From entering the beverage market and setting a sales target of 10 billion, to today's many products are difficult to trace, the white elephant seems to be getting farther and farther away from its 10 billion dream. Recently, an investigation by a reporter from Beijing Business Daily found that it is difficult to see a variety of drinks launched by white elephants in supermarkets in Beijing, and some online channels cannot search for related products.
The relevant person in charge of the white elephant said in an interview with the Beijing Business Daily reporter that due to the low pricing, the offline channels of the white elephant beverage are mainly concentrated in the second, third and fourth-tier cities in central China. In addition, the cost of online shopping is high, and the thin profit brought by low selling prices has led to the product not being widely distributed to online channels.
Achieving a scale of 100 billion yuan is a strategic plan formulated by Yao Zhongliang, the head of the White Elephant Group, in which the beverage business is placed on high hopes - to surpass tens of billions of sales. In the eyes of industry insiders, the strategic plan proposed by Yao Zhongliang is not abrupt, after all, enterprises such as Unification, Master Kang, and Jinmalang have already laid out and achieved some results in the beverage business other than instant noodles. As one of the top brands of instant noodles in China, white elephant instant noodles have gained good profits in recent years and are well known by consumers. However, in the nine years since entering the beverage business, the white elephant that has launched a variety of beverages seems to have not yet been able to find the secret of success, and the "ten billion sales" has also become the "non-strategic focus" and "medium- and long-term goal" of the relevant responsible population of the white elephant.
It has not been stopped but it is difficult to find a trace
Nine years into the beverage business, white elephant beverages seem to have not been well known to most consumers. Regarding white elephant beverages, several consumers randomly interviewed by Beijing Business Daily reporters said that they had not drunk white elephant brand drinks, and some consumers did not even know that white elephants had also launched drinks.
Recently, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily visited some convenience stores and supermarkets in Beijing, but did not see white elephant drinks. Similarly, online, there is no white elephant drink sales in the white elephant jingdong flagship store, and the white elephant Tmall flagship store only sells white elephant complex plant protein drink fragrant peanut milk. In Jingdong supermarkets and some dealer online stores, there are white elephant sodas for sale.
The customer service staff of the white elephant Tmall flagship store said that there is only one white elephant drink on sale in the store. As for why there were no other white elephant drinks, the other party said: "It is not clear. ”
So, is there a part of the white elephant drink that has been discontinued? In this regard, the Beijing Business Daily reporter called the foundry of white elephant beverage - Henan Miaoyu Beverage Co., Ltd., the other party said that the company is still doing OEM work for white elephant fruity water, white elephant soda water and other products.
The relevant person in charge of the white elephant said that the beverages still sold by the white elephant include bottled water (white elephant deep spring and white elephant micro-mineral), tea drink (white elephant lychee black tea, white elephant iced black tea, white elephant green tea new language), flavored water (white elephant fruit flavored water), functional drinks [white elephant Hercules functional drink, white elephant soda water (no steam soda)], plant protein (white elephant oats peanut milk, white elephant oats wheat walnut dew), juice drinks [white elephant hawthorn rendezvous (hawthorn + cherry seed composite drink)]. According to the above-mentioned relevant person in charge, White Elephant Drink is sold through all channels, including traditional channels, modern supermarkets, schools, special communications, e-commerce, community groups, etc.
As a leading brand in the instant noodle industry, White Elephant entered the beverage industry in 2012 and achieved a second leap from instant noodles to drinks. According to the relevant person in charge of the white elephant, the original entry into the beverage sector was mainly to make full use of the existing sales channels to serve consumers.
Low price and low profit
However, at present, although the layout of white elephant beverages involves each channel, the scope of the layout does not seem to be large. When talking about the offline layout, the relevant person in charge of The White Elephant also said that due to the low pricing of the product, the offline channels of the White Elephant Beverage are mainly concentrated in the second, third, and fourth-tier cities in central China.
It is worth noting that according to the relevant person in charge of white elephants, the pricing of white elephant drinks is low, so it is only concentrated in second-, third- and fourth-tier cities. However, from the online point of view, white elephant drinks are more expensive than other products of the same type. Beijing Business Daily reporter compared and found that in the Jingdong supermarket, the price of white elephant lemon soda 360ml * 24 bottles of whole-box drinks is 67 yuan, equivalent to 2.79 yuan / bottle; the unit price of Mingren sugar-free, odorless and weak alkaline soda is the same as that of white elephant lemon soda, but each bottle is 375ml, which is 15ml more than each bottle of white elephant lemon soda.
The white elephant complex plant protein drink fragrant peanut milk 250ml*12 sold in the white elephant Tmall flagship store costs 59.9 yuan, equivalent to 4.99 yuan / box, compared with the silver heron peanut milk 250ml * 16 boxes are priced at 35 yuan, equivalent to 2.1875 yuan / box. Under the same specifications, white elephant peanut milk is twice as expensive as similar products of silver herons.
Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in the Chinese food industry, said that the low pricing of the offline channel of White Elephant Beverage is mainly to hope to compete with other brands and compete for the market through a low-price strategy. The higher price online may be under the pressure of high cost, hoping to buffer the cost pressure by raising the price.
Regarding the pressure on online costs, the relevant person in charge of the white elephant also admitted, "Due to the low price of beverage products, the profit is relatively low, and after the beverage is purchased through online channels, it will lead to higher transportation costs for enterprises, so it is not widely distributed online." ”
The person in charge of an e-commerce beverage operation told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that the cost of beverage online channels is sometimes higher than that offline, and some lower-profit beverages are actually losing money if they are shopped online, so sometimes it is better not to sell through online channels.
From "10 Billion Target" to "Non-Strategic Focus"
It is worth mentioning that The White Elephant has set a strategic plan for the goal of 100 billion, of which the strategic goal formulated by the White Elephant Beverage is to exceed 10 billion.
According to Yao Zhongliang, the previous head of the White Elephant Group, the sales of white elephant instant noodles and flour, noodles, fans and rice noodles alone are not enough to support the realization of the entire group's goal of 100 billion. Therefore, in 2012, Yao Zhongliang selected elite soldiers from the instant noodle business group and appointed Liu Yi, who has pioneering spirit and new business experience, as the general manager of the beverage business unit to implement the beverage strategy. In May 2012, White Elephant officially launched the beverage industry.
However, today, it has not been seen on the official website of White Elephant Food about the beverage business. The relevant person in charge of the white elephant told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that the current focus of the white elephant is not drinks, and the beverage and snacks, noodle restaurants and other businesses are included in other business sectors.
"The overall layout of White Elephant has been closely following The Present Mai Lang, but its biggest problem is that the management personnel's business philosophy is not flexible enough, the team's execution is low, and it has not created a new category in the beverage business, which is an important reason for the downturn in its beverage business, and it has also led to the delay in achieving its 10 billion target." Zhu Danpeng said.
In the view of Bao Yuezhong, a new retail expert for FMCG, although there are experiences in the market such as Master Kong and Unity relying on the "two legs" of instant noodles and beverage business, it does not mean that Baixiang can also succeed in copying this model. That is to say, it is not a channel for enterprises to shop instant noodles, and they can shop drinks. At present, white elephants have neither brand advantages in drinks nor a strong voice in channels.
The relevant person in charge of Baixiang also confessed: "Baixiang Beverage Company started late, as a latecomer in the industry, we humbly learn from the leaders of the beverage industry. At present, we do not pursue large-scale Red Sea competition, but pursue small and beautiful blue ocean, pursue high profits, high growth and differentiated innovation, and pursue to create our own unique model. '10 billion sales' is the corporate vision of White Elephant Beverage, which is the medium and long-term goal. Since 2019, the white elephant beverage sector is growing at a rapid pace of compound annual sales growth of 30% and profit compound growth of 50%. ”
"In recent years, the rapid popularity of brands such as Yuanqi Forest has given new enlightenment to the beverage industry, and if white elephants want to stand out in beverages in the future, they also need to study new ways to play new products in the current environment." Bao Yuezhong said. Beijing Business Daily reporter Qian Yu Bai Yang (Source: White Elephant Tmall flagship store)