In the first six months, the retail sales of beverage products increased by 5.6% year-on-year, and the market showed new bright spots

Source: People's Daily

Core Reading

Entering the summer, the high temperature continued in many places, and the sales of beverages performed well. From January to June, the retail sales of beverage products were 156.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%, higher than the growth rate of 3.7% of the total retail sales of consumer goods. Beverage consumption presents a trend of diversification, health, and functionalization, and promotes the digital, intelligent, and green transformation of related enterprises.

On a hot summer day, a sip is cool.

At present, it is the peak season for beverage sales, and supermarkets, convenience stores, and shops are full of carbonated drinks, tea drinks, packaged drinking water and other beverages. What is the current situation of the beverage market in China? How has consumer demand changed? How can the industry develop with high quality? The reporter conducted an interview.

The continent is one of the world's largest markets for beverage production and consumption

"Drinks sell very fast and often have to be restocked. Hikers need a quick rehydration, with tea, mineral water and sports drinks selling the best. Wang Xiaoyue, a salesman of a shop in Qingcheng Mountain Scenic Area, Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province, said.

Summer is the peak season for tourism, and the sales of drinks in scenic spots are hot. At the same time, household beverage consumption is heating up. "There are many consumers who buy drinks online, and half of the express delivery vehicles are drinks these days, and some people buy two or three boxes." Zou Qiang, a courier who delivered goods in a community in Liangxi District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, was carrying drinks from the express truck to the flatbed truck, including sparkling water, carbonated drinks, tea drinks, etc.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to June, the retail sales of beverage products were 156.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%, higher than the growth rate of 3.7% in the total retail sales of consumer goods. According to the analysis of Ping An Securities, in the second quarter, the beverage and snack sub-industries grew faster in the mass food, and the strong demand for travel drove the beverage industry to continue to prosper.

From the popular domestic old soda such as Arctic Ocean, Laoshan Cola, Zhengguanghe, etc., to sports drinks such as Jianlibao; From lactic acid bacteria drinks such as Wahaha and Robust, to protein drinks such as six walnuts, fruit and vegetable juice drinks such as Huiyuan juice; As for the tea drinks represented by Master Kong and Uni-President, as well as the special-purpose drinks represented by Red Bull and Dongpeng Special Drinks, a new hot spot will appear in the mainland beverage market every few years.

Zhang Jinze, chairman of the China Beverage Industry Association, said that 40 years ago, there was a single variety of beverages in the mainland, and soda was synonymous with beverages. After more than 40 years of development, the beverage varieties have developed into 11 categories and 65 sub-categories, including packaged drinking water, fruit and vegetable juice beverages, carbonated beverages, protein beverages, tea beverages, coffee beverages, plant beverages, flavored beverages, special-purpose beverages, solid beverages and other beverages.

According to data from the China Beverage Industry Association, the total output of China's beverage industry in 2023 will be 175 million tons. The continent has become one of the world's largest markets for beverage production and consumption.

According to the analysis of a consumer research and retail monitoring company, food and beverage products have the characteristics of rigid demand and high frequency, and the industry has significant resilience, which plays an important role in supporting market recovery, especially the continued outstanding performance of beverage sales. In 2023, the online and offline sales of China's beverage industry will increase by 7.6% and 5.9% respectively.

Beverage consumption presents a trend of diversification, health and functionality

"Since July, customer demand for refreshing beverages has increased significantly, and some low-sugar, refreshing-tasting teas and coconut water have been particularly popular this year, with overall beverage sales up by about 200% month-on-month." A supermarket staff member on Jianxin Road, Chancheng District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province.

Zhu Yue, a consumer who is shopping for beverages here, said: "I don't like to drink tasteless water, but I don't want to drink drinks with high sugar content all the time. ”

With the increasing health awareness of consumers, more and more people are beginning to change the traditional high-sugar and high-fat eating habits and prefer fresher and natural ingredients. Consumers' demand for beverages has also extended from thirst-quenching and delicious to upgraded needs such as health and health.

According to the "2024 China Food and Beverage Industry Outlook", tea beverages surpassed carbonated beverages to become the beverage category with the largest market share in addition to packaged drinking water, accounting for 21%, of which the volume of sugar-free tea beverages has doubled, and the growth rate is higher than the overall growth rate of the beverage industry.

Sugar-free beverages are favored by more and more consumers. Zhu Danpeng, an analyst of China's food industry, believes that under the consumer demand for health management, nutrition management, weight management, etc., the market for sugar-free beverages and functional drinks has been further released.

Currently, sugar-free beverages on the market include beverages that do not contain table sugar and starch sugars such as sucrose, glucose, maltose, and fructose, as well as beverages that use sweeteners such as sugar alcohols and oligosaccharides that do not raise blood sugar concentrations as sugar substitutes. Sugar-free carbonated drinks and sugar-free tea drinks are the mainstream sugar-free beverages in the market, among which sugar-free sparkling water is a hot spot in the market in recent years. Industry insiders believe that sugar-free sparkling water combines the characteristics of bottled water, carbonated drinks, flavored drinks and even functional drinks to meet consumers' multiple needs for health, stimulation, flavor and function.

In recent years, the development of the beverage market has conformed to the changes in demand, showing new consumption hotspots, and new beverage products have played the health card. Coconut-based beverages are getting more and more attention from the market. Coconut water has low-calorie, rich in electrolytes and natural health properties, and raw coconut milk, raw coconut water chestnut and other products have been launched one after another. Chinese-style health water is also very popular with consumers. Drinks such as red bean barley water, five red soup, yam water, and longan water provide consumers with more diversified choices. From thirst-quenching and delicious, to health preservation, to "professional" and "useful", concepts such as nutrients and electrolytes have attracted the attention of consumers, and the sales of functional drinks have continued to increase.

Overall, the beverage consumption market shows a trend of diversification, health and functionality. With the increasingly fierce competition in the market, if companies want to win more consumers, they need to have an in-depth understanding of consumers' needs for taste, nutrition, health and other aspects of beverage products in addition to quenching their thirst, and constantly develop new products to meet new needs.

Beverage companies are actively promoting digital, intelligent and green transformation

Held at a high temperature of 100-140 degrees Celsius for 30 seconds, the drink is UHT sterilized and then filled into aseptically treated bottles. In the Hubei Xianning factory of Yuanqi Forest, through the glass wall, you can see the orderly filling and sealing of bottles of beverages on the intelligent production line.

According to Wang Pu, co-founder of Yuanqi Forest, the factory has an annual output of more than 900 million bottles of beverages. The aseptic carbonic acid production line can retain the flavor, taste and nutrition of the product to a greater extent, so as to achieve no chemical preservatives such as sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate added to the whole line of products.

The beverage industry has formed a complete industrial system of raw material supply, manufacturing and circulation. Embracing various new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and industrial Internet, in recent years, the beverage industry has actively promoted digital upgrading, built smart factories, and achieved efficiency transformation.

Digital transformation promotes the quality and efficiency of beverage companies. According to the survey of China Beverage Industry Association, in recent years, the informatization level of enterprises in the beverage industry above designated size has been qualitatively improved, and great progress has been made in the integration of informatization and industrialization. The digital transformation projects and achievements of a number of beverage industry enterprises such as Wahaha, Nongfu Spring and Laoshan Mineral Water have been selected by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other departments as "Intelligent Manufacturing Pilot Demonstration Project", "Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Factory Unveiling Unit", "Intelligent Manufacturing Standard Application Pilot Project" and "Industrial Internet Pilot Demonstration Project".

Green development is the background color of the high-quality development of the beverage industry. In recent years, the beverage industry has accelerated the establishment and improvement of a low-carbon and circular development system, promoted a comprehensive green transformation, and beverage companies have practiced green manufacturing in many aspects such as product plastic reduction, energy conservation and consumption reduction. In 2023, a number of beverage companies will be listed in the list of "green factories" issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which fully reflects the industry trend of beverage companies to comply with the needs of the times of "green production", vigorously promote scientific and technological innovation, transformation and upgrading, and develop towards high-end, intelligent and green.

The innovation of consumption scenarios drives the product innovation of beverage enterprises. At present, the demand for beverages in the consumer market is more diversified, segmented and healthy, and with the diversification of lifestyles, the consumption scenarios of beverages are becoming more and more abundant. Whether it's the workplace, food and beverage scene, sports breaks, or personal solitude, picnic camping, gatherings, etc., consumers have different needs for beverages in different scenarios. This has prompted beverage brands to continuously introduce new products and packaging with different specifications adapted to different scenarios.

Zhang Jinze believes that with the in-depth implementation of the Healthy China strategy, the public's demand for dietary nutrition is increasing, and higher requirements are also put forward for the upgrading of beverage products. In the future, the beverage industry should continue to actively explore new raw materials, new formulas and new processes to meet the market's demand for more nutritious, healthier and more diverse beverages.