As the beverage peak season approaches, various beverage brands have begun to unveil new products. This year, Nongfu Spring has focused on packaging, bringing consumers a series of 250ml mini bottles, including tea π, Nongfu Orchard, Water-soluble C, and Vitamin Water. In fact, as early as 2019, Nongfu Spring successively launched 350ml Oriental Small Leaf and 250ml Tan Bing Coffee. By now, Nongfu Spring has introduced mini sizes across juice, tea drinks, and functional beverages. It seems that this year, Nongfu Spring aims to attract young consumers through changes in packaging specifications. But can this beverage series, dubbed the 'happy source bottle,' become a hit? Mini packaging is not a new concept; Oreo introduced mini packaging many years ago. In the beverage industry, Coca-Cola was among the earliest to launch mini packaging, with brands like Minute Maid, Fanta, Coca-Cola, and Sprite all having mini versions. Additionally, Pepsi, 7UP, and Master Kong have also offered mini bottles. -01- Why Are Beverage Packages Shrinking? A key reason brands introduce mini bottles is the hope of increasing transaction volume by reducing packaging size, and even allowing consumers to sample more flavors simultaneously. Beverage brands consider the following points when launching mini sizes: First, changing consumption habits. As consumers become more health-conscious, they are more cautious about sugary and carbonated drinks. However, their demand for beverages hasn't waned. Thus, mini bottles with smaller capacities can satisfy both health and taste needs. Second, satisfying the desire to try new things. For instance, with Nongfu Spring, a consumer who hasn't tried tea π might buy a 250ml mini bottle to sample it. For heavy users of Nongfu Spring beverages, they might simultaneously enjoy multiple 250ml drinks of different flavors. From a consumption scenario perspective, mini bottles are easy to carry. They can fit in pockets or small bags, and are suitable for more occasions such as dates, parties, meetings, and travel. -02- Big Mizone and Small Coke Packaging of different beverage brands often reflects their product characteristics and consumer appeals. Mizone and Coca-Cola present a stark contrast. Mizone has always focused on large-format, wide-mouth bottles, and later introduced a 'guzzle' size. This is because Mizone, as a functional beverage, though not specifically marketed for sports, is often the first choice for consumers during exercise or travel. After intense physical activity, the body needs more water and sugar. Compared to tasteless water or stimulating fruit juices and carbonated drinks, Mizone's sugar content is just right for post-exertion consumption, and its wide-mouth, large-capacity design satisfies the need for a refreshing drink after sports. In contrast, Coca-Cola introduced mini packaging early on, including both bottled and canned versions, and even 190ml mini packs abroad. Not only Coca-Cola and Sprite, but also Minute Maid and Fanta under Coca-Cola have mini versions that are very popular among consumers. As the world's most famous century-old beverage, Coca-Cola's brand is deeply ingrained. Even though global carbonated drink sales are declining, it doesn't stop consumers from buying Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola focuses more on brand extension. Its packaging designs are classic, widely recognized and even collected by consumers. Whether for solo drinking or social occasions, dining or festivals, Coca-Cola is a staple beverage. Coca-Cola's mini bottles are more about collectibility. Some say that tomorrow might lack apples, but never Coca-Cola; even if carbonated drinks are unhealthy, consumers still choose Coca-Cola. That's the charm of the brand. Mizone getting bigger and Coke getting smaller is determined by their brand and product characteristics. Mizone is a functional beverage with moderate sweetness, suitable for sports and outdoor scenarios to replenish fluids and recover energy, thus favoring larger packaging. This relates to product attributes and usage scenarios. -03- Why Does Nongfu Spring Launch Mini Bottles? Back to the domestic market, Nongfu Spring, as a well-known local Chinese brand, is also loved by consumers, but it hasn't taken a leading position in the beverage category. Many new beverage products launched by Nongfu Spring in recent years have been praised but not profitable. Even after tea π, Nongfu Spring hasn't had standout drinks; for example, the launched Da Nai Cha (milk tea) faded away after brief popularity. Meanwhile, with the rise of new categories and brands like Genki Forest, Hankou No.2 Factory, soda water, and milk tea, Nongfu Spring's beverage series faces immense market competition pressure. Under intense market competition, Nongfu Spring's launch of mini bottles is undoubtedly an attempt to enhance market competitiveness by increasing SKU count. After all, in the beverage category, the number of consumers won't increase much; the same people still drink beverages. So, Nongfu Spring's mini bottles are a supplement to specifications and a re-mining of consumer groups. Another reason is the complementarity between off-peak and peak seasons. Mini bottles, also known as hand-warming bottles, suit winter scenarios and can be placed in small warmers at terminal store checkouts. For example, Suntory's tea and coffee brands have launched small packages suitable for warmers. Nongfu Spring's mini bottles are more suitable for off-season sales, extending beverage sales time. In peak season, small packages appeal to health-conscious consumers with cravings. Meanwhile, the main consumer group for beverages is young people. For them, even mature brands must maintain youthful vitality and attitude to continuously attract their attention. Adding small packages and refreshing packaging design is also a way to express a brand's youthful attitude. Coca-Cola, in its 138-year history, has maintained youthfulness by constantly chasing trends of different eras, undergoing over 150 packaging iterations and renewals. In the upcoming beverage peak season, facing Coca-Cola, Genki Forest, and other innovative brands, Nongfu Spring's mini bottles don't seem to have a significant advantage. Mini bottles are not the future trend of beverage packaging. In the beverage category, mainstream packaging remains between 450ml and 600ml. Whether making larger or smaller sizes is just a supplement to SKU count, enriching the product line. Expert Commentary: Small Packaging, Big Brand Zhang Yuzheng, an expert in product and packaging design and founder of Zishan Marketing, stated: "Beverage brands launching mini bottles is essentially a new product promotion. Currently, most companies focus on how to launch new products, but the harder part is how to rejuvenate old products. Coca-Cola has always treated old products as new ones." For example, by changing packaging specifications to launch mini bottles and cans, and using packaging marketing to attract more consumers, such as lyric bottles, confession bottles, and commemorative cans. In contrast, Chinese companies are very conflicted about launching new products, fearing losing old customers and being called old-fashioned by young people. Therefore, many companies, under the banner of catering to young consumers, add flavors, change packaging, and create social attributes, but few succeed. Even after a wave of new products, consumers still prefer old ones. Why? This is because the essence of all marketing is to build strong brand power. While making small packaging, it's more important to build a big brand. Every successful packaging change by Coca-Cola is always based on brand building, upgrading the brand to meet changing consumer demands. Look at the confession bottles and lyric bottles; Coca-Cola no longer promotes them because the hype has passed and consumers' novelty has faded. But Coca-Cola's brand influence hasn't. For adjustments and changes in FMCG packaging, another crucial aspect is that creativity must revolve around the core packaging elements endowed by the brand. For FMCG, especially beverages, packaging needs to be diverse, constantly changing and innovating. But more importantly, the brand's core elements in packaging must be consistently implemented, serving as the visual core, highlighting brand characteristics while achieving strong brand visual impact. Red is Coca-Cola's main color, blue is Pepsi's. No matter how their packaging changes, they never deviate from their brand's main color. Observant consumers can notice that Coca-Cola's first Zero Sugar Coke had black packaging, very cool, but now the main color of Zero packaging has returned to red. Because red is Coca-Cola's eternal symbol. No matter how small or attractive the packaging, it must not lose the brand's core. For example, on supermarket beverage shelves, when we see a stretch of red or blue from afar, we know it's Coca-Cola or Pepsi. For bottled water, a shelf with red caps and red waist labels is definitely Nongfu Spring. Look at Evian and Perrier; although they are old brands, they still hold a place in consumers' minds because their packaging and main colors have barely changed. This is the power of brand symbols for strong shelf recognition. Product packaging is about showcasing the most important part of the brand to others. If this is missing, no matter how mini or exquisite the packaging, it might be trendy for a while but will soon be forgotten. For example, the trendy 'guochao' (national trend) style in recent years. Think carefully, besides the Palace Museum IP, how many product brands can we remember? How to use packaging to sustain the brand and make consumers remember it, and how to retain useful elements, requires serious brand consideration. As the beverage peak season approaches, whether Nongfu Spring's mini bottles will be accepted by consumers may only be answered by the market.