I have to admit that today's tea market has entered the era of "light milk tea".
According to Ele.me data, since April this year, the number of brands that have launched "original leaf tea + milk" light milk tea has increased by nearly 1 times year-on-year, and the takeaway volume has increased by more than 740% year-on-year. According to Kamen's statistics, among the new products of tea brands in 2023, tea-containing products account for 72%.
However, the sudden rise of the market trend has further revealed the homogenization of the tea industry.
Jasmine green tea, Longjing, Da Hong Pao, Tieguanyin and other elements have become essential product elements for almost every tea brand, although the names of each are different, but after the name is hidden, it is difficult to see the difference from the taste to the taste.
Although major brands have begun to develop different floral varieties for the same type of tea taste, in the face of peony oolong, magnolia oolong, lotus oolong, as well as osmanthus Biluochun, osmanthus Longjing, and osmanthus Pu'er, can consumers really perceive the subtle differences? When all brands begin to move towards homogenization, not only will the market fall into the whirlpool of continuous involution, but also will usher in consumer complaints and questions——
"The light milk tea series all taste the same, there is no difference."
"Please, can you stop publishing milk tea brands? All milk tea brands have started to make milk tea, and it's really boring......"
"It's almost the same when you drink it, is that competitive? Be a little creative, stop the cookie-cutter tea + milk. ”
In the face of the dilemma of lack of innovation, how should tea brands establish their own product barriers and build real differentiation will become a gap that all brands must overcome. At the same time, there are also hidden deep needs and brand development opportunities that need to be solved urgently.
The rise of light milk tea will eventually move towards the road of cost performance
As an overall product style that highlights the "light" product, behind the popularity of light milk tea, it reflects a new market trend.
First of all, "light", as a continuation of the concept of health, meets the consumer's demand for a healthy diet, thus promoting the rapid rise of light milk tea products.
According to the "Big Data Research and Consumption Behavior of China's New Tea Drinks", 49.4% of consumers will worry about "health problems", 42.2% of consumers are more concerned about whether they have gained weight, and 70% of consumers are very concerned about the quality of raw materials in milk tea products.
In order to respond to consumer concerns, today's light milk tea has also begun to work raw materials. On the one hand, it has evolved from the traditional creamer nipple to today's fresh milk; On the other hand, it began to roll tea leaves, changing the flavor products of the past and advancing to the natural tea flavor of today.
At the same time, "light" also means that light milk tea has a relatively simple product structure. Some media have summarized the basic characteristics of light milk tea products: in the use of raw materials, choose green tea, oolong tea, with milk, light milk and other milk bases; In terms of presentation, the main single base material or small material is removed, and at most it is supplemented by a cream top as decoration; In terms of flavor performance, the tea aroma is more prominent, and the taste is light and refreshing but not bland.
Although the raw materials and processes continue to advance, the simple product structure of light milk tea is still greatly simplified compared with other tea beverage categories. For brands, this not only means that it is easier to stock up, but also greatly improves the efficiency of the store's cup delivery and reduces the overall cost.
In this regard, consumers have their own scales in their hearts.
"Claiming that the original leaf is real milk, it is a tirade, taking an ancient name, and the medium cup is sold for 15+. There are no ingredients, and there is less process of preparing small ingredients and fruits than other milk teas, and it is even more expensive than traditional milk tea. ”
"950ml of fresh milk is 14.9, how much milk do you add to buy a cup of milk tea in the store? In such a comparison, the gap is really not small. ”
It can be seen that when products become more and more homogeneous, consumers are most concerned about price. In the past year since the rise of light milk tea, the 9 pieces and 9 preferential promotions of various brands have also pointed to light milk tea. At present, some brands 9 pieces 9 activities are still ongoing, and the Gu Ming order mini program shows that joining the community can drink milk tea for 9.9 yuan every Wednesday, of which light milk tea is one of the main event products.
Although new products in the field of light milk tea are emerging in an endless stream, major brands continue to carry out product research and development and innovation in many aspects such as fruity, plant-based, tea base and refreshing ingredients. However, for consumers who like the new and hate the old, it is difficult to harvest long-term repurchase only with a temporary freshness, and a product wants to achieve long-term hot sales, it must do its homework at all levels such as product quality, stable production and ultimate cost performance, so as to win.
Cost performance comes from the strength of the supply chain
However, in the face of today's extremely involuted tea market, it is not easy to reduce costs from the root.
Tea brands should provide high-quality products and services at relatively affordable prices, and cost performance has become an absolute competitive advantage. On the one hand, the cost-effective advantage comes from the improvement of the supply chain infrastructure, and the drinks given to consumers are made of fresh and short-term raw materials; On the other hand, extreme supply chain efficiency brings significant cost advantages.
Judging from the tea brands that have submitted prospectuses or gone public, they are paying more and more attention to supply chain capabilities to maintain their product quality and stable supply. Take Gu Ming, which began to lay out the supply chain earlier, as an example. As the strongest player in the mid-range price range, Gu Ming is leveraging its strong supply chain capabilities to provide consumers with more cost-effective products.
In order to improve the bright taste of light milk tea, Gu Ming strictly controls the raw materials to ensure the quality level of tea, fruits, milk and other raw materials from the source. In the selection of raw materials for tea bases, Gu Ming not only participates in the improvement of some processing technologies of suppliers to make their flavors meet the needs of their own products, but also formulates more stringent tea acceptance standards on the basis of national standards. In order to ensure the taste and health of light milk tea, Gu Ming has always insisted on using fresh milk as raw materials, and in order to adapt to the storage of different raw materials, Gu Ming has set up a separate temperature zone for each product in the warehouse. At the same time, there are also extremely strict screening standards for dairy raw materials: first, dairy enterprises are required to have upstream pasture resources; Secondly, it is also necessary to have food safety and R&D technology, as well as processing equipment and processing technology. At present, the fresh milk suppliers that Gu Ming cooperates with include adopting a cow, Junlebao and many other enterprises. According to its prospectus, Gu Ming has the largest cold chain warehousing and logistics infrastructure among China's freshly made tea shop brands, with more than 75% of its stores located within 150 kilometers of the warehouse, and more than 97% of its stores are provided with two-day one-to-one cold chain delivery services.
A solid supply chain and R&D capabilities are the core guarantees to ensure stable product quality, superior cost performance and continuous product innovation. It is based on this series of basic strengths that allows Gu Ming to occupy a strong leading edge in the competition of light milk tea. Previously, Gu Ming's seasonal drink "Cloud Gardenia Green" achieved sales of more than 2 million cups per week for eight consecutive weeks as soon as it was launched.
When the narrow road meets, the brave wins. Today's consumer demand for high-quality and high-quality products is also a comprehensive test of the brand's comprehensive strength. Behind the explosion of the light milk tea subcategory for nearly a year, it shows the changes in consumers' demand for refreshing, delicious and returning to the original taste of tea. Compared with micro-innovation, the advantage of cost performance may be more long-lasting. What tea brands need to do is to find products that are suitable for their own consumer groups and make a delicious and inexpensive drink.
(This article was first published in Titanium Media APP, author|Consumer Research Institute, editor|Xie Xuan)