Last summer, a term describing the budget version of a poor man's meal for drinks went viral—'loser drink' (diaosi drink), with the saying '3 yuan is for face, 4 yuan is for life.' Those 1L low-priced large bottles once thought to be favored by truck drivers and construction workers became synonymous with cost-effectiveness, and the most life-savvy young people are drinking them with style. Who would have thought that before young people could enjoy them to the fullest, loser drinks would already be restless to share a plain life with us losers and raise prices. The highest price for a 1L large bottle is 3.5 yuan, and the lower limit? There is no lower limit; it looks quite like a relative of Suntory's 'Qin x water,' but it's just the plus version. 'Yineng is the real loser drink.' (Image source: Xiaohongshu @我爱肉松面包) Netizens shake their heads and analyze that Yineng defeated the previous king for three reasons: Yineng is cheaper, that's the first win; it's colorless and odorless, so you can bring it into the library, that's the second win; Yineng has two wins, that's the third win. And so on, the new king and old king fall into an infinite loop, and Yineng always wins. A no-name brand with no price lower limit is the real loser drink? Last year, a grand competition for the 'King of Losers' took place. First, someone discovered that 1L jasmine honey tea, with its large capacity, could create infinite possibilities: drink half and add half water to make green tea, drink and add again to become jasmine clear tea, continue to drink and add to transform into Oriental Leaf, and after the last addition of water, it becomes Nongfu Spring 'a bit sweet.' In the end, the competition was won by iced tea, which is nothing more than continuously adding water to drink different flavors; what jasmine honey tea can do, iced tea can naturally do too, only it goes from Vita lemon tea to Nongfu Spring 'a bit sweet.' You then realize that the ultimate king of losers is actually Nongfu Spring purified water; the 'nature's porter' is the hidden king. (Image source: Xiaohongshu @泷) Unexpectedly, this trend had only been blowing for half a year when loser drinks couldn't hold on anymore. Master Kong raised its beverage prices in November last year, which had remained unchanged for over 20 years. Those who understand you always hurt you the most. Now, the 'unknown' sweet water brand 'Yineng' has been dubbed the new 'King of Losers' by netizens, for no other reason than its low price. In 2016, Yineng was established in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Northern beverages have Beibingyang and Dayao, but Shanxi rarely appears. Upon checking, I found that its headquarters is less than 3 kilometers from my hometown. As a native Taiyuan native, at this moment my mouth is grinning so wide it could cross the Fen River. Currently, the most popular product is this 'Mi x water,' which looks like a brother version of Suntory's 'Qin x water,' with transparent cylindrical bottles and fruit packaging paper in corresponding colors; from a distance, it's hard to tell who is the big brother and who is the little brother; the taste is also similar—Yineng has almost perfectly learned the main flavors of 'Qin x water,' and there are also some innovative flavors like coconut and lactic acid bacteria. (Image source: Xiaohongshu @晒黑中的火华) 'There's no bad taste,' in the eyes of Yineng believers, lychee, peach, grapefruit, and lemon are all delicious. Therefore, although Yineng also has 500ml regular bottles, perhaps because they love it to the extreme, they prefer the 1L large bottle. The bottle says the price is 3.5 yuan, which is already cheaper than iced tea before the price increase (4 yuan), but upon closer inspection, you'll find that the new generation of loser drinks no longer has a price lower limit. When others use the all-purpose answer 'rising raw material costs' to squeeze a few extra cents from you, Yineng is loving you fiercely. Just like those who don't love you always have excuses, the answer to love and not love has already appeared on paper. (Image source: Xiaohongshu @钱来) Some netizens found that Yineng is sometimes only sold for 2.9 yuan at local convenience stores in Taiyuan like Jinhui and Tangjiu, 'at this price, you can't even buy mineral water'; but someone who knows life better appeared—'I don't buy Yineng if it's over 2 yuan; during big promotions, it's only a bit over 1 yuan.' Yes, a 1L drink for just over 1 yuan; the only thing that can compete with it is probably drinking directly from the tap. In this game with no price lower limit, the official account wanders around Xiaohongshu every day, praising netizens as 'low-price excavators.' This shows that at a price of just over 1 yuan, Yineng can probably make a little profit, and even if it loses, it can afford it. No wonder some netizens lament: 'From Yineng's fluctuating prices, you can see that Suntory is definitely making huge profits.' And last year, Suntory Group's global sales were about 150 billion yuan, more than three times that of Nongfu Spring. So the Yineng loser drink, which sells for at most 3.5 yuan, looks more and more attractive. With larger quantity, similar taste, and lower price, this brand you've never heard of has killed the competition. College students treat Yineng as life-sustaining water, 'A 1L bottle has a bit over 200 calories. Although it's best not to drink such beverages when losing weight, during finals week, a water buffalo can't lack sweet water'; workers treat Yineng as a witness to their poverty-stricken lives, 'When I was in school, I had no money to drink, but who would have thought that after working, I'm even poorer and can only afford Yineng.' The lower the price, the more workers are tempted, 'There are already few drinks like Yineng that don't look down on my poverty.' (Image source: Xiaohongshu @李歪歪) And when prices keep breaking bottom lines, you become more tolerant of many things. Some say Yineng is different from other loser drinks; it's a healthier sweet water. The regular version adds imported honey, and the lactic acid bacteria flavor is 'zero fat,' 'Yineng honey lemon water is 83 calories per 100ml, while Suntory Qin lemon water is 76 calories per 100ml, not much difference.' But others describe Yineng as: 'A qualified [chemical drink].' If you look closely at the ingredient list, besides common concentrated juice and food flavorings, Yineng loser drinks also contain acesulfame potassium (a sweetener that can burden the body if consumed excessively), which makes the middle class tremble at the sight. (Image source: Xiaohongshu @大型小众精灵) 'Ignoring dosage when discussing harm is hooliganism; for just over 1 yuan, what more do you want? It's really cost-effective.' Yineng has a magic that makes you know it's full of additives but inexplicably addictive, just like fried skewers at a dirty stall or the 5-cent no-brand spicy strips at the elementary school gate; cheap happiness always has deadly charm. 'The first sip can tell the difference from Suntory's Qin peach water; it's a sour artificial peach flavor.' Netizen @观察日记 believes that Yineng peach water can only be said to 'barely meet the standard for peach.' (Image source: Xiaohongshu @来份大薯) But just as good drinks shouldn't be overindulged, or your stomach will chase after you. Loser drinks selling cheaper than water are still drinks; no matter how light the 1L sweet water tastes, it's full of additives, and behind binge drinking, urinary stones are frantically waving at you. Drinking beverages seems more suitable for being a heartless player who doesn't love deeply; 'tasting a little is really good for you.' Loser becomes a term of endearment, but no one really wants to be a loser drink Actually, it's not just the honey water series; in Yineng's product matrix, there's a kind of 'messy beauty' of a chaotic fist beating an old master. From electrolyte water, juice, fruit honey water, and plant drinks, Yineng's Tmall flagship store has 48 various SKUs. If you look closely, you'll find that they all have a sense of familiarity with old acquaintances. Sam's Club's small lime juice was once a must-buy at Sam's, but Shanxi doesn't have Sam's, yet Yineng satisfies you; 'small lime' compound juice drink understands 'lei qing' better than Wan Wan; when Genki Forest sparkling water became popular, Yineng quickly launched white peach and other flavored sparkling water; this 'ugly water,' which claims that drinking one bottle is equivalent to eating 2 apples' dietary fiber, is also very similar to Nongfu Spring's NFC orange juice. In 2022, the pandemic popularized electrolyte water, and Yineng waved its hand and laid out electrolyte salt soda and electrolyte drinks and other similar beverages; last year, sugar-free tea made a fortune, and Yineng naturally wouldn't be absent, launching both 'li' tea and 'barley store' barley tea plant drinks, understanding them better than Genki Forest and Nongfu Spring. Following trends closely, being very good at learning, and keeping prices basically around 3 yuan per bottle, Yineng seems to be blatantly saying: Hello everyone, I am the affordable alternative. But you also know that 'affordable alternative' is just a high-EQ way of saying it; the industry doesn't think highly of Yineng. 'Zhengdian Consumption' previously wrote, whether Yineng is 'exchanging price for volume' to build its name or a market manifestation of 'bad money driving out good,' everything is still unknown. Now, relying on the title of 'loser drink,' Yineng is indeed selling well. Chairman Yu Jinjing once revealed in an interview: In 2023, the sales of one of the main products, fruit honey water, approached 500 million yuan. And in the top 10 new product sales list for November 2023 jointly released by Mashangying and Nashi, the 1L honey apple water ranked second. It's just in the lower-tier market. 'Food Review' interviewed industry insiders and learned that Yineng's offline sales are still mainly concentrated in lower-tier cities, such as the sinking markets in Henan, Sichuan, Shanxi, Guangdong, and other regions. Born in a small city, sold to small cities, Yineng has become a veritable 'small city drink.' (Image source: Xiaohongshu @守得云开见月明) But 1L drinks are not new; Yineng, a Shanxi beverage brand founded in 2016, had been making small waves for a while, but it just suddenly became popular recently. Going to try county delicacies, seeking small city scenery, going to Yiwu to buy affordable alternatives—in the context of economic downturn, the 'county town' has become a reverse 'utopia of longing' for workers. And Yineng, which was suddenly noticed during this period, even if industry insiders have complaints, the price of 3.5 yuan is enough to move workers. Just like the term 'diaosi' (loser) that appeared on Baidu's Liyi Bar in 2011, a few years ago it was an extremely negative word. Back then, Wang Mei, vice president of Xiaomi's Qinghe University, was scolded for several rounds of trending searches because of the phrase: 'In the future, those who win the diaosi will win the world; it must be the world of young people.' But friend, times have changed. Now 'diaosi' has become a term of endearment; being a diaosi proves that I have made peace with life, focusing on living as I please; loser drinks show that the drink is cost-effective, and my love for it further proves that I am the one who truly understands life. When young people, either to recall childhood tastes or to take control of life, turn 'loser drinks' into a social phenomenon, they wildly revive those cheap drinks once thrown into the corner of display cabinets. For example, Master Kong iced tea, born in 1997, with '3 yuan for 500ml, 4 yuan for 1000ml,' not only opened the era of 3-yuan drinks in China to a certain extent but also became Master Kong's classic signature for the next 26 years. And in November last year, Master Kong announced that the retail prices of medium packages (500ml) and 1L drinks would increase by 0.5 yuan and 1 yuan respectively, just like your youth that never returns; iced tea has also 'abandoned' the youthful you. And now, drinks under 3 yuan are almost becoming 'endangered species.' 'Sugar and Wine Fair Distributors' recently visited several small supermarkets and convenience stores and found that 'drinks priced at 5 yuan and above already occupy more than half of the shelves; in some chain convenience stores, nearly 80% are drinks priced above 5 yuan.' Although the reason for the price increase is clichéd, this round of loser drink price increases is indeed related to raw materials. Minsheng Securities previously stated in a research report that sugar generally accounts for 31% of the cost structure of the soft drink industry. China requires that ingredient lists be sorted by content, and in Master Kong iced tea's ingredient list, white sugar is second. However, sugar prices are soaring. According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in September 2023, the global sugar price index reached its highest level in nearly 13 years. And in May this year, data from Brazil, a major sugar-producing country, showed that production still fell short of market expectations. With higher costs, loser drinks, known for being cheap, can make even less money. 1L loser drinks were never a very profitable business; 500ml iced tea sells for 3.5 yuan, while 1L iced tea sells for 4.5 yuan—it's clear which is more profitable. 'Ran Ciyuan' once interviewed a small boss and learned: the purchase price for 12 bottles of 1L is about 36-37 yuan, while the purchase price for 12 bottles of small packages is about 32 yuan, 'so the profit for 1L drinks is only one mao more than small bottles.' Therefore, beverage manufacturers don't like large packages; although 'diaosi' has become a term of endearment, no one really wants to be a loser drink. It's just that when freshly made drinks are all competing at single digits, making loser drinks is more like a helpless move to cover more people and earn your money; some even call this the 'loser profit method.' When you curse beverage manufacturers for losing their original intentions over a 5-mao price increase on loser drinks, on the other side, the middle-class drinks that are better at storytelling, seem healthier, and frantically sell lifestyles have already made much more money. For example, the sugar-free tea that exploded last year, Nongfu Spring's Oriental Leaf, successfully transformed from 'one of the three treasures of middle-aged men' to a nationwide hit. If Yineng's loser drinks have no price lower limit starting from 3.5 yuan, then under the sugar-free tea trend, Oriental Leaf has no price ceiling; prices of 10 yuan are common, and a small bottle of Longjing new tea has been hyped to 40 yuan. The explosion of Oriental Leaf also brought beautiful financial reports to Nongfu Spring; last year, the gross margin rose to 59.5%, and the tea beverage category, represented by Oriental Leaf, grew the fastest, with annual revenue of 12.659 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 83.3%, becoming the second category to exceed 10 billion yuan in revenue. In comparison, Master Kong's revenue is as ugly as a worker's salary; last year, the beverage business had a gross margin of 32.10% and a net margin of only 2.47%. So loser drinks also want to make money, and they all start quietly raising prices by a few cents or a mao. The more jealous loser drinks are of the middle-class drinks' money-making methods, the stronger the sense of betrayal among workers. At this time, you can see the shadows of many drinks in Yineng, but just because it still sells for 3.5 yuan and has no lower limit as a loser drink, it's already rare enough. (Image source: Xiaohongshu @等等邓邓) After all, no one has much money in their pockets these days; the rise of retail stores like Zhao Yiming is proof. So you ask me why I fell in love with loser drinks? I want to ask you why loser drinks have raised prices but my salary hasn't changed. From August 20-22, 2024, the '2024 6th China FMCG Conference' with the theme 'Crossing the Shrinking Era,' along with the '3rd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference' and the '3rd China FMCG Distributor Conference,' will be grandly held in Shanghai. At this conference, all roles in the FMCG industry chain will gather, allowing you to see industry trends at a glance, understand hot track trends, penetrate industry resources, and precisely connect with first-line brand owners, head retail platforms, and excellent large distributors nationwide, providing you with precise decision-making, efficient cooperation opportunities, and on-site learning of exclusive methodologies from FMCG giants! Keynote speeches, roundtable dialogues, report interpretations, closed-door salons, and networking dinners—this thousand-person event is sure to have something for you! 🔺Scan the code for ticket inquiries🔺 Recommended reading