---
title: "Is Wahaha Creating the Next Nutrition Express in Social E-commerce?"
description: "Wahaha has launched a new meal replacement yogurt called 'Youjian' in social e-commerce, aiming to replicate the success of its billion-yuan product Nutrition Express. The meal replacement food market is booming, with new brands and dairy giants entering, but distributors have mixed views on its potential."
author: "澄韵"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2019-05-24"
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# Is Wahaha Creating the Next Nutrition Express in Social E-commerce?

> Wahaha has launched a new meal replacement yogurt called 'Youjian' in social e-commerce, aiming to replicate the success of its billion-yuan product Nutrition Express. The meal replacement food market is booming, with new brands and dairy giants entering, but distributors have mixed views on its potential.

**Recently, a reporter from New Distribution noticed a meal replacement weight-loss milk selling well in WeChat Moments. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Wahaha had launched another new social e-commerce product: the meal replacement weight-loss yogurt 'Youjian'.**
This is a functional product focusing on **'meal replacement' and 'weight loss'**. According to official publicity, its main ingredients are plant-based proteins and dietary fibers such as buckwheat and chia seeds. After consumption, it provides nutrition and quickly suppresses hunger for 4-6 hours. Each bottle's hunger-suppressing ability and nutritional supplement are equivalent to a standard lunch.
This is not Wahaha's first foray into social e-commerce.
Previously, Wahaha launched Tianyan Jingjing fermented milk for eye protection, and Wahaha Xianxi Jiaren milkshake for weight loss. Now with the meal replacement yogurt 'Youjian', what is their intention?
**The Revolution of Meal Replacement Foods**
**From instant noodles to instant milk tea to nutritional yogurt**
**In a broad sense, any food that can replace part or all of a regular meal can be called a meal replacement food.** However, in recent years, as people pay more attention to weight control and nutrition, meal replacement foods have undergone revolutionary changes.
Many born in the 80s and 90s may remember the taste of instant noodles. In 1986, instant noodles were introduced to the Chinese market. At that time, people's living standards were limited, and instant noodles were once a luxury. When hungry, a bowl of instant noodles could bring a taste of happiness. Even today, instant noodles remain one of the most popular meal replacement foods.
'Instant milk tea' was also once all the rage. Xiangpiaopiao, with its slogan 'A little hungry and tired? Have a cup of Xiangpiaopiao', sold over 300 million cups a year, enough to circle the earth several times. The popularity of milk tea is closely related to its convenience and meal replacement attributes.
The launch of 'Youjian' is not Wahaha's first entry into the meal replacement food field. You must remember the once-popular billion-yuan product—Nutrition Express. Advertisements like 'A bottle for breakfast, energetic all morning' and 'No time for breakfast? Drink Nutrition Express!' were deeply ingrained in people's minds. Nutrition Express once exceeded 20 billion yuan in sales in 2013, creating a miracle in the domestic beverage industry. **Now, the strategy for the meal replacement yogurt 'Youjian' seems to be benchmarking against 'Nutrition Express' to create another billion-yuan product.**
From a bowl of instant noodles to a cup of milk tea to a bottle of yogurt, meal replacement foods have had strong consumer demand in different eras. Today, various meal replacement powders, shakes, biscuits, porridge, and bread are emerging. Consumer demand has shifted from convenience and satiety to weight loss and fitness.
Taobao data shows that over 80% of meal replacement food buyers are women, mainly post-90s, with weight loss as the primary motivation.
**New Brands Stand Out**
**Industry Giants Enter the Fray**
Increasing obesity rates, pursuit of a well-proportioned figure, faster pace of life, longer working hours, widespread staying up late, and increased awareness of nutritional health are labels of modern people. Thus, meal replacement foods with the three characteristics of satiety, deliciousness, and nutrition have emerged. According to relevant data, the meal replacement food market continues to grow strongly, with an estimated market size of 18 billion yuan by 2023. In recent years, some new brands focusing on the meal replacement market have stood out and become investment hotspots. For example:
** _1_** Bulletproof Coffee Brand
Bulletproof coffee is a very trendy coffee in the past two years. It not only tastes like coffee but also provides energy and helps with weight loss. Bulletproof is the pioneer of cold-brewed bulletproof coffee, loved by many, including celebrities who skip regular breakfast and replace it with bulletproof coffee. Drinking bulletproof coffee increases satiety and leaves you energized. Bulletproof has completed cumulative funding of approximately $68 million.
** _2_** X-Fire Energy Bars
Founded in November 2017, X-Fire is a domestic high-protein snack brand that has received 1 million yuan in seed funding. X-Fire's first product is a high-protein energy bar designed to provide energy for people who exercise and follow a healthy diet, helping to reduce fat and suppress hunger.
** _3_** Concentrated Three Meals a Day 'Ruofan'
'Ruofan' was established in 2015 and is a domestic brand focused on developing convenient meal replacement foods. It aims to provide complete nutrition to replace regular meals. In 2018, it received 10 million yuan in angel funding from Base Capital. Ruofan's target consumers are mainly young white-collar workers in first-tier cities.
**The booming meal replacement market and capital favor have led a large number of domestic dairy companies to see opportunities. Mengniu, Bright Dairy, Classy Kiss, Wahaha, and Lechun are representatives among these dairy companies.**
** _1_** Positioning for Weight Management
Mengniu launched **Manran Fiber Milkshake Milk**, targeting the weight management market with the brand concept of 'healthy and fat-burning', helping consumers achieve a light life. The target audience is working women with busy schedules and irregular diets. In March 2019, an upgraded version was launched, with CLA glyceride content increased to 1968.75mg per pack, an increase of about 31.57%, while retaining the blueberry flavor and adding a coconut pineapple flavor.
**Bancan Life** is another sub-brand of Mengniu in the weight management market. As a light meal milkshake milk, its core value is fat reduction and body shaping. The product has half the calories of a standard meal, providing a meal replacement option for those needing to control weight.
Hui Shan, Wandashan, and Wahaha have also launched weight management meal replacement products, including Hui Shan Fiber Milkshake Milk, Wandashan Fiber Milk, and Wahaha's Xianxi Jiaren Quinoa Milkshake and the meal replacement yogurt 'Youjian'.
** _2_** Positioning as Meal Replacement Snacks
With the trend of snacks becoming meal replacements and meal replacements becoming snacks, **Mengniu Zhen Guli** sets its consumption scenarios as breakfast time, meeting breaks, business trips, and study time. Its product features real large grains, with a formula including 3 types of grains and 3 types of fruits.
**Bright Quinoa Milk Drink** is also positioned as a meal replacement snack, with the core value of nutrition and vitality, and the slogan 'Nutrition with grain power', serving as a nutritious breakfast and healthy snack. Its main ingredients include quinoa, oats, resistant dextrin, and CLA glycerides.
**Bright Aimeiyou Brown Rice Yogurt** is also positioned as a meal replacement snack. It contains a separate small pack of 8g brown rice flour that can be stirred into the yogurt, providing a 'burden-free' feeling of fullness, suitable for meal replacement during exercise, labor, and other scenarios.
**Lechun Xianshi Cup Yogurt** is positioned as a meal replacement snack, emphasizing scenarios such as fitness, afternoon hunger, and breakfast. The yogurt comes with a 15g fiber pack containing healthy ingredients like oats, walnuts, coconut flakes, and cashews, and features zero fat and zero sucrose.
Other meal replacement snacks include **Danone Cakicci Grain Mixed Flavor Fermented Milk and Classy Kiss Double Protein Yogurt**, all claiming to resist small hunger.
In summary, whether innovative consumer brands or traditional FMCG giants, they are all laying out or experimenting. From both capital and brand perspectives, the meal replacement food sector has arrived. But what about downstream channel distributors? How do they view meal replacement foods?
**What Do the Channels Say?**
**Five Major Distributors' Views on the New Consumer Meal Replacement Yogurt Opportunity**
** _1_** Distributor Li Hua from a certain place in Jiangxi—Annual GMV 80 million
Currently, the meal replacement food industry lacks unified standards, and there are many issues and pain points that need regulation. **China's supervision of meal replacement foods is still blank. Specific production standards need to be introduced**, and law enforcement should be strengthened to ensure no illegal additives in meal replacement foods. The nutritional elements should be specified, and consumer awareness should be improved.
** _2_** Distributor Wang Gang from a certain place in Fuyang—Annual GMV 50 million
We have come into contact with many big-brand meal replacement foods, such as cereals, milk, and biscuits. However, due to high prices, they haven't sold well. Additionally, from a nutritional perspective, many products still contain additives, and in terms of dietary rationality, they cannot replace regular meals. They should be sold as functional products. These products have very low awareness in county towns and don't sell well here. We sold them for a while but stopped. **They might sell better in first-tier cities. I think most sales are through online or WeChat channels. It doesn't work here, and there is a long cultivation period for consumer awareness.**
** _3_** Distributor Qin Lei from a certain place in Sichuan—Annual GMV 200 million
Meal replacements are very well balanced in nutrition. Such foods consider the body's needs and reasonably allocate nutrients to create nutritious and functional products. **For example, for breakfast, many people eat an egg and drink a glass of milk, but this actually exceeds protein requirements. The body can't use or absorb that much.** These products can match the body's needs well and taste good, so they have great market potential. The value they bring to people is the core point for sustainable development.
For yogurt-based meal replacement drinks, I think the name should be changed because in consumer perception, yogurt is still a dairy product. Consumers may not immediately understand using it as a meal replacement. We have been paying attention to this category, and we are trying some products, but it's still relatively small. Currently, it may be in the early market stage.
** _4_** Zhang Li, Co-founder of Mengniu Manran Million
For dairy companies to develop attractive products in the meal replacement snack market, **grasping the characteristics of the target population and scenarios is key.** Modern people generally lead stressful lives. Dairy meal replacement products are nutritious, convenient, and can help regulate sub-health and reduce fat. Additionally, a milk product that can enhance physical fitness is very suitable for the fast-paced lifestyle of modern people.
** _5_** Distributor Li Wen from a certain place in Guangzhou—Annual GMV 200 million
In recent years, meal replacement foods have developed rapidly. Upgraded convenience foods have become today's meal replacement foods. This segment will grow larger. It's important for distributors to broaden their horizons, try different channels, and seize the dividend.
In the Guangzhou area, acceptance of meal replacement snacks is relatively high. We also represent some brands of meal replacement foods. Although the proportion is not high, the growth is obvious. For example, Calbee, in KA stores, monthly sales can now exceed one million yuan compared to last year.
I once asked in a distributor sharing class how many people knew or had drunk Luckin Coffee. Only 3 out of 50 people raised their hands. After Luckin Coffee went public, maybe 60% of Chinese consumers know it. I cooperated with Luckin Coffee to provide a meal replacement chocolate nut bar, selling thousands of boxes a day. Sales are very good. So you see, new retail sales models are diverse. We should see what they can bring us rather than reject them. In this fragmented marketing model, you need to think about how many resources you can get and how much of the new retail dividend you can enjoy. Mr. Li told New Distribution that selling meal replacement foods is the same. If traditional channels don't work, try other channels, and there will always be surprises.
**Summary**
The development of meal replacement foods, from the early 1.0 stage, such as Nutrition Express and Xiangpiaopiao, is entering the 2.0 stage. More segmented functional meal replacement foods are emerging like mushrooms after rain. The layout and pilot projects of innovative brands and leading brands in recent years are evidence. However, we can also see that the current 2.0 stage is still in the niche single-product stage, with more acceptance from young groups in first- and second-tier cities. From a product lifecycle perspective, it is still in the early cultivation stage. A small number of people pay attention and consume, while most groups, although aware, are still in the trial stage due to price and habits. If distributors want to represent such products well, they may need to put more effort into new channels. (Names in the article are pseudonyms)
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