---
title: "New Trends: Food and Beverage 2017"
description: "The article outlines ten key trends for China's food and beverage industry in 2017, including generational succession, boundaryless enterprises, industry restructuring, category champions, the rise of the middle class, the influence of young consumers, capital market activity, perseverance, B2B e-commerce, and soft power. It also highlights six global market trends from Mintel's report, emphasizing health, convenience, and trust."
author: "New Distribution"
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published: "2017-01-04"
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# New Trends: Food and Beverage 2017

> The article outlines ten key trends for China's food and beverage industry in 2017, including generational succession, boundaryless enterprises, industry restructuring, category champions, the rise of the middle class, the influence of young consumers, capital market activity, perseverance, B2B e-commerce, and soft power. It also highlights six global market trends from Mintel's report, emphasizing health, convenience, and trust.

**2017 Top Ten Keywords**
**01**
**Iteration**
China's food industry has enjoyed 30 years of brilliant development. The first generation of food industry entrepreneurs, who emerged during the reform and opening-up, are now aged between 55 and 77. As companies grow, equity becomes more dispersed, and external managers begin to intervene, principal-agent problems gradually emerge. These first-generation entrepreneurs have to consider the issue of business succession.
Time flies, and today's youth can no longer return to an era when cars, horses, and mail were slow. Often, the phrase "in our time..." from the older generation is more of a spiritual aspiration for the second generation. Compared to their parents, the second generation faces more opportunities and challenges, and they are going through a difficult but hopeful process of finding their way.
Most family business founders have planned for succession for many years. However, the exact timing of handing over the baton to the younger generation remains a question that requires careful consideration in 2017.
**02**
**Boundaryless**
In the future, enterprises will "dissolve" into society, and consumers will "dissolve" into enterprises. The traditional relationships between enterprises and society, and between consumers and enterprises, will undergo fundamental changes in the internet society. This also means that in the internet era, enterprises will develop in a boundaryless manner.
Boundaryless enterprise development includes: boundaryless enterprise resources, boundaryless enterprise management, and boundaryless enterprise development. Currently, food enterprises can leverage the internet to integrate and obtain more operational resources, including commodity resources, and can acquire more enterprise management resources to achieve greater boundaryless development.
Haier has a saying: "The world is my human resources department, and the world is my R&D department." Moving towards boundarylessness maximizes resource utilization.
But in reality, there is still a significant gap between food enterprises and the boundaryless thinking of the internet. In terms of resource integration and acquisition, especially commodity resources, they are still limited to traditional fields, regional markets, and traditional distributors, and are still trapped in traditional thinking.
The internet already has enormous resources, including commodity resources and service resources. In the internet era, enterprises that fight alone find it difficult to develop. Enterprises must be good at greater alliances and more resource integration. It is necessary to break traditional development and integration concepts, not just improve efficiency, but more importantly, achieve thorough resource integration.
**03**
**Restructuring**
Based on industry cycles, economic downturn, consumption upgrades, and changes in channels and communication, "Sugar Tobacco Wine Weekly" believes that from 2016 to 2020, China's food industry will enter a restructuring period. China's food industry has maintained a rapid growth rate for two or three decades, but in the future, it will enter a stage of structural growth. The restructuring of the food industry is mainly manifested in four aspects: brand restructuring, channel restructuring, communication and promotion restructuring, and price restructuring.
From 2016 to 2020, China's food industry will transition from the old mainstream to the new mainstream. In 2017, established leading enterprises will launch younger and more segmented product brands. Newly emerging expert and fashionable leading brands, as well as niche brands for segmented communities, will together form the mainstream brand landscape of China's food industry.
**04**
**Category Champions**
Before 2017, some unicorn-type food enterprises emerged, which grew a particular category bigger and stronger, becoming the champion brand in a segmented category. We call them category champions. Category champions refer to brands that can represent the highest level and most marketing power in a segmented category of China's food industry. "Category champions" have uniqueness and exclusivity.
For example, "溜溜梅" (Liuliumei) in the preserved fruit industry, "甘源" (Ganyuan) in the leisure bean products industry, "卫龙" (Weilong) in the leisure flour products industry, and "无穷" (Wuqiong) in the salted baked chicken products industry. These categories have a long history and a large consumer base, but the product forms are primitive, there is no stable market structure, and there is a lack of brands deeply remembered by consumers. By scaling up, upgrading products, and building brands, these unicorns quickly "occupied" these categories and became the champions. In 2017, Chinese food enterprises will continue to mine the rich ore of "having categories but no brands."
**05**
**Middle Class**
In 2016, the first year of middle-class consumption arrived. In 2017, it will gradually become mainstream from its embryonic state. This mainstream is not just about changes in consumption and products; it may involve the expansion of hundreds of millions of middle-class people in the middle of the olive-shaped society.
As these people increase, society will not only change consumption concepts but also aesthetics, values, and many public issues in the country. When the new middle class becomes the mainstream of this country, China will see new growth points.
Today, in mainstream society, there are people born in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, with different age groups playing different roles. To understand China in 2017, one must understand these four groups that dominate Chinese society.
The post-60s generation has largely withdrawn from the front lines of China's industrial economy. In the internet and information industries, they are the most anxious group. In 2017, they will step off the front-line stage, hand over to the post-80s and post-90s, and become their investors.
They are the main force of future investment, so the investment views of the post-60s are something we need to pay attention to.
For the post-70s, we need to focus on consumption views. Today, many concepts in China's automobiles, clothing, entertainment, and movies are led by the post-70s.
For the post-80s, we need to focus on their aesthetic views. The post-80s are gradually moving to the center of the stage. They are now the main force of middle-level cadres in most Chinese enterprises, so their aesthetics define what Chinese culture is and what Chinese consumption is.
Then there are the post-90s. They are the first generation in the past 100 years born in a peaceful and materially affluent era, growing up in an internet-based era. They will become the rebellious force in future Chinese consumption.
These people, whose families constitute today's Chinese middle class, are gradually becoming the mainstream of society. Their investment views, consumption views, aesthetic views, and rebellious views will undergo significant changes.
**06**
**Little Fresh Meat**
In 2016, the output value of China's leisure food was 1,092.6 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 1,600 billion yuan by 2020. As mentioned above, the post-90s will become the rebellious force in consumption. The post-90s population is 174 million, and the post-00s is 146 million, totaling over 300 million people who are becoming the new force in leisure food.
The term "little fresh meat" is gradually penetrating all aspects of the leisure food industry with entertainment marketing. Now we have entered the era of appearance, and appearance has become our catchphrase. Appearance is not only about beautiful packaging but also whether the product positioning and taste align with current consumption trends.
2017 will be a year where appearance matters. We interpret "little fresh meat" as the ability to keep up with the times. When consumers have satisfied their basic needs, they will inevitably move towards aesthetic and spiritual consumption needs. Aesthetics is a symbol of our living standards; the level of aesthetics is a symbol of the level of our living standards.
**07**
**Capital**
In the capital market, 2017 will be a relatively active year.
The surge in the real estate market in the first half of 2016 gave the central government great vigilance. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party will be held at the end of 2017, so throughout 2017, China's politics, economy, and public opinion will prioritize stability.
For institutional funds, whether private equity funds or social security funds, they are abundant. But outside the capital market, whether in the real economy or the service industry, they are still in the midst of difficult transformation, so large-scale funds lack good targets. They will definitely find a relatively certain target, even if it is just a shell.
In 2017, under the premise of standardization, insurance funds will enter the market, along with private equity funds, venture capital funds, and even national sovereign funds.
At the same time, with capital continuously entering listed companies, among China's current 3,000 listed companies, the vast majority are traditional, declining assets in a very uncomfortable state. They will use the asset shortage and capital inflow in 2017 to complete their transformation.
This process will be relatively brutal and bloody, and may be full of various gray transactions. During this process, the asset quality and industry conditions of listed companies will undergo tremendous changes. With the increase in derivative instruments in China's capital market, more and more startup companies will be willing to list domestically.
In the midst of these investments, transformations, shell purchases, and new regulatory adjustments, the capital market in 2017 will be more active than in 2016.
**08**
**Staying True**
In 2016, the upgrading of mainstream consumption, economic downturn, sharp rises in raw materials, and the internet brought significant changes to the business environment and mentality of enterprises. Many entrepreneurs and businesspeople fell into anxiety, worrying about the future and the replacement of original business models by the internet. 2016 was a relatively difficult year for the real economy.
In 2017, the world is still in a deflationary environment, and the phenomenon of anti-globalization will continue to spread. Difficulties remain for food enterprises.
The will to persevere is as important as long-term vision, and this is a necessary quality for success in any industry. The short-sightedness, cleverness, and eagerness for quick success induced by human greed will only add regret in old age in the long river of industrial management.
"Opening up wasteland in the southern fields, I return to the garden to stay true." In the new year, enterprises will continue to stay true, which will be more evident in product quality, business management, market operations, and the conduct of business owners. Hide the edge and stay true, seeking progress through simplicity.
**09**
**B2B**
The complete chain of traditional business is: manufacturer F - agent B - retail store R - consumer C. For example, JD.com and Tmall are traditional C-end e-commerce models of F2C and B2C.
The first half of e-commerce has ended, and the second half has begun. The first half of e-commerce was C-end e-commerce, while the second half is B-end e-commerce. B-end e-commerce is precisely aimed at distributors. The trend of e-commerce has shifted from B2C to B2B.
Currently, B2C is approaching its limit. In 2015, C-end e-commerce accounted for 12.9% of total retail sales, and the predicted limit is 18%. C-end e-commerce is losing its cost advantage, and online costs may be higher than offline. C-end e-commerce has become a battlefield for promoting high-end products. The current trend is to transfer good online products to offline.
In the future, there will be no pure offline. Distributor friends need to re-understand the internet. 2017 will be the year when distributors embrace B-end e-commerce.
**10**
**Soft Power**
If hard power is weak, you will be defeated once you fight; if soft power is weak, you will be defeated without a fight.
The cultural performance on the opening night of the 2016 Hangzhou G20 Summit brought the world's most influential leaders to the West Lake, allowing them to experience the "most Chinese" cultural dream. Nongfu Spring's high-end glass bottled water, relying on product quality and cultural connotation, became the conference water for the G20 Summit.
Remember, soft power is a hard currency that never depreciates.
After years of development, China's food industry has solved the most basic problem of "eating enough" for the nation. However, regarding the issue of "eating well," the food industry still faces huge market demand.
Consumer demand is transitioning from quantity to quality and then to emotional consumption. As people continue to develop, the level of human needs moves from material to emotional. Correspondingly, in the consumption field, consumer needs are also shifting from the material attributes of goods to the emotional attributes they carry, influenced by various subjective and objective conditions.
In 2017, and for a long time to come, food enterprises will pay more attention to the construction of soft power such as product innovation and connotation, and to the satisfaction of emotions and the emotionalization of spiritual pleasure.
In 2017, the world is still in a deflationary environment, and the phenomenon of anti-globalization will continue to spread. So we still need to be prepared, maintain a rational state, and move towards the new year with a positive, healthy, and even a bit of happy mood.
**2017 Market Trends**
Recently, Mintel, the world's leading independent market research consultancy, released the "2017 Food and Beverage Trends" report, predicting six global trends in the food and beverage market.
**The first trend is called Trusting Tradition.** You can understand it as the "retro style" in the food and beverage industry. The report predicts that consumers will seek comfort from old recipes and old tastes, so those old brands, products with familiar flavors, and brands that evoke familiar impressions and aftertastes will have opportunities to perform. So next year, you may find that there will be more foods and beverages claiming to return to tradition and ancient methods, and market innovation may largely come from innovation based on tradition.
**Trend two: Power of Plants.** That is, consumers will be more interested in natural and vegetarian foods. This will further promote the popularity of vegetarian, vegan, and other plant-based food formulas. The report believes that in 2017, more products in the food and beverage industry will emphasize their plant ingredients. We will also see more products and recipes choosing fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and other plant ingredients, all to cater to consumers' desire for a healthier and cleaner lifestyle.
**Trend three: No Waste.** The report predicts that in 2017, the concept of eliminating waste and sustainable development will have more manifestations in the food field. For example, some fruits, vegetables, and ingredients that don't look so beautiful may have been wasted in the past just because they were a bit ugly, but in 2017, this situation will be curbed. They may be made into snacks and play their due role.
**Trend four: Time is Key.** That is, the time investment required to prepare and consume food will become as important as its nutritional content. So the report predicts that so-called "hacker" foods that are both convenient to eat and have complete nutrition will become popular. In 2017, the time required to prepare and preserve food or beverages will become a clear selling point.
**Trend five: Nighttime Eating Will Be Popular.** Nighttime eating here does not refer to the late-night snacks we often talk about, but rather products that help people relax better and aid sleep and rest. For example, adding herbal formulas like chamomile and lavender to tea drinks. Some believe this is a good way to aid sleep. In the future, foods and beverages that claim to promote nighttime relaxation and even exert more health functions will be welcomed by consumers.
**Trend six: Equal Health.** That is, healthy food and beverages are not "luxury items." Low-income consumers also have this need, which requires more innovation in the market to help more people enjoy this healthy diet.
Finally, in summary, this year's global trends are based on consumers' demand for healthy, convenient, and trustworthy food and beverages. For manufacturers and retailers around the world, products with high recognition, time-saving fruits, vegetables, and other plant products will have greater opportunities.
The above content is for your reference.
**This article is compiled by <New Distribution>**
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