Market changes and capital hesitation, after experiencing stages of popular trends, cooling trends, and deleveraging, the food and beverage industry in 2023 has returned to rationality and entered a new phase. If one were to describe this year's investment and financing situation in the food and beverage industry in two phrases, it could be "slowing pace, becoming rational" or "fading boom, precise focus." According to incomplete statistics from FBIF, as of December 27, 2023, there were 210 investment and financing events across 14 major categories in the food and beverage industry. These 14 categories are: alcohol, snack foods, coffee, new tea drinks, alternative proteins, convenience foods, condiments and prepared dishes, food technology, bakery, dairy products, beverages, ingredients, functional foods, and infant and child foods (offline dining brands other than new tea drinks, coffee, alcohol, and bakery are not included in this inventory).

Business is like water. Adjusting strategies and finding solutions amidst changes and problems has always been a survival rule of business. Reviewing and analyzing these 210 investment and financing events, we find that the food and beverage industry has shown the following characteristics in response to these changes:

  1. The pace has slowed, capital has become more rational, and there is a preference for investing in companies that have completed their first round of financing.
  2. Industry involution has intensified, with companies seeking innovation and change, and segmented scenarios becoming new avenues for growth.
  3. Multi-category involution has extended to raw materials, with Chinese ingredients such as ginseng and ginger favored by companies.
  4. Health elements have spread across major categories, with high attention on "Chinese-style wellness."
  5. Functional food companies have seen a surge, with frequent appearances of special medical foods.
  6. Technology has deeply empowered the food industry, with cell-cultured meat as a representative track developing rapidly.

Overall Situation:

Slowing Pace, Becoming Rational

According to incomplete statistics from FBIF, as of December 27, 2023, there were 210 investment and financing events across 14 major categories in the food and beverage industry, a decrease of about 15% compared to 247 events last year, and about 24% compared to the year before. These 14 categories are: alcohol, snack foods, coffee, new tea drinks, alternative proteins, convenience foods, condiments and prepared dishes, food technology, bakery, dairy products, beverages, ingredients, functional foods, and infant and child foods (based on the same standards and classification as last year, we added the categories of "functional foods" and "infant and child foods"; offline dining brands other than tea, coffee, alcohol, and bakery are not included in this inventory). From the chart below, it is clear that in 2023, there were 7 months with fewer financing events than in 2022. Behind this is investors becoming more cautious.

(1) Fewer Investors Making Multiple Investments

FBIF counted investors who made more than two investments in the food and beverage industry in 2023. Statistics show that this year, a total of 13 investment institutions and companies made investments. Among them, Junlebao made the most investments, with a total of 4 times. Junlebao's four investments were mainly strategic, all related to its original business, including the cheese and dairy brand "Luoshen Shijia," dairy manufacturer "Huangshi Laiersi," yogurt drink brand "Moyogurt," and functional food company "Yiran Bio." In addition to investments, Junlebao also received a round of equity financing from investors including Guotou Chuangyi, Hebei Radio and Television, Hosen Capital, and Hongzhang Capital. Furthermore, only Tomato Capital made two or more investments in both this year and last year.

(2) Decrease in Hundred-Million-Yuan Level Investments

In terms of hundred-million-yuan level (including nearly 100 million, 100 million, and over 100 million) investment and financing events, in 2023, there were 42 such events, of which 36 were over 100 million yuan (including 100 million). Last year, there were 48 hundred-million-yuan level events, of which 41 were over 100 million yuan (including 100 million). Among all hundred-million-yuan investment events this year, the coffee category had 10, followed by condiments and prepared dishes, dairy products, and snack foods with 6, 5, and 5 respectively. Last year, the alcohol category had the most hundred-million-yuan financing with 20, followed by tea and coffee with 10 each. In 2023, excluding events with undisclosed amounts, financing amounts were concentrated in the tens of millions, accounting for 36% of the total, and millions accounted for 10%. Additionally, among 124 early-stage financing events (Angel to Series A), only 11 were hundred-million-yuan level, with the highest amount being 1 billion yuan. It is understood that this 1 billion yuan financing was the Series A round for grain processing producer "Jialiang Group," with investor Tianjin Xinhui Cheng.

(3) Decrease in Brands with Multiple Financing Rounds in One Year

In 2023, 7 brands received multiple (2 or more) financing rounds in a year, namely Zhao Yiming Snacks, Jianji Foods, Jialiang Group, Star Plus Legend, Shefei, Suxing Technology, Yan Zhi Wu, and Luoshen Shijia. Last year, 14 brands had multiple financing rounds in a year. In comparison, the number of brands receiving multiple financing rounds in 2023 significantly decreased, and the categories involved were fewer. Yuanjiusuo and MOODLES, which received two rounds of financing last year, obtained new rounds this year.

(4) First-Round Financing Cools Down, Brands Post-Angel Round More Attractive

From the perspective of financing rounds, in 2023, investment institutions and companies preferred to invest in brands that had already completed an angel round. In 2023, there were 54 financing events at the angel or first-round stage. In contrast, among the 247 investment events last year, 99 were at the angel, seed, or first-round stage. Specifically by category, the top 5 categories with the most investment and financing in 2023 were: new tea drinks, coffee, snack foods, condiments and prepared dishes, and functional foods. Compared to last year, there have been significant changes; last year's top five categories were: alcohol, snack foods, new tea drinks, coffee, and condiments and prepared dishes. It is worth noting that this year, the top three categories with the most investment events—new tea drinks, coffee, and snack foods—share the same industry situation. Involution has been the norm for these three categories in 2023. Whether it's new tea drinks, coffee, or snack foods, a new round of price wars has been launched this year: the 9.9 yuan price war in coffee has spread to new tea drinks, such as Nayuki's "9.9 yuan" monthly card. The rise of bulk snack stores has impacted traditional snack brands, such as Bestore launching a large-scale and significant price reduction at the end of November. In addition to price wars, going overseas, transformation, launching new products, mergers and acquisitions, and forming alliances have become "must-dos" for companies. Companies must find more ways out and tell new stories to attract consumers and capital attention to survive. Throughout this year, we have witnessed how companies, under involution, seek innovation, change, and survival.

Hot Tracks: "Involution" Brings New Trends

Entrepreneurs and Capital "Dive" into Segmentation

This year, the consumer market has seen both "upgrading" and "downgrading." On one hand, consumers have contracted spending on "non-essential" items, emphasizing cost-effectiveness, such as reducing tea drinks and dining out. This has caused significant shocks in related industries, such as high-end new tea drink brands lowering prices and Bestore reducing prices. On the other hand, consumer demand remains high in certain scenarios, still pursuing brand and quality, such as infant and toddler complementary foods and snacks, leading to the development of related enterprises. Products must not only offer cost-effectiveness but also provide satisfaction. "Cost-performance" is intensifying, and "heart-price ratio" is also thriving: meeting rational consumption while activating emotional life, combining the function of necessities with the value of desired items, has become an opportunity for companies and new categories to break through. [1]

(1) New Tea Drinks "Involution" to Ingredients

In 2023, new tea drinks continued to be favored by capital and remained one of the most popular categories in food industry investment and financing. According to incomplete statistics, there were 34 financing events in the new tea drink track this year, a slight increase from 31 in 2022, making it one of the few categories with growth compared to last year. The financing rounds are similar to last year, mostly early-stage. Among the 34 investment events in 2023, there were 10 angel rounds, such as Kamingxing, Wumeiniang, Wuxian Tea Drink, Blanxiong Flower Tea Drink, Shanchajian, Shan Ye Pao Pao, and Huazuo. This year, segmentation is one of the characteristics of new tea drink investment events. According to statistics, nearly half of the 34 investment events in new tea drinks were concentrated in "new Chinese-style tea drinks." Among them, 50% of the 10 angel round brands were positioned as "national style" new tea drinks. This brings a problem: differentiation between brands is shrinking. The barriers and thresholds for new tea drinks are not high. When many track players gather, naming, design, products, and positioning will converge, leading to fierce competition and serious homogenization. Taking the single product of oolong tea + fresh milk as an example, Shanjian's product is named "Meng Ru Lan," and Hantang Xu's is "Shan Cha Qing Yu." (Image source: Official images of new tea drink brands such as Nishang Tea Dance, Dongfang Ye, Hantang Xu, and Shanjian) Ingredients have become a new lever. For example, Shan Ye Pao Pao's signature "Hui Gan Olive Juice" uses "licorice-soaked olives" as an ingredient; Hetian Shuipu launched "Ginseng Water" with ginseng as the base, "Osmanthus Chenpi Water" with chenpi as the base, and "Ejiao Jujube Ginger Tea" with ingredients including ejiao jujube and ginger. In 2023, in the ingredient category, 4 companies received new financing rounds. Apart from the food additive producer Runpu Foods, the other three are related to the new tea drink track. Citric acid producer Laiwu Taihe, Luo Han Guo natural zero-calorie sweetener company Huacheng Bio, and tea drink ingredient brand Weibao Foods all produce products related to new tea drink ingredients. Weibao Foods' main products include brown sugar tapioca pearls and amber tapioca pearls, with major clients including KFC and Pizza Hut under Yum China, and 85°C under Jinwei Industrial. Additionally, in 2022, Nayuki pioneered the use of Luo Han Guo sweetener in bottled tea, and a few months later announced it would fully adopt natural Luo Han Guo sweetener in its stores. Huacheng Bio opened the world's first Luo Han Guo sugar-free dessert shop in Changsha, Hunan, selling various products made with Luo Han Guo sugar without added sucrose, including tea drinks, milk tea, cakes, desserts, bread, candies, and mooncakes.

(2) Coffee "Segmentation" to Scenarios

In 2023, there were 32 financing events in the coffee category, an increase of 3 from 29 last year. This year, the involution in the coffee track has been evident. In June, Luckin launched the first shot in the 9.9 yuan price war, followed by Cotti with 8.8 yuan. After the two leading brands brought coffee prices to single digits, some new coffee brands had to explore other scenarios and differentiate their positioning to cope with the price war. 1. New brands frequently emerge. Among the investment events in the coffee track, multiple new brands appeared. For example, 8 new coffee brands, including Bulu Bear Coffee, High Can Coffee, and Huwen Coffee, received angel round financing, with brands before Series A (including Series A) accounting for nearly 50%. These coffee brands focus on being small and refined, with prices around 20 yuan. 2. Regional positioning is prominent. Regional specialty coffee has become a favorite of capital. On one hand, Yunnan coffee and Italian coffee are not only found in retail instant coffee but are gradually moving into offline stores as signature products. Especially Yunnan coffee, in the first quarter of this year alone, two brands received financing: "Si Ye Ka" and "High Can Coffee." On the other hand, coffee shops based in internet-famous cities are rising, and geographical location and city culture have an increasingly deep impact on coffee brand development. For example, Au Cafe is a local coffee brand in Shenzhen, and Feixingjia is a local coffee brand in Wuhan. 3. Fusion coffee brands emerge. Fusion coffee brands are "coffee +," with coffee as the main business but incorporating other elements, such as baked goods or blind box gameplay. This model has become the first choice for many coffee shops to differentiate. New coffee brands focusing on "coffee + bakery" have emerged and received tens of millions in angel round financing, such as Yikou Shiyi Foods and Qingkalu, which focus on "coffee + pastries" and "coffee + toast" models, respectively. In addition, DEAR BOX blind box coffee and Cha Yuanshuo both received new financing rounds. Taking the coffee brand "Cha Yuanshuo" as an example, it incorporates blind boxes into coffee sales. When consumers purchase coffee, they also receive a "blind box," which could be snacks, desserts, or other coffee-related products or services. (Image source: DEARBOX blind box coffee shop, from DEARBOX blind box coffee Xiaohongshu)

(3) Snack Foods "Struggle" with Channels

In 2023, there were 26 financing events in the snack food category, down from 33 in 2022. Among them, tropical fruit and vegetable processor Tianye Co., Ltd. and dried food and snack producer Zhengwei Foods successfully went public this year. 1. Bulk snack stores continue to "rise." Bulk snack stores have sprung up this year. Among the 26 financing events, 12 were related to bulk snack brands. Among them, 2 were over 100 million yuan, 1 was nearly 100 million yuan, and the rest were around tens of millions. Among them, Snacks Busy received a strategic investment of 1 billion yuan. In the financing events of the bulk snack track, many leading snack brands can be seen. For example, Haoxiangni and Yanjin Shop invested in Snacks Busy, and Bestore also appeared in the Series A financing of Zhao Yiming Snacks. New bulk snack brands show a clear trend of segmentation, such as Kangaroo Mom, which focuses on mother-and-baby snack bulk stores. On the other side of the rise is fierce competition. At the end of this year, the merger of Snacks Busy and Zhao Yiming Snacks caused significant industry shock. In addition, Bestore announced in December that it would withdraw from its stake in Zhao Yiming Snacks. At the end of last year, Bestore also launched its own bulk snack brand, "Snacks Wanjia." (Image source: Zhao Yiming Snacks official website, Snacks Busy official website) 2. New brands focus on segmented scenarios and functionality. Snack brands are also becoming increasingly segmented. Segmented snack brands such as braised products, beef jerky, and roasted nuts have all received new financing rounds this year. The parent company of "La Me La Li," Jianji Foods, received two rounds of financing. It is understood that La Me La Li positions itself as "snacks for drinking," entering through more segmented scenarios to occupy consumer minds. Additionally, with the diversification of consumer tastes and increased health awareness, snack brands have also launched options such as low-sugar, low-fat, and high-fiber. For example, the new Chinese-style healthy food brand "Sheli" includes healthy snacks such as nourishing red dates and light meals. In addition to scenario segmentation, audience positioning has also become more segmented. This year, FBIF added the "infant and child food" category. FBIF noticed that with consumers' attention to health, the snack and beverage market has become more segmented, with more companies targeting "mother and baby" and "children" scenarios. In 2023, there were 5 investment and financing events in the "infant and child food" category. Among them, three companies were in the early financing stage: maternal and infant dietary food brand "Yunwei Shizu" completed a Series A+ round, maternal and infant nutritional egg brand "Eggs from Love" completed an angel round, and children's food brand "Yiya" completed a Pre-A round. Last year, "Yiya" also received a round of financing. In addition, deep-sea fish food brand "Lu Youxian," although positioned as a food e-commerce platform focusing on providing fresh and high-quality meat and seafood products, currently enters the market from the children's scenario, focusing on high-protein, nutritious fish products like cod. In addition to the brands that received financing, many snack brands have also launched children's food, such as Bestore's "Xiaoshixian," a brand focused on children.

(4) Cheese Track Becomes a "Dark Horse"

In 2023, there were 11 financing events in the domestic dairy industry, flat compared to 2022. From the perspective of financing stages, dairy industry investments are mostly equity financing, with companies mostly having deep roots in the dairy industry for many years. Among them, Qishi Dairy successfully went public in October this year. It is understood that Qishi Dairy was established in 1992, focusing on the dairy and sugar industries, and is a comprehensive enterprise integrating agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy, and sugar across the entire industry chain. Overall, the companies that received financing this year still mainly produce liquid milk (including room temperature milk, pasteurized milk, yogurt, etc.), but cheese is gradually gaining favor. Statistics show that among the 11 financing events, 3 were related to cheese. Among them, the cheese and dairy brand Luoshen Shijia received two rounds of financing within a year, with investors including both the consumer-focused VC Qingshan Capital and the dairy company Junlebao. Since last year, Junlebao has been active, acquiring dairy producer Yinqiao Dairy and strategically investing in dairy manufacturer Huangshi Laiersi. In the dairy industry, CVC investment models are common. Due to the short shelf life of dairy raw materials, fast processing requirements, and high technical requirements, many leading dairy brands make multiple investments to build an ecosystem, on one hand to expand production lines and raw material origins, and on the other hand to try to connect the entire industry chain.

(5) Baijiu Continues to Strengthen, Fruit Wine Makes a Comeback

In 2023, there were 15 financing events in the alcohol track. This data has significantly declined compared to 41 last year. In terms of financing amounts, there were only 2 hundred-million-yuan level financing events: Zhenjiu Lidu raised HK$5.3 billion in its IPO, and Qianzhuang Wine Industry received a strategic investment of several hundred million yuan from Zhidao Wang. Specifically, baijiu and beer remain the "favorites" of capital. Especially baijiu, with 8 of the 15 financing events this year being baijiu companies. FBIF found that new baijiu brands are trying to expand through differentiated routes: for example, Jiangtu Sauce Wine focuses on online channels for brand promotion; Suiwo Xiaojiu and Buliangren Wine Industry attract young people with national-style packaging. It is worth noting that Suiwo Xiaojiu was previously a baijiu brand under ByteDance. Qichacha shows that on October 27 this year, Shenzhen Linzi Entertainment Technology Co., Ltd. acquired Suiwo Xiaojiu. In the beer category, segmented beers such as craft beer and raw pulp remain the "darlings" of capital. For example, TAGSIU and Jing-A Brewing both focus on craft beer. In addition, three wine and fruit wine companies received new financing rounds this year. However, compared to foreign brands, domestic wine companies still have room to improve their visibility and reputation. In 2023, there were 19 financing events in the condiments and prepared dishes category, a slight decrease from 21 last year. Among the 19 events, 10 were in prepared dishes and 9 in condiments. Prepared dishes are becoming increasingly segmented. In addition to Chinese-style prepared dishes, this year's financing companies include brands focusing on foreign cuisine, such as Qing Peng Peng, a brand for pre-cooked exotic dishes, whose products include pizza and beef rolls. Additionally, the selection of prepared dishes is becoming more diverse, including pufferfish, beef, and lamb.

New Players: Health Concepts "Land"

Wellness is the Present, Technology is the Future

This year's investment and financing events cannot be discussed without the keyword "health." In fact, many companies in the aforementioned new tea drinks, coffee, and snack food categories are positioned around health. In addition, beverages have seen the emergence of hangover drinks, and bakery products have started "sugar reduction" plans. This year, the number of investments and financing in functional foods, mainly health foods and special medical foods, has significantly increased. Functional foods include nourishing products, Chinese-style wellness products, and special medical-level products. Related companies have begun to emerge in the market, and capital attention has followed.

(1) Beverages Need to Relieve Hangovers, Cakes Need to Reduce Sugar

In 2023, there were 14 investment and financing events in the domestic beverage track, flat compared to last year. Among the disclosed data, the largest amount was the 50 million yuan angel round for "Xiuyang Zhengben," a plant-based beverage brand under Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical, featuring ginseng, turmeric, and citrus aurantium. In addition, Wuhan No.2 Factory's "backdoor listing" through merger also attracted attention. Overall, the beverage industry in 2023 has become increasingly segmented in both scenarios and ingredients. In terms of scenarios, companies focusing on segmented scenarios such as wellness and hangover relief have emerged, and capital has paid high attention to such companies. For example, the hangover beverage brand "Suxing Technology" received two rounds of tens of millions in financing in less than half a year. Plant-based herbal beverage companies have come to the forefront this year. In addition to Xiuyang Zhengben, there is also "Yao 8 Xia," which focuses on grass jelly drinks. It is understood that Yao 8 Xia uses dopamine color schemes and Memphis-style patterns on its packaging to appeal to young people's aesthetics. In terms of drinking method, as the name suggests, "shake 8 times" to break up the grass jelly and mix it with the liquid, resulting in a taste that is initially bitter and then sweet, suitable for summer refreshment. Additionally, coconut water-based beverages continued the heat from last year. Among the 14 beverage financing events in 2023, 3 were related to "coconut water," namely Gana Foods, Yeli Ya, and Keke Manfen. The bakery industry shows a similar phenomenon to beverages. In 2023, there were 10 investment and financing events in the bakery industry, compared to 15 last year. From the perspective of financing rounds, the 10 events were mostly concentrated in Series A and B, such as Hesuo, Tanguo Catering, Liuxia Xia, Duotian Foods, and Shabulei receiving Series A stage financing. In January this year, the new Chinese-style pastry trend brand Tiger Head Bureau received tens of millions in Series B financing from Sequoia Fund, GGV Capital, and Jiaxing Waterdrop Capital. Among them, the zero-sucrose bakery brand "Hesuo" received financing for two consecutive years. It is understood that Hesuo was founded in 2021. In addition to its zero-sucrose concept, Hesuo also stated that it refuses to use hydrogenated vegetable oil, hydrogenated fat, and vegetable butter to create healthier pastries. Hesuo's signature products include the Napoleon series, cranberry scones, and organic red date cakes. In 2022, Hesuo received tens of millions in angel round financing from Shenzhen Meihaozili Investment Co., Ltd. In 2023, Hesuo received tens of millions in Pre-A round financing from Linge Venture Capital. Additionally, convenience foods also show a trend of "health" and "calorie reduction." Among the 6 financing events this year, 3 were related to light meals and low-calorie instant foods, namely Lengka, Shark Fit, and Yizhi Konjac.

(2) Functional Foods Enter the Fast Lane

In 2023, food and beverage companies with functional and specific nutritional health benefits have frequently appeared. According to the definition of the International Life Sciences Institute, functional foods are those that have specific functions, and in addition to providing normal nutritional value, they also have effects such as regulating physiological activities, enhancing physical fitness, assisting in disease prevention and treatment, restoring health, and anti-aging. In statistics, FBIF used this definition for data collection. FBIF statistics found that there were 17 financing events in the functional food category. Among them, 10 were in the early stage; 4 had financing amounts around 100 million yuan; and 1 was an IPO event, namely "Yan Zhi Wu," the "first bird's nest stock," which listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The explosion of functional foods may be related to the consumer market. In recent years, with the acceleration of population aging, functional foods have attracted consumer attention. Against the backdrop of continuous consumption upgrading, consumers have begun to choose functional foods that are beneficial to them, and the trends of nutritional functionalization, precision, and flavorization are becoming increasingly evident. [7] Currently, functional foods are entering a rapid development stage globally, and the industry scale is continuously expanding. Data shows that from 2016 to 2021, the market size of China's functional food industry grew from 222.658 billion yuan to 293.509 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of 5.68%. It is estimated that in 2023, the market size of China's functional foods will reach 321.46 billion yuan. [7] In 2023, in addition to traditional functional beverages, the functional food category has also segmented into three vertical scenarios: special medical foods, nourishing and wellness, and probiotics. Special medical food companies targeting specific populations (such as diabetes and hypertension), such as Haizheng Sulikang and Masala, have launched products like "sugar-control bread," rice, biscuits, and peanut butter for diabetic consumers. "Wellness" and "nourishment" also show a high-frequency financing trend. For example, the nourishing brand Guozi Jian, targeting men, received financing of several million yuan; traditional food therapy-related companies such as Baiyangfang and Lianjue Zang Focusen Fukeshen have all received new capital injections. Additionally, 3 probiotic-related companies received new financing rounds. Among them, Chunfei Probiotics focuses on hangover-relief probiotic products.

(3) Technology Deeply Empowers, Cell-Cultured Meat Opens a New Chapter

In 2023, a total of 14 food technology companies received new investment and financing, with each financing amount exceeding 10 million yuan. These companies share a common characteristic: they were established not long ago and are in the early financing stage. Among the companies that received financing in this track this year, MOODLES is worth noting. Qichacha shows that MOODLES, founded in 2021, has received 4 rounds of financing over three consecutive years: the first financing in October 2021, two rounds in February and August 2022, and a Pre-A+ round in May 2023. Behind these four rounds of financing are GGV Capital, Renshan Capital, and Fengwu Capital. It is understood that MOODLES uses new technology to change the form of traditional staple foods, integrating 3D printing technology, molecular gastronomy, and modern nutrition science across disciplines, without changing consumer eating habits, to solve the problems of high carbohydrates, low protein, and low nutritional intake efficiency in traditional rice and noodle products. [9] Among the 14 companies, 6 are synthetic biology companies, with businesses mainly focused on cell-cultured meat. Cell-cultured meat refers to the use of cell culture engineering and tissue engineering technologies to cultivate animal muscle tissue in vitro as food material. In 2023, in the alternative protein track, 3 companies received financing, two of which mainly promote plant-based products. Plant-based products, including plant-based beverages and plant-based meat, remain the largest segmented category in alternative proteins. This year, Swedish plant milk brand OATLY and plant-based meat brand Zhide Qidai, which received financing, mainly produce plant milk and plant-based meat, respectively.

2023 Investment and Financing Keywords: Segmentation, Health, New Chinese Style, Functionality, Technology Involution is not new this year. In the past two years, various industries have been involuting, from price wars to marketing. In such an environment, this year's involution has led companies to develop new ideas. Companies are actively seeking differentiated routes, whether through segmented scenarios, segmented audiences, focusing on health, or positioning as new Chinese style. We have summarized the following keywords as a summary of the 2023 food and beverage industry investment and financing:

(1) Segmentation

Segmentation can be said to have run through the entire food and beverage industry this year. Taking new tea drinks as an example, since last year, more and more new tea drink brands have been positioned as national style. This year, national-style new tea drink brands are still increasing, and after becoming more homogeneous, they have further segmented into "national style + health." Additionally, the two new categories added this year, "infant and child food" and "functional foods," are also forms of segmentation from a fundamental logic. "Infant and child food" is segmentation by audience, and "functional foods" is segmentation by product.

(2) Health

Health, except for the alcohol category, can be directly seen in the other 13 major categories with related companies. Behind this is related to consumer market concepts. Changes in lifestyle and consumption concepts, especially the influence of the big health trend, have made the public more concerned about emotional health and nutritional balance. These changes have prompted the industry to actively innovate products and expand markets, and the health beverage and nutritional food market shows huge growth potential. [6] In addition to investment and financing, there are also many phenomena indicating that companies are paying increasing attention to "health" products, such as some new tea drink brands publicly disclosing ingredient lists and adding nutrition labels. Companies are trying to find new development paths in health needs, such as two special medical food producers in functional foods that have seized niche markets and niche health needs, ushering in a period of rapid development.

(3) New Chinese Style

The new Chinese style trend has risen with young people's high recognition of Chinese culture. In addition to the consumer industry, entertainment and cultural industries are also embracing the new Chinese style, and food and beverage is no exception. Compared to last year, when the new Chinese style was mainly in new tea drink marketing and positioning, this year the new Chinese style has blown deeper, into raw materials, integrating Chinese wellness culture, with ginseng, traditional Chinese medicine formulas, and medicinal foods appearing in food and beverage ingredients; in products, many companies' main products are bird's nest, yerba mate, health foods, and other Chinese-style nourishing products.

(4) Functionality

In food and beverages, functional beverages are very common. Established functional beverages such as Pocari Sweat, Red Bull, and Dongpeng Te have been firmly established in the market for many years. But in 2023, functionality has extended to food, with more segmented categories. Examples include hangover-relief probiotics and bird's nest nourishing products. Additionally, probiotics, collagen peptides, dietary fiber, sodium hyaluronate, white kidney bean extract, vitamins, lutein... more and more snacks and beverages are adding functional ingredients as selling points. [8] Functional foods are also involuting into raw materials.

(5) Technology

Compared to last year's explosion in the alternative protein category, this year's technology empowerment in food has also seen more segmented scenarios and technologies. Cell-cultured meat companies have made further progress this year, and capital attention has increased.

References: [1] "2023 Food and Beverage Industry Growth Opportunities: Have You Caught These 6 Trends?", July 2023 [2] "Ingredients Too Many to Fit on One Paper? The Tea Drink Industry Starts 'Involuting' Again", Jimu News, November 2023 [3] "2023 China Bulk Snack Retail Industry White Paper", Euromonitor, November 2023 [4] "2023 China Dairy Manufacturing Industry: Low-Temperature Milk and Cheese Expected to Take Over from Room Temperature Milk to Drive Market Growth; Duopoly Competitive Landscape Stable", Guan Yan Report Network, November 2023 [5] "2023 China Red Wine Industry Competitive Landscape Analysis", Shangpu Consulting, December 2023 [6] "Seizing the Turnaround: 2023 Food and Beverage Industry Explosion, Douyin Marketing and Big Health Are Unstoppable", Hexun, December 2023 [7] "2023 China Functional Foods: Accelerated Aging Society Brings Huge Market Opportunities", Guanzhihainei Consulting, August 2023 [8] "2023 Snack Food Industry Keywords: Bulk Snacks in Intense Battle, Entering the Era of Low-Price Competition", Beijing Business Today, December 2023 [9] "'MOODLES' Completes Strategic Financing of Tens of Millions, Phase 1 Factory to Start Production Next Month", 36Kr, October 2022