If you study Nongfu Spring closely, you'll notice a peculiar trait: once they secure a market position, they hold it firmly. Regardless of market shifts or competitor changes, their sales only move upward—sometimes faster, sometimes slower—but rarely decline. According to third-party data, this milk tea, launched just over a month ago, sold tens of thousands of cases online during the Double 11 shopping festival without any celebrity endorsements or advertising. Offline, Shanghai FamilyMart convenience stores sold 80 bottles a day, and a single store at Suzhou Wenxing Plaza sold as many as 89 bottles, achieving a dual explosion in sales and popularity, and quickly becoming the ceiling of bottled milk tea. What accounts for this? What product logic, new product development thinking, and accumulated expertise does this reflect for Nongfu Spring? ****Exploring Nongfu Spring's Category Innovation Code from Ingredients, Process, and Aesthetics Many industry insiders call Nongfu Spring the creator of super single products, with new launches often peaking at debut, setting an example for every beverage company to learn from. Observant consumers will also notice that Nongfu Spring's products share three characteristics: meticulous ingredient selection with natural health as a prerequisite; production processes that leverage decades of accumulated expertise applicable across multiple products; and packaging with high aesthetic appeal and craft-like designs that instantly trigger purchase desire. Take the recently launched Da Nai Cha as an example: In terms of ingredients, Da Nai Cha sources high-altitude Yunnan congou black tea, northern Fujian oolong, and jasmine tea leaves for extraction. It uses 100% high-quality concentrated milk without any milk powder, sourced from cows fed natural pasture. Almond flavor is added: high-quality almond paste is incorporated to enhance the nutty aroma and enrich the overall flavor profile. In production, Nongfu Spring uses premium homogenizers. Compared to conventional mixing, the high-pressure action of the homogenizer refines different ingredients, ensuring more uniform and stable blending. The flavors of tea, milk, and almonds merge skillfully, creating a layered yet harmonious taste, resulting in a smooth, aromatic milk tea. High-aesthetic packaging conveys the product's craftsmanship: The packaging design of the Da Nai Cha series draws inspiration from the tea-drinking customs of the Song Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, tea drinking became a trend, and the mainstream method among the populace was the "dian cha" (whisking tea) technique. The "dian cha" method involves slowly pouring boiling water into tea powder in stages while continuously whisking with a bamboo whisk. During this process, the tea liquid and the foam created by whisking form a uniformly rotating vortex on the surface. This is the inspiration for the vortex design on the Da Nai Cha packaging. Additionally, the logo character "打" (da) cleverly deconstructs the radical "扌" into two arrows, further visually representing the collision between two liquids. If the first generation of milk tea used non-dairy creamer to achieve the smooth texture consumers imagined, and the second generation used milk powder, tea powder, and flavorings to partially mimic freshly made milk tea, then Da Nai Cha's six zeros ("0 preservatives", "0 trans fats", "0 non-dairy creamer", "0 tea powder", "0 milk powder", "0 benzoic acid") and low-sugar formula bring bottled milk tea technology into the 3.0 era. Consumers call it "the closest to freshly made milk tea" and "the ceiling of bottled milk tea." In fact, Da Nai Cha's blockbuster model runs through all Nongfu Spring products. For example, Jianjiao's "isotonic" sports drink opened a new track; sparkling water reportedly achieved at least 600 million yuan in sales in half a year; Wuyishan tea-brewing spring water sold over 100 million yuan in GMV online in six months; and Oriental Leaf achieved over 100% growth. Behind these successes lies the epitome of Nongfu Spring's accumulated product innovation philosophy. ****Steady Product Launch Philosophy Leads to Continuous Blockbusters A widely circulated saying within Nongfu Spring is: Greatness is "brewed" over time. This applies to the company, the team, and especially the products. For new product promotion, Nongfu Spring never rushes; they slowly "brew." They treat each new product with the patience of a child, and each consumer like a close friend, influencing them through persistent effort. Can you imagine that the recently popular Da Nai Cha was actually developed seven years ago? And that Oriental Leaf, which holds over 50% market share in unsweetened tea and has been the top brand for years, began market promotion a decade ago? From 2014 to now, with seven years of development and upgrades, Nongfu Spring clearly isn't just adding another milk tea to the market. As a Nongfu Spring spokesperson said: "We develop products to give consumers a healthier choice, not simply to add an SKU." Choice means better, more premium, and healthier. We have a sense of mission in launching new products: after entering the market, does its technological content lead the entire market's manufacturing level, and does it drive industry upgrades? In fact, the "laid-back" approach to new product launches is rooted in deep-seated technology and natural philosophy, in meticulous refinement and repeated polishing of products, and in the belief and persistence of Nongfu Spring employees who endure solitude and resist temptation year after year. The final result: Almost every new Nongfu Spring product either establishes a brand in a category or reshapes industry standards with a new product. More importantly, Nongfu Spring's products have a peculiar trait: once they secure a market position, they hold it firmly, and sales continue to grow—sometimes faster, sometimes slower—but rarely decline. For example, in water, since taking the top spot around 2010, it has never wavered, maintaining leadership for 10 years. For tea π, launched in 2016, it entered the top three in its first year, and despite no major moves since, it still firmly holds a top-three position. For Jianjiao, introduced in 2003, it reportedly hasn't had a single advertisement in 17 years, yet it contributes stable sales every year. In recent years, new products in the market rise quickly but fall even faster. But Nongfu Spring's products, once they rise, are extremely stable. ****Consistent Craftsmanship Philosophy Is Key to Nongfu Spring's Success Looking at its 25-year development, every Nongfu Spring product seems to do the same thing. The product belief has always adhered to "natural, healthy"; the design philosophy has always insisted that every package is unique; advertising has always been classic from the start... For the ready-to-drink milk tea market, the vast young consumer base still lacks a high-quality "industrial street-style milk tea." To fill this gap, Nongfu Spring launched the "Da Nai Cha" series, aiming to provide consumers with a high-quality bottled milk tea option. A senior Nongfu Spring executive once said: "A traditional enterprise that focuses on its professional field for ten, twenty, or more years, accumulating knowledge, processes, standards, traditions, and methods, is its most valuable asset." Indeed, Nongfu Spring has consistently upheld its product beliefs, design philosophy, and communication style, while keeping pace with the needs of younger consumers. Through nearly three decades of practical action, Nongfu Spring has proven that behind its success lies unwavering persistence and dedication to its beliefs. Are you "watching" me?