A large wave of gatherings comes with the National Day holiday, and wine, as a medium of emotional communication, will naturally not be absent. On September 28, Xiaobian visited Yonghui Supermarket and other businesses overtime and found that in addition to the "Berry Sweetheart" and "Plum See" low-alcohol brands that have been well known to the public, many low-alcohol brands have been added to the shelves. The terminal is lively, and the capital is also favored. Within One month, three low-grade liquor brands, including the sparkling cider brand "Belong" and the net red fruit wine brand "Berry Sweetheart", received nearly 100 million yuan in financing.
Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng pointed out that in the past two years, in order to meet the new generation, please the new generation, close to the new generation, more and more enterprises have joined the low-alcohol track, coupled with the growth of female consumer groups, China's low-alcohol will enter the node of full outbreak.
PART ONE
Capital favor
Xiaobian noted that in the past month, three low-grade wine brands have obtained nearly 100 million yuan of financing. Among them, the sparkling cider brand "Belong" completed a multi-million dollar Pre-A round of financing, the fruit wine brand "Berry Sweetheart" completed a strategic investment of tens of millions of yuan, and the low-degree sparkling liquor brand "Xiaodun" completed an angel round financing of more than 30 million yuan.
In the past two years, capital has been particularly fond of low-grade wines. According to incomplete statistics, since 2020, low-grade wine brands have completed nearly 30 financings, and low-alcohol brands such as "Berry Sweetheart", "Fubixing Wine", "Ten O'Clock Moment", "Empty Card" have repeatedly won the favor of Capital such as Matrix Partners, CPE Yuanfeng, Black Ant Capital, etc., and have obtained hundreds of millions of yuan in financing, and the net red fruit wine brand "Berry Sweetheart" has even completed four financings in one and a half years.
Xiaobian interviewed the relevant responsible personnel of "Ten O'Clock Moment" on issues related to obtaining financing, and as of press time, the other party has not responded.
Why is the low-alcohol circuit favored by capital? Yin Kai, founder of Chao drink club (Shanghai) brand management co., LTD., pointed out that the trend of low-alcohol consumption has been confirmed globally, and the future market space is very broad, according to Nomura Securities, China's low-alcohol market will exceed 250 billion yuan by 2035, with an annual compound growth rate of nearly 35%. In such a market context, a variety of new brands have sprung up, and capital with a keen sense of smell is also ready to choose brands.
The low-alcohol circuit under the attention of capital is becoming increasingly crowded. According to statistics, in 2020, there will be more than 5,000 new low-grade wine brands added to the Tmall platform alone. Not only are new brands constantly joining the low-alcohol track, but a number of beverage companies have also launched low-alcohol products to join the market competition. Following the launch of the first "Topo Chico" hard sparkling sparkling wine in China in June, Coca-Cola has launched the "Lemon-Dou" Japanese lemon sparkling wine. On August 26, food company Wang Wang launched three flavors of peach, lychee and mojito on the Tmall flagship store, launching the new Sava series of low-grade wines, and joined the "slightly drunk" team.
PART TWO
Consumption is on the rise
Not only is it favored by capital, but the consumption of low-alcohol alcohol in the terminal market is also rising rapidly.
According to Tmall's "6.18" liquor war report, the sales of low-grade liquor rose by as much as 80% from June 1 to 3, continuing to exceed liquor and other liquor categories. According to EARTH DATA data, in the first half of this year, the sales of fruit wine on Taobao, Tmall, Tmall International and Jiuxian.com platforms surged by 1626.2% year-on-year to 324.3 million yuan, with sales exceeding 3.6 million pieces, an increase of 1944.6% year-on-year. Searching for the keyword "low-alcohol wine" on the Tmall platform, many products have reached nearly 10,000 sales per month, and the product evaluation is also mostly "delicious" and "will buy back" praise.
The rise of both "Generation Z" and "Her Power" is one of the important reasons for the gradual popularity of low-grade wine. According to the "2020 Young People's Alcohol Consumption Report" released by CBN Data, in the 2020 alcohol consumption market, "post-90s" and "post-95s" are the only people with an increase in the proportion of consumption, and low-grade wine has become the "first drink of young people". Changes in young people's drinking habits are closely related to the development of the low-alcohol market.
Yin Kai pointed out that the younger generation of lifestyle and social philosophy has changed, young people are gradually moving away from spirits, they prefer to be relaxed and comfortable, no burden, share with friends, drink wine while chatting, do not seek to suffer and do not get drunk, unless in special circumstances will choose to drink spirits.
It is worth noting that the report shows that the number of "post-90s" female drinking consumers has surpassed that of men. In addition, the brand promotion of low-grade liquor on e-commerce and social platforms is mainly based on female groups, and Tmall has launched a special activity of "girls' liquor". In Sina Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douban and other social platforms about low-grade wine information is very rich, of which there are more than 100,000 notes on "girls' wine" on the Xiaohongshu platform alone, and the popularity of low-grade wine can be seen.
Experts believe that most of the alcohol products are dominated by the male market, and the low-grade wine category is another way, dominated by women and "Generation Z" consumer groups, dividing up the remaining market of alcohol, and opening up a new track.
PART THREE
Homogenized to be solved
As more new products join the low-grade wine track, the competition is intensifying. In addition to competition between brands, low-grade wines also face the problem of homogenization.
Xiaobian visited the offline supermarket and found that the low-grade wine products on the shelves are not rich, and at a glance, the "green plum wine" of different brands of various packaging occupies 80% of the shelves. Industry insiders pointed out that because emerging low-alcohol brands rarely have self-built factories, there are often cases where low-alcohol brand products are OEM or commissioned by other companies, which leads to a wide range of "similarity" in the low-alcohol market.
Yin Kai also said that most low-grade wine products have the same taste, and in the case of insufficient brand awareness and influence, they cannot form memory and recognition.
It is worth noting that there are no leading enterprises among low-alcohol brands. Yin Kai predicted that there will be a head brand in the low-alcohol track, but whether it is the attributes of the product itself, positioning, or consumer population, there are great differences compared to other liquor markets. However, the "leftovers" are king, and the low-grade wine market will be turbulent and magnificent in the next 3 years.
New Media Editor: Wang Ao
Reporter: Wang Ao