Recently, new tea brands have made efforts to layout the "morning eight golden file", test the water breakfast scene, and launch a variety of set menus. Gu Ming said that it has been piloted in a few stores. Previously, Naixue Mini Program takeaway has launched a "coffee + baking" breakfast set from 13 yuan, and free delivery fees. Michelle Ice City followed suit with a 10 yuan latte with a sandwich breakfast set.
In this regard, Bai Wenxi, chief economist of IPG China, said that from community-based breakfast chains to KFC, McDonald's to foreign-funded convenience stores, there are countless merchants entering the "breakfast circle". The addition of new tea brands will accelerate the branding, standardization and chain level of the entire breakfast industry, thereby changing the format pattern of the breakfast industry.
As the tea market approaches saturation, finding new increments has become an important task for new tea brands. The picture shows consumers tasting new products in a themed beverage store. (Image courtesy of CNSPHOTO)
New tea drinks are sold for breakfastRecently, many netizens posted the "new breakfast experience" of milk tea shops on social platforms: order in advance in the mini program before going out, and spend 10-20 yuan to buy the "value-added breakfast" launched by tea brands. For example, the set menu consists of a cup of coffee and a staple dish, either kosong or wrap. However, Gu Ming related people said that the "value-added coffee breakfast" is only tested in individual stores, and has not been fully invested.
This is not the first time tea brands have tested the breakfast track. In April last year, Michelle Ice City has served breakfast in some stores, also taking the "coffee + roasting" route, a cup of latte with egg purple cabbage, egg ham, egg meat floss three different flavors of sandwich, set price of 10 yuan. Nai Xue's tea has bet on the breakfast product line three years ago, launching more than 20 breakfast combinations such as pure tea/American style + taro purple sweet potato bun/cheese toast, and the minimum is less than 10 yuan to solve consumers' breakfast needs.
Naixue revealed that up to now, Naixue has launched breakfast series products in more than 1,000 stores across the country, accounting for more than eighty percent, and the sales of breakfast sets in the first half of this year increased by about 620% compared with last year. "From these three years, we can see that our breakfast product line is constantly being optimized, and the price strategy is also adjusting in a more daily direction." The relevant person in charge of Naixue introduced that at present, Naixue has a more classic breakfast pairing, and has also accumulated a group of loyal users.
Innovate and expand revenue scenariosAs the tea market approaches saturation, finding new increments has become an important task for new tea brands.
In 2022, the survival pressure of the tea drinking track is particularly prominent, Lele Tea withdrew from the Xi'an market, Chayan Yueshi closed 87 stores in Changsha, and Heytea and Naixue have lowered product prices. The "China Tea Beverage Development Report 2023" shows that the development growth rate of the new tea beverage industry has begun to slow down in stages, the market is sinking, and the price war is more intense.
At the same time, the competition in the coffee track is becoming more and more fierce, and to some extent it is also stealing the market share of tea drinks. At the end of May this year, Cudi Coffee announced the landing of its 3,000th store; After a week, Luckin Coffee's 10,000th store officially opened in Xiamen. In the face of fierce competition in the market, fighting marketing, comparing creativity, and fighting price wars have become the "advanced" way of new tea drinks. According to the "2022 China Beverage Industry Product Report", in the first three quarters of 2022, a total of 1,677 new products were launched by the 50 brands monitored, with an average of 11 new products launched per quarter for each brand. After the price war and market baptism, new tea beverage companies urgently need to find a new profit track, and opening up the breakfast front is the best choice for new tea brands.
Industry insiders said that the high-frequency rigid demand attribute of breakfast is destined to be a large enough market. Whether it is Chinese pastries, pancakes, fritters, milk and bread, mainland consumers have abundant breakfast choices and the market is relatively fragmented. The increase in breakfast scene by tea brands is undoubtedly a channel for increasing income. At present, the service hours of most tea shops are concentrated in the noon and afternoon, and there is a large vacancy for the store in the morning period. At the same time, the flow of people in commercial districts, office buildings, communities, transportation hubs, etc. where new tea drinks are concentrated is considerable, and increasing breakfast has innate convenience and space. Therefore, it is necessary and reasonable for new tea brands to develop breakfast business projects according to the needs of target users.
In Bai Wenxi's view, the peak business period of tea shops is not during the breakfast period, and making full use of the breakfast period and a wide range of chain stores to operate breakfast can help tea companies increase revenue, improve ping efficiency, and improve customer stickiness. "If you can intervene in the breakfast market with better product categories and standardized services, breakfast is indeed a good business for new tea beverage companies."
Explore new models for multiple categoriesIn terms of breakfast consumption, consumers pay special attention to the cost performance and convenience of consumption scenarios. According to the "White Collar Breakfast Report", 94.2% of respondents will control the cost of breakfast within 10 yuan. According to the "Survey Report on Breakfast and Diet of Chinese Residents", 81% of respondents spend less than 15 minutes on breakfast. "Convenience and efficiency have become a breakthrough point for our breakfast business." According to a tea brand operator, many tea brands have adopted breakfast categories that avoid broadness to simplify consumers' decision-making steps.
In fact, many of the resources originally accumulated by the new tea brand can be diverted to the breakfast track.
First of all, in terms of scale and layout, tea brands have full advantages. According to incomplete statistics, there are 74,883 existing stores of 16 new tea brands in China, of which Michelle Ice City has opened more than 20,000 stores, Chabaidao announced that the number of stores has exceeded 7,000, and the number of Auntie stores in Shanghai has also approached 6,000.
At the same time, behind the thousands of stores of the new tea drink brand is its strong supply chain capabilities. Taking Michelle Ice City as an example, its milk tea revenue accounts for less than 1%, while the supply chain revenue based on ingredients is as high as 95%. As Michelle Ice City constantly emphasized, it is committed to establishing an enterprise integrating product development, manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, and marketing, and forming a complete industrial chain.
"We don't have a special breakfast for breakfast, but there are always meals such as scones, toast and puffs, and many people also serve breakfast with coffee." The relevant person in charge of Heytea said that tea brands have certain advantages in cutting into the breakfast scene.
"Tea brands have a natural genetic advantage in cutting into the breakfast scene." The relevant person in charge of Naixue said that as the category with the highest chain rate, tea brands can reduce procurement costs by virtue of volume advantages, provide price advantages and quickly copy operations; In terms of customer group positioning, anchoring young groups such as white-collar workers and college students, the forms of "online order", "grab-and-go" and "combination package" accurately match the scene of users racing against time in the morning peak.
The entry of new tea into the breakfast market is both an opportunity and a challenge. At present, the new tea brand is still in the testing stage. As a casual drink that appears frequently in afternoon tea and social scenes, there seems to be an "insurmountable gap" between tea and breakfast. To break the stereotype of consumers about tea shops and develop the habit of "buying breakfast at milk tea shops", there may still be some way to go.
(China Business Daily Yuewen)