Click to read the original text for details On the evening of August 27, Dali Foods Group, which owns brands such as Daliyuan, Doudoudou, Lehu, and Heqizheng, announced: In the first half of 2021, the company achieved revenue of 11.287 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%, and net profit of 2 billion yuan, up 7.3%, setting a record high for the half-year period. Among them, the three strategic brands—short-shelf-life bread brand Meibeichen, soy-based brand Doudoudou, and functional beverage brand Lehu—were the main growth drivers, with growth rates of 52.4%, 21.5%, and 15.1%, respectively. In its performance report, Dali Foods stated that it always believes innovation is the core driving force for corporate growth. In the first half of 2021, Dali launched Doudoudou ambient plant-based yogurt, leading innovation and development in China's plant protein industry; in the herbal tea field, Heqizheng launched sugar-free herbal tea and sparkling herbal tea, opening a new track in the herbal tea industry. As a leading brand in the local food and beverage industry, Dali Foods primarily operates in the home consumption, leisure food, and ready-to-drink beverage sectors. During the reporting period, sales revenue from the leisure food segment, covering bakery pastries, potato puffed snacks, and biscuits, increased by 0.4% from 4.839 billion yuan in the same period last year to 4.860 billion yuan in the first half of this year, accounting for 43% of the group's total revenue. Sales revenue from the ready-to-drink beverage segment increased by 11.2% from 3.313 billion yuan in the same period last year to 3.683 billion yuan in the first half of this year, accounting for 32.63% of the group's overall revenue. The home consumption segment, including Meibeichen and Doudoudou, showed strong growth momentum, with sales revenue increasing by 31.2% from 1.280 billion yuan in the same period last year to 1.679 billion yuan in the first half of this year, accounting for 14.9% of the group's overall sales. According to the financial report, Dali Foods achieved gross profit of 4.325 billion yuan, up 6.4% year-on-year. Among them, gross profits for leisure food, ready-to-drink beverages, and home consumption were 1.715 billion yuan, 1.842 billion yuan, and 747 million yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth of -5.1%, 12.9%, and 23.3%. Due to factors such as rising raw material costs, the group's overall gross margin was 38.3%, down 1.7 percentage points from the first half of last year. However, comparing with Dali Foods' pre-pandemic interim report in 2019, in the first half of last year, Dali Foods achieved revenue of 11.13 billion yuan, up 1% year-on-year; net profit was 2.07 billion yuan, up 5.27%. It can be seen that Dali Foods has basically recovered to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of this year. As is well known, Dali Foods' home consumption market segment brings together two growth engines: Meibeichen and Doudoudou. 1. Meibeichen In the first half of 2021, as a leading brand in the national short-shelf-life bread market, Meibeichen's sales revenue surged 52.4% year-on-year to 614 million yuan. In its financial report, Dali Foods stated that in the short-shelf-life bread field, Meibeichen is one of the few national brands in the industry, with advantages in production bases, brand, and channel scale. In the first half of the year, the focus was on improving sales quality and channel efficiency, supporting key distributors, optimizing supply chain management, with sales growth significantly outpacing peers and market share further increasing. Regarding Meibeichen, Dali Foods Vice President Zhuang Weiqiang stated at the financial report conference that the brand's terminal outlets have expanded to about 150,000 in the first half of the year, with the daily distribution rate steadily rising to 42%, further meeting the fresh delivery demands of short-shelf-life products. Meibeichen will continue its national expansion relying on the production capacity and outlet foundation laid earlier, and will formulate expansion strategies tailored to emerging convenience stores and community group buying in terms of channels. 2. Doudoudou In the first half of the year, Doudoudou achieved a year-on-year growth of 21.5%, with sales revenue of 1.064 billion yuan. Regarding the plant protein brand Doudoudou, Zhuang Weiqiang said at the meeting that growth mainly came from opportunities in the plant-based market, optimized team and distributor incentive mechanisms, and product recombination and sorting. In the first half of the year, in terms of channels, multiple measures were taken, such as matching products according to channel characteristics, expanding high-output channels like schools and restaurants, and developing opportunities on emerging platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou to strengthen channel penetration. In terms of products, Doudoudou launched the plant-based yogurt "Zhiyoujia (Flogurt)", notably the first ambient plant-based yogurt product in China, marking Doudoudou's first foray into a new category beyond its soy milk product matrix. In marketing, through comprehensive coverage of popular variety shows and TV dramas, combined with in-depth communication with consumers on emerging social platforms, the brand achieved extensive and sustained exposure. In market operations, Doudoudou plant-based yogurt adopted a model of online-first launch followed by offline channels. Currently, the product has been rolled out in major supermarkets and convenience store systems nationwide, combined with scenario-based marketing to further expand consumer awareness. 3. Lehu According to Euromonitor data, the functional beverage market reached 44.8 billion yuan in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.2% over the past five years, making it a star track leading the soft drink industry in recent years. As a leading brand in the industry, Lehu achieved sales revenue of 1.900 billion yuan in the first half of the year, up 15.1% year-on-year, through differentiated specification positioning and brand marketing. According to Xu Shihui, Chairman, Executive Director, and CEO of Dali Foods Group, Lehu launched a new 500ml packaging in August. In addition, in terms of channels, the brand's canned products also used pricing strategies in the first half of the year to seize market share in special channels, modern channels, e-commerce, and home delivery platforms. The financial report pointed out that in the first half of the year, the group implemented refined management for channels and terminals, optimized the management models and incentive mechanisms for sales teams and distributors, thereby increasing market share and expanding coverage of quality outlets. On the other hand, Lehu continued to carry out precision marketing, strengthening its professional functional beverage brand image and driving rapid sales growth. In the future, Lehu will continue to strengthen its professional brand image, increase channel resource investment, optimize incentive mechanisms, further expand the brand's penetration rate in the national market, and increase market share. PS: From September 23 to 25, 2021, the 2021 (4th) China FMCG Conference hosted by New Distribution will be held in Shanghai. Some of the confirmed heavyweight guests so far include: 1. Tao Shiquan, founder of Jiangxiaobai; 2. Yao Xuhong, General Manager of Meiyijia Holdings Co., Ltd.; 3. Lu Xiuqiong, Global Expert Partner at Bain & Company and former Vice President of Marketing for Coca-Cola China; 4. Chen Xiaodong, Senior Vice President of Nestlé Greater China; 5. Zhang Fujun, President of Lee Kum Kee Sauce Group China; 6. Bi Chaojiao, General Manager of China Resources Snow Breweries (China) Marketing Center; 7. Yang Hongbin, Vice President of Junlebao Dairy Group; 8. Zhang Yipeng, General Manager of Kuaishou E-commerce SKA Brand Operations Center; .... A grand event for FMCG professionals, you must be there! Are you "watching" me?