In the past few years, the development of the instant noodle industry has not been satisfactory, but the noodle and egg category has ushered in explosive growth. According to a set of industry data, the sales of noodles and eggs in the country are estimated to be 3 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 42% year-on-year in 2022, much higher than the growth rate of the instant noodle industry. But after the explosion of growth, brands need to face a very real question: how to go further?
Nashi noticed that as the pioneer and leader of noodles and eggs, Yang Shopkeeper has recently completed a major renovation from the inside out. Focusing on the value proposition of "balanced and skillful matching, you need to be the shopkeeper of Yang", through new product upgrades and packaging design, the transformation from a leader in noodles and eggs to a leader in the instant noodles industry has been realized. What is the meaning behind the upgrade of Yang shopkeeper noodles and eggs, and how can the newly upgraded Yang shopkeeper noodles and eggs products further meet the needs of young consumers?
Aiming for a bigger market
Mr. Yang's ambition is not just to be a pioneer
In the fast-paced era, superimposed on the upsurge of healthy consumption, people's requirements for fast food products are nothing more than "good taste, less additives, and high nutritional value".
In the instant noodle market, noodles and eggs have become a key category for the rapid development of the instant noodle industry because they can not only meet consumers' value demands for being full and eating well, but also conform to convenient and fast eating habits.
Shopkeeper Yang is the pioneer of the innovative category of noodles and eggs. In 2016, Yang Shopkeeper took the lead in gaining insight into the pain points of consumers' consumption of instant noodles, such as unbalanced diet, single ingredients, and small amounts, and innovatively integrated noodles, noodles, vegetables, and eggs, and launched Yang Zhang's Instant Noodles, which was followed by nearly 50 traditional brands and emerging brands in a short period of time, and the noodles and eggs category was in the limelight for a while.
However, when a category gradually matures, it also means that it is time for enterprises to compete for "real power", especially in today's consumer market dominated by Generation Z, who pursue health, quality and personalization, they also put forward higher requirements for noodle and egg products. For example, more attention is paid to the experience of taste and texture, and the personalization and fun of packaging, which puts forward higher requirements for brands in the noodle and egg category.
Nashi believes that this time, Yang Shopkeeper is expected to promote the further growth of the noodle and egg category with a taste upgrade that is more in line with the advanced health needs of the target group and closer to consumers. This kind of healthy upgrade of leading the instant noodle industry with a pioneer attitude is timely.
Product hard power + soft power has been upgraded
Lead the upward development of the category with the attitude of a pioneer
In the fully competitive and seriously homogeneous instant noodle market, how to promote category upgrading with product upgrading, we might as well take a look at the answer of Yang Shopkeeper.
1. The hard-core upgrade of product power and the completion of quality upgrading
As the foundation of food, product power is the hard core power of the brand. As a brand that is extremely popular among contemporary young people, the upgrade of Yang Shopkeeper mainly involves popular flavors such as Jintang Fat Beef, Temptation Sour Hemp, Tomato Beef Brisket, etc. After a lot of research in the early stage, Mr. Yang has carried out an all-round upgrade of the five aspects of the product, including "noodles, noodles, vegetables, eggs and soup", which has been affirmed by many consumers.
In terms of fans, the fans of Yang Shopkeeper are the best among the suppliers, and the upgraded fans belong to the ceiling quality in the noodle and egg category, which is not only chewy and Q-elastic, but also easier to taste;
On the dough cake, Yang shopkeeper has upgraded the appearance, fragrance, taste, and quality control, according to Nashi, the newly upgraded formula and process of the dough cake is rich in wheat aroma and has a stronger and smoother taste;
In terms of side dishes, Mr. Yang has insight into consumer needs and caters to consumers' opinions and suggestions, and upgraded the side dish package with tomato brisket and rattan pepper boiling fish flavor into a crispy vegetable package, including soybean sprouts, fungus, carrot vegetables, to achieve nutritional balance and be more in line with the health trend of consumers;
At the same time, in the interaction with consumers, some consumers feedback that the value experience of meat eggs and quail eggs is not as good as that of braised eggs, so in order to pet fans, Yang shopkeeper made every effort to cater to consumer needs, sacrificing corporate profits, and upgraded the tomato beef brisket flavor, quail eggs in the boiling fish flavor of rattan pepper, and meat and eggs with sour hemp flavor to braised eggs, with a salty and fragrant taste, and the juiceless packaging is easy to tear open, which has a very high quality-price ratio;
Finally, in terms of taste, Mr. Yang has carried out a wide range of consumer tasting and evaluation across the country, adjusted all flavors, and gone through multiple rounds of consumer taste tests to bring noodles and egg products that are more in line with consumer needs. For example, the tempting sour hemp taste is closer to the spicy and spicy taste of Sichuan that young people like, and the aroma is also stronger, bringing consumers a taste experience of returning to Sichuan;
2. The visual design of the packaging has been upgraded to be closer to young people
As the first medium of the brand, packaging is the tangible carrier of brand equity. In particular, the target audience of Yang Shopkeeper is more young consumers, and more youthful and interesting packaging can attract more young people. It is understood that the upgraded packaging launched by Yang Shopkeeper takes Yang Shopkeeper's unique IP image "Bag King" as the protagonist, and shouts the brand slogan of "Balanced and skillful matching, choose Yang Shopkeeper" to further deepen the brand health attributes. It is worth mentioning that each noodle dish and egg flavor is matched with a different "bag king" image, and the overall design is personal, trendy and lively, which not only fits the aesthetic orientation of young people at present, but also conveys a young and vibrant brand image.
To upgrade the core value of products, Shopkeeper Yang took the lead in launching the first shot of upgrading the category of noodles and eggs. In the view of Nashi, the "hard work" of Yang shopkeeper noodles and eggs in category trends and product upgrades has realized a new experience of noodles and eggs from quality to appearance, and further improved consumers' loyalty to Yang's shopkeeper noodles and eggs. At the same time, the product upgrade of Mr. Yang also let the outside world see his dedication to noodle and egg products and the resilience of being a leader in healthy and convenient food.
Promote the healthy upgrading of instant noodles
Strengthen the leading force of leaders with category upgrading
According to the statistics of the World Instant Noodles Association, the demand for instant noodles in China in 2022 will be 45.07 billion servings, while this figure will be 41.45 billion servings in 2019, and the overall demand growth of the industry is under pressure.
Looking at the noodle and egg category, which is closely related to the instant noodle industry, as mentioned above, it will still maintain a growth rate of 42% in 2023. Since its birth, its leading brand Yang Shopkeeper has also completed two leaps: the first leap is to create a new category of noodles and eggs, so that a new category can be created from scratch, and the second leap is to promote the upgrading of the category of noodles and eggs with product upgrades, which has once again taken a leap forward. Shopkeeper Yang, who has completed two jumps, will further strengthen his dominance in the noodle and egg categories.
It is foreseeable that the growth of the noodle and egg category in the future will be the growth of Yang shopkeeper's noodle eggs, and the upgrade of Yang's own products is also the upgrade of the entire noodle egg and even the entire healthy fast food industry.
With the arrival of the dividend of the noodle vegetable and egg category, the entire industry has entered a normal growth track. It is foreseeable that as the pioneer and leader of the category, Mr. Yang has undoubtedly once again been at the forefront of the industry with all-round upgrades, and continues to lead the continuous development of the noodle and egg category and even the entire healthy fast food industry.