Reporter | Zhao Xiaojuan
Edit | Ya Han Xiang
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Drinking water brand CR Yibao is about to launch high-end drinking water in glass bottles. Judging from the poster image, the name of the water is "Iporo", and there is also a French name "L'EAU", which means "water" in French.
Yibaolu specifications in 750ml, which is the same as the mainstream Evian glass bottle natural mineral water, Nongfu Spring glass bottle mineral water specifications on the market, Yibaolu is currently in the major terminal channels have not yet been shopped, can not know its retail terminal price, Evian one piece (12 bottles) in the Jingdong self-operated store price of 179 yuan, contract 15 yuan a bottle; in addition, Nongfu Spring's high-end glass bottled water in 2015 when launched at the retail price of 35-50 yuan. Reignwood Group's Norwegian high-end water brand VOSS sells for around 32 yuan for its 850ml specification (glass bottle).
Ipoh high-end aquatic products
As a high-end aquatic product, glass packaging bottles are usually the first choice for high-end water. According to Nongfu Spring, in order to this high-end water company spent many years looking for a suitable water source, in 2008 after finding a low-sodium light mineral spring in Changbai Mountain Moya Spring, Nongfu Spring took a long time in packaging design, and finally adopted the design scheme of british design company Horse.
Yibao also uses glass bottles, the product design is simple, and the bottle body has a "dew" word. A person in the bottled water industry told Interface News that the high-end line is a market segment that all FMCG brands want to lay out, and the high-end line can enhance the brand image and cater to the needs of a small number of special channels (hotels, restaurants), and if competitors do not do it themselves, in a sense, they will feel that they have missed a part of the market. In addition, Yibao has its own advantages, using China Resources' own retail channels in channels, such as the high-end supermarket China Resources Ole.
In addition to channels, Yibao also has production base advantages. In October 2021, CR Yibao Beverage (China) Co., Ltd. signed a formal contract with Changbaishan Forest Industry Group and Antu County on the "CR Yibao Changbaishan Drinking Water Production Base Project". The total investment plan of the project is expected to exceed 500 million yuan, and will rely on the local natural environment to invest in the development and production of Yibao series products.
However, a beverage distributor told Interface News that in fact, from the perspective of traders or professional managers of large companies, in fact, the internal resistance of high-end products is usually very large, because it is difficult to make profits in the early stage.
"This is related to the marketing system of large companies, such as the listing of a new product that is not optimistic, the cost is several million, even if this amount is not worth mentioning compared to the mainstream product listing plan of hundreds of millions of dollars." But if sales do not go up and eventually end in losses, then dealers will also lose motivation because it is difficult to sell. He said.
In the entire bottled water market, Ipoh's market share is also being caught up by competitors. According to the data provided by Euromonitor International to Interface News, between 2018 and 2021, the top 5 brands in the bottled water market are Nongfu Spring, Yibao, Baishishan Mountain, Master Kang, wahaha, from the perspective of market share changes, only Nongfu Spring and Baishi Mountain are in a state of growth, yibao's market share is second, but the share ratio has declined from 9.9% in 2018 to 8.6% in 2021.
In addition, in the high-end water market, in addition to Evian and Nongfu Spring, the number of participants is increasing.
A dealer told Interface News that after the past 10 years of market cultivation, the increase in some consumers who can accept high-priced high-end water has stabilized, but it will not erupt at once, and many bottled waters do not disclose the sales and growth data of their high-end aquatic products to the outside world.
The exception is VOSS, a high-end water brand from Norway, whose business in China has been operated by Reignwood Group since 2016, according to the relevant person in charge of VOSS China market, although the epidemic factors have a great impact on offline business, VOSS sales in 2021 still achieved a high growth of 80%, which is based on the cultivation of the high-end water market and VOSS's precise strategy in channels.
According to THE OFFICIAL DISCLOSURE OF VOSS, the product focuses more on high-end offline channels in the channel layout. In particular, channels such as catering, five-star hotels and some high-end nightclubs contributed 70% of offline sales to VOSS, and offline channels also included high-end supermarkets such as Ole and BHG and high-end conference channels. For example, VOSS was officially designated for water during the 2021 China Entrepreneurs Boao Forum.
The above-mentioned bottled water industry insider told Interface News that the special channel is narrow and is often difficult to enter if it is a new brand. VOSS may be based on Red Bull's own experience in some high-end channels, which saves a lot of effort when developing high-end channels.
However, in online channels, sales of glass bottled water from a dozen yuan to tens of yuan a bottle are mediocre.
Interface News noted that at present, Nongfu Mountain Spring glass bottle water is not sold in its Jingdong, Tmall stores, only a small number of dealers sell at high prices, but Nongfu Spring confirmed to Interface News that glass bottles of high-end water have not stopped production, in Ole and other high-end supermarket channels are sold; in 2017, Baishengshan launched two high-end aquatic products in glass bottles, namely Blairquhan Benwang natural mineral water, Blairquhan Benwang soda water, specifications 348 ml, At present, it also relies on dealer sales, and there is no sale in online self-operated flagship stores.
In the offline channel, high-end products usually do not dare to high-profile discount promotions, high-end water in the market after the challenge of channel inventory is relatively large, facing losses is also a high probability event, so many times, the value of high-end aquatic products is more in the promotion of brand tone, there is the value of brand publicity. However, in the high-end supermarket channel, if you discount promotion in order to clear inventory, on the one hand, because the unit price itself is not low, even if it is discounted, it is not cheap for ordinary consumers, and more importantly, it will leave the impression that the brand is often discounted, but it is not conducive to maintaining the brand image.
If special channels and high-end channels do not have their own advantages, online and offline channels may also become the challenges that IBLOY needs to face.