---
title: "Breaking: Yili Launches China's First Milk Mineral Beverage—Why Did the 'Horned Bottle' Take Over Social Media?"
description: "Yili has launched Yiran, a new milk mineral beverage, marking China's first product in this category. The uniquely designed 'horned bottle' has gone viral on social media for its aesthetic appeal, and the company aims to target young consumers with a healthy, low-sugar drink."
author: "FBIF"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2019-04-03"
language: "en"
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# Breaking: Yili Launches China's First Milk Mineral Beverage—Why Did the 'Horned Bottle' Take Over Social Media?

> Yili has launched Yiran, a new milk mineral beverage, marking China's first product in this category. The uniquely designed 'horned bottle' has gone viral on social media for its aesthetic appeal, and the company aims to target young consumers with a healthy, low-sugar drink.

> Source: FBIF Food & Beverage Innovation (ID: FoodInnovation)
>
> Author: Yvonne, Editor: Wilbur

These past two days, the social media feeds of the food and beverage industry have been flooded with a 'horned bottle'! This beverage launched by Yili boasts stunning looks, with minimalist beauty that makes it hard to resist. The cute horns, rounded bottle body, and fresh color scheme... Even before hitting the shelves, it sparked a social media frenzy due to its high aesthetic appeal.

This mysterious new product is Yiran Milk Mineral Light Beverage. Starting April 1st, consumers in Shanghai can find it in vending machines at subway stations, with distribution gradually expanding to convenience stores and other cities. This also marks the official launch of Yili's new brand, Yiran!

In fact, beyond its distinctive packaging, Yili's newly released 'Yiran Milk Mineral Light Beverage' falls under the category of 'milk mineral beverages.' FBIF exclusively learned that Yili drew inspiration from years of dairy research, developing a beverage using milk minerals from milk. This is not only an expansion beyond dairy products for Yili but also a pioneering category in China and even Asia.

Combined with previously launched products like Sigu Fruit Instant Cereal and Xinshiji Dietary Supplements, Yili seems no longer satisfied with being a 'dairy kingdom.' It is accelerating its layout in the broader health industry and actively advancing new business systems. We can't help but wonder: What insights into China's beverage industry does the launch of Yiran Milk Mineral Light Beverage represent? What truths about beverage innovation lie behind it?

To this end, FBIF contacted Yili's Yiran project team to uncover the story behind the new product. This article will explore the breakthrough 'cross-industry' innovation by dairy giant Yili from three perspectives: concept exploration, product development, and packaging design.

**China's Beverage Market: Plenty of Innovation, but Lacking Breakthroughs**

Before diving into the new beverage category, let's take a broad look at the overall market: How large is China's beverage market? Is there room for growth? What is the state of innovation? What is missing?

**In reality, China's beverage market is a red ocean worth hundreds of billions.** According to Euromonitor's 2018 global soft drink sales data, China reached 590 billion yuan, second only to the United States.

However, China's per capita soft drink consumption in 2018 was only 62 liters per person per year, compared to 187 liters in Japan and 373 liters in the US. This indicates significant growth potential for China's beverage market.

In terms of innovation, the number of innovations in China's beverage market is very high. According to Mintel GNPD data, the number of new beverage products in 2018 reached 1,314. However, current beverage innovation is mainly non-breakthrough, such as repackaging, line extensions, relaunches, and formula upgrades. Truly breakthrough innovations that introduce entirely new products are rare. Moreover, as the market expands, the space for innovation shrinks, innovation vitality wanes, and the proportion of truly new products among all new launches is declining year by year.

This innovation status quo does not match consumer demand. Generation Y and Z are becoming the main consumer force, and they value product innovation more than other generations. Young people prefer breakthrough innovative products that add value to life and align with their personal pursuits.

Therefore, Yili established the direction for Yiran—leveraging Yili's dairy advantages to create products that are welcomed by consumers and have new distinctive features. Through market visits, consumer research, and other methods, the project team listened to various opinions and ultimately targeted young people as the core consumer group.

**Formula Innovation: Yili Launches China's First Milk Mineral Beverage**

**1. Breakthrough Innovation Introduces the 'Milk Mineral' Concept; Yili Targets the 6% Milk Minerals in Milk Dry Matter**

Yili shared an interesting phenomenon with FBIF: In consumer research, they found that health consciousness starts as early as college or even high school.

In the lives of the post-90s generation, 'soaking goji berries in a thermos' is no longer a joke but a real part of life.

The 'health craze' among young people is mainly due to high life pressure, the spread of 'midlife crisis' anxiety, and the improvement in quality of life, making 'health maintenance' a ritual of treating oneself better. In health consumption, 'snack-style' nutritional supplements, 'anti-greasy' diets, and 'lazy' health care are popular among young people who embrace a 'Buddhist' lifestyle.

Therefore, when selecting a concept, the project team thought about how to create a healthy and tasty beverage.

The Yiran project team told us that Yiran's initial inspiration came from high-end plant waters in the European and American markets, including birch water, maple water, and cactus water. These products feature light flavors and natural minerals. Milk also contains minerals: Milk contains many dry matter components, including milk fat, casein, whey protein, lactose, and minerals. Minerals account for about 6% of dry matter and include a significant amount of milk calcium. **Additionally, milk minerals have the smallest molecular size in milk. Using purely physical ultrafiltration membrane processing, with extremely small membrane pores to filter out macromolecular substances, most of the native minerals in milk are obtained without adding any ingredients.**

According to the China National Nutrition and Health Survey, the Chinese population is generally calcium deficient, with an average intake of 400 mg per day, while the international recommended intake is 800 mg per day. Therefore, milk minerals have a certain demand base in the Chinese market, and consumers are very optimistic about this direction.

As for why they chose milk calcium instead of inorganic calcium for calcium supplementation, Yili also provided an answer: Research published in the internationally renowned journal *The Lancet* shows that the increase in bone density from consuming milk calcium persists for several years after discontinuation, with good absorption, while supplementing with ordinary inorganic calcium does not have this retention effect.

Milk calcium can also interfere with fat absorption in the intestines, promote fat oxidation, reduce fat tissue, and aid in weight management.

Yiran uses Capolac® natural milk mineral salt concentrate from Denmark's Arla, which has a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio (2:1) closest to that of human bones and teeth. It also contains mineral elements such as magnesium, zinc, and potassium. In foreign countries, it is commonly used for calcium fortification in infant formula, children's nutrition, and functional foods and beverages.

From 2017 to August 2018, Yili spent nearly a year exploring directions for beverage innovation. With a research and development team possessing top domestic technical expertise, they conducted continuous experiments and ultimately overcame the challenge of dissolving milk minerals while maintaining clarity and stability, establishing the prototype of a milk mineral beverage with 'inspiration from milk minerals, zero fat, low sugar, low calories, and no preservatives.' The project development team stated that this stage was the most difficult but also the most important part.

**2. Refreshing and Thirst-Quenching Taste: New Sweet and Sour Experience with Milk, Grapefruit, and Peach**

After establishing the concept prototype, the next step was product design. Following the basic logic of food and beverage design, a product should first have an original flavor that reflects its characteristics and core concept, followed by flavor extensions that cater to different consumer taste preferences and drinking occasions.

Kerry recently released its 2019 Global Taste Chart, summarizing mainstream flavors (top 10 over the past 5 years), key flavors (11th to 30th over the past 5 years), rising flavors (fastest growth over the past 3 years), and emerging flavors (fastest growth over the past 1 year) for sweet foods, savory foods, dairy and hot drinks, and water and cold drinks across different global regions.

In the Asia-Pacific region, mainstream flavors for water and cold drinks include orange, peach, and lemon. Yiran adopted an iterative development approach typical of the internet era, developing a total of 145 formula versions, with target consumers participating throughout and providing feedback.

Based on consumer opinions and considerations of product stability, taste, and sensory state, Yiran currently offers three flavors: original milk flavor, citrus grapefruit flavor, and peach flavor. All three flavors contain no artificial preservatives, ensuring safety and peace of mind. The scientific formula with zero fat, low sugar, and low calories allows for a refreshing, thirst-quenching experience without burden.

During our interview, we had the opportunity to taste the new Yiran products before launch. All three had a subtle sweet and sour taste, very fresh, refreshing, and thirst-quenching. The milk flavor had a faint lactic acid bacteria milky aroma, while the grapefruit and peach flavors had fruity fragrances, making them ideal for summer or post-exercise refreshment.

**Will the High-Aesthetic 'Horned' Beverage Be the Next Internet Sensation?**

Another major reason for Yiran's social media buzz is its unique packaging. We also delved into the story behind the packaging.

Yiran targets young consumers aged 18-24, mainly college students, and covers single and newly married childless young white-collar workers. Therefore, the primary requirement for packaging is to capture the attention of young people.

Young people at this life stage enjoy relative freedom, with their own pace, ways of doing things, and creative ideas. They are curious about all new things and are willing to share them with those around them, fostering interaction through creative experiences and products to derive joy together. **Their demands for beverage packaging mainly include three points: innovation, aesthetics, and shareability.**

Therefore, the positioning of Yiran's packaging design is 'to make young people's eyes light up, with high aesthetics and inherent shareability.'

We learned that before design began, the Yiran project team provided a clear requirements brief: to convey the concept of 'milk minerals extracted from milk' and to have a natural association with milk. **We see that Yiran's minimalist bottle design, similar to traditional glass milk bottles, is very rounded—this is the first association with milk.**

**The second association is obvious: the simplified horn-shaped cap, which is also the most prominent innovation point.** The horn cap design is not only visually cute, delicate, and full of charm, but also highly attractive to young people. When we opened Yiran on site, we found it very easy to open, fully considering mechanical principles—this is thanks to the 'little horns.'

**The third association between Yiran's packaging and milk is the overall label design, including colors and cow icons.** The upper part of the product is milky white like milk, while the lower part features colors representing different flavors, and it is relatively translucent, presenting an overall gradient process that represents the fusion from milk minerals to water. The overall packaging conveys a refreshing, light feeling, combining the transparency of pure water beverage packaging with the purity of milk packaging design.

The final Yiran packaging we see is a very simple, fresh work with great camera appeal. It can produce beautiful photos from different angles, especially with good translucency when held against light, making it highly suitable for social sharing and possessing 'internet celebrity' potential.

In fact, this packaging also brought many challenges to Yili and the design team. For example, the matching relationship between the horn height and the carton, and the alignment of the 'Yiran' trademark with the horn cap. The project team invested significant effort and cost, using top domestic technology to solve these issues. Beyond the horn cap, even the small transparent anti-tamper seal was repeatedly verified and refined, reflecting the team's 'perfectionism' in details.

**Conclusion**

Despite appearing 'perfectionist,' **Yili's Yiran brings not just a new beverage and new packaging, but also new possibilities for the beverage industry: following categories like vitamin water, lactic acid bacteria water, fruit and vegetable juices, and fermented tea, Yiran offers consumers a new choice—milk mineral beverages.**

Yili Yiran New Product Launch Event

From this 'cross-industry' launch, we also see the brand's desire for breakthroughs. If limited to iterations of existing products or packaging changes, the development space is ultimately limited. In this young, vibrant era, consumers always expect new possibilities and are very willing to give new categories a chance to grow. This is both a challenge and an opportunity.

The challenge lies in consumers' higher acceptance of emerging brands, no longer relying solely on established brands. The market is highly competitive, and emerging small enterprises have simpler hierarchies, lower innovation risks, and faster innovation speeds. The opportunity lies in large enterprises leveraging years of resources and reputation, making new categories more persuasive and easier to build brand loyalty among consumers, thus creating phenomenal products.

Although food and beverage innovation is a risky gamble, many brands continue to join in, not only to occupy new territory on shelves but also to maintain the brand's vitality in consumers' minds, continuously showcasing new possibilities so that consumers of different eras can see the brand striving to 'walk together' with them. We also look forward to Yili Yiran's future market performance.

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