In recent years, milk beer has gradually moved from a niche drink to the public, and its popularity has further increased. With the hot milk beer market, the number of brands entering this market has also increased significantly, but the product differentiation between different brands is not prominent enough.
In order to have a greater competitive advantage in the milk beer market, the brand began to make efforts in product innovation and upgrading. On the one hand, enriching product taste and functional innovation have become breakthroughs, on the other hand, increasing price advantages and improving product packaging have become new directions. As far as the current milk beer market is concerned, the pace of brand innovation and upgrading in the future may not stop.
The taste of the product is further enriched
Previously, milk beer has always existed as a niche drink, limited by the region, but it has not gone to too large a market, until the past two years have gradually become popular. The milk beer can be loved and even developed into a "net red" drink, which may be related to its rich taste and unique taste, bringing a new drinking experience.
From the perspective of milk beer products on the current market, it can generally be divided into two categories: beer and beer, among which representative products without beer such as Tianrun milk beer, and representative products containing beer such as Xiyu Spring Milk Beer. Whether milk beer contains beer also creates different product tastes, milk beer containing beer adds a certain "wine taste" on the basis of "milk taste", the same is that these two types of products have a more obvious bubble feeling.
It can be said that these two types of milk beer products have basically become the main tone of the current milk beer market development, and the milk beer products launched by the later entrants are basically similar tastes.
In the case that the milk beer market is not rich in brands and there are not enough products, the requirements for product differentiation are not obvious, but with the increase of brands and products, the increase of similar products is difficult to highlight the difference between different brands, and the competitiveness of products will be reduced.
In order to be able to form a distinction, new flavors of milk beer products have gradually appeared on the market, bringing a richer product selection. For example, Xiyuchun launched white peach-flavored milk beer, Qingxiaowei launched strawberry-flavored milk beer, and the emergence of fruity milk beer gradually enriched the original milk beer market, and as a beverage, it also meets the needs of diversified tastes.
Making a fuss from the taste of milk beer is a relatively simple way, especially at present, the taste of milk beer is not rich enough, and the emergence of new flavors can increase the competitiveness of products to a certain extent.
Add certain functional selling points
At present, there are many milk beer products on the market, but the types of milk beer launched by different brands are different, but they all belong to the beverage category, such as Tianrun milk beer product type is non-viable lactic acid bacteria drink, Xiyu spring milk beer product type is flavored beverage, Qiulin milk beer product type is milk-containing beverage, etc.
As far as beverage products are concerned, drinking beverages is no longer simply satisfied with quenching thirst, but pursuing a better taste bud experience and higher health needs. The "2021 Beverage Consumption Trend Insights" shows that the younger generation has a soft spot for sparkling water, and under the general health trend, they are also paying more and more attention to the healthy ingredients of beverages.
In the face of these beverage consumption needs, milk beer first caters to a better taste bud experience in taste, and the bubbles in it can be said to be the hotter beverage elements at present, and it is also very popular with consumers. Secondly, the dairy products contained in milk beer also meet health expectations to a certain extent and meet higher-level consumer needs.
However, with the increase of basic milk beer products, some brands are further highlighting the "function" selling point of milk beer by adding some nutrients to milk beer. For example, Xiyuchun launched a milk beer fortified with vitamins, adding vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and taurine on the original basis, which is somewhat similar to energy drinks.
Compared with general milk beer products, this milk beer has obvious differentiated characteristics and caters to health, function and other needs. Moreover, milk beer with certain functional selling points also enhances the value of the product. From the perspective of milk beer innovation, by increasing functionality, it also provides a lot of direction for the brand.
It is also worth mentioning that under the promotion of three-dimensional taste and health upgrade, the functionalization of milk beer is also in line with the current consumption trend of the beverage market, which can help milk beer products and brands highlight the differences in the market.
Improve product price competitiveness
Before the rise of milk beer, it was actually a product with more distinctive regional characteristics, which was initially limited by logistics and transportation, and more popular in Xinjiang, until in recent years, it gradually broke through the geographical restrictions, and the brand was also enriched.
When searching for "milk beer" on Taobao, you can see that in addition to some Xinjiang brands such as Tianrun and Xiyuchun, brands such as New Dairy, Miao Ke, Qingshijia, and Lion Gege have also launched their own milk beer products, and the market competition has become more intense.
Although the first entrant may have a certain competitive advantage, it is still unknown whether the advantage can continue as the brand increases. Moreover, from the perspective of the actions of existing brands, the innovation of milk beer is also more concerned, and the product advantages and brand advantages are being further highlighted, and the milk beer market has also become very lively.
However, although there are many existing milk beer products, due to the lack of unified production standards, consumers' concept of milk beer is not clear, and they do not understand the difference between different milk beers. Under this circumstance, milk beer with a certain price advantage may be more likely to become the first choice for consumption, and buying low-priced products can also reduce the threshold of trial and error.
The price of milk beer products on the market is not cheap compared with general milk-containing drinks or room temperature lactic acid bacteria drinks, and there is also a price gap between different brands. For example, Miuke Milk Beer 300ml costs about 7.95 yuan, Jinhe Milk Beer 300ml costs about 4.15 yuan, Tianrun Milk Beer 300ml costs about 5.33 yuan, Helensi milk beer 300ml costs about 4.97 yuan, and Lion Gege milk beer 300ml costs about 6.5 yuan.
When it is impossible to distinguish the difference between different milk beers, and the differences between different milk beers are not obvious, milk beer with price advantages may be more attractive. Moreover, by establishing a price advantage, product awareness can be better cultivated, and cost performance is still a prominent product selling point at present.
Product packaging issues still need to be improved
In addition to the innovation of milk beer products from the aspects of the product itself, product price, etc., product packaging may also be an area for improvement. In the Taobao evaluation, there are many problems such as "packaging waste", "packaging deformation and damage" and "beverage leakage", which shows that the packaging problems of milk beer are indeed more prominent.
Most of the milk beers on the market now use cans packaging, which has certain advantages in shelf life and transportation, and can also adapt to many consumption scenarios such as restaurants, bars, camping, etc. It's just that the milk beer itself has a relatively large gas content, and it will inevitably experience collisions after long-distance transportation after sealing, which may easily cause damage on the packaging, thus affecting the consumer experience.
In addition, canned packaging also has certain restrictions, open to drink, although home, dining, camping and other scenes are very suitable, but some milk beer containing beer is a little embarrassing, may not be very friendly to some consumers.
In addition, milk beer also needs to add more novelty in packaging, and there are many milk beer products that use blue and white packaging, and the brand differentiation is not very high. Brands that later entered the milk beer market began to introduce quite differentiated packaging and were also younger.
From the perspective of milk beer packaging, although canned packaging is more common at present, it may be possible to choose a more suitable packaging form to go through long-distance transportation and other processes. And with the increase of brands in the milk beer market, whether it is in cans or other packaging formats, it may be necessary to find a more differentiated direction and cater to the younger consumer trend.
Future differentiation and innovation are the development trends
In today's milk beer market, although there are many brands, including dairy companies, emerging beverage companies and beverage companies, the products they launch are not much different. In particular, many existing milk beers are OEM production, and different brands of products are even the same OEM enterprise, in this case, milk beer is also prone to homogenization problems.
However, milk beer is currently known as its taste and health, which is easy to attract consumer attention, and the milk beer market also has certain development potential. However, to get more opportunities in this market, it may also be necessary to find new ways to differentiate and innovate and upgrade existing products.
In addition to the differentiation of taste, function, price, packaging and other aspects, some brands are also starting from raw materials and processes. For example, in the case of the widespread use of whole milk powder, Tianrun adds ≥30% fresh milk to milk beer, in addition to adding patented bacteria for secondary fermentation, which is also the source of gas in Tianrun milk beer.
There are also some milk beer products produced by beer + dairy + strain, and different processes make the milk beer produced have certain differences in taste. In addition, by targeting different consumption scenarios, it is also easy to establish different product cognition, such as hot pot spiciness, barbecue and party drunk.
In fact, with the increase of milk beer on the market, brands are also working towards highlighting characteristics and selling points, whether through product innovation or technical differences, it has become a way for brands to establish competitive barriers, and also help brands increase competitiveness.
Industry thinking: In recent years, as the milk beer market has become increasingly hot, the increase of brands and products has also made the market competition more intense. In order to increase brand competitiveness and become a prominent presence in the milk beer market, product innovation and upgrading are essential. In this process, milk beer taste innovation, increasing functional selling points and improving price competitiveness have become the development direction, and innovation and difference may also become the main direction of future development.