"Health" will become the main theme of food and beverage innovation

Into 2023, the three-year suspension of social life has been restarted, and the "recovery" of economic and social has become the keyword of this year. At the same time, however, "uncertainty" continues and will gradually become the new normal. What will happen to the consumer market in this turbulent and unknown environment? Among them, is the food and beverage track still available? And how to push forward, explore new life? We spoke with Chang Liu, a Chinese food and beverage finance analyst.

Liu Chang, the gold analyst of Wind and 21st Century, has been shortlisted in the New Fortune and Crystal Ball awards for many times. Keen to deeply analyze the long-term development trend of the food and beverage industry, have their own unique insights in different subdivisions of food and beverage tracks, established a number of industry analysis framework models, self-created "China consumption clock", "liquor industry spring model", "food industry impossible triangle", "seasoning industry high valuation of the five forces model" and other theoretical frameworks. Deeply grasp the logic and trend of food and beverage investment, and make the theory and practice simple.

As the main driving force of economic growth, consumption is an important force point to promote the current economic operation to return to the right track. Liu Chang said that "food is the day of the people", as a major existence of the food industry, with its "fundamental nature of human survival", it is expected that the overall tone of 2023 is still strong.

"Although the New Year has arrived, the health threat of the epidemic has not really disappeared, and the long-term accumulation of mental internal friction makes people need to find an emotional outlet, and consumption is exactly a perfect carrier." Liu Chang said. In his view, at present, people may be more cautious about high consumption, but products such as food and beverages that are approachable but can give high emotional value through the five senses are expected to form a strong rebound in the market.

With the economic recovery, the consumer market has rebounded rapidly, and the competition in the consumer goods market has intensified. Liu Chang pointed out that in 2023, the food and beverage industry will eventually usher in the rotation of the old and the new, the subversion and reshaping of the rules and the establishment of a new order. At the same time, he predicted that food and beverage, as a always vibrant evergreen track, will usher in more and more brands in 2023, and the game between various categories will become more subdivided and intense.

So, in the New Year full of uncertainty, what kind of food and drink do consumers really need? And how should brands find their own definite direction? In response, Liu Chang replied: "This year and even in the future for a long time, there is no doubt that 'health' will become the main theme of food and beverage innovation."

Liu Chang said that with the continuous development of social economy and civilization, people's awareness has been continuously improved and expanded, and new demands have also emerged, among which the demand for food and beverage has gradually derived from the bottom of the survival of food and clothing to the pursuit of physical and mental health. Under the theme of "health", food and beverage companies should follow the trend of product output, only based on the premise of consumers already have a wide range of cognition, based on consumer demand to do deep insight, in order to let consumers willing to pay.

"Product innovation is not innovation for innovation's sake, but a way to help companies achieve differentiation, keep their brands alive at all times, and continue to communicate with consumers." Liu Chang said. He took Wanglao Ji new products as an example, to tell the story: "Wanglao Ji for the needs of consumers scientific hydration, launched the sea salt lychee electrolyte beverage, add real lychee juice, especially add vitamin E, vitamin B6 and other nutrients, can make up for the loss of electrolytes after sweating, to achieve a more rapid hydration effect." The launch of this new product not only further meets the consumer group's demand for healthy and delicious food, but also enricheth Wanglaoji's concept of 'big health' drinks." At the same time, Liu Chang also pointed out that the logic of Wanglaoji to create new products cannot be separated from its internal and external full-link innovation mechanism, that is, through understanding the real needs of consumers, efficient research and development in line with market demand, to achieve differentiated product layout.

At the end of the interview, Liu Chang said: "In the field of food and beverage, the concept of healthy living and healthy diet continues to heat up, and foods with the characteristics of 'sugar-free', 'organic', 'all-natural' and 'zero addition' will be favored." He said that companies in the food and beverage industry should continue to embrace "long-term ism", rebuild consumer confidence with keen market insight, continuous innovation and sincerity to consumers, pry up the lever of recovery and revitalization, and jointly meet the long-awaited three-year momentum restart!