Recently, the launch conference for the 'Soy Milk Nutrition, Health, and Consumption Consensus' and the initiation ceremony for China's Soy Milk National Nutrition Balance Plan were held in Beijing. Authoritative academicians and industry experts from multiple fields such as food science, nutrition, and public health gathered to witness the release of the Consensus, initiated by the China Food Industry Association and compiled by the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Undoubtedly, this is a milestone for the soy milk industry, transforming the category from past consumer perceptions of 'neglect,' 'irrationality,' and 'unscientific' to a new understanding. Soy milk will now stand alongside milk as a normalized, popular, and universal daily consumer product. This is of great significance to the FMCG industry, as soy milk, an important branch of the beverage and dairy category, is set to usher in a major favorable situation.
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The Right Time, Place, and People
Behind the favorable situation for soy milk are not only the release of the Consensus but also other key factors that jointly drive new opportunities.
— The Right Time: The trend of healthy eating and balanced diets is irreversible; China's distinctive 'dual protein' project and policies provide support. Consumers are increasingly pursuing health and balanced diets, a point that needs no further argument. However, the way health is pursued today differs vastly from the past in both method and efficiency. In the past, the only way to judge whether food was healthy and safe was to follow brands—the more famous the brand, the more it was trusted as healthy and safe. Little attention was paid to the value of the category behind the brand. Now, with the internet bringing information equality, people's pursuit of health is not just about what brands say; they trust what they see and find themselves, preferring to explore the 'origin of ingredients' behind brands. For the soy milk category, in the 1970s, due to a lack of popularization of soy milk nutrition knowledge, Chinese consumers' enthusiasm for soy milk was low, and industry development once stagnated. Now, with the pursuit of healthy consumption and balanced diets, and the release of the Consensus, more consumers will learn the 'truth' behind soy milk through various channels and methods. As people pay more attention to balanced nutritional intake, soy milk, as a representative of plant protein and a basic nutritional beverage, will receive increasing attention. At the initiation ceremony, Chen Junshi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and nutrition and food safety expert, stated that we should advocate the 'Oriental Healthy Dietary Pattern,' which emphasizes a diet based on plant-based foods, appropriately supplemented with animal-based foods, and that soy milk is an excellent plant protein nutritional supplement. The 'National Nutrition Plan' issued by the General Office of the State Council, in order to effectively improve the nutritional health of Chinese residents and effectively curb and reduce the occurrence of nutrition-related chronic diseases, specifically proposes the development of dual protein foods. The so-called 'dual protein' refers to animal protein and plant protein, with soy protein being the most typical representative of plant protein and the only complete protein in the plant kingdom. Under the guidance of the national 'Dual Protein Project,' the status of soy milk in the 'Oriental Healthy Diet' continues to rise. As a daily nutritional supplement with more technological content, better fitting Oriental dietary habits, and being healthier, soy milk will radiate new vitality and become a favorite nutritional beverage for more consumers.
— The Right Place: Authoritative voices elaborate on soy milk's nutritional value; dietary guidelines in the US, Japan, and other countries give soy an important role. The Consensus systematically reviews the nutritional and health effects of soy foods and the nutritional characteristics of soy milk. Xu Jian, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Food Industry Association, stated at the meeting that soy-based beverages have a history of thousands of years in China, and the soy protein in soy milk is a high-quality plant protein that provides various amino acids that the human body cannot synthesize on its own and must absorb from the diet. According to domestic and international research, soy foods are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, soy isoflavones, soy lecithin, soy sterols, soy saponins, and soy oligosaccharides, among other beneficial phytochemicals. Long-term intake of whole soy foods has a wide range of health benefits. Dietary guidelines from countries around the world, including developed countries such as the United States and Japan, list soy foods as an important part of a healthy diet. In the US, some soy milk products are even priced higher than milk. The 'Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2020-2025)' includes soy in the protein foods group and fortified soy milk or soy yogurt in the dairy group, emphasizing that they can be substituted for milk. An example of US recognition of soy milk: on food packaging, if the soy protein content meets a certain standard, it can be labeled as reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. Currently, the national diet is characterized by irrationality and unbalanced protein intake. The release of the Consensus clarifies the problem and identifies drinking soy milk as one of the feasible methods to improve national nutrition. Under the guidance of the 'Dual Protein Project' policy and the 2022 new edition of the 'Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents,' the intake of soy and soy foods has become an important solution to promote balanced nutrition for the public.
— The Right People: Professional endorsement breaks cognitive limitations; leading brands upgrade new products to promote healthy consumption. Whether it is the release of the Consensus or the initiation ceremony, the powerful voices of authoritative academicians and industry experts from food science, nutrition, public health, and other fields aim to break consumers' one-sided perceptions of soy milk's nutritional value and consumption scenarios, allowing soy to play a more active role in national nutrition and health. Of course, endorsement from authoritative experts and institutions alone is not enough; it also requires the active implementation of leading brands like Doubendou. Without the R&D innovation and active promotion of leading brands, it would be impossible to convey the 'true nutritional value of soy milk' to every household. In 2017, Dali Foods took the lead in technological R&D, launching Doubendou soy milk, which is natural, additive-free, can be stored at room temperature and is portable, with a protein content of up to 4.0 grams, single-handedly redefining the nutritional value of soy milk. At the end of 2021, Doubendou launched organic whole soy milk, innovatively applying whole soy technology including whole-bean enzyme inactivation and dietary fiber micronization. Without removing the skin and germ, the whole bean is enzyme-inactivated and ground, fully locking in dietary fiber and other native nutrients while retaining the original soy aroma. Among them, the whole soy technology and 'triple native nutrition' redefine the new height of high-end soy milk. In the first half of 2022, Doubendou launched a full line of organic soy milk from the raw material end. Driven by Doubendou, the soy milk industry has entered a stage of comprehensive explosion. The endorsement of professional institutions and the leadership of head brands will inevitably promote the normalized consumption of soy milk among the public, helping the nation form a healthy lifestyle of 'dual protein pairing.' The Consensus advocates 'two cups of milk a day, soy milk + milk,' which will become the 'new formula' for scientific diet and the 'new rule' for balanced nutrition.
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Releasing New Growth Space
At the meeting, Huang Jian, Deputy Director of the Food Science and Technology Office of the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, comprehensively interpreted the Consensus, mentioning that soy milk and milk have their own nutritional characteristics and that drinking them together is healthier. One is a fast protein, the other a slow protein; soy protein is neither fast nor slow. Combined, they can provide branched-chain amino acids, which are more conducive to digestion and utilization. Pairing dual proteins can promote muscle protein synthesis, and dual protein intervention can also promote patient recovery, etc. Huang Jian said: 'The most critical point of the entire consensus is 'two cups of milk a day, soy milk and milk, balanced nutrition for better health,' advocating a recommended drinking pattern of 'soy milk plus milk' to achieve nutritional and health effects.' When the new slogan 'two cups of milk a day, soy milk and milk' is proposed, it will bring direct industry scale growth to the entire soy milk industry. Why do we say this? This slogan in the new era will truly change the public's perception of soy milk. First, at the consumer group level: In the past, soy milk consumers were more often single traditional family consumers; now, equating it with milk extends the consumer group to more mainstream young consumers. Second, in the extension of consumption scenarios: In the past, soy milk consumption scenarios were limited to breakfast, and more often in lower-tier markets. The new nutritional dietary guideline of 'two cups of milk a day' will bring soy milk back to the mainstream, with consumption scenarios not limited to lower-tier markets or single breakfast scenarios. Diverse scenarios such as fitness, family, and even energy supplementation at work will gradually form. Third, at the product category upgrade level: In the past, soy milk existed but was limited by technology, with issues such as many additives and low protein. With the four core technologies uniquely created by Doubendou in 2017—'stone mill wall breaking, raw pulp purification, molecular emulsification, and aseptic locking'—Doubendou achieved the three goals of 'no additives, high nutrition, and more convenience.' It can be said that Doubendou, with its natural, additive-free, green nutrition qualities, has redefined the nutritional value of soy milk and changed consumers' inherent perceptions of soy milk. According to Euromonitor International research data, Doubendou, as a leading brand in national soy milk sales, had a retail market share of about 23% in 2021, ranking first nationwide. At the conference, Huang Jian analyzed: 'From 2014 to 2019, China's soy milk development path has been expanding. Currently, the entire plant-based category market space is between 100 and 130 billion yuan, with soy milk accounting for about 20-30%, which is about 30 billion yuan.'
Summary: From horizontal category upgrades to vertical category innovation, without these, it would be impossible to redefine the nutritional value of soy milk today! It can be predicted that in the next year or two, with endorsement from authoritative institutions at the top and promotion by leading brands at the bottom, once the misunderstanding of category cognition is resolved and the understanding of soy milk's nutritional value is reconstructed, the soy milk industry will soon usher in a major explosion!