Is the "consumption upgrade" in the ice cream market worth it?
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Behind the small ice cream, it involves ingenious research and development, high-quality raw materials, advanced technology, smart warehousing, cold chain distribution and other links. If you want to win the market, it is not feasible to rely on gimmicks and marketing in terms of taste and shape.
When consumers return to reason and products return to themselves, those brands that can truly meet consumer demand can gain a foothold in the market.
On May 29th, Mengniu and Moutai held a promotion meeting for the first launch of Moutai Ice Cream. The two parties jointly launched a three-flavored pre-packaged product "Moutai Ice Cream", which was launched online and offline simultaneously.
In the past two or three years, the ice cream track has become an "experimental field" for the innovation of various brands. From taste to raw materials to styling, the ice cream track has been constantly innovating, and the price has risen all the way. It has gradually established links with labels such as health, pleasure, and high-quality lifestyle.
Facing the heat wave in early summer, this year's ice cream market started a new round of competition for "freshness".
Consumption upgrade prices rise
Summer has arrived, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter. Ice cream, as a necessities to cool down and relieve the heat, has once again ushered in hot sales, accompanied by various complaints about the price of ice cream.
"If you want to eat ice cream, go to the fire, but when you look at the price, it's 'cool to your heart'" and "don't take ice cream you don't know". Many consumers lament the loss of "freedom of ice cream".
During the visit, the reporter also found that in the convenience store, which is the main sales channel of ice cream, ice cream below 3 yuan has been hard to find. .
At the same time, in the "ice cream" section opened on an online platform, the reporter found that the price of most ice creams is more than 6 yuan, and the price of some brands is more than 20 yuan.
In fact, the price of ice cream did not rise all at once.
According to a businessman in a convenience store, "The price of ice cream has more than tripled in the past 10 years. Every increase is basically 50 cents or 1 yuan. The supplier said that it was caused by the increase in the price of raw materials."
The industry generally believes that in addition to the factors of rising costs, the more important reason is that in recent years, many brands have pursued "Internet celebrity", which has virtually driven the consumption upgrade of the ice cream industry. Brands have begun to pursue and emphasize low-fat, low-sugar, high The healthy new trend of protein.
Consumers pay more attention to healthy product experience, and these factors further drive up ice cream prices.
Innovation competition for "freshness"
"Regardless of taste, ingredients, or shape, different ice creams are more likely to attract me to buy early adopters." A consumer told reporters.
Driven by consumption upgrades, consumers not only like to eat ice cream, but also eat "tricks".
In terms of taste, compared with the previous classic flavors such as milk and chocolate, many novel flavors have been added to the ice cream market in the past two or three years. product cross-border.
Musang King durian, white peach, grape, lychee, coconut, milk tea, sea salt, zongzi and other cross-disciplinary ingredients have entered the raw material list, arousing consumers' interest in tasting.
At the same time, various brands have focused their attention on low-fat, low-sugar, low-calorie and zero-addition segments, playing the "healthy" brand.
0 sucrose, pure milk, "without adding a drop of water" and high-end brands that advertise that raw materials come from all over the world came into being.
Taking Zhong Xuegao as an example, the top of the product ingredient list is basically milk, cream, etc., no additional flavors are added, and the flavor of the raw materials is used to create the ice cream taste.
Mengniu and Yili Bingpin are also stepping up the optimization and upgrading of product raw materials and nutrition to build their high-end positioning sub-brands.
In addition, new and old brands continue to dig deep into the cultural connotation of ice cream, introduce elements such as cultural creativity, and combine iconic landscapes or animals to attract higher market popularity through online marketing, allowing "net celebrity" ice cream to quickly "out of the circle" .
Ice creams with new shapes and new flavors are "beautiful and rich". They are posted on social platforms after taking pictures and punching cards. They are endowed with added values such as social attributes and emotional needs, which are in line with the new generation of consumer thinking.
The ice cream market is full of innovative vitality. It achieves healthy effects through ingredient upgrades and improved taste, bringing novel tastes and experiences. In the process, a high-quality impression of a brand or product line is gradually established.
Industry experts believe that, as a "top stream" Internet celebrity in the food industry, ice cream has the potential to collide with various cultures and concepts to create new products.
In the future, innovation in taste, form, and category will still be the way for ice cream to create explosive products and create a sense of freshness in consumption.
Is it worth it?
Recently, the Green Agriculture and Food Nutrition Professional Committee of China Green Food Association jointly released the "China Ice Cream/Ice Cream Industry Trend Report".
The "Trend Report" shows that my country's ice cream market maintains a growth trend, reaching 147 billion yuan in 2020 and more than 160 billion yuan in 2021, ranking first in the world in terms of market size.
However, in terms of per capita annual consumption, there is still much room for growth compared with Western European countries.
The expansion of the ice cream market has given brands more opportunities for development.
According to Tianyancha data, there are currently nearly 45,000 ice cream companies in my country, and more than 1,700 have been added since the beginning of this year.
In terms of market share, dairy giants Yili and Mengniu, as well as foreign brands Unilever, Lu Xue, and Nestle, still occupy leading positions in the domestic ice cream offline market.
Zhong Xue Gao's cutting-edge domestic brands combined with new retail to take the lead in the ice cream online market.
Brands such as Madeleine, Dongbei Daban, and Zhongjie have also accelerated their breakthroughs from the market dominated by foreign and dairy companies, becoming new leading brands in the ice cream market.
The current Chinese ice cream market has shown a situation in which local brands and international brands divide the world equally.
It is worth noting that there is no doubt that the ice cream market has innovative trends in terms of quality upgrades and health benefits, but taste and price are still the determining factors for ice cream products to attract consumers.
Some netizens complained: "It seems that as long as the products have enough gimmicks, manufacturers can set a high price with peace of mind." In fact, the annual iteration rate of new products exceeds 50%, and the popularity of a large number of Internet celebrities' new products can only be maintained for a few months.
In addition, are high-priced products necessarily safe and delicious?
Not necessarily.
Previously, an Internet celebrity double-yolk ice cream had been detected several times with the total number of colonies exceeding the standard.
There is also an Internet celebrity brand who has been accused of product marketing, and has been fined for exaggerating publicity.
Behind the small ice cream, it involves ingenious research and development, high-quality raw materials, advanced technology, smart warehousing, cold chain distribution and other links. If you want to win the market, it is not feasible to rely on gimmicks and marketing in terms of taste and shape.
When consumers return to reason and products return to themselves, those brands that can truly meet consumer demand can gain a foothold in the market.