On cold winter days, a warm beverage often stimulates consumers' purchasing desire. Starting from "Lulu should be drunk hot in winter," selling heated beverages in winter has become an opportunity for many companies to boost sales, and the term "warm drinks" has gradually spread. What exactly are "warm drinks"? Industry insiders say that beverages that can be heated externally to reach a temperature of around 45-65 degrees Celsius without changing their state or nutritional content are called "warm drinks." From the terminal perspective, "warm drinks" are products that have been heated in warm cabinets or warm pots and can be directly consumed, which can promote winter beverage sales to a certain extent.

During the market survey, the editor specifically sorted out several domestic brands with strong manufacturer support, hoping to provide some help to distributor friends in winter product selection and promotion.

1 Suntory Recommended products: Honey Fragrance series Reasons for recommendation: Currently, the products suitable for warm drinks in Suntory's product system are mainly the Honey Fragrance series, including Honey Fragrance Warm Orange, Honey Fragrance Warm Pomelo, Honey Fragrance Warm Ginger, and Honey Fragrance Kumquat. Generally, we think that warm drinks sell better in channels such as breakfast shops and convenience stores, but in fact, if hypermarkets are well managed, sales can be equally impressive. Since November last year, Suntory has placed warm cabinets in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Dalian, and many southern cities, with 70% of sales coming from heated warm drinks, receiving widespread support from distributors.

2 Uni-President Enterprises Recommended products: Ruyin series Reasons for recommendation: As a fruit juice beverage, "Ruyin" interprets Chinese culture, not blindly pursuing innovation but rebuilding on the basis of adhering to tradition. Since the launch of the "Ruyin" brand, it has successively launched products such as "Donggua Xiaoqiao," "Li Hao Sunshine," "Jiang Nuan Huakai," "You Jian Xingfu," and "Li Lai Wu San," focusing on the "Chinese-style fruit drink" warm drink category. Among them, "Li Lai Wu San" has become a key product for Uni-President at the 2016 Autumn Sugar and Wine Fair. The editor predicts that the promotion of "Li Lai Wu San" this winter will definitely not be small.

3 Master Kong Recommended products: Yikeguan Milk Tea, Benwei Tea House tea drinks Reasons for recommendation: In terms of channel selection, Master Kong's warm drinks not only occupy large supermarkets and convenience store channels, focusing on advantageous positions near the cashier's end caps, but also continuously strengthen channel expansion, cooperating comprehensively with cinemas, cake shops, and lifestyle supermarkets to increase drinking occasions for beverages in winter. Among them, Yikeguan Milk Tea has launched ground promotion activities nationwide. Usually, a distributor's promotion activity can bring sales of forty boxes, and the promotional effect is still quite obvious.

4 Nongfu Spring Recommended products: Oriental Leaf, Da Nai Cha Reasons for recommendation: In the winter of 2015, Nongfu Spring carried out warm drink promotions for Oriental Leaf and Da Nai Cha in different channels. It is understood that Oriental Leaf is positioned for white-collar and gold-collar consumers who pursue quality, with warm drink promotions in office buildings or other workplaces in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing. Previously, it took advantage of the "worst-tasting beverage" list and unexpectedly reversed to achieve good sales, which may play a certain role in promoting this winter's campaign. Da Nai Cha, due to its higher price, mainly places warm cabinets in KA hypermarket channels, but now its promotion is gradually fading.

5 Tianwo Group Recommended products: Honey Grapefruit Tea Reasons for recommendation: As the second main drink in Tianwo's fancy tea beverage series, Tianwo Honey Grapefruit Tea combines honey with grapefruit to create a fresh taste different from traditional tea drinks. In terms of packaging, it follows the fashion and personalization unique to Tianwo's Royal series, giving a sense of exquisiteness. It is understood that this product is often one of the main warm drink products promoted in mainstream convenience stores.

6 Produced by Shanghai Jiajun Beverage Co., Ltd. Recommended products: Huayu Mantian, Huning Maca Reasons for recommendation: Huayu Mantian Rose Water is developed for women who love beauty, while Huning Maca Plant Beverage was born with the spread of maca's health benefits. Both retail at 9.9 yuan/280ml. Due to the different positioning of the two products, the company has different promotion channels, carrying out various forms of warm drink marketing in different terminals.

Although the concept of warm drinks is tempting, the investment in warm cabinets in some channels brings high promotion costs to manufacturers and also poses new challenges for distributors. For example, the continuous heating time for warm drink products should be limited to 10-15 days; too long will destroy the taste and nutrition of the drink itself. Therefore, the editor suggests that manufacturers and distributors should be cautious before entering, and make comprehensive considerations based on their own situation, market environment, consumption habits, and other information.

Source: Tiantian Xinpin