Content Summary As consumption upgrades and the era of personalized products arrives, the market still holds great enthusiasm for quality products. Through refined sales channel management, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop has tapped into the mass demand for niche products, carving out a unique market space. While beverage brands compete on price and market share, Chengdu Zero Degree Fruit Workshop Juice Sales Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Zero Degree Fruit Workshop") has positioned itself as niche, launching a premium pure juice drink at 16 yuan per bottle. Starting from zero, it quickly expanded to over 40 cities within just one year, with monthly sales growth of 20%. Identifying Opportunities in Niche Markets "For mass-market brands, small companies can't compete with Master Kong and Uni-President, so we have to focus on niche markets and take a differentiated path," says Sun Jun, General Manager of Zero Degree Fruit Workshop. With years of hands-on market experience, Sun keenly spotted new opportunities in the high-end juice market. Sun Jun was previously the Marketing Director at Mengniu Dairy and later became an agent for Tsingtao Beer's original wort beer in Chengdu. While visiting the beer market, Sun noticed that many women had a demand for pure juice drinks, which sparked the idea of making NFC (Not From Concentrate) juice. "Having worked in the retail market, I had some experience in supermarkets and convenience stores, and I saw that high-end juice was still a blank market in China, so I felt there was a huge opportunity," Sun said. Sun Jun, General Manager of Zero Degree Fruit Workshop So he approached Taiwan's Chia Mei Food Group, known as "Asia's most complete supplier of fruit and vegetable concentrates," to produce the juice drinks on an OEM basis. Amid intense homogeneous competition in the juice beverage market, Sun chose the niche category of "100% fresh-pressed juice" because most high-concentration juices on the market are made from concentrated还原 juice. Zero Degree Fruit Workshop 100% Pure Juice Mitigating Risks in Niche Markets NFC juice production and sales have distinct characteristics. Sun explained: "Fruit is only in season once a year, so we have to predict next year's output this year, purchase the fruit accordingly, and immediately freeze the juice at -18°C to -36°C after pressing, storing it as ice blocks. In this state, microbial activity is slow, allowing storage for up to a year. When needed, we thaw it, but after thawing, it must be kept in cold chain logistics throughout, and the shelf life is only 28 days." Because it is not from concentrate, costs are significantly higher than other juice products on the market. Zero Degree Fruit Workshop's products retail at over 16 yuan per bottle, yet each bottle contains only 300 ml. Despite this, because it meets market demand, it quickly captured 40 cities within a year of launch, with monthly sales growth of 20%. Sun noted that consumers today are health-conscious. "We haven't advertised; we rely on word of mouth. Based on our target consumer group, our brand power has gradually expanded." In response to consumer feedback, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop also introduced family-size large packaging. Initially, at launch, the product was sold in large steel cans similar to Tsingtao's original wort beer, targeting the foodservice channel that overlapped with beer. "At that time, one can cost 68 yuan, plus a 30 yuan deposit for the steel can, and it sold very well. Later, considering the high cost of recycling the cans in restaurants and that 960 ml was too much for one or two people, we switched to 300 ml small bottles for on-the-go consumption." It was also around this time that cooperation with OEM partner Chia Mei was going well, so they decided to form a joint venture to jointly explore the high-end juice market. Leveraging Low-Temperature Milk Channels In the beverage industry, convenience stores, with higher average transaction values and faster sales, easily give products an upscale image, and the young people who frequent them become the main consumers. Niche beverages, lacking the financial muscle of mass-market brands, cannot afford large-scale advertising campaigns, so increasing product visibility in convenience stores is the best option. After launch, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop placed great emphasis on distribution in convenience stores. However, as a low-temperature product, it requires cold chain transport throughout. Setting up a separate distribution system would be very costly, as a single refrigerated truck costs around 200,000 yuan. To solve the cold chain cost problem, Sun Jun, with years of experience in low-temperature milk operations, came up with a clever move. He approached distributors of Yili, Mengniu, and Guangming, leveraging their low-temperature milk channels to distribute Zero Degree Fruit Workshop. "This way, distributors can also improve the utilization of their cold chain. Fresh milk has a shelf life of 7 days, while Zero Degree Fruit Workshop has 28 days, giving distributors ample time to distribute," Sun said. To motivate low-temperature milk distributors, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop offers them a relatively large profit margin, ensuring they can make money and have enough incentive to develop the market. "We don't rigidly assess distributors' sales volume; we just want them to do good displays, follow our pricing system, and not sell expired products." Zero Degree Fruit Workshop expanded to over 40 cities nationwide in just one year. In fact, the company did not conduct large-scale recruitment; many distributors came through referrals from friends in their circles. Zero Degree Fruit Workshop has gained more and more distributors nationwide through word of mouth. With the help of milk distributors, this niche beverage broke through the barriers of high-end supermarkets, moving from on-the-go channels into KA stores, supermarkets, and fresh food supermarkets, as well as cinemas, bakeries, schools, high-end restaurants, and canteens of well-performing institutions. Leveraging the product power from its high-end positioning, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop quickly entered the stage of intensive channel cultivation. Despite reports of declining performance from major beverage companies, with consumption upgrades and the era of personalized products, the market still holds great enthusiasm for quality products. Through refined sales channel management, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop has tapped into the mass demand for niche products, carving out a unique market space. Text | Reprinted from China Business Network, compiled by Sales A Xiaojia's Take ID: realsales The high-end and niche positioning of Zero Degree Fruit Workshop juice meets the demand for consumption upgrades, but it also faces the real pressure of short shelf life and short sales cycles typical of low-temperature FMCG products. Meanwhile, as more players enter the market, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop's category advantage will gradually be diluted. Coupled with the disappearance of the demographic dividend, rising labor costs, and economic downturn, terminal sell-through and sales management capabilities are a must-answer question for Sun Jun. This requires companies to reinterpret the phrase "management creates benefits." -END- The best learning platform for FMCG distributors in China Focused on providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for companies and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Selected excellent articles | 002 Distributor market operations | 003 Terminal visit management | 004 Sales supervisor skills | 005 Sales improvement techniques | 006 Channel expansion | 007 Managing distributors | 008 Distributor development | 009 Distributor internal operations management | 010 Team management | 011 Efficient distribution techniques | 012 Sales manager's skills | 013 KA operation methods and strategies | 014 First lesson for new salespeople | 015 Internet, brands | 016 Distributor B2B transformation | [Long press QR code to follow]