“Addictions” have to keep up the trend
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “Blueberry Finance” (ID: ITparty), Author: blueberry king.
The most topical topic in the domestic coffee market in the past two years has been Luckin. Some people complained that it made false accounts to cheat others, and some people joked that it cut American leeks. In three years, from his birth to the NASDAQ listing, and then to the delisting of the company’s financial fraud, I really saw him rising up, seeing his banquet guests, seeing his building collapse.
Although Luckin suffered a temporary setback, his education of the Chinese coffee market is undeniable to a certain extent. It has smashed the 1 billion consumers who are starting to drink coffee and may forget it someday The company that invited them to drink coffee is called Luckin, but they will not forget free and coffee.
“It used to be difficult for the sea to be water, except Wushan is not a cloud.” Consumers who have become accustomed to the taste of freshly ground coffee, faced with instant coffee filled with creamer and sugar, feel that this thing is really not very healthy, let alone the flavor. .
Consumers also know very well that although the price of freshly ground coffee is high, it tastes good and healthy, and the instant is convenient and easy to get, but the price is low, but the health and taste are not good. Facing the polarized market, a relatively “moderate” product is needed. To supply this need.
The big waves wash away the sand, leaving behind gold or sand
The changes in consumer demand correspond to the three waves in the history of the coffee industry.
The first time was the coffee instant coffee promoted by Nestlé. With its instant coffee products and its self-developed coffee capsule machine patent, Nestlé has promoted the development of coffee from an unstable agricultural product to a standardized business Products, relying on the convenience and speed of its instant products, Nestlé easily occupied a huge market share for a while.
The second time is Starbucks’ leading coffee boutique. Starbucks uses heavily roasted high-quality coffee beans to enhance the coffee taste, while providing customers with a high-quality service experience, and proposing the concept of “third space” to instill specialty coffee to consumers The added value of, its superior store location and exquisite decoration have given Starbucks a veil of petty bourgeoisie. So far, coffee has emotional and social attributes.
The third time is the re-upgrade of specialty coffee. The emergence of specialty hand brewed coffee. The coffee beans have different flavors and grades due to different origins like wine. The barista’s production methods are demanding. This upgrade Coffee has been pushed to the height of art, adding aesthetic attributes to coffee, but there is nothing cheap with art, and the price of fine hand-made coffee is rising.
You can see the order of coffee in the three wavesPrices have undergone a consumption upgrade, and demand has also shifted from the initial quickness and convenience to flavor quality. The selection of raw materials has become more stringent and the production process has become more complicated. The attributes of coffee have also extended social attributes and characteristics based on its functionality. Cultural attributes.
Coffee is no longer just coffee, it has become something more like IP. There are many cultures and stories behind it. Consumers’ pursuit of coffee is no longer just delicious with milk and sugar in the past, more and more People began to understand the coffee culture, and pursued the origin, roasting degree, and brewing methods of coffee beans. They have progressed from drinking coffee to tasting coffee.
This has spawned a number of independent boutique cafes to meet market demand. These independent cafes are roasted to varying degrees by the managers of high-quality coffee beans, and professional baristas are invited to brew them. These independent cafes The price of a single cup of boutique cafes is 29-42 yuan, so it often depends on the market demand of first- and second-tier cities to survive.
This kind of small and beautiful cafe is difficult to achieve a breakthrough in scale, and it is even weaker to respond to the sinking market. It is still fast and convenient instant coffee that occupies half of the Chinese coffee consumer market.
After the three waves, consumers have obviously become dissatisfied with fast and convenient coffee. The quality requirements for coffee are gradually increasing. Instant coffee brands must find their own position in the new market demand to continue to shine.
Gold mine under the iceberg
In 2018 and 2019, the instant coffee market accounted for more than 60% of the total coffee market. If the Chinese coffee consumer market is an iceberg, then the instant coffee market is hidden under the water.
However, in recent years, the market share of instant coffee has been declining slowly. In the face of the impact of the upgraded specialty coffee industry, how to hold the market share and realize the boutique without losing the convenience of instant coffee has become an urgent need for the industry to solve The problem, instant coffee needs to upgrade its face and lining.
A batch of “premium + instant” brands emerged in the instant market, such as Sandunban, Yongpu, Sumidagawa, Shicui, etc. These new brands have younger ideas. Most of them rely on online shopping malls to survive and are willing to listen to consumers. The need to adjust the direction of the enterprise, as consumers began to care about the flavor quality and spiritual culture of coffee, and their sensitivity to prices decreased, they aimed at the 4-8 yuan range that was previously in the vacuum zone of instant coffee prices and started playing games.
Take Santon Ban and Yong Pu as an example. Before the taste change, they generally used a 3-in-1 formula for instant coffee. They discarded creamer and sugar and only kept coffee. The problem they faced was that they lost milk and The taste of sugar is harmonized, and the taste of the coffee itself is not covered, and the advantages and disadvantages will be exposed. For this reason, they chose SCA80+ (Specialty Coffee Association of America) coffee beans as raw materials. SCA’s scoring standard is for the aroma, flavor and aftertaste of coffee beans. , Acidity, balance, blemish beans are allThere are specific requirements, 80 points have reached the standard of fine coffee beans.
In the processing technology of coffee beans, both brands have freeze-dried powder products. This technology uses low-temperature cold extraction of roasted coffee beans, and then uses freeze-drying technology to sublimate the moisture in the extract The freeze-drying technology makes the coffee powder form a sponge-like loose and porous structure while ensuring less flavor loss, which is convenient for the product to dissolve in water quickly.
The three and a half times on the taste distinguishes the flavor of the product with the different roasting levels of No. 1-6, while Yongpu uses a “flash extraction” technology to introduce different flavors of 10 times concentrated extract products. The technical principle is to first use high-temperature extraction to achieve the effect of sterilization, and then cool, lock and package for sale.
Good packaging is a walking billboard. The two companies also spent a lot of time on product packaging. The three and a half mini coffee cups won the German Red Dot Packaging Design Award. Yongpu’s small flying saucer packaging is very popular among consumers. According to statistics, many customers who bought Sandton and Yongpu said that their packaging is “cool” and “trend”.
Circle powder should not only rely on appearance, but also on content. With the blessing of high-quality coffee beans and advanced technology, the taste of high-quality instant coffee is close to the taste of freshly ground coffee. The content of the product is planned by both parties. The return flight plan, users can use empty cans to redeem new coffee or peripheral products such as cups, mobile phone cases, blind boxes, gashapons, etc. After the launch of the event, a wave of heated discussions has occurred. Searching for the return flight plan on social platforms can see many consumers The “Returning Strategy” posted.
This activity has shaped the brand image and made the products play social attributes, and at the same time increased the repurchase rate of the product and the user stickiness of the brand. The user’s use of the product with the brand logo is also a kind of publicity. In this Internet celebrity economy In this era, it is unreasonable that social media is not popular.
Three and a half of them. During the 618 period this year, Tmall’s sales surpassed the traditional giants Nestlé and Starbucks, taking the first place in the sales volume of the major categories. In addition, according to the Tianyan Check APP, it was completed on September 2 by Sequoia Capital. , Fengrui Capital led the investment of over 100 million Series B financing; Yongpu ranked first in the Tmall coffee liquid category in sales during Double Eleven this year, and completed the investment led by Jinding Capital on December 30 Ten million-level A+ round of financing.
Run the next new track for listed domestic products
On the one hand, the brand culture is very hot, but after all, it must return to the product itself. Although the taste of fine instant coffee is close to that of freshly ground coffee, the gap still exists.
Limited by technology, although freeze-drying does not contain water and is convenient for storage, it is still unsatisfactory in terms of flavor loss and solubility. Three and a half advertised water or milk will melt in 3 seconds regardless of cold or hot. In practice The dissolution speed of cold milk cannot reach the 3 second requirement, and occasionally there may be small lumps.
An extract with good solubility has a problem that cannot be bypassed, that is, the shelf life of the liquid. If the coffee liquid is obtained by cold extraction under the premise of no additives, it is easy to deteriorate without sterilization and needs to be stored in refrigeration. , The portability of the product is greatly reduced. This problem can be solved by high-temperature extraction. High temperature can achieve the sterilization effect, but the flavor of the coffee will inevitably be lost during the sterilization process. The portability and flavor preserve fish and bears. Do not have both.
In the past, technology was used as a roadblock, and then there were competitors who continued to join in. The boutique instant brands that received financing faced the newly heated market. On the one hand, they must constantly polish their products to attract consumers. Put your energy to build a moat to deal with the late competitors on the same track.
Among them, there are many offline boutique coffee shops that are new to the track. These boutique cafes that have a certain fan base are also handy for Internet gameplay. Among them, Fisheye Coffee, which has many stores in Beijing and Shanghai, is in ” After “On the Internet”, he planned live webcasts in offline stores and online appointments for offline tasting activities, focusing on three and a half meals and Yongpu in the increasingly crowded track. Can they continue to lead the way to the end?
In addition to these problems, the instant coffee market is also being squeezed by the freshly ground coffee market. Various market problems currently faced by freshly ground coffee are gradually being solved. Data shows that domestic freshly ground coffee consumption is growing rapidly. , Has increased from 5.7 billion yuan in 2013 to 39 billion yuan in 2018, and it is predicted that it will continue to increase in the future.
Faced with the squeeze in the market, competition with brands in the track, and product technology barriers, there are still many tasks that need to be completed for the newly-financed boutique instant brands, although they have already improved the taste and Social attributes have opened up a new subdivision track, but this track will soon become a red sea due to the entry of capital, and the competition for boutique instant brands will become more intense.
As Buffett said: “If you are on the wrong road, it’s useless to run.” Not afraid of a small market, but afraid of choosing the wrong market. And now listed companies are getting youngerIn the modernized environment, a “dark horse” Bubble Mart has emerged in the trendy play market. Will the next domestic company to ring the bell be born on the boutique instant coffee track?