Diversified Development and Application of Solid Beverages
May 17, 2024
Beverages are essential foods in modern life, and solid drinks are highly favored by consumers due to their economic price, convenient use, ease of production and storage. Due to the unique characteristics of solid beverages, they have achieved rapid development in recent years. Substitution, snacks, and functionalization of solid beverages have provided businesses and ordinary consumers with more diverse choices. In the field of ready to sell beverages, solid beverages serve as the basic ingredient, injecting new vitality into leisure drinks.
The main consumption scenarios for solid beverage products are supermarkets and convenience stores, which are the easiest places for ordinary consumers to buy. Convenience stores are located in many communities, CBDs, and schools.
In addition, on-site machines in restaurants, schools, shops, and hotels are places where you can enjoy solid beverage products.
01
Diversified Development of Solid Beverages
The first is the trend analysis report of the Tmall food industry, which shows that substitute food is favored by young consumers. The proportion of consumption in new first and second tier cities is close to 50%. In terms of sales volume and number of consumers, the overall sales of substitute food are steadily increasing and showing a growth rate of over 50%. It has been replaced by the post-95s and has already occupied the main consumer position.
The second is the trend towards snacks. Snacks are not just for eating, they should also have a drinking function, which may be related to the lifestyle habits of young people nowadays. For example, when they are unwilling to go out at home, they tend to store things at home.
In the process of snacks, businesses also adopt many forms of promotion, such as the slogan of "fragrant and floating", which means drinking "fragrant and floating" when feeling hungry and sleepy. In this way of promotion, the role it carries is more important, and the value of the product also diminishes the role of the beverage.
The third is functionalization, which is necessary for both the exercise population and the vitamin compensation population to compensate for the vitamins and electrolyte components needed by the body.
In addition, in the past two years, it can be seen that there are more and more production enterprises of probiotics, indicating that it is a very hot thing. In the same situation, while launching these probiotic solid beverage products, they also gave some suggestions, such as tearing them open and pouring them into the mouth to eat directly, which can solve the functional issues of intestinal health that we often talk about, and is also called the direction of functionalization.
The fourth is the application of solid beverages in the field of ready to sell beverages. Cocoa and matcha are the most commonly used products in the ready-made beverage industry. Usually, these products are made with pre mixed powder, especially in winter when people prefer hot drinks, which can bring a more mellow feeling.
In addition, there are creative ideas for flavored solid drinks and fruit and vegetable drinks, as well as the combination of ginger and red dates in fruit tea or fruits and vegetables.
02
New directions for the development of solid beverage products
The first is to adapt to the new needs of the consumer population. Nielsen's research has found that the post-90s generation and the silver haired population are the two major groups worth paying attention to. From the perspective of consumption willingness, the post-90s generation has the highest consumption willingness among all age groups, and it is expected that their contribution to consumption growth will reach 20% by 2030. China's silver haired population is 250 million, and it is expected that by 2030, the silver haired population will account for 25% of the total population. As the monthly income of silver haired individuals increases, their willingness to consume is also constantly increasing.
The post-90s generation pays more attention to themselves and is more willing to showcase their individuality, which is one of the main reasons for the rise of niche brands in the past two years, such as self heating hot pot, cocktails, and other products. The development of new solid beverage products should also increase the development of creative products, such as fruit flavored solid beverages that can adjust with temperature, self heating cup filled milk tea, salted egg yolk flavored solid beverages, etc., and be accompanied by appropriate social network marketing to meet these consumer groups.
In the 2019 Global Food and Beverage Trends Report by Yingminte, it was pointed out that healthy aging is becoming a crucial issue in the food and beverage industry, and a new opportunity for the industry. According to data from Yingminte, 72% of Chinese consumers aged 55 and above regularly exercise to maintain their health, while elderly consumers hope to benefit from the products they purchase or consume in terms of diet.
The development of new solid beverage products can be based on the concept of "healthy aging", developing products that help elderly people stay active, alleviate physical discomfort, improve flexibility, and focus on bone and joint health, which are beneficial to the immune system and brain health. Solid beverage products can selectively add functional substances such as collagen, theanine, complex vitamins, choline, omega-3, etc., and endow them with good flavor characteristics.
Secondly, there should be new flavors. According to research by Yingminte, 25% of Chinese consumers want to drink more floral tea in the future. Consumers are also interested in non tea floral flavored beverages and have a good impression of flowers, considering them as natural and fresh seasoning agents.
A study by Yingminte shows that 32% of Chinese soft drink consumers are interested in floral flavored carbonated soft drinks. The Global New Product Database (GNPD) of Yingminte shows that new floral flavored beverages in China are on the rise. In 2018, 28% of newly launched beverages were floral flavored, while in 2014, this proportion was only 15%. Specifically, in the field of instant coffee beverage products, globally, adding fruit flavor and aroma to coffee and developing "fruit coffee" products are emerging trends, such as grapefruit flavored instant coffee.
For a long time, Chinese people have been using herbs as medicine, and the Compendium of Materia Medica also notes that some flowers can effectively improve health, such as chrysanthemums, roses, and honeysuckle. 33% of Chinese soft drink consumers are interested in innovative soft drink products containing herbal ingredients. The development of new solid beverage products can utilize people's understanding of flowers, develop corresponding solid beverage products, and design healthy and natural packaging images of floral ingredients to attract consumers who pursue health benefits.
In addition, solid beverages can better protect functional components, especially active substances, compared to liquid beverages. The development of solid beverage products can take advantage of this advantage and better apply new food raw materials with the same origin as medicine and food to the development of solid beverage products.
The third effort is to develop plant-based products. In 2016, oat milk became popular in the European and American markets. Mintel data shows that from April 2017 to March 2018, oat based plant-based drinks and yogurt accounted for 14.8%, compared to only 9.8% during the same period. Oat, coconut, and almond kernels became the three star growth ingredients.
Shaanxi Huike Botanical Development Co., Ltd. a integrated enterprise which is focus on natural products, plant extract related products and services.We mainly focus on pharmaceutical, functional food, Freeze-dried powder,Natural Pigment,Homology of medicine and food,beverages and other business services.
Email:sales8@huikes.com
2024-05-17
Shaanxi Huike Botanical Development Co., Ltd.
