In the consumer market, there's a saying: women and children's money is the easiest to earn. Is this a truth? Data tells us it really is. In China, with the arrival of the new consumption wave, the number of Chinese consumers has reached 1 billion in terms of accounts. Within this vast base, there is enormous space for all consumer goods in China to be redone. Relatively speaking, China's consumer market currently pays far too little attention to children. The few leading brands in children's consumer goods, uneven quality, and insufficient consumer confidence all make the children's economy a vast blue ocean full of opportunities. -01- Background of China's Children's Economy Market According to data from China's demographic yearbook, at the end of 2018, the population of children aged 0-14 reached 235 million. This huge child population has nurtured enormous market demand, and the children's economy has risen rapidly. Currently, the children's snack industry has ushered in a new atmosphere. According to the "2020 Leisure Snack Industry In-depth Research Report" released by Mob Research Institute, China's leisure snack market exceeded 500 billion yuan in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate maintained above 6%. In 2020, the leisure snack industry will exceed 600 billion yuan. Among them, children's snacks, as a segment of the leisure snack market, have broad market space. According to a Citi statistical report, global snack sales reached $605 billion last year, and one of the biggest "gold sponsors" of the snack market is children. Data from the China Children's Industry Center shows that in 80% of families, children's expenditures account for 30% to 50% of household spending, with average annual household spending on children ranging from 17,000 to 25,500 yuan. The children's consumer market is approximately 3.9 trillion to 5.9 trillion yuan annually. Among daily consumption by children, snacks are a significant expense. Not to mention that China's children's snacks are far less mature than those abroad. Even in this context, China's children's snack industry is well worth redoing. Since May, major moves have been made one after another. On May 17, the China National Association of Food and Confectionery Industry released the "White Paper on the Children's Snack Market Survey," initiating a group standard for children's snacks. Although a national standard has not yet been issued, this small step is a big step for the industry, laying the foundation for the development of children's snacks in China. After the standard was released, several major players in China's snack industry took action, successively launching snack brands and new product series specially customized for children. 1. Bestore On May 20, Bestore officially announced the launch of its snack sub-brand "Bestore Xiaoxianxian," focusing on "children's snacks" as a key development direction for 2020, targeting snack products for school-age children aged 3-12. Bestore added a "Children's Snack Zone" in its fifth-generation upgraded stores, setting the counter height at 30 centimeters for easy access by children. At the same time, over 40 children's snacks were launched simultaneously on its Tmall flagship store, including biscuits, milk, jelly, children's fish sausages, functional candies, and more. 2. Be & Cheery On May 25, Be & Cheery officially launched its children's food line "Tong An'an Little Friend" 1.0 series, mainly targeting children aged 3-12. By "adding" nutritional elements and "subtracting" additives such as oil, salt, and sugar, it is more suitable for children, positioning it as a "beneficial supplement outside of regular meals." The brand also stated that a 2.0 version will be launched later, aiming to create "additive energy" for children's healthy growth and "magic power" for parent-child relationships. 3. Three Squirrels On June 19, Three Squirrels' sub-brand "Xiaolu Lanlan" launched on Tmall flagship store, currently offering products such as the Doudou series, Sunshine Seaweed series, and Little Cheese Block series for infants and young children, priced from 19.9 to 49.9 yuan. Previously, Three Squirrels established subsidiaries such as "Anhui Xiaolu Lanlan Infant and Toddler Food Co., Ltd.," involving infant and toddler food, infant formula milk powder sales, and maternal and child services. At the same time, Xiaolu Lanlan is positioned as "a professional internet infant and toddler food brand under Three Squirrels," covering ages 6 months to 14 years comprehensively, with one-stop scientific feeding for zero-added foods, and certified nutritionists available for online consultation. -02- Why Did They Move First After the Standard? In the leisure snack track, a "Three Kingdoms" battle has been ongoing for years. Three Squirrels, Bestore, and Be & Cheery are also known as the BAT of the snack industry. The three companies have been quietly competing, each launching major moves. In 2020, they have been active: Bestore went public via cloud listing, positioning as high-end snacks; Be & Cheery sold itself to PepsiCo; Three Squirrels adopted a multi-brand strategy, venturing into pet food and convenience food. This time, why are the three companies jointly focusing on the children's snack market? Why did they move first? 1. Internet Gene From the basic actions of the three companies, they are all targeting family consumption. The population of parents with children aged 0-12 in China is huge. Parents are mainly from the post-80s and post-90s generations, in the prime of life, with over 60% having mid-to-high consumption capability. They are the main force of mobile internet users, with an active online scale of around 300 million. Their use of the internet is deepening, their reliance on online shopping is growing, and their activity on e-commerce apps is higher than most pan-entertainment apps. All three companies have completed online and offline layouts, with online sales accounting for a larger proportion than offline, especially Three Squirrels and Be & Cheery, which are large e-commerce platforms with internet genes. During major e-commerce festivals like 618 and Double 11, these three companies are also the top 3 in the snack category on online malls. Therefore, their current target groups are mostly post-80s and post-90s parents from online e-commerce. After launching new products, they have an existing user base as a guarantee, and some online promotions can attract users to try them. 2. Expanding the Base and Exploring Segmented Markets Children's snacks, as a segment of leisure snacks, can bring them a new wave of performance growth. When parents buy snacks for their children, they first consider safety, and then whether it is necessary. Previously, there were no snacks specifically made for children, and even if there were, parents couldn't understand or trust them. Now, under the premise of ensuring parents' peace of mind, it is easy to shift from "no purchase demand" to "purchase demand." According to the "Shanghai Children's Snacks (Leisure Food and Beverages) Consumption Habit Survey Report" jointly released by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Youth Research Institute in November 2019, 49.8% of nearly half of parents cannot understand the nutrition facts table on children's snacks, and this result shows no significant difference across parents with different education levels. In other words, as long as parents can be effectively guided in terms of product safety and nutrition, the potential incremental market here is huge. 3. Striving to Be First The leisure snack industry has low barriers and severe homogenization. In fact, the three companies are brand operators with relatively complete comprehensive categories in the leisure snack field. For the three snack giants, brand momentum and industry status are particularly important. Therefore, the giants also hope to seize the initiative and take the lead in the children's snack segment. They all want to become the leader and be the first, which means only by entering the market first and seizing market share can they have the opportunity to capture consumer mindshare and enhance brand power. -03- Where Are the Opportunities for Other Brands? Opportunities are not limited to these three giants. We can see the development of the children's economy in other brands in the food and beverage industry. However, this is not simply a matter of a market gap. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, under the wave of new consumption, all brands are worth redoing, and redoing means disruptive innovation or the reshaping of internal organizational structures to adapt to the constantly changing consumer demands under new consumption. So, can other brands gain some opportunities from this? Besides the snack giants, there are also many outstanding players in segmented fields in the leisure snack camp. For example, Chacha, which makes melon seeds, and Hsu Fu Chi, which makes candies, can also enter the children's food market. For instance, Chacha could launch children's versions of melon seed kernels or children's versions of its small yellow bag; or Hsu Fu Chi could launch children's soft candies, children's chocolate, and so on. In addition, many FMCG brands have launched children's products, such as Shinho's children's soy sauce, Yili and Mengniu's children's milk, Nongfu Spring's baby water, and Nice's children's toothpaste. FMCG brands can all consider whether they can make children's products. Even more, can China have professional children's snack brands? Looking abroad, there are many such companies, and this is also a path worth trying. -04- The 100-Billion-Yuan Children's Snack Market Is Worth Expecting Returning to the children's snack market, in terms of snack consumption, according to the "2020 Online Children's Snack Industry Trend Insight" jointly released by Tmall Snacks and Alimama, starting from 2019, children's snacks have shown explosive growth, becoming a super blue ocean market under the big snack industry. The future children's snack market is expected to reach a scale of 100 billion yuan. According to QYResearch's "2018 Global Children's Snack Market Research Report," from 2018 to 2023, the children's snack market will grow steadily at a compound annual growth rate of 10% to 15%. The formulation of the group standard for children's snacks is just a beginning. For this segment to develop better in the future, it will require all manufacturers to make efforts in the selection of production materials and clear labeling on packaging, making the children's food market safer and giving parents and children more confidence in their choices. Then, the 100-billion-yuan market is promising. Regarding the formulation of children's snack standards and the entry of giants, I am supportive. Opening the market requires joint promotion by the industry and mutual supervision. For Chinese children, with the improvement of consumption levels, the childhood of only spicy strips and crispy noodles is over. Children of the 90s and 00s have more choices, but the existing high-sugar, high-salt, high-calorie snacks have also brought health problems such as obesity. Therefore, whether for parents or children, children's snacks need to improve quality and strengthen supervision. Brand owners bear the responsibility of benefiting the next generation.