During the 2016 Chengdu Spring Sugar and Wine Fair, I visited all the beverage exhibition halls at the hotel exhibitions and had many thoughts. I would like to share my views on the current state of FMCG, especially beverages. If you disagree, please don't attack me; I welcome peers and companies to discuss together.

I believe that China's beverage market has fully entered a 'new era of consumption.' What does this 'new era of consumption' mainly manifest in? I analyze it from the following four aspects:

1. Chaos at the Spring Sugar Fair – Many new beverage products, but visitors look more and ask less

This year's beverage exhibition areas at the Spring Sugar Fair were mainly concentrated in traditional popular hotels such as Jin Qilin, Xizang, Chengdu, and Liyuanxiang. I specifically visited these beverage exhibition areas and found that among them were big brands like Huiyuan, Yeguo, Wandashan, Panpan, and Taizinai, but more were new brands and new categories. Hangover drinks, youth drinks, near-water drinks, coarse grain drinks, functional drinks, etc., emerged in an endless stream, dazzling the eyes. Many small brands still focused on displaying coconut juice, herbal tea, and fruit juice drinks.

According to my observation, the visiting merchants looked more and asked less. Many merchants, after tasting the product, took the promotional materials and left in a hurry, even at the booths of big brands. It can be seen that at the sugar and wine fair, when recruiting distributors for new products, merchants no longer choose products solely based on concept or brand.

2. Shift of Battlefield – Ten years of urban-rural changes: township markets are getting weaker, county and city markets are getting stronger, and the main battlefield for beverages has shifted from rural areas to above the county level

Ten years ago, many brands could order tens of millions from the sugar and wine fair based on a concept, but why is it so difficult now? This phenomenon inevitably arouses deep thought in the entire FMCG industry.

Distributors are not the same as ten years ago; consumers are not the same as ten years ago.

Everything is changing. The gap between urban and rural areas is narrowing, and farmers are moving to cities. These determine that our main battlefield and consumer groups are changing.

Previously, the strategy was to surround cities from rural areas, and distributors focusing on county and township markets are having a harder time. Why? Because most of the population in township markets has moved to cities, unless it is a relatively large centralized township. This is inseparable from the national urbanization policy.

Therefore, the township market is getting weaker, and the county and city markets are getting stronger. This is the current situation, and it will become more obvious in the future.

3. Fashionable Merchants – The younger generation of distributors determines alternative product selection

Distributors have also changed from the original post-50s and post-60s to post-70s and post-80s, and even post-90s distributors exist in many regions.

Post-50s and post-60s distributors pay more attention to brand and product profit.

Post-70s and post-80s distributors pay more attention to whether the product suits their taste! Whether the product matches their channels, their style, their preferred region, their preferred packaging, etc., completely based on personal preference! Of course, profit margins and brand are also considered, but they are not as important as the taste!

So, the current distributors' product selection is very alternative!

4. Consumption Polarization – The polarization of beverage consumers determines the future hot products

I believe that after more than 20 years of rapid development, the Chinese beverage market has now seen polarization among consumers:

One part: the young people who drank beverages ten years ago have now become middle-aged. Their beverage tastes have changed from the original high-sugar, high-additive to now healthy, natural plant-based beverages, healthy cold-chain lactic acid bacteria beverages, energy-supplementing Red Bull, Mizone, etc., and then mineral water and salt-containing beverages. This type of consumer focuses on brand, health, and safety, and needs trust!

The other part: the current young people, post-90s and even post-00s, are more individualistic and need to show their uniqueness. Therefore, when choosing beverages, they consider whether it is fun and novel. So now the beverage industry has a youth beverage category, represented by Uni-President's Xiao Ming Tong Xue. This type of beverage does not care about the brand or what the product is; the important point is to match the characteristics of this consumer group, to be fun!

So, one pole is rational health consumption, needing healthy beverages; the other pole is emotional personalized consumption, needing fashionable beverages. I think this is the terminal consumption trend we have concluded after studying consumers. This trend will inevitably determine where our companies should find breakthroughs in beverage categories and determine the future hot products!

Therefore, I put forward this view – China's beverage market has entered a 'new era of consumption,' so traditional recruitment methods can no longer impress current distributors, and traditional types of products cannot impress current consumers.

Finally, I share a paragraph with everyone:

Are you still immersed in the old way of recruiting distributors? Ten years have passed, traditional recruitment is a thing of the past! Distributors are mainly post-70s and post-80s, choosing products not by brand or concept, but by their own feelings! Consumers have upgraded from passive notification to active search, active understanding, active selection, and active purchase, making purchases only based on understanding, trust, experience, and scenario!

Therefore, innovative recruitment and alternative recruitment are the general trend!

This article is the author's personal opinion, and peers are welcome to correct it.

Hu Wei, pen name Jing Bozi, add the author's WeChat by scanning the QR code below:

Born in Jiujiang, now living in Beijing, graduated from Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, practical marketing expert in FMCG, partner and chief marketing consultant of Shanghai Lixi Culture Communication Co., Ltd. Contributing writer for domestic well-known marketing magazines and journals such as "Sales and Marketing," "China Wine News," and "Pharmaceutical Economic News." He is good at using Taoist Huang-Lao theory to create the "Six Hearts" management theory to build core sales teams. Focused on differentiated marketing, channel incentives, and regional market breakthroughs for food and beverages. He has served as product director of Huiyuan Juice Group, general manager of Guangdong region, marketing director of Hunan Taizinai Group, marketing director of North China region, marketing general manager of Jiangxi Gaozheng Group, and deputy marketing general manager of Duoduo Runer Company.

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