Vingodo
No one could have imagined that the high-end ice cream "elder" Menglong would even have a day of being "hanged" by the Northeast popsicle.
Menglong has become another crazy high-end ice cream brand after Zhong Xuegao. /Ad image
"As an ice cream lover, all I can say is: There is no me in the future of Dream Dragon."
This summer, Menglong has become another crazy high-end ice cream brand after Zhong Xuegao.
Recently, some netizens found that the menglong, which has always been loved, is actually secretly engaged in "double standards" behind the scenes - the main raw material of the European version of menglong ice cream is milk, but in China, the main raw material has become vegetable oil.
According to professionals, milk costs 4-5 times more than vegetable oil, and the taste will be different - milk fat ice cream made from milk is more delicate and silky, milk flavor is stronger, and the protein content is higher; while vegetable fat ice cream with water, sugar and vegetable oil as the main ingredients has a common taste and the lowest cost.
The main ingredient of the European version of Menglong ice cream is milk, but in China, this raw material has become vegetable oil. /@ Game Discount Intelligence
It is difficult for netizens to accept that the dream dragon, who has been "high on the top" since childhood, is playing with the wild road of "high price and low match".
In recent years, high-end ice cream brands have come online. Not surprisingly, the taste buds of the Chinese people are also becoming more and more "picky".
Especially after the rise of the "ingredient party", it is difficult for high-end foods to rely on their own "brand halo" to deter consumers, and "real materials" have become new consumption regulations.
In this "ice cream" public opinion storm, we found that so many simple and unpretentious brands have been calling "good materials" in a low way, such as Harbin's time-honored Madier popsicles, from the ingredient list, it has long been close to the standard of "cream ice cream".
Everyone found that so many simple and unpretentious brands have been calling "good materials" at a low level. /A shopping website
Dream Dragon, the filter is broken
"The click of a bite into the crispy skin of chocolate is so evocative."
In the childhood memories of many post-90s generations, Menglong was once an unattainable sweet dream - only one is enough to make other children look at you with surprise.
In that era when cold ice cream was only 1 yuan and 5 hairs, the dream dragon wanted seven or eight yuan, it was like a white swan that entered the duck flock, noble and cold, and out of place.
In 1993, Menglong's parent company, Wall's, entered the Chinese market. As a British food company, and Lu Xue's "foreign" status is eye-catching, and soon, it is aiming at China's blank high-end ice cream market.
HeLuXue mainly promotes two brands: for young people's cuteness, take the cute route; for the middle-class white-collar dream dragon, take the high-end route.
At that time, the "prominent" status of the dream dragon was revealed through the freezer. In the supermarket, Menglong and Cute have their own exclusive freezers and have never been "in the same stream" with other ice cream brands.
From the beginning, Menglong's selling point was "using Belgian chocolate" - in that era of using cocoa powder to fill chocolate, Menglong satisfied the public's beautiful imagination of the West.
More and more consumers realize that the marketing and packaging of food is only a passing cloud, and the ingredient list is worth playing deeply.
In addition, Menglong is also the originator of chocolate crispy ice cream. At that time, most of the ice cream on the market was "straight" and the inside was the same, but the dream dragon was different, the outside was crispy and tender, the layers were rich, and only through the chocolate crisp and nut kernels could you feel the delicious taste of the sandwich.
It was not until 2000, when Yili launched Qiaolezi, that chocolate crispy ice cream finally became mainstream, the sandwich began to change, and the style gradually moved closer to the "matryoshka doll".
In 2011, Chanel's chief designer, Carl Lagerfeld shot three creative ads for Menglong, who once again consolidated his "big guy position" in the ice cream industry.
But soon after, the wind direction changed.
Carl · Ragfael's creative ad for Dream Dragon. /Screenshot of the ad
2014 is an important node in the development of China's ice cream industry, this year, China's ice cream market size surpassed the United States, becoming the world's largest ice cream consumer market.
At the same time, Menglong is no longer "thriving" - more and more high-end ice cream products are entering the Chinese market. In addition to the gradual popularization of the "top" Haagen-Dazs, nestlé and Meiji, which are also imported brands, are silently exerting their strength, and Mengniu, Yili, and established ice cream brands across the country are also launching "mid-to-high-end" product lines.
In 2018, "net red" Zhong Xuegao was launched, and a high-end ice cream war began.
From ten yuan to fifty or sixty yuan, bagged ice cream is not the most expensive, only more expensive. In contrast, Menglong has become the "honest man" who has not increased prices for many years.
More and more high-end ice cream products have entered the Chinese market, and Menglong is no longer "thriving". /Visual China
However, the other side of consumption upgrading is that consumers are not good at fooling around.
Not long ago, Zhong Xuegao, who claimed to be "very expensive raw materials", was pulled out by netizens, and the "special grade red tip of the core grape growing area of the Turpan Basin" in the ingredient list was actually a bulk red raisin, without a series of high-level complex prefixes, Zhong Xuegao was suddenly exposed.
Menglong has not escaped the golden eye of netizens. At the beginning of August, Weibo netizen @game discount intelligence pointed out that the Chinese version of Menglong is "vegetable fat ice cream", which belongs to the lowest level of China's 3 levels of ice cream. Its European version belongs to the high-end "cream ice cream".
The marketing and packaging of food is only a passing cloud, and the ingredient list is worth playing deeply. /Screenshot of Weibo
In this regard, Menglong's official micro said: Vegetable oils and fats instead of animal oils and fats are the first step towards plant-based, with the purpose of conforming to "sustainable development". The implication is that vegetarian food helps to protect the environment.
However, Menglong does not mean to help developed countries "environmental protection".
In Most countries in China, India and South America, Menglong's ingredient list is based on water and vegetable oil, OK, very "environmentally friendly"; but in Japan, South Korea, and Europe and the United States in East Asia, the first place in the Menglong ice cream ingredient list is milk.
Obviously, this reply of Menglong confirmed his "double standard" behavior.
However, Menglong does not mean to help developed countries "environmental protection". /Weibo Recovery Screenshot (now deleted)
Maybe Menglong hasn't come back to God yet—the era of "price equals quality" has passed. And The Dream Dragon's premium filter, along with its chocolate crispy skin, shattered together.
Ice cream, marching towards "milk fat"
Do you know which of the ice creams you love are "milk fat" and which are "vegetable fats"?
If you are not an ice cream connoisseur, before this wave of public opinion, everyone may not know much about the difference between "fat ice cream" and "cream ice cream".
According to the national standard GB/T 31114-2014, China's ice cream can be divided into 3 types: full milk fat ice cream, semi-milk fat ice cream and vegetable fat ice cream.
Among them, the milk fat in the main part of the whole milk fat ice cream accounts for more than 8% of the milk fat; the milk fat in the main part of the semi-milk fat ice cream accounts for more than or equal 2.2%; and the main part of the vegetable fat ice cream, the milk fat accounts for less than 2.2%.
China's ice cream can be divided into 3 types: full milk ice cream, half milk fat ice cream and vegetable fat ice cream. /Screenshot of the file
Menglong belongs to the "vegetable fat ice cream" with the lowest milk fat content.
Let's look at the raw material differences between the three:
Full cream ice cream is made of milk/raw milk/cream (also known as "whipped cream") as the main raw material, with a silky smooth taste and a strong milk flavor;
Semi-milk cream ice cream takes milk powder as the main raw material, and vegetable oil can also be added, and the taste is between "whole milk fat" and "vegetable fat" ice cream;
Vegetable fat ice cream is based on vegetable oil / vegetable cream as the main raw material, that is, the combination of water + sugar + vegetable oil, the milk taste is lighter, so the taste is more refreshing.
In general, the cost of the three is sorted from highest to lowest: full milk fat> semi-milk fat> plant fat.
Menglong belongs to the "vegetable fat ice cream" with the lowest milk fat content. /pexles
On the market, most of the cold ice cream is based on "water, vegetable oil" as the main raw material, which is what we call "vegetable fat". Vegetable fats are cheap, and one or two yuan can let us taste the taste of "milk".
For example, the "milk cake" small pudding, made of water, vegetable oil and food additives, and milk eight rods can not be beaten; for example, the "high-grade" look of Qiaolezi, four circles, the main part (sandwich) is also made of vegetable cream, and milk can not be compared.
But as long as we pay attention to the ingredient list of supermarket ice cream, we will find that at the price of Menglong, we can buy a "cream ice cream" with better ingredients and more honesty.
"Milk cake" small pudding, and milk eight rods can not be beaten. /A shopping website
Baxi, which has a mediocre appearance, is a veteran full milk cream in China, and the supermarket sells for 9 yuan / 90g.
Yili launched the "Zhen Thin" ice cream in 2015, 8 yuan / 90g, which is also a full milk cream ice cream.
Similarly, Mengniu's high-end product line "Tilan Shengxue", most of them are "full milk fat" and "semi-milk fat" ice cream, although the price of 90g cup ice cream can be as high as 20 yuan, but the bag of Tilan Shengxue, the minimum is only 4 yuan.
In the rise of this "milk fat ice cream", there is no lack of figures of the older generation - all kinds of northeast large boards, northeast milk cakes, all with super high "milk content" out of the circle to the south, the price is usually not more than 10 yuan.
Mengniu's mid-to-high-end product line "Tilan Shengxue" is mostly "full milk fat" and "half milk fat" ice cream. /A shopping website
The new generation of internet red ice cream has also marched to "milk fat ice cream".
Many museums of cultural and creative ice cream, Shenyang Middle Street 1946 ice cream, and Zhong Xuegao, who was recently dissed by everyone' fancy, the first place in the ingredient list is raw milk or milk.
Soon, in this "milk fat" vs. "vegetable fat" ice cream war, "fat fat ice cream" lost.
While Menglong is still immersed in the old dream of "consumers can't eat the difference", the new generation of consumers has evolved into an "ingredient party" that loves to study ingredient lists.
At the price of Menglong, everyone can buy "cream ice cream" with better ingredients. /A shopping website
The "Cream Battle" Behind Ice Cream
Why bother with "raw milk" and "vegetable cream"?
If you look back at the history of Chinese "ice cream", we actually haven't struggled with its recipe 90% of the time.
In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, ice cream made its first "appearance" in the Western restaurants of the concession area – from the beginning, ice cream was a high-end import for the elite. To be able to eat it is a blessing from Heaven.
Tianjin's first Western restaurant "Cheeselin", Shanghai's famous "Yi Poinsettia" Western restaurant, the signature food is ice cream.
Former site of Cheeseland. /@Time Painted
However, ice cream was out of reach for the general public of the time. Only dignitaries, students studying in foreign countries, and intellectuals can enjoy this "delicacy on the tip of the tongue."
It was not until the Republic of China period that an American businessman named Hai Ningsheng let ice cream enter the homes of ordinary people.
In 1913, Haining Sheng founded the "Haining Foreign Firm" food factory in Shanghai, engaged in the production of egg products.
In 1926, Hainingsheng imported machines from the United States to produce cold drinks. In the same year, the "beauty brand" popsicle came out and soon became a "net red" food in Shanghai. Haining Foreign Firm became the first mechanized cold drink enterprise in China.
The "beauty brand" popsicle came out and soon became shanghai's "net red" food. /Social network pictures
A few years later, Haining & Co. began to produce ice cream and ice bricks. For the first time, ice cream was produced in large-scale factories in China.
Coincidentally, Haining Foreign Firm has monopolized the cold drink market in Shanghai by supplying sellers with exclusive refrigerators for free. More than half a century later, Menglong adopted the same strategy and began to promote its products in China.
After the founding of New China, Haining Foreign Company changed its name to "Shanghai Yimin Food Factory". In 1950, Yimin Food Factory resumed the production of the ice cream that was once the best, and the former "beauty brand" cold drink was renamed "Bright Brand" with the times.
Perhaps everyone can't imagine that in that era of extreme material scarcity, the Bright Brand "White Bear Ice Brick" is a real "cream ice cream", and the first place in the ingredient list is milk, followed by cream.
In that era of extreme material scarcity, the "White Bear Ice Brick" of the Bright Brand was a real "cream ice cream". / Know the user @ no halogen blu
But the "White Bear Ice Brick" is quite expensive, and the bright "White Snow Ice Brick" has become its cheap substitute, and the main raw materials of the White Snow Ice Brick are water, white sugar, milk powder and vegetable oil.
Even if the material is not good enough, "snow ice bricks" are still the summer desires of children. In those days when milk was scarce, it didn't matter whether the "milky taste" of ice cream was authentic and rich — sticking out your tongue and taking a sip of milky sweetness was enough to soothe the lonely taste buds.
At that time, the seductive legend of the "Great White Rabbit" was also based on the "lack of milk" - "seven great white rabbits can brew a cup of milk", which made countless people fascinated. But now it seems that the "milk" brewed by milk candy is dull and plastic, and it cannot be said to be the same as milk.
In the 1990s, China's cold drink industry began to take off, and at this time, the "milk flavor" requirements of the Chinese people for ice cream were not high.
The alluring legend of the "Great White Rabbit" is also based on the "lack of milk". /Great White Rabbit advertisement
You know, Chinese milk into the daily diet system, it has only been a matter of nearly 20 years.
In 1992, the government began to reform the diet of residents, "milk" for the first time among the residents' diet plan; in the 21st century, China's version of the "national milk movement" began, "one pound of milk a day, strong Chinese" slogan was born, milk began to be fully "popularized".
Gradually familiar with the Chinese of milk, the mouth has become sharp, and naturally put forward higher requirements for "milk taste".
More and more consumers are learning to distinguish the "milk taste" in all dairy products – animal cream (milk fat) or vegetable cream (vegetable fat)? Natural or artificial? That's a problem.
More and more consumers are learning to identify the "milk taste" in all dairy products. /pexels
Ice cream, which is mainly made of "cream", has been tested by the masses.
It is widely believed that "vegetable cream is more greasy and lighter, while pure cream animal cream is particularly silky and melts in the mouth, just like drinking milk." ”
In addition to the advancement of taste, the crisis of fat ice cream also stems from consumer health anxieties.
In some popular science articles on ice cream, "fake cream" has become synonymous with vegetable cream. Although this usage is a smear of "vegetable cream", it is enough to show that consumers are wary of "vegetable cream".
In some people's minds, vegetable cream is equivalent to trans fatty acids. /Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety
Although experts at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention have long "rehabilitated" vegetable creams – not all vegetable creams contain trans fatty acids. But in some people's cognition, vegetable cream is still equivalent to trans fatty acids, and trans fatty acids are called "health killers" - increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, interfering with the metabolism of essential fatty acids, affecting children's growth and development...
See, plant cream, has long been reduced to the "street rat" that everyone shouts and beats.
Obviously, Menglong's "double standard" storm has not been able to avoid the public's fear of "trans fatty acids".
Ice cream is moving in a healthy direction, which is the trend of the times. /A shopping website
Nowadays, ice cream is developing in a healthy direction, which is the trend of the times. "Natural milk", "healthy ingredients" and "zero additives" have become the selling points of high-end ice cream.
Overnight, we suddenly realized that the original "advanced" Dream Dragon had long been left behind on the road of "self-cultivation" of ice cream.
Resources:
Vision-aware TV | Looking back at history, we will find many famous fat houses that love ice cream
That city | As long as three pieces and five pieces, this ice brick has dominated the cold drink industry in Shanghai for 60 years
FoodWine eats well and drinks well | A brief history of milk in China
Beijing Youth Daily | Trans fats are not equal to vegetable creams of these health facts you know not