This summer, Luckin Coffee went out of the circle with its new raw coconut latte, which attracted the attention of the industry, and also led many brands to get involved in coconut milk products. At the same time, coconut water products that once represented a healthy lifestyle have gradually lost their popularity, and even some companies have planned to divest their coconut water brands.
According to the incomplete statistics of the Beijing News reporter, this summer only five catering brands of Xicha, Naixue, Lele Tea, Luckin and KFC have launched more than 20 coconut series products. Industry insiders said that compared to the peculiar taste of coconut water, coconut milk products are more deeply processed, in line with the taste bud experience of modern young consumers. Coconut water is still a niche product, the price is doomed to not be close to consumers, and there are still variables in the future development.
Coconut water is cold
Natural coconut water drink refers to the product that does not add any additives, directly picks and washes the fresh coconut, pours out the internal coconut juice water, sterilizes it through sterilization technology, and then packages and sells it. In recent years, with people's attention to healthy lifestyles, coconut water drinks with the concept of natural health have gained the favor of consumers.
In 2014, with the investment of Reignwood Group, the best-selling coconut aquatic product in the United States, Vita Coco, landed in the Chinese market and was regarded as the official debut of coconut water in China's market. Subsequently, coconut water gradually became popular in the Chinese market. In 2018, various brands entered the climax of creating coconut aquatic products, and brands such as Coca-Cola, Tenwow and Coconut Tree launched related products. In February 2018, Danone announced an injection of capital into Harmless Harvest, a high-end U.S. high-end refrigerated coconut water company, and acquired a partial stake in the company.
However, after several years of development, coconut aquatic products have not continued to be popular. On August 22, a reporter from the Beijing News found in a search on the shopping platform that the coconut water currently on sale includes vita cocoa, if coconut water imported from Thailand, Jiaguoyuan coconut water, coconut tree coconut water, etc., with prices ranging from 6-10 yuan. Although there are still many brands, the sales of coconut water of various brands are not very impressive. For example, in the flagship store of Visco Coco Tmall, the first 12 bottles /boxes of specifications of Vicoco coconut water in the store are sold for more than 3,000 orders, while the monthly sales of a brand of sugar-free sparkling water in the past two years have exceeded 80,000 singles.
At a community store in Beijing, the owner told the Beijing News that his store did not list coconut aquatic products. "The unit price of this thing is too high, and the taste is not popular, and the sales are not good, so these products are not in the store at the beginning." The Beijing News reporter saw in a convenient bee store that the store only has one coconut water product selected by the brand for bee, and the price is close to 8 yuan.
On the corporate side, as a giant in the beverage industry, Coca-Cola's actions are often considered to represent the direction of the beverage industry for some time to come At the beginning of this year, it was reported that the Coca-Cola Company planned to sell Zico coconut water. According to the data, Coca-Cola acquired Zico coconut water in 2013 to strengthen its layout in the non-carbonated beverage category. In 2020, Coca-Cola announced the discontinuation of Zico coconut water, stating in a statement, "As part of our efforts to optimize our portfolio, we can confirm that the Coca-Cola Company plans to phase out the Zico brand globally in the coming months." This decision was not made rashly, but at a time when we were focused on meeting consumer demand while driving the size of the entire beverage portfolio. ”
According to Euromonitor International, retail sales of coconut aquatic products reached 1.248 billion yuan in 2018 and increased to 1.548 billion yuan in 2019. In the 2019 China soft drink industry market size data released by it, coconut water only accounts for 0.7% of the bottled water market. According to 2020 data, retail sales of coconut and other plant water fell to $582.8 million, down nearly 14% from 2015.
Some insiders said that high pricing determines the high threshold of coconut water. Judging from the coconut water currently sold on the market, the price is about 10 yuan, and this price also determines the narrow crowd of consumer groups. Products to grow red, lies in its value and price, coconut water is not prominent in value, compared to coconut water, consumers may prefer to get "blue hat" functional drinks.
Coconut milk products burst into flames
As another product of coconut, coconut milk products suddenly exploded this year. Coconut milk, also known as coconut milk, coconut milk, etc. by consumers, is composed of coconut milk extracted from cold pressing coconut meat and mixed with coconut water. Although coconut milk tastes and textures similar to milk, it is not "milk" and belongs to plant-based beverages, which can also be called "plant milk". For example, the "Coconut Brand" coconut milk, from its production process, belongs to coconut milk.
Luckin Coffee continued to become popular this summer with its raw coconut latte, which is often sold out due to excessive demand, and other coconut-flavored products are also on the shelves of its beverage stores. Some insiders said that Luckin Coffee, which was delisted due to financial fraud, turned over by relying on a raw coconut latte.
In addition, coconut milk products have also become the focus of major tea brands. For example, Tea Baidao launched the "Raw Coconut" series "Raw Coconut Grand Slam", "Osmanthus Longan Ice" and "Mangmang Raw Coconut" this year. Heytea launched "Raw Beaten Coconut Latte", "Raw Beaten Coconut Jelly Latte", "Coconut Lemon American". Lele Tea launched a number of new products such as "Mengle Raw Coconut Coco Iced Tea", "Raw Coconut Milk Jelly", "Coconut Poplar Branch Manna", "Coconut Coconut Cooling" and so on.
According to the "2020 Plant Protein Beverage Innovation Trend" released by Tmall TMIC, coconut flavor is the most sought after by consumers in plant protein drinks, with a growth rate of up to 109%. According to the "Online High-Growth Consumer Market 2021Q2" white paper released by Magic Mirror Market Intelligence, in the second quarter of 2021, the coconut milk industry on tmall platform increased by 67.5% year-on-year. According to luckin's official statistics, since the official launch of the raw coconut series on April 12 this year, by June 30, it has achieved a single monthly sales of more than 10 million cups, refreshing its new product sales record.
Among the enterprises mainly engaged in coconut milk products, Happy Home has been officially listed this year. According to the data, Happy Home entered the plant protein beverage market in 2014, and its performance mainly came from the main business of beverages and canned products. According to the prospectus, the revenue of Happy Home from 2017 to 2020 was 1.194 billion yuan, 1.354 billion yuan, 1.424 billion yuan and 1.247 billion yuan, of which the revenue of canned products accounted for 44.82%, 41.37%, 39.7% and 40.91% respectively, which was gradually squeezed by the beverage business represented by coconut milk. According to the latest financial report of Happy Home, its revenue in the first half of this year was 664 million yuan, an increase of 11.11% year-on-year; its net profit was 96.3731 million yuan, an increase of 13.66% year-on-year.
Wu Xiaopeng, a senior consumer goods investor, told the Beijing News that the new development opportunities contained in China's food and beverage industry are fully reflected in the plant protein beverage market. Whatever the product is, companies are fundamentally looking to meet consumers' changing health and emotional needs, and emerging plant protein companies are creating a second growth opportunity curve for the industry. At present, the age, circle, attitude, consumer psychology, consumption ability and communication channels of Chinese consumers have undergone major changes, which have brought new challenges and opportunities to the development of the industry.
Beijing News reporter Wang Ziyang picture IC photo
Edited by Zhu Fenglan Proofreader Liu Yue