Uncertain 2023, how should food and beverage firmly move forward?

It can be seen that although there are still many variables in the consumer market in 2023, the food and beverage industry is expected to release more consumer demand, and the growth of the overall market is expected.

The dilemma of the new normal

We are optimistic about the overall development of the food and beverage industry in 2023, but we also have to admit that the suspended three years have already brought multiple pressures to the survival and development of many food companies, consumer behavior changes, capital is cold... The brand is facing one predicament after another.

However, "good luck and bad luck coexist with crisis", many times the secret of success depends not only on the environment, but also on the judgment of the environment and the insight behind the essence.

(1) The pursuit of cost performance = consumption downgrade?

In the food circle in 2022, the front foot of the upcoming food is just hot, and the back foot of the leftover food is rising one after another; Among the major e-commerce platforms, Pinjoduo, once at the bottom of the "despise chain", saw its revenue in the third quarter of 2022 increase by 65% over the same period last year to 35.5 billion yuan, much higher than Alibaba's 3% and Jingdong's 11.4%, achieving a perfect counterattack.

Whether it is imminent and scraps of food, or pinduoduo, there seems to be a common label, that is, "low price", which also prompted many people to clamor for "consumption downgrade".

But is this really the case?

Simply equating the pursuit of low prices with lower consumption, as well as packaging products as a symbol of "consumption upgrade" by many new consumer brands in recent years, relying only on gorgeous appearance, high prices and eye-catching stunts, is too simple and rude.

With the increasing maturity of the consumption mind of a new generation of consumers, they increasingly understand what they really need, rather than the purchase impulse advocated by brand education, and their consumption behavior begins to be rationalized, thus completing the cognitive leap from "want" to "need".

As a result, consumer demand for products has also evolved from one stimulus point to a systematic consumption experience connected by quality, price, service, emotion, etc., to achieve the true sense of the past many new consumer brands repeatedly emphasized the "self", that is, from the real needs to provide and meet the real emotional value.

It can be seen that the current situation is not only a consumption downgrade, but in a sense more like a consumption upgrade.

McKinsey's latest McKinsey China Consumer Report 2023 also expressed a similar view: The Chinese consumer market shows a consumption trend of "smarter choices, consumption is not downgraded", consumers do not compromise in the choice of brands and products, but more careful to make trade-offs, and more actively seek discounts and promotions.

After all, no one is willing to be a sucker, to be cut chives again and again, and those who are used to lazy in product and brand construction, do not respect and Revere consumers' brands will eventually rise quickly with the fleeting air outlet and quickly dissipate.

Therefore, in 2023, please give up the appearance, rough, rough products and brand management model, abandon the arrogance in the bone, cherish the heart of humility and reverence, truly "user-centered" fully land, and think about brand upgrading based on the real emotional needs of users.

(2) Capital departure = consumption cold?

Another big event in 2022 will be the departure of capital.

According to the "Annual Inventory of Consumption and Investment in 2022" jointly released by Li Jin and Niu data, the number of investment and financing events in the consumer industry in 2022 fell sharply, with only 982 cases throughout the year, a year-on-year decline of 43%. While food and beverage remained a popular investment track in the consumer sector, there were 240 fewer investments overall than last year, and 102 fewer investments in the catering sector.

When the hot money receded, many people panicked and worried that the winter of new consumption was coming.

In fact, consumption has always been there, and before the influx of capital, the track was alive and well, and it has been steadily accelerating.

Only in the past period of time, many investors who fled the TMT field poured into new consumption with a large amount of money, and they reused the logic of investing in TMT, which brought subversive impact to the industry but also distorted and drastic changes in the mentality of many industry insiders.

However, there are essential differences between consumption and the Internet in business logic.

As a long slope and thick snow track, the mind of consumers can not easily seize in the day and night, and ultimately need to return to the product itself, the brand needs to rely on the real products, in the interactive time of constant communication and dialogue with consumers to moisten their hearts bit by bit, forming a unique brand imprint.