Reporter | Zhao Xiaojuan
Edit | Ya Han Xiang
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Interface News recently visited and found that the first product launched by Mengniu and Coca-Cola's joint venture company "Cocoa", ultrafiltration milk "Fresh Phila" has disappeared in some channels.
In Hema Beijing Zihexin store, Lize store, New Town Plaza store, and 7-11 Beijing East Balizhuang store, it was found that fresh Phillips products have stopped selling. A 7-11 clerk said that new products are usually removed after a period of trial sales, either because of the season or because of poor sales, but usually the latter reasons are the most. However, at present, physical stores such as Tmall, JD.com, Hema in Shanghai, and 7Fresh in Beijing can still buy fresh Phila products.
7-11 Milk Shelf (Photo: Zhao Xiaojuan)
This milk product for high-consumption groups was officially launched to the market in September last year, covering three items: full-fat white milk, low-fat white milk and chocolate milk. Because of its high protein, high calcium and sugar, it is positioned as a high-end low-temperature milk product, which is sold in Hema, Family Convenience, Daily Excellent Fresh and other channels, with a price of 195 ml for 12.9 yuan and a price of 29.9 yuan for 710 ml specifications.
Hema replied to Interface News that the removal of fresh Phila products in Beijing may be based on the reasons for its commodity structure adjustment, and the reasons for the removal and sales data are inconvenient to disclose.
Fresh Phillips' performance in the United States is a different story. Recently, Fairlife, an ultrafiltration milk company owned by Coca-Cola, announced that it will reach $1 billion in sales in fiscal year 2021. This phenomenon also makes China's dairy companies optimistic about the market prospects of this category and launch corresponding products.
In January 2022, Yili Jindian launched an ultrafiltration milk product, declaring "low fat, low sodium 6.0 grams of native high protein", which is priced at 96 yuan in the e-commerce channel for 250 ml 8 bottles, about 12 yuan a bottle. Unlike Fresh Phillips, this product is stored at room temperature.
In fact, ultrafiltration technology is a kind of membrane separation technology, which is driven by the pressure difference of 0.1~0.5 MPa, using the interception ability of porous membranes, in the form of physical interception, separating the material particles of different sizes in the solution, so as to achieve the purpose of purification and concentration and screening of different components in the solution.
In layman's terms, ultrafiltration milk technology separates milk from other components of milk by passing milk through membranes of different pore sizes. In actual processing, the natural water and sugar in the milk are removed, and the rest is lactose-free milk. This ultrafiltration milk contains more protein, calcium and less sugar, and the taste is smoother than regular milk.
Dairy observer Song Liang told Interface News that the technical threshold of ultrafiltration milk is not high at present, and the quality is improved through technology, and it is aimed at high-end income groups on the consumer side, which is a means of differentiating milk products from the perspective of enterprises.
Behind this, it is becoming more and more difficult for low-temperature fresh milk to be profitable. On February 22, Interface News visited Hema "Fresh Oleai" in Tongzhou, Beijing, and saw that on the store's milk shelves, some high-end milk products were only half or even less than those of ordinary supermarkets, such as a bottle of 32 yuan of three-yuan extreme organic milk, and the specification of 900 ml was only 7 yuan a bottle, and the shelf life was fresh. A milk channel salesman revealed to Interface News that the task of selling low-temperature milk is heavy, and major brands generally increase sales through powerful activities.
A dairy exchange report obtained by Interface News shows that the dairy industry has further declined the gross profit of fresh milk products due to the high running state of raw milk from 2020 to 2021, while low-temperature milk products with short shelf life are under greater pressure, so most companies have launched high-end products to expand profit margins.
For example, a fresh milk product of Bright Zhiyou, which also adopts the 1.4 micron pore size low-temperature ceramic membrane filtration technology imported from France, can retain more nutrients such as active immunoglobulin and lactoferrin in fresh milk, and the 950 ml specification is priced at 29.9 yuan in Hema.
As far as ultrafiltration milk is concerned, in terms of low temperature and room temperature, the taste of low temperature may be better, but room temperature products have their own advantages, first of all, a shelf life of 90 days, which greatly reduces the loss of products in transportation and sales. More importantly, the distributors in the above dairy report mentioned that in addition to meeting the inherent population, high-end milk at room temperature also has certain gift attributes, especially in the Spring Festival stalls, such as the organic and Juanshan milk growth of Yili Jindian is very obvious.
The above-mentioned milk channel salesman told Interface News that the competition for high-priced low-temperature milk is very fierce, and some milk stations will also sell products at low prices through channeling goods to attract consumers or complete sales tasks. Because the growth rate of high-end people is not fast, but high-end products are constantly being launched, in the case of market incremental increment is not obvious, the price war will not stop.
Returning to the daily consumption of dairy products, like other high-margin milk products, ultrafiltration milk products are still one of the milk sub-categories, and it is an inevitable challenge to not shake the price-sensitive mass consumer population.