China Business Daily (Reporter Zhou Ziyi Wang Yifei) On May 9, the "first cheese stock" Miaokeland released a new product in Shanghai, and announced the hiring of Wang Yibo as the new brand image spokesperson, and related topics quickly became a hot topic of public opinion. Soon after, the topic of "containing trans fatty acids" and "the market value of 36.5 billion yuan evaporated in three years" also rushed to the hot search on Weibo. The joy of "renewal" was quickly washed away by the crisis of public opinion, what happened to Miaokelando?
Word-of-mouth and performance are under pressure
On May 9, Microcolando announced that Wang Yibo became its new brand image spokesperson, and as of noon on May 10, the number of related topics has reached 330 million, and the number of discussions has exceeded 3.1 million. At the same time as the spokesperson, there are also "fancy" new products such as flower cheese sticks, cod cheese sticks, and mousse cheese cups.
Microcolando new product price. (Picture taken from the official flagship store of Microcolando Taobao)
It is understood that Miaokeland has cooperated with the previous spokesperson Sun Li for nearly 4 years, and the new spokesperson seems to mark its beginning to attack young consumer groups and high-end consumer markets.
However, on the day of the announcement of the new spokesperson, the topic of "containing trans fatty acids" and "the market value of 36.5 billion yuan evaporated in three years" also rushed to the hot search on Weibo. Some netizens posted that the edible oil products contained in Microcolando products are trans fatty acids, and the ingredient is not labeled. This remark sparked a large number of discussions among netizens.
Although according to the relevant regulations, if hydrogenated oil is not used in food, it is not necessary to label trans fatty acids, but Microcolando's move still makes some consumers dissatisfied.
Microcolando's 2023 financial report was also "flipped". In 2023, Microcolando's revenue and profit will decline for the first time after its listing. Among them, the revenue was about 4 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of about 16%; The net profit was about 63.44 million yuan, a sharp decline of nearly 54% year-on-year, which caused heated discussions in the industry. In the first quarter of 2024, Microcoland's revenue fell by more than 7 percentage points year-on-year.
Screenshot of Microcolando's 2023 annual report.
Screenshot of Microcolando's Q1 2024 report.
The company's performance fell into a trough, and Chai Xiu, the founder of Microcoland, "couldn't sit still", and he once said: "Last year's financial statements were not good, and I was also sad." I'm also reflecting on last year's performance, especially because the cost of supply chain problems has risen by more than 100 million yuan. ”
What's wrong with Mycolando
According to the financial report, Microcolando will achieve revenue of 4.049 billion yuan in 2023, of which the cheese business will achieve revenue of 3.137 billion yuan, accounting for 77.69%. From 2018 to 2022, Microcoland's revenue increased from 1.226 billion yuan to 4.83 billion yuan, and cheese accounted for 80% of its revenue. Cheese has always been the most important category in Microcolando's products.
Wang Dingmian, former president of the Guangzhou Dairy Association, told a reporter from China Business Daily that although the key business of Miaokeland is cheese, the company's pure cheese products are very few, and most of them are "stick milk". In the first two years, some experts questioned the cheese content of "Bangbang Milk", and later the state set strict standards for "cheese content", which had a certain impact on the cheese industry.
It is understood that cheese sticks became a "phenomenal" product a few years ago, and its key ingredient is cheese, but the cheese content of the products at that time was uneven, and it was difficult for consumers to buy. Since December 30, 2022, the "National Food Safety Standard for Processed Cheese and Cheese Products" (hereinafter referred to as the new national standard) has been officially implemented, stipulating the minimum amount of cheese, and in accordance with the new standards and market supervision policies, products with more than 50% cheese are clearly processed cheese, and products with cheese addition of only 15%-50% should be called cheese products.
According to this, the new national standard may increase the cost of raw materials for Microcolando. In addition, the current weak consumption of cheese is also a major reason for the decline in Microcolando's performance.
Zhu Danpeng, an analyst of China's food industry, told reporters that the decline in the performance of Microcolando is expected, and the current consumer market has changed, and cheese is a high-value product, not a rigid demand, which is more affected.
"At the same time, more and more brands are entering the cheese track, which is also squeezing the market share of Microcolando." Zhu Danphong added that in recent years, more and more "players" have entered the cheese track, and many "giants" are eager to try. On the whole, the entire cheese market will enter an all-round, multi-dimensional and strong competition stage in the future.
The reporter learned that at present, many dairy giants, including Yili shares, Bright Dairy, Sanyuan shares, etc., are seizing the cheese market, and other vertical brands such as Dr. Cheese and Cheese God Family have also launched new cheese products, and the industry competition is very fierce.
How the "first strand of cheese" broke through
Since reaching a peak of 84.5 yuan per share in May 2021, the share price of Microcolando has continued to decline. As of the close of trading on May 10, 2024, Microcolan was quoted at 14.39 yuan / share, down 83% from the high point of 84.5 yuan / share.
The sharp drop in the share price of Microcolando also has an impact on the major shareholder Mengniu. At present, Mengniu owns 36.51% of the shares of Microcoland, and Mengniu has increased its holdings several times with a floating loss of about 2 billion yuan.
Zhu Danpeng believes that if Miaokeland wants to get out of the current performance dilemma, it needs to adjust the entire industrial chain and product formula, innovate the scene, upgrade the service system, and enhance customer stickiness.
"In the face of the current predicament, Microcolando seems a little passive." Wang Dingmian told reporters that in addition to cheese, the decline in the performance of other categories of Miaokeland is related to its team management, and it has not been able to find a better and more positive way in terms of marketing concepts and market expansion channels. In his opinion, there is still a lot of room for development in the cheese market in the future, and there will be many opportunities if Microcolando can really focus on the cheese market and increase the cheese content of its products.