Chinese-style nourishing food stands on the cusp of the new era

Staying up late, socializing, eating irregularly.
.
.
The high-intensity pace of life makes sub-health problems more and more common
among young people.
Under the problem of various health problems, young people have also begun to seek new "weapons" to solve problems, among which traditional Chinese tonics represented by ejiao, Ganoderma lucidum, ginseng, etc.
, which have accumulated thousands of years of history and culture, are favored
.
At the same time, how to better meet the changing needs of modern consumers is the main problem
faced by the modernization of the Chinese nourishing food industry.

Health nourishment sets off the "national tide wind"

In recent years, topics related to "health and wellness" have been discussed on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin
.
According to relevant statistics, in 2020, the scale of China's health food market exceeded 800 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2025, and China is becoming the world's largest health food consumption market
.
Among them, Chinese tonic food as an alternative "functional health food" is quietly emerging
.

In Chinese tonic foods, there are many products that belong to medicinal and food homologous substances
.
It is reported that "medicinal and food homologous" refers to many foods that are drugs, there is no absolute dividing line between them, ginseng, ejiao, yam, jujube, ginger, black sesame and other well-known foods are medicinal and food homologous substances, has been clearly included in the health commission into the medicinal and food homologous catalog, can be sold as food or traditional Chinese medicine
.
Nowadays, the list of medicinal and food homologous is gradually expanding and improving, and the distance between consumers and medicinal and food homologous products and Chinese tonic products is gradually shortening
.

At present, the brands in the Chinese tonic food track that use medicine and food as ingredients can be divided into two categories, one is the traditional time-honored brands represented by Tongrentang, Dong'a Jiao, Laojin Mofang, Qilixiang, etc.
, and the other is new brands
such as Neiwen, Qioli, GENBEN Gengen, SHANGONG Xiaoshan, and Fangfang.

In recent years, Chinese-style nourishing foods have regained the favor
of consumers.
A well-known institution sampled consumers under the age of 40 in first- and second-tier cities, and the results showed that up to 89% of young people chose Chinese-style tonics (raw materials, snacks) in the past year, compared with exercise (60%) and Western-style health care (58%), Chinese-style nourishing foods ranked first
in Chinese people's health solutions with absolute advantages.

How did Chinese nourishing food break through the siege? Industry insiders analysis, in recent years, all walks of life have blown the "national tide wind", a new generation of consumers have a strong sense of national culture, domestic products and products with Chinese cultural attributes will also have a natural good impression, Chinese nourishing food, which contains thousands of years of Chinese health wisdom products, naturally riding this "national tide wind" to regain favor.

In addition, good policy support, the rise of the national economic level, the enhancement of national health awareness, and the improvement of food industry production and processing technology have also laid a "highway"
for the development of the Chinese nourishing food industry.

Under all kinds of advantages, Chinese-style nourishing food has undoubtedly become a "potential stock", attracting major brands to "increase the code" layout
.
First of all, Tongrentang launched the health coffee brand "Zhima Health", and launched a series of drinks
such as goji latte, monk fruit American style, motherwort rose latte and so on in the model of "coffee + Chinese medicinal materials".
Subsequently, Dongea Ejiao began its digital transformation, deepened cooperation with e-commerce platforms, and at the same time created new products such as Dong Ejiao powder and developed new categories of Ejiao bird's nest
.
In 2021, bird's nest brand Xiaoxian Stew completed the C round of financing, the fish maw brand Guantan obtained a pre-B round of financing of more than 100 million yuan, and some new brands eyed ginseng, goji berries and other ingredients, and began to enter the Chinese nourishing food track
.

Seize the "new track" and actively "look to the future"

With the passage of time, consumers' sense of identification with Chinese nourishing foods has also increased, and major brands have gradually acquired a certain consumer base
.
However, at present, the brand concentration in China's nourishing market is low, and there is no absolute head brand; The market structure is relatively fragmented, and new and old brands are forming a new competitive pattern
.
It can be said that Chinese nourishing food is a chance track
that is just starting out.

So, what kind of "new tricks" can Chinese nourishing food brands play in the future?

Ready-to-eat and snack-based to meet the diverse requirements of young people With the accelerating pace of life and the rapid rise of a new generation of young consumers, they who pursue trends and are afraid of trouble prefer to be able to supplement "anytime, anywhere", requiring health food to be as convenient and delicious as snacks, and focusing on the taste of tonics even exceeds the efficacy and ingredients
.
Industry insiders suggest that in order to comply with consumer trends, brands can make Chinese nourishing foods instant and snacking, and package them into delicious trendy snacks
.
The nourishing snack brand SHAN Palace Snack combines chocolate with freeze-dried ginseng to launch the "Original Cut Ginseng" snack tonic; Yanzhiya launched "Fresh Bubbled Bird's Nest" to improve the ready-to-eat properties of products with the blessing of freeze-drying technology
.

Break image cognition and create "Chinese-style tonic +" Industry insiders pointed out that Chinese tonic food and different food or beverage "group CP" can give consumers newer and more diverse choices, enrich the taste of products while further reducing consumers' purchase threshold
.
The plant drink "One Whole" puts a whole whole stick of Changbaishan ginseng into the bottle, and the relatively low price breaks consumers' previous image perception of ginseng as expensive, extravagant and unreachable, attracting a large number of consumers to buy and check in
.

Seek authoritative certification and establish product image In order to avoid leaving consumers with the impression of "IQ tax", industry insiders recommend that brands find "backers"
for products.
Guan Zhan and South China Agricultural University jointly established the Fish Min Nutrition Safety Research Center to study and analyze the nutritional structure and absorption mechanism of fish maw, so that the effectiveness of fish maw products can be verified and consumers' concerns
about whether fish maw has nourishing effects.
Guangdong herbal tea brand Qingxintang cooperates with industry experts and a number of Chinese medicine universities, focusing on the healthy life needs of young people, relying on national non-genetic inheritance formulas, traditional Chinese medicine master formulas, modern Chinese medicine formulas, etc.
, to launch products that meet the tastes of young people, such as "Moisture Removal Vitality Milk Jelly" and "Moisture Removal Grand Slam", which have received a lot of praise
on platforms such as Dianping and Meituan.

Industry insiders pointed out that Chinese-style nourishing food is returning to people's vision with a new product form and has become a current trend
.
At present, the entire market is still in the blue ocean period, and in the future, brands want to be irreplaceable in the hearts of consumers, and can focus on combining the long-standing Chinese health culture and brand to create a unique oriental health culture
.
Industry insiders also remind that in this track, consumers are not guided by absolute prices, or even accept and are willing to pay higher
premiums.
This means that consumers will pay more attention to the brand's products, services, content, concepts, etc
.
when consuming.

(Gao Jiaodi, comprehensive arrangement)

China Food News(December 26, 2022, Version 02)

(Responsible editor: Gao Jiaodi)