The doorway for young people to drink drinks has been written into this report

Source: China Youth Network

The "2021 Youth "New Health" Drink Research Report" was released:

Have you drunk the right thing for so many years?

"Net red brush pot water", "summer fat house happy water", "winter thermos cup soaked in goji berries"... Many of the online memes that make people laugh are related to drinks. Some people laugh at themselves, and the ambition to lose weight and maintain health is still in their ears, but as soon as milk tea appears, it will collapse in its entirety, and after can't help but "inhale by the storm", then exclaim "satisfied".

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2021, the absolute retail sales of the national beverage industry reached 135.4 billion yuan, an increase of 29.2% year-on-year. The diverse demands of young people for drinks have catalyzed the vigorous development of the industry. Recently, China Youth Daily? The "Youth "New Health" Beverage Concept Survey Report (hereinafter referred to as the report), jointly produced by China Youth Online and Beijing Zhongqing Huayun New Media Technology Co., Ltd., the Institute of Medical Information of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Chinese Public Opinion Survey Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, uses big data and accurate sample analysis and research to outline such an interesting picture - although packaged drinking water, fruit and vegetable juice, and protein drinks are the top three healthy drinks considered by the interviewed youth, carbonated drinks are their real favorites.

"Drinks continue to live", but the awareness of controlling sugar and fat has not fallen

A day without drinking a drink is uncomfortable? This sounds like an incredible problem, there are hundreds of millions of relevant search results on a well-known online platform, and "drink life" has become a personalized label for many young people's dining habits. In the first half of 2021, sparkling water and new tea drinks have become hot words in the industry, and many drinks have been on Weibo hot searches and become the focus of social platforms.

According to the survey part of the report, carbonated drinks, protein drinks (such as dairy products, etc.) and packaged drinking water are the three most commonly drunk beverage categories for young people surveyed.

Although drinks are difficult to give up, the concept of controlling sucrose and controlling fat is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. More than half of the young people surveyed who chose sucrose-free and three-point sugar drinks, and the older they get, the more they can consciously say goodbye to the "sugar-free and unhappy" life. At the same time, the big data section of the report shows that in the first half of 2021, in the reports related to beverage health and the discussion of netizens, "fat" was mentioned more frequently than the list, followed by words such as "protein", "calories" and "sucrose".

In recent years, it is not uncommon for excessive intake of sucrose and fat to cause chronic diseases, which has also sounded a wake-up call to some extent. The choice of natural sugar substitutes instead of traditional sucrose drinks became popular among young people for a time. Graduate student Xie Fei told reporters that spending hundreds of yuan a week to buy several cups of full-sugar milk tea was once the daily operation of her academic career, but in recent years, she will give priority to natural sugar substitute drinks such as Yuanqi Forest.

"In fact, sugar is not a flood beast, it is closely related to the growth and development of the body, the key lies in the way and dosage we ingest." Lv Chenyan, associate professor of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, believes that "there are many ways to replace sucrose, you can refer to the national standard to use food sweeteners, such as xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, etc., you can also use natural sweeteners such as monk fruit steifierin, steviol glycosides, etc., but also need to be ingested in moderation." ”

According to Zhao Jingqiao, executive director of the Service Economy and Catering Industry Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, behind the increase in the awareness of sugar control and fat control, it shows the changes in the entire Chinese dietary consumption demand: from the past consumption based on food and clothing, slowly shifted to quality, green, healthy and nutritional consumption.

Taste buds are supreme, and the trend of self-pleasing consumption is obvious

On the Internet, following the "spicy noodle freedom", young people began to look forward to "drink freedom".

Liu Linyi (pseudonym), a post-85 programmer, said that whenever the pressure of writing code increases in vain, he will run to the downstairs store to buy a cup of milk tea and drink it. The immediate satisfaction of this low economic expenditure made him feel that he had "received an immediate spiritual healing." Zhao Jingqiao believes that drinks are not basic consumables, but supplements, compared to basic staple foods, so taste will become an important evaluation criterion for drinks, and good taste will bring happiness and satisfaction, which is an important utility brought by consumer drinks.

This conclusion in the survey section of the report echoes the reality: taste and price are the two key factors affecting the purchase of drinks by young people surveyed. And the data shows that the respondents with a monthly salary of less than 5,000 yuan belong to price-sensitive consumers, and the group with a monthly salary of more than 5,000 yuan has higher requirements for the taste of the drink, and is more willing to pay for the enjoyment of the taste buds, expecting to be within the scope of ability to maximize the pleasure of themselves.

The data also shows that nearly 60% of respondents often drink dairy products, in addition to excellent taste, milk source, nutritional value, brand and cost performance are the key factors that young people value when choosing dairy products. This also seems to explain the innovative trend of traditional dairy brands such as Mengniu and Yili in products, as well as the emergence of cutting-edge dairy brands such as Beihai Ranch in the market.

Although growing up in the era of material life, there are still many young people who will be careful about choosing drinks, and they are more looking forward to both taste and price, hoping that cheap and good goods will be available.

The survey learned that the price expectations of young people surveyed for fruit and vegetable juice drinks and protein drinks are generally around 3-7 yuan, while the price acceptance of coffee above 10 yuan is higher than that of other drinks. Many interviewees admitted that they had been "dissuaded" by some drinks priced higher than expected. Zhao Jingqiao said that after accepting more product information, young people are more pursuing cost performance, not a generation for merchants to harvest.

More than half of young people have the habit of looking at ingredient lists

When obesity, insomnia, hair loss and other troubles come together, young people are full of "survival desire" for the matter of choosing drinks. The survey results show that nearly 80% of young people care about the impact of drinks on their health, and more than half of the survey respondents have the habit of reading ingredient lists when buying drinks. Among them, men are more sensitive to beverage ingredients than women. In addition, the higher the respondents' income, the higher the emphasis on the ingredients of the beverage.

How to quickly grasp the key to understanding the ingredients of drinks? Associate Professor Lu Chenyan supports young people: first lock the nutrition composition list, look at the amount of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium corresponding to each 100ml of drink; secondly, look at the ingredient list, the order of the ingredient list is sorted from high to bottom, and the first few are the main raw material components; finally, don't forget to pay attention to the allergenic ingredients in the ingredient list.

In addition, He Shuli, attending physician of the Department of Clinical Nutrition of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, reminded: "Patients with phenylketonuria (a common amino acid metabolism disease) should not use aspartame to avoid aggravating the disease. If there is irritable bowel syndrome, for the choice of drink, it is recommended to follow the advice of a doctor or professional dietitian. ”

How to scientifically choose drinks to quench healthy thirst

Drinking a bottle of carbonated drinks and drinking a cup of Chinese herbal tea is probably a true reflection of the new trend of "punk health" after many 00s: on the one hand, it highlights personality, on the other hand, it pays attention to health, and realizes psychological whitening in bottles and cans. Lu Chenyan said that bad behaviors such as staying up too late and overeating may not be compensated by drinks such as goji berry soaking water, and to maintain health, it is necessary to start from a timely schedule and eating balance.

The report shows that instead of drinking to quench their thirst, young people are looking forward to finding more added value in drinks.

For male respondents, supplementing nutrition, supplementing energy, and quenching thirst are the three most attractive drink effects, while women care about "fat loss and weight loss and digestion" in addition to supplementing nutrition. The survey results show that adding dietary fiber, supplementing electrolyte energy, and sugar-free are the three types of health concepts that are more recognized by the young people surveyed.

Although "supplemental nutrition" is the biggest effect of drinks that respondents believe, He Shuli reminded: "Drinking fruit juice instead of eating fruit, drinking instead of drinking water and eating, and replacing milk with drinks containing milk in some names are unscientific, which not only loses nutritional value, but also increases the burden of kidney metabolism by excessive intake of additives." Moreover, the daily energy required by the human body cannot be consumed only through drinks. Experts also mentioned that excessive intake of caffeine-containing functional drinks can lead to symptoms such as nervousness, anxiety, irritability, and tremor.

How to guide young people to choose drinks scientifically to quench their thirst for health has become a problem that cannot be ignored in front of our eyes. Zhao Jingqiao believes that, first, the society needs to strengthen food education, that is, the popularization of food and nutrition; second, strengthen the publicity of residents' dietary guidelines, so that more people can understand and use them; third, strengthen the popularization of science for consumption hotspots in the market such as new ingredients and new functions, and guide people's healthy and correct consumption behavior.