Luckin is quietly making a hit again.
Recently, Luckin launched the "Velvet Latte" in more than 5,200 stores across the country, and has sold 2.7 million cups in 9 days after it was launched.
This product is upgraded on the basis of thick milk, the taste is smoother and sweeter, triggering a large wave of punch cards, the Little Red Book blogger described it as "a bite down to the stomach".
After thick milk and raw coconut, what new raw materials has Luckin developed this time? I quickly interviewed the head of R&D of Luckin's "Velvet Latte".
Selling 2.7 million cups in 9 days, Luckin pushes "velvet latte"
A year after the thick milk latte was launched, on September 13, Luckin launched a new "velvet latte" series.
Luckin officially defines it as "the blockbuster of the year", and the main keyword of the taste is "silky": the silky feeling is increased by 20.99%, and "every bite is velvety silky".
What is this product? I went to the store for the first time.
Velvet latte, with a full cream aroma, and thick milk latte is very close, but a sip down, the mouth can experience a more obvious smooth, light feeling, the same choice "no additional sugar", velvet latte can drink more obvious milk aroma and slightly sweet.
Along with the velvet latte, there is also a Hokkaido honeydew melon velvet latte with Hokkaido honeydew melon juice, which has a fruity aroma and refreshing feeling.
To the social platform to see a circle, many netizens have punched this product, 5 days after the launch, the Discussion on the "Luckin Velvet Latte" on the Little Red Book has been 3,000+ articles.
Just like the "thickness" of thick milk is easy to perceive, many netizens have got the smooth and sweet taste characteristics of the velvet latte, and some people describe this product as "a bite down directly into the stomach".
With the launch of the new product, Luckin has made 7 autumn-themed pop-up stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and other cities, as well as the same handbag and cup cover, which reads "The first glass of velvet latte in autumn".
After thick milk and raw coconut, many drink peers are paying attention to Luckin's new dairy actions.
What kind of dairy products are used in the "velvet latte" launched this time? How do I upgrade? I interviewed Luckin's head of R&D.
R&D Demystified: How to upgrade a velvet latte?
According to the person in charge of R&D of Luckin, Luckin's dairy upgrade still uses the "small molecule membrane separation process".
The R&D team has developed a new dairy raw material "Hokkaido Velvet Flavored Thick Milk", which improves the smoothness and aroma, and the taste is more sweet and rich, which makes a significant flavor difference from "Thick Milk".
On the new velvet latte, Luckin's R&D team did 4 things:
1. Directly hit the core needs of consumers: thick, mellow, smooth
To innovate a product, we must first find the general direction of the consumer market.
Luckin's head of R&D told me that they studied the entire beverage and dessert industry and found that "milk tea and ice cream have a very long life cycle."
These two categories are based on "milk", which strengthens our belief in in-depth research on dairy products and related applications." ”
After research, they found that the popular milk tea and ice cream have several common flavor characteristics: milk is mellow, sweet, and the taste is thick and silky.
As a result, Luckin's R&D team summarized the core consumer demand for "milk": thicker, more mellow, and smoother.
——It can be seen that from the beginning of thick milk, Luckin's dairy products have been upgraded and continue to extend in this general direction.
2. Target the upgrade: Flavor benchmark Hokkaido ice cream
With the general direction of the upgrade, it is necessary to establish the specific goals of this round of upgrading.
Luckin's R&D team searched for various resources to find a "Hokkaido ice cream" in Japan, with a taste and flavor that met their requirements for richness and smoothness.
After finding the expected flavor inspiration, Luckin clarified the follow-up research and development direction:
In terms of flavor, benchmark "Hokkaido ice cream", or optimize on this basis;
In terms of raw materials, we look for various milk sources, improve the thickness of milk through technical means, and independently develop.
3. 500 cup test to determine the dairy raw material of the velvet latte
Determined to benchmark Hokkaido ice cream, Luckin's R&D team set up a reference flavor structure chart, key indicators (such as silky taste, mellowness, creaminess, etc.), and began to continuously adjust the recipe.
"After the first round of public testing, the new milk coffee experience has already shown a different feeling from the thick milk latte."
Luckin R & D director recalled that a total of 19 versions of velvet latte dairy raw materials were tested, totaling more than 100 kilograms of experimental samples.
This meant that during the experimental phase, they went through about 500 cups of portfolio and flavor testing to complete the dairy ingredients for the finalized velvet latte.
Subsequently, according to the existing coffee base, Luckin's R&D team made coffee of different concentrations, with nearly 10 permutations and combinations of different concentrations of velvet milk. After hundreds of tastes and tests, the recipe for store execution was finally selected.
4. Dairy product differentiation upgrade, to create a "latte explosive matrix"
From meteorite lattes, thick milk lattes, raw coconut lattes, to today's velvet lattes, Luckin has been "dead" on the latte track, constantly changing and adjusting the milk base.
When the new product is warmed up, Luckin is also passing on the "upgrade of the latte" to users
For a coffee brand with 5,200 stores, focusing on lattes is also the wisest choice.
"At present, in the Chinese market, the category with the highest market share in the coffee industry is still milk coffee." Luckin's head of research and development said that they hope to enrich the latte explosive matrix with a differentiated milk base.
From thick milk to velvet
I see 3 trends in dairy upgrades
Reviewing the "velvet latte", I found that this product also reveals several new directions for dairy upgrades:
1. Smoothness is the new pursuit of dairy products on the basis of mellowness this year
The popularity of thick milk has driven the trend of the industry to chase "thick", from thick milk to thick taro puree and thick coconut milk.
This thick, full, satisfying taste has been popular in the industry for a whole year, and it's time to give consumers a new experience.
Previously, many senior research and development of new tea drinks have mentioned that a good taste experience can be summarized as "shun": a sip to drink, without any abrupt taste, let people unconsciously drink a cup.
This kind of "shun" is not to subtract the mellowness, but to achieve a harmonious balance of taste on the basis of richness and fullness, and further enhance the pleasure of drinking.
Therefore, combined with the hot selling, smooth, or will be the next dairy taste competition point.
2. "In addition to being rich, it also needs to be sweet"
Luckin's head of R&D told me that in several rounds of testing, they found a new customer demand: in addition to rich, but also sweet.
Many Little Red Book bloggers will also recommend choosing the "no additional sugar" option when ordering when introducing velvet lattes to taste the "milky slightly sweet" of the milk base itself.
3. Compound with dairy products to create a new flavor that is different
The development process of velvet lattes against the benchmark "Hokkaido ice cream" is also revealing another trend:
A single "milk taste" can no longer meet the needs of this consumer, they need more recognizable, differentiated dairy flavor.
Consumers demand more recognizable and differentiated dairy flavors
This autumn and winter, compound formulated milk, or will be a popular trend to create explosive models, has become a key category for various brands to develop.
In the past year, Luckin has brought a number of explosive products.
Every time they innovate, they continue to iterate on the milk substrate and bring new raw materials to the industry.
Beverage innovation is entering an "age of creation".
Looking at the coffee and tea market, from thick milk, raw coconut, to "Hokkaido velvet flavored thick milk", new substrates are constantly being applied; oil oranges, yellow peels, to green lifts, olives, new fruits are constantly being discovered; this year's hot "horseshoe popping beads" also represents the continuous creation of new small materials.
The innovative competitiveness of the brand is no longer limited to product formulas, but also technological innovation from the raw material end, bringing "new species" to the industry and opening a new door for consumer taste buds.