As living standards rise, health preservation is no longer exclusive to the middle-aged and elderly; younger generations like post-85s and post-90s are also proactively focusing on health issues, driving a 'new health' trend in new food products. Products featuring 'zero fat, zero sugar' and 'functional ingredients' are in high demand, with brands like Super Zero, Saturdrop, Starbucks, and Quaker entering the market to seize opportunities. On October 11, CBNData and Tmall小黑盒 released the 'White Paper on New Product Trends in the Health Food Industry', providing insights into the development trends of new products in the online health food industry and the characteristics of new product consumers, offering ideas for innovative development in the health food industry. CBNData's report shows:

  1. In recent years, new products in the food industry have gradually become the core driver of industry growth. Categories like instant food and nuts/seeds show better performance in sales growth rate and industry share. Consumers who prefer trying new things are concentrated among Gen Z, silver-haired seniors, and lower-tier markets.
  2. 'New health' foods are new products that integrate modern nutritional perspectives with traditional Chinese medicine food therapy, innovating in ingredients, nutrients, processing methods, and consumption methods, based on the lifestyle, health issues, and dietary structure of new-generation food consumers. Representative categories include coffee/cereal/drinks, snacks/nuts/specialties, and instant food.
  3. 'New health' food products show four trends: snackification, ready-to-eat, zero fat/zero sugar, and functional ingredients.
  4. The market size for 'new health' foods with 'zero fat, zero sugar' as a selling point has grown over 30 times. Starbucks' 'Star Enjoyment' series capsule coffee launched with Nestlé, and Super Zero's three-day carb-cutting meal replacement developed over 18 months, are representative new products.
  5. Among functional ingredients, new high-fiber diet products saw a 74% quarter-on-quarter market size growth, with Quaker's fruit and nut oatmeal favored by urban young women.
  6. Compared to regular products, new products show outstanding single-item sales. Brands should target mid-price segments in new product pricing and consider growth strategies driven by new products. A representative brand in new product operation innovation is Saturdrop, a new brand in the instant coffee industry. Health new products drive industry growth: Nuts, instant food, coffee categories stand out CBNData's report shows that new products have gradually become the core driver of food industry growth. In the past year, the scale of new products and consumer volume in the food industry have shown a clear upward trend, and the driving force of new products across categories has formed echelons. Among them, the 'snacks/nuts/specialties' new product market leads in scale, while 'instant food' new products achieved leapfrog growth, with market size growth approaching 100% in the second half of the year. Among food new products, 'new health' foods like sugar-free coffee, meal replacement nuts, and natural powders perform well. Consumers favor 'new health' foods due to their focus on health issues. CBNData's report shows that as health concepts deepen in consumers' minds, foods that integrate modern nutrition with traditional Chinese medicine food therapy, innovating in ingredients, nutrients, processing, and consumption methods, are more accepted. From a consumer insight perspective, post-85s and post-90s in second-tier cities are the main consumers of health foods, with female consumers showing significantly higher willingness than males. Notably, post-95s and pre-70s in lower-tier markets show strong growth and great potential. Innovative ways to eat health foods: Snackification and ready-to-eat are popular Compared to traditional foods, small-packaged snack products are more portable, can be enjoyed alone or shared, and play an important role in female social scenarios. CBNData's report shows that consumers in Xiangtan, Hohhot, and Jiaxing show a relative preference. By city, consumers in third-tier cities like Xiangtan, Hohhot, and Jiaxing rank top three in preference for buying snack-style health new products. Natural agricultural products familiar to consumers, such as the 'three blacks' (black beans, black rice, black sesame), are now gaining more consumer recognition with ready-to-eat new ways. Among them, ready-to-eat black sesame products with more flavor variations lead in sales scale, while ready-to-eat black bean products saw nearly 3 times quarter-on-quarter growth in the first half of 2019, showing great potential. Weight loss and anti-sugar ignite enthusiasm for new products: Zero fat/zero sugar and high-fiber diets capture first- and second-tier markets Pursuing beauty and health simultaneously is increasingly accepted by consumers in first- and second-tier cities. Lifestyles like muscle building, fat loss, and sugar control are popular, and correspondingly, health new products with 'zero fat, zero sugar' and 'functional ingredients' quickly capture the food new product market. CBNData's report shows that the market size of zero-fat, zero-sugar new health foods for weight loss through dietary control grew over 30 times from Q1 to Q4. For example, Super Zero's three-day carb-cutting meal replacement, developed over 18 months by the professional weight management brand, launched 27 scientific-grade sugar-cutting and fat-reducing snack new products in 2 series, receiving good market feedback. This led to a trend in meal replacement and prompted more brands to develop related products. For post-80s consumers in first-tier cities influenced by coffee culture, enjoying a high-quality zero-fat coffee at home is very attractive. High-end instant foods like Starbucks' hand-brewed coffee, which combine portability with high quality, greatly enhance the consumer experience. In May 2018, Starbucks and Nestlé launched the 'Star Enjoyment' series of espresso capsule coffee. These two coffee industry giants collaborated on new products that balance high quality and convenience, greatly improving coffee lovers' consumption experience. CBNData's report shows that zero-fat coffee new products grew 247 times, ranking first among zero-fat food new products. In addition to controlling fat and sugar intake, attention must also be paid to fragile stomachs. To address this, more food new products feature concepts like high fiber, enzymes, and probiotics. CBNData's report shows that the market size of functional ingredient health food new products grew over 70% quarter-on-quarter. In 2018, Quaker launched high-fiber small-pack oatmeal in nut and fruit flavors, catering to the eating habits and health needs of young women in first- and second-tier cities. As a leading oatmeal brand in the domestic market, Quaker continuously invests in R&D for new products, maintaining the top market share in recent years. New products drive store sales: Clear demand for mid-price products How much should new products be priced? How should they be sold? CBNData's report shows that new food products generally have more outstanding single-item sales. Overall, mid-price new food products are in short supply, presenting market opportunities. For example, instant food has demand in the 5-30 yuan low-to-mid price range, food supplement powders have prominent demand in the 50-80 yuan range, and instant coffee has clear demand in the 15-30 yuan and 50-80 yuan ranges. In terms of new product operation, in the past year, the proportion of new product transactions on Tmall food stores has been rising, with 47% of stores having new product transaction amounts accounting for 40% or more of total store transactions. Brand stores can consider developing new product-driven growth strategies. A typical brand in new product operation innovation is Saturdrop, a new brand in the instant coffee industry. Since its founding, the brand has consistently innovated, with new products like drip bag sets, cold brew filter coffee, and premium instant coffee performing well in the market. Successful new product operation helped the brand achieve second place in coffee sales on Tmall during the 2018 Double 11. New product-driven growth has undoubtedly become an industry breakthrough under the new trend. Tmall小黑盒 seizes 'new' opportunities: Collaborating with the industry to create ultimate new products In October, Tmall小黑盒 and CBNData released the 'White Paper on New Product Trends in the Health Food Industry' and provided consumers with health guides and food new product recommendations, initiated after recognizing the new product consumption demand and market changes in health foods. On the Tmall platform, there are over 75 million heavy new product consumers who hold the concept of 'consuming ahead of others.' This group of 'new product chasers' offers brands an opportunity to expand into deeper markets and capture consumer mindshare. In 2019, Tmall made a major strategic upgrade, renaming the mobile Tmall 'Tmall' entrance to 'Tmall New Products,' and Tmall小黑盒 officially became Tmall's only official new product channel. During this year's 618, Tmall小黑盒, together with domestic and international brands, launched 1.5 million new products, bringing consumers an ultimate 'new product chasing' experience. For Tmall小黑盒, the new product strategy is clearly not just about creating bestsellers and boosting sales. As the world's largest new product launch platform, it leads new consumption trends with industry trends and guides brand upgrades with user data. Through data analysis, industry insights, and omni-channel, diversified marketing approaches, Tmall小黑盒 creates the most imaginative 'new product chasing' possibilities for consumers and brands. Source: CBNData (ID: CBNData) Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan upon adoptionChina FMCG + Internet Professional New MediaDedicated to FMCG manufacturer and distributor transformation and channel digital solutionsCopyright | Business Cooperation | Project Consulting | Reader Submissions