Amid the wave of consumption stratification, China's beverage industry is undergoing a notable price 'earthquake.' The author visited multiple distributors in South and North China. Among them, a business owner in South China with over 30 years in the FMCG industry said with deep feeling: "This year, consumer spending is more cautious, high-priced beverage sales have shrunk, the price band has generally moved downward, and low-priced products have become the main battlefield for market share." After the visits, the consensus among several distributors was that this year the overall price band for beverages has shown a significant downward trend, with mainstream products falling from the original 6-8 yuan range to 3-5 yuan, or even lower. The beverage industry has fully entered an era of 'price-cut competition,' and this trend not only impacts the market space for high-end positioned products but also reshapes distributors' operational logic and inventory strategies. Distributors' Optimization Big Brands Lower Prices, Small Brands Increase Volume Without Raising Prices Distributor Mr. Chen from South China pointed out: Beverage prices have all come down, especially this year. In the past, new beverage products priced at 6-8 yuan per bottle now often do not exceed 5 yuan. Many big brands are continuously launching low-priced products. Many well-known beverage manufacturers, originally positioned in the mid-to-high end at 5-8 yuan, have now lowered their new product prices to the mid-to-low end at 3-5 yuan, exchanging price cuts for larger market share. Another distributor in South China, Mr. Li, also mentioned that beverages that could sell at 7-8 yuan in the past now simply cannot sell. Most beverage prices have dropped to below 5 yuan. Small brands are having a harder time; if they price lower than big brands, they almost have no profit, so they rely on increasing package sizes to gain market. Distributor Mr. Ji from North China mentioned that some high-quality juice gift boxes originally priced at nearly 20 yuan, but after sluggish sales, they frequently promoted, even dropping to 13.9 yuan per liter, yet despite being 100% imported, sales remain low. All three distributors unanimously mentioned three changes:

Consumer purchasing power has declined, and beverage unit prices dropping below 5 yuan have become the market mainstream;

Big brands are lowering their price bands, accelerating the launch of low-priced new products;

Small brands are attacking the market with larger sizes and low prices, focusing on 'more volume for the same price.'

Facing downward consumption pressure, leading brands have launched low-priced products to seize incremental market. Mr. Chen mentioned that an energy drink manufacturer, which previously mainly promoted products around 5 yuan, this year launched another new drink with the same formula, positioned at the 3 yuan tier to capture the low-end market. This trend is especially evident among first-tier brands: national brands like Nongfu Spring and Master Kong have also successively released affordable new products such as sugar-free tea, meal replacement drinks, and functional water, attempting to cover more consumer groups. Overall, strong brands are leveraging their brand power and channel advantages to accelerate the layout of low-priced products, aiming to stabilize share and tap into lower-tier market demand. Meanwhile, many small brands are focusing on differentiated competition, either pricing the same specification products at half the price of mainstream brands, or offering larger packaging while maintaining similar prices. In this regard, Mr. Li mentioned that many beverage companies are reluctant to proactively cut prices but instead boost sales through 'more volume for the same price.' The common 330ml bottled beverages are now often seen with an extra 50ml—the product price remains unchanged, but the capacity slightly increases. This strategy caters to consumers' demand for high cost-performance while trying to avoid disrupting the original price system. Under the price-cut trend, compared to big brands cutting prices to squeeze volume, emerging small and medium brands or regional brands prefer to win with cost-effectiveness, using non-price means such as packaging and capacity to compete for channels and market. This 'volume wins' cost-performance approach has become a notable feature of 2025. Retail Terminals' Wait-and-See Old Products Discounted and Promoted, New Products Cautious and Conservative Similarly, the wave of price cuts and promotions at the retail end is also 'heating up.' During visits to the South China market, the author observed that coconut water, known as the 'Hermès of beverages,' which used to position itself as a 'light luxury healthy drink' and sold for over 10 yuan per 200-300ml bottle, now sees 1L bottles commonly priced at 9.9 yuan! On online platforms like Pupu, Yonghui, and Tmall Supermarket, prices for coconut water from most brands have also been 'halved' across the board. Mainstream brands that originally occupied high-end shelf positions are also unanimously launching special combo packs, large economy packs, buy-one-get-one promotions, and other low-price strategies. Some brands are even continuously testing lower prices on platforms like Douyin, Pinduoduo, and community group buying, engaging in 'zero-distance' hand-to-hand combat with small and medium brands. Genki Forest launched 2L sparkling water, Nongfu Spring listed its classic drinking water as '12 bottles for 9.9 yuan' on Pinduoduo, and Master Kong introduced a combo of '6 large bottles for 19.9 yuan with free shipping' on some community e-commerce channels. These operations of 'changing packaging without changing brand' do not directly touch the single-bottle pricing logic but achieve a significant drop in unit price, enhancing price appeal. On channels like Meituan, JD Now, and Douyin Mall, many brands actively cooperate with platforms for 'spend-and-reduce promotions' and 'flash sales,' with single-bottle prices often more than 20% lower than offline supermarket prices. For example, Vitasoy's daily price on Douyin is about 2.9 yuan per pack, while traditional stores maintain prices above 3.5 yuan. A supermarket manager said bluntly: Previously, consumers asked if there were big brands; now they ask if there are cheaper big brands. If prices don't drop, even moving inventory becomes difficult. The other side of price drops is the retail terminals' reassessment of product sell-through capability. In first-tier markets, terminal store owners generally adopt a wait-and-see attitude toward new products and functional drinks, while third- and fourth-tier markets are even more cautious. A North China distributor mentioned that in third- and fourth-tier cities, sales of electrolyte water products like Alien (外星人) are even higher than Pocari Sweat, reflecting that consumer brand awareness is not absolutely dependent on traditional strong brands but is influenced by price, taste, and channel distribution. He also pointed out that new consumer products like '果子熟了' (Guozi Shule) lag by at least a year in third- and fourth-tier cities before starting to sell, reflecting the longer acceptance cycle for emerging drinks in lower-tier markets. The consumer behavior of retailers in the South China region also shows obvious 'comfortability.' Taking Zhangzhou as an example, although it is adjacent to Xiamen, there is a lag of about two years in consumption acceptance. 'Products that are popular in Xiamen take two years to catch on in Zhangzhou,' a South China distributor mentioned. Zhangzhou has a predominantly agricultural population, with consumers preferring holiday gift boxes, focusing on practicality, and being extremely price-sensitive. Therefore, even trendy brands like Alien and Suntory are difficult to promote locally. From a retail perspective, price cuts may be a brand's proactive means to seek market share, but terminal store owners' concerns lie in whether low prices can bring stable sell-through and whether they will affect overall per-customer profit. These factors make them conservative toward new brands or beverages in new price bands. Signals from Brand Owners Price Cuts Are a Means, Value Is Fundamental Clearly, after the impact of the pandemic, channel fragmentation, and the return of rational consumption, China's beverage market is entering a new 'price power' competition cycle. Since 2024, from traditional supermarkets to instant retail, from e-commerce promotions to live streaming on content platforms, the beverage category has generally seen structural price cuts and normalized promotions, reflecting the collective anxiety of brands in the battle for sell-through and market share protection. Behind this is consumers' high sensitivity to 'cost-performance' and the prevalence of calculated consumption behavior. NielsenIQ data shows that 72% of consumers consider price first when choosing beverages, with consumers' 'value-sensitive' characteristics significantly enhanced, followed by brand awareness and functional ingredients. Contemporary consumers, especially the younger generation, with reduced out-of-home drinking and increased at-home consumption, place more emphasis on 'cost-performance' and 'practicality.' In terms of market competition, the report points out that in 2023, the national beverage market growth slowed to single digits, with functional drinks and sugar-free tea still growing, but overall competition intensified, brand concentration increased, and the top 10 brands accounted for over 65% of market share. Meanwhile, second- and third-tier brands, to seize market share, have adopted strategies like 'more volume for the same price' and 'larger specifications' to enter the low-price band, triggering a chain reaction. This trend is highly consistent with the author's market observations: in South and North China markets, small brands counter big brands' prices by expanding specifications, with 900ml energy drinks priced at only 5 yuan, the same as mainstream 250ml products; the trend of increasing volume is also spreading, with products increasing from 330ml to 490ml or even 600ml, while prices remain unchanged or slightly decrease. Facing a beverage market where 'cost-performance' has become the main theme, brand owners should respond to price wars while also seeing long-term development. They need to make more acute adjustments in packaging specifications and channel strategies to adapt to the 'calculated' consumption trend. Build a Full Price Band Product Matrix, Refine Price Strategy Management Currently, consumers focus on cost-performance, and the beverage market shows obvious 'price band stratification.' Brand owners should divide products into high, medium, and low price bands based on channel characteristics and user groups, avoiding the 'single hit product' model. High-priced products focus on functionality, health, and packaging design; medium-priced products meet mass consumption, enhancing taste and quality; low-priced products focus on bulk packs and promotional combos to respond to price-sensitive markets. Strengthen Channel Layering Management, Implement Channel Segmentation + Exclusive Supply Strategy Price cuts cannot be applied uniformly; it is necessary to identify 'where to cut' and 'where not to cut arbitrarily.' For different channels such as KA stores, convenience stores, e-commerce, group buying, and wholesale markets, differentiated pricing strategies should be formulated; control e-commerce exclusive supplies or channel-customized packaging, such as Ice Dew launching low-priced 'e-commerce exclusive' bottle types, and Wahaha launching channel-customized versions, to avoid price inversion while protecting the brand's core system price. Insist on Value Innovation, Create High-Perceived New Product Lines**** When price becomes a 'basic condition,' product strength is the long-term moat. Brand owners should continuously innovate in functionality, health trends, and cultural narratives, such as the growing demand for energy, sleep aid, and low sugar in functional drinks; local flavors, traditional Chinese, and herbal teas are being accepted by young people; emotional label packaging design has become a powerful marketing communication tool. These methods enhance consumers' freshness and repurchase motivation. Therefore, the countermeasure for brand owners should be to understand both 'how to play low prices' and 'how to guard value.' They should jump out of the thinking trap that 'price is the only battlefield' and build consumers' long-term preference and value recognition through refined product planning, channel operations, and consumer operations, so as to truly stand firm in the next industry cycle.