Source: Shangguan News
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Recently, a notification letter issued by Hangzhou Dingjin Food Co., Ltd. circulated on the Internet, causing heated discussions among netizens.
According to the notification letter, from November 1, the suggested retail price of Master Kong's packaged tea/juice series will be adjusted from 3 yuan/bottle to no less than 3.5 yuan/bottle, and the suggested retail price of 1L tea/juice series will be adjusted from 4 yuan/bottle to no less than 5 yuan/bottle.
The news of "Master Kong's price increase" has been on the hot search and has attracted great attention. Some netizens commented: "Overnight, there was suddenly no cost performance. Some netizens questioned: "Can you still buy drinks under 3 yuan in the supermarket?"
Why have cheap drinks that once cost one or two yuan disappeared from us?
Informal posting
Offline supermarket prices have not been adjusted
In response to the notification letter, a reporter from Chinanews contacted Hangzhou Dingjin Food Co., Ltd., the publisher of the letter, and the company's publicity department said, "From what we have learned so far, it is not an official document issued by the company, I don't know who issued it, and it is not clear whether the price adjustment is true." ”
According to the national enterprise credit information publicity system, Hangzhou Dingjin Food Co., Ltd. is wholly owned by Master Kong Beverage Investment (China) Co., Ltd. According to media reports, Hangzhou Dingjin Food Co., Ltd. is the earliest beverage company under Master Kong Holdings of Tingxin International Group, responsible for the production and sales of beverages in four provinces and one city in East China.
Regarding the price adjustment, the reporter also consulted the official customer service of Master Kong Beverage and the customer service of Taobao Master Kong Beverage Flagship Store, the former did not give a reply, and the latter said, "At present, in the double 11 promotion activities on the Taobao platform, according to the company's strategy, the prices of related products are continuously adjusted." ”
The reporter noticed that in the Taobao Master Kong beverage flagship store, the current 500ml of Master Kong's iced tea, green tea, rock sugar pear, etc. are all below 3.5 yuan.
In some offline supermarkets, the price of Master Kong's tea/juice series has not been adjusted. For example, in a supermarket in Beijing's Haidian District, Master Kong's 500ml iced tea, green tea, and jasmine honey tea are all priced at 2.8 yuan, while the price of 1-liter iced black tea, green tea, and jasmine honey tea is 4.5 yuan.
Rising costs
Or gave Master Kong a reason to adjust the price
As for the price adjustment of some drinks, Master Kong's customer service mentioned that due to the rise in raw materials and labor costs, the national retail price will be adjusted uniformly.
According to the research report of Haitong Securities, in the cost of the soft drink industry, the manufacturing and labor of raw materials, white sugar, fruit juice and other raw materials account for 20%, 15%, 10% and 15% respectively. The reporter noticed that among the commercial ingredients of Master Kong's iced black tea and green tea, the second place is white sugar.
Since the beginning of this year, the price of white sugar has continued to rise. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the sugar price index rose 9.8% in September from August, reaching its highest level since November 2010. Although the sugar price index fell by 2.2% month-on-month in October, it was still 46.6% higher than the same period last year. However, the price of PET, the main raw material for beverage packaging bottles, has declined, offsetting some of the cost pressures.
In addition, Zhu Danpeng, an analyst of the food industry, told reporters, "Although the price of some raw materials in beverages has declined, management fees, personnel costs, and channel costs have increased year by year." ”
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Master Kong has attracted attention due to price increases. According to media reports, in the third quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, Master Kong raised the prices of some of its instant noodle products to varying degrees. Due to the high prices of raw materials such as palm oil in the past two years, the industry interpreted it at that time as a result of raw material cost pressure.
The price increase also led to an increase in the profit of Master Kong's instant noodle business. Master Kong's 2023 interim report shows that in the first half of 2023, the group's instant noodle business revenue will be 13.950 billion yuan, an increase of 2.97% year-on-year, accounting for 34.10% of the group's total revenue. During the period, due to the favorable selling price and raw material prices, the gross profit margin of instant noodles increased by 5.20 percentage points year-on-year to 25.83%.
The beverage business accounts for a larger proportion of Master Kong's performance. Master Kong's 2023 interim report mentioned that in the first half of 2023, the overall revenue of the beverage business was 26.606 billion yuan, an increase of 9.50% year-on-year, accounting for 65.04% of the group's total revenue.
From the perspective of the industry, if the price of Master Kong's drinks is raised, it will also play a role in promoting sales.
Drinks under $3 are disappearing
Affected by factors such as rising costs, in recent years, there have been frequent news of price increases in the beverage field.
In May this year, it was reported that Coca-Cola in multiple terminals had increased prices to varying degrees, and netizens called it "Fat House Happy Water is not happy". Previously, Pepsi, Yuanqi Forest, Plum Garden, JuneYao Health and other products were also rumored to have raised their prices.
In addition to the price increase of common drinks, brands such as Nongfu Spring and Yuanqi Forest have launched new products in recent years with prices of more than 5 yuan. In this regard, some netizens said: "Drinks are getting more and more expensive, so you can only drink more boiled water." ”
The reporter noticed in a number of supermarkets that the price of bottled drinks is now concentrated between 3 yuan and 7 yuan, of which 4 yuan to 6 yuan is more common, and there are only a few about 3 yuan, mostly tea and juice drinks under Master Kong and Uni-President. In some convenience stores, drinks under 3 yuan have "disappeared".
Now that Master Kong has spread the news of price increases, it has also made the few low-cost drinks left more "scarce".
"The entire beverage industry is moving in the direction of high price and high quality, which also makes brand drinks bid farewell to the era of 3 yuan. Zhu Danpeng believes that Master Kong, as a "leading" enterprise in China's beverage industry, if the price increase this time also matches its own needs and industry development trends.
What do you think of this phenomenon?
Which drinks carry your childhood memories?
#丰田2023年全球产量创新高#