beans to ice cream products, attracting many parents and young people to buy, and the retail price is usually not less than 15 yuan. "At present, such products are selling well, but many people don't pay attention to the price, thinking that they have the same price as the same snack, and they can only buy it hard at checkout."

"15 yuan a box, it's too pit!" On May 5, in a community supermarket in Fangshan District, Beijing, a parent sighed when checking out, and then put the M&M's ice cream in his child's hand back into the freezer.

Industry Watch

"The freezer is the battlefield"

On May 5, with the end of the nearby kindergarten, Boss Zhang's community supermarket sold seven ice creams in just a few minutes. In one corner of the store, three freezers stand side by side, respectively affixed with the brand logos of Yili, Mengniu, and Luxue, as if declaring the "sovereignty" of each freezer's space.

According to Boss Zhang, the three freezers are placed by dealers of various brands, and certain requirements will be put forward for the display of products in the freezers, such as the main brand products need to reach a certain number of proportions, and some brands also require that no competing products can appear, and dealers regularly visit the store and take photos to keep certificates. "These freezers have been put on for many years, and it is not easy for other brands to put freezers in, and Hao Po and Zhongxuegao have come to find them before, but my store is such a big place, including the freezer resources and space of large supermarkets are also limited."

Some media reported in July 2022 that Zhongxuegao promoted the display of separate freezers in offline channels to facilitate consumers to distinguish products. Lin Sheng, the founder of Zhongxuegao, said in written materials to the media in April this year that Zhongxuegao's offline sales ratio has been expanding from 7 to surpassing online in 4, and will gradually segment products in 2021, hoping to plan channel strategies with product innovation.

However, in the eyes of an industry insider, it is not easy for Zhongxuegao to arrange ice cream freezers offline. "There is a slogan in the industry called 'Whoever gets the freezer wins the world'. Before the 90s, ice cream brands competed for channel public freezers, often one brand finished putting up posters and left, and the next brand covered the poster. In the 90s, Helu Xue took the lead in launching freezers in the channel, hoping to achieve special counter monopoly and serve as a brand promotion position, and since then Yili and Mengniu have followed suit. ”

Around 2015, brands such as Northeast Daban and Hao Po put some small freezers in newsstands, fruit stalls and community stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Ningbo and other places, which did not take up too much space and took the initiative to bear electricity bills, thus promoting the popularity of brands such as "Ruby" and setting off a wave of Xiaoice climax.

"In the past, it was common to use freezers to occupy resources, but now convenience stores and supermarkets are basically unable to enter." The industry insider said that putting freezers requires a lot of costs, an island cabinet purchase cost of about 2000,1800 yuan, Xiaoice cabinet about 500,<> yuan. If <> freezers are put in the Beijing market terminal, the acquisition cost alone will be nearly one million. In addition, ice cream counters usually have to pay entry fees, point fees, and in winter, they have to consider whether to take back the warehouse, which incurs another storage fee. Since supermarkets and convenience stores are mostly opened in areas where "every inch of land is expensive", there is not enough space to arrange multiple freezers, especially convenience store freezer resources are limited, usually using separate baskets to place cold drink products, so the brand side competes for freezer resources.

"The freezer is the battlefield, and the channel competition is for comprehensive strength." According to Zhang Yufeng, project consulting manager of Shenyang Fengkeqi Food Cold Drink R&D Institute, in previous years, major brands were relatively lax in the management of freezers, and small brands could grab 1-3 baskets, and now some large brands have not allowed this to happen at their own counters. Due to fierce competition, major brands are also increasing their investment in channels and services, such as sending inspectors to supermarkets regularly to sort out freezers, subsidize electricity bills, display fees, etc. "The channel needs the most comprehensive support such as publicity, materials, display, and sinking market maintenance, and the purchase price cannot be sold at a low price, and small brands gradually lose the right to speak in the channel, relying more on high profits, product power and Internet celebrity effect to occupy the position."

Entering high-end chain convenience stores, the cost pressure on the brand side will further increase. Zhang Yufeng had previously negotiated with a convenience store brand and got the answer that each store needed to pay a "entry fee" of 300 yuan, and the cost of putting in 2500,70 stores would cost more than <>,<> yuan. "In summary, a category costs almost one million yuan, and if the sales are not smooth in a certain cycle, it will be eliminated by the last place of the channel, which is cruel." Therefore, many brands enter convenience stores not to sell sales, but to advertise and get traditional channels to promote products. ”

The high price of ice cream is declining

Under the influence of cost changes such as increased market input, the price of some ice cream and ice cream has risen.

In February this year, Helu Xue fired the "first shot" of the cold drink market price increase, and some channel merchants reported that the retail price of the "Menglong" series increased by 2 yuan, and the "cute duo" series increased by 1.0 yuan. The staff of Helu Xue explained to the Beijing News reporter on April 5 this year that due to the external environment, some dealers have price adjustments, but the overall price of the product is more rational, and Menglong has also communicated with dealers about price reductions before "knocking on the cup".

From the perspective of the new situation, the price band of new popsicle series of major brands this year has been raised from 1 yuan - 2 yuan to 2 yuan - 3 yuan in the past, and the price band of new ice cream products has jumped from 3 yuan - 5 yuan to 5 yuan - 7 yuan in the past. For example, Shenyang Middle Street Bingdian launched new products such as "National Style Glutinous Rice Dumpling Series" and "Middle Street Daguo Aerospace Series" this year, and the terminal price is 5-7 yuan. Bright Cold Drink launched "Bright X Zhengguanghe" orange juice popsicles with a price band of 3 yuan this year, and torch ice cream for 7.2 yuan. Zhongxuegao, who has been taking the high-end route, launched the 3.5 yuan popsicle Sa'Saa with a channel price, and at the same time laid out the dessert "Dansheng" with a price of 15 yuan to 18 yuan.

"On the whole, products above 8 yuan have increased by 1 yuan, 3 yuan - 5 yuan price band has increased by 5 Mao, products below 2 yuan do not dare to increase the price, but you can feel the weight shrinkage in your hand." There are also many brands that increase prices by pushing new products, and we are afraid that customers will not recognize them and dare not enter. Boss Zhang, who runs a community supermarket in Fangshan, Beijing, told the Beijing News that for product price adjustments, the reason generally given by upstream dealers is rising costs.

iMedia consulting survey data shows that there are many reasons why ice cream is getting more and more expensive, and the cost of raw materials is one of them. From 2008 to 2020, the cost of raw materials such as milk and whipped cream increased by about 80%. According to the analysis of Manager He, the person in charge of a cold drink enterprise, cold drink distributors and channel providers have shifted from the past "small profits but high sales" to "thick profits and less sales", "basically starting with 2 yuan products, and products above 5 yuan do quality and channels". In the past two years, the convenience store channel has introduced a number of low-cost, high-gross profit and expensive Internet celebrity products, which has also driven the overall price of the cold drink market upward.

In fact, price increases are not a new topic, and consumer attention to this phenomenon culminated in last year's "ice cream assassin" incident. However, in the view of Mr. Jin, head of sales of a cold drink enterprise in Northeast China, there are not many high-priced new products above 10 yuan in the cold drink market this year, whether it is product pricing or taste innovation, the industry as a whole is returning to rationality.

"High-priced products of more than a dozen yuan are not so popular in the terminal, and this year channel providers are more cautious, mainly depending on whether the product is worth it and whether consumers can pay." The prices of some leading brands have been adjusted, mainly because the channel side is balancing costs and profits. What we see is that some products in some regions are raising prices, and the price increases are irregular. According to Mr. Jin's observation, the mainstream price band of distribution channels this year is still concentrated in 3-5 yuan, due to the cost jump of channel fees and store opening fees, the price of new products in the southern market is mostly 5-8 yuan.

"This year's fierce competition reflects consumers' tendency to choose products with higher quality-to-price ratios." Guo Zhenyu, the national ice cream procurement of Dingdong grocery shopping, told the Beijing News reporter that this year's platform focuses on family clothing and pays more attention to the price-price ratio. Affected by last year's "ice cream assassin" and channel product optimization and adjustment, Dingtone stopped cooperation with some ultra-high-priced cold drink brands.

Classic flavors return

As far as product promotion is concerned, according to the pattern of previous years, cold drink enterprises will launch new products, open merchants and arrange production from November to February of the following year. In March, supermarkets will remove some quick-frozen pastry products to free up freezers for cold drink products, the so-called "open cabinets".

According to brands and channel vendors, due to the late temperature recovery this year, the terminal sales of ice cream and ice cream have been delayed, but considering the impact of high temperatures caused by El Niño in the future and driven by travel, it is expected that the sales of cold drinks will maintain a growth trend throughout the year, and the peak may come in July.

At present, the "grinding" category has set off the first wave of sales in the cold drink market this year. According to Zhang Yufeng, "Moqiao" is a type of ice cream that adds chocolate beans to innovate on the basis of last year's "Aoqiao", which has attracted brands to follow up since it became popular on the Internet. In a community supermarket in Fangshan, Beijing, a reporter from the Beijing News saw that brands such as Aoxue and Dehua have launched such products, with a retail price of about 5 yuan, and some customers bluntly said that they bought for their Internet celebrity attributes.

Zhongxuegao told the Beijing News reporter that the current ice cream market is basically in a fully open state, especially in some cities with higher temperatures, Zhongxuegao's new products are selling well. According to Dingtone vegetable data, the sales of ice cream on the platform in March and April this year increased by more than 3% year-on-year, and the sales volume in April doubled month-on-month. Freshippo's ice cream sales in April this year increased by 4% month-on-month, and it found that consumer behavior was more rational and paid more attention to the quality of raw materials.

Product innovation tends to be rational, which is a major feature of this year's ice cream market. Starting from the 2018 Aoxue "Double Yellow Egg", various novel flavors such as lobster, old godmother, stinky tofu and Internet celebrity ice cream emerged, and reached a peak in 2019. Since the end of 2020, the ice cream market has returned to the dessert attribute, and the bizarre flavor products have almost completely disappeared, and this year is also the same.

According to Mr. Jin, many cold drink companies are returning to chocolate, pulp and milk and other big flavors this year. Bright Dairy also confirmed to the Beijing News reporter that a major trend in the market this year is the return of new and old brands to classic tastes, such as vanilla, chocolate and so on.

Since November last year, Guo Zhenyu has been trying new products of various flavors, and found that only one or two of the hundred products can meet the needs of the public, and the vast majority are not eligible for repurchase. Compared with the new flavors, the classic flavors of several major brands, such as Menglong chocolate, Baxi vanilla, Yili Qiaoluoz, bitter coffee, etc., "this year, as long as there is a little operational support, they are selling very well".

"Now is not the era of differentiation, it is the era of excellence, and many big brands are choosing a category to do better." Small and medium-sized enterprises want to make differentiated products, but because they do not have brand power and the cost of market education is high, the failure rate is also extremely high. Zhang Yufeng analyzed, from the perspective of this year's Internet celebrity product "grinding", its marketing effect is greater than the product power itself, "I have driven the market for a period of time before, and this period has slowed down."

Chief reporter of Beijing News Guo Tie