Source: Finance World Weekly (ID: cjtxzk) Author: Liu Dongxue / Editor: Chen Fang
The beverages on the dining table during the Spring Festival are, to some extent, a review of the year's popular beverage brands. A glance reveals which brand is favored this year, and it also hints at the next wave of trends—perhaps a new product on the table will stir up the beverage market in the future.
During the Spring Festival, the most common greetings among the post-90s and post-00s generations are not about returning home for the New Year, but about what gifts to bring or what drinks to have at gatherings.
Businesses are also going all out to win the first market battle of 2022, launching seasonal products, increasing advertising, and securing the best sales channels—all to become the favorite of young people and hope to be added to their shopping carts and taken home.
Behind this, who emerges victorious is not only a test of corporate strength but also reflects changing consumer trends.
"Fortune Bottle" Becomes the New Favorite for New Year Goods
As the Spring Festival approaches, a battle for New Year goods has begun. E-commerce platforms like Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo have opened special zones for New Year goods, from skincare brands to cosmetics, from beverages to snacks, with various New Year gift boxes and special packaging bringing the intangible "New Year flavor" into tangible designs.
Searching for "New Year goods" on platforms like Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and Douyin often reveals discussions about the "Fortune Bottle": "With the 'Fortune Bottle,' the new year is full of good fortune!" "Seeing this packaging instantly gives me the New Year vibe." "Since I can't go home this year, I plan to invite a few friends over, staying up late and drinking 'Fortune Bottle' together."
Some consumers have even discovered new ways to enjoy it: "Fortune Bottle" mixed with low-alcohol liquor, getting slightly tipsy without realizing it, a toast to the bustling yet serene world on a winter night; "Fortune Bottle" with lactic acid bacteria drink, the sweetness of white peach combined with the slight tang of lactic acid, elevating the taste...
It is understood that the "Fortune Bottle" is the second New Year special packaging from Genki Forest, available in white peach and hawthorn flavors. In terms of design, the "Fortune Bottle" retains the original round and plump bottle shape of the sparkling water, adding the characters "福" (fortune) and "气" (qi) in calligraphy, and the content has been increased to a 1.25L sharing size.
Not only online, but the "Fortune Bottle" has also seen a consumption boom offline. Ms. Yang, sales manager of Nianyi Jipin Discount Warehouse Store, told Finance World Weekly that the 600 boxes of 6*1.25L "Fortune Bottles" stocked on the 25th of last month are almost sold out. "I will definitely need to replenish several hundred more boxes before the end of the year."
In a 4m x 2.4m promotional area in the store, "Fortune Bottles," Tigger co-branded Genki Forest milk tea, and regional limited-edition sparkling water are piled up. Buying two "Fortune Bottles" comes with a free rice-washing basin. "I just put these out; the previous ones were cleared out, and some customers even took three boxes directly."
Ms. Yang noticed that as the Spring Festival approaches, foot traffic in the warehouse store has increased significantly. "Initially, we only had one promoter, but later the promoter told me that on weekends with heavy traffic, one person couldn't handle it alone, often neglecting one side while attending to the other." Even with an additional promoter, Ms. Yang still often hears complaints about being "tired" and "busy."
A woman shopping at the store walked straight to the Genki Forest shelf and put a hawthorn-flavored "Fortune Bottle" into her cart.
She told Finance World Weekly that she has tried almost all flavors of Genki Forest sparkling water. She saw a review of the hawthorn flavor on Douyin a few days ago and came specifically to buy it. If she likes it, she will stock up before the New Year.
Image: Provided by interviewee
The woman recalled that her family used to drink tea most often during the New Year, but after the "0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories" concept became popular, she was subtly influenced and started consuming sugar-free drinks.
Currently, the "New Year goods trio" is quietly changing. According to Bianlifeng, in the past, New Year goods were mostly purchased by those born in the 70s and 80s, and the family's preferred "New Year goods trio" was dried fruits, candies, and pastries.
Now, with young people like the post-90s joining the New Year goods shopping, beverages, milk, and biscuits have become the new "New Year goods trio." In terms of brand selection, young people prefer emerging domestic brands like Genki Forest, Meijian, and Daily Dark Chocolate.
To meet consumer demand, Genki Forest has also partnered with Quanjude to launch a co-branded New Year's Eve dinner gift box, allowing those who stay put for the New Year to enjoy Genki Forest drinks while eating a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner prepared with simple cooking.
What Do Chinese People Drink During the New Year?
What to drink during the New Year reflects changing consumer trends.
When the post-90s were children, every Spring Festival was spent with the slogan "Only with Huiyuan is it the New Year!" In that era, Zhu Xinli, founder of Huiyuan Juice, was a hot figure. He brought a team of 30 from his hometown in Shandong to Beijing to start his entrepreneurial journey, and through heavy investment in CCTV advertising, he achieved great success, becoming synonymous with national beverages and highly sought after.
Yushan, a post-90s young person working in Beijing, told Finance World Weekly that as a child, she looked forward to the New Year the most, not only for new clothes and lucky money but also for the Huiyuan juice that she couldn't taste all year. "I liked the hawthorn flavor, and my dad liked the peach flavor." At that time, the family had limited means, and two bottles of juice had to last from New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival, so Yushan could only drink a small cup each day.
At the turn of the century, the domestic economy developed rapidly, and beverage brands gradually became more diverse. In 1999, the first "Top Ten Beverage Companies in China" was evaluated, with Wahaha, Robust, Jianlibao, and Lulu among the winners. Subsequently, Master Kong and Uni-President entered the mainland market. During the New Year, the beverage battle was fierce.
Later, due to failure to keep up with consumer trends, many once-popular brands gradually faded from people's sight and lost their place in the main consumer market for New Year goods.
Huiyuan Juice, once the "number one beverage," declined, spending over 6 billion yuan in 14 years, accumulating debts of over 10 billion, being delisted, and eventually having to undergo bankruptcy restructuring. Jianlibao, after changing ownership, ultimately declined, which is regrettable. Wahaha's performance plummeted, and frequent new product launches ended in failure.
Image: Visual China
After 2005, the slogan "Drink Wanglaoji to prevent heatiness" defined herbal tea as a new consumption trend. For a time, dozens of herbal tea brands, including Wanglaoji, JDB, and Heqizheng, appeared on dining tables during Spring Festival gatherings.
Ten years later, plant-based protein drinks gained market popularity, and the entire industry entered a phase of rapid development. Brands like Coconut Palm, Lulu, and Six Walnuts gradually established leadership in their respective segments.
In the mainstream beverage market, a new hotspot emerges every few years, some eventually fleeting and becoming the tears of the times. The long-standing rivalry between JDB and Wanglaoji has stalled the herbal tea category. Newcomers quickly filled the gap and seized market share.
The "sugar reduction" trend that emerged a couple of years ago has now become the new leader. In the past, Jiajia would stock up on Minute Maid juice for the New Year, but this year, there is another option. "I'm willing to try new things, and the word 'fortune' is very fitting. I'll stock up a few bottles at home, and when friends come over, we can share them, creating the right atmosphere—both fresh and auspicious."
Yushan, on the other hand, is driven by health needs. Since the "0 sugar" concept emerged, she has never touched sugary drinks again. "Especially during the New Year, with all the rich food and high sugar and salt, the calorie count is already exploding. Only '0 sugar' drinks can provide some comfort."
The beverages on the dining table during the Spring Festival are, to some extent, a review of the year's popular beverage brands. A glance reveals which brand is favored this year, and it also hints at the next wave of trends—perhaps a new product on the table will stir up the beverage market in the future.
The Battle for New Year Goods Begins
Finance World Weekly found that in the entire New Year goods market, Chinese red, the character "福" (fortune), totems, folk customs, and zodiac signs are the most common elements in packaging design.
For example, JD.com's own brand Jingjing Zaozhao launched the "Oriental New Year" gift box. It is understood that the window on the box uses the concept of "套方锦八角窗" (a traditional octagonal window pattern), symbolizing good luck; it contains a total of 10 windows, symbolizing perfection; the outer box windows sequentially present folk customs from different regions of China, such as the fire god worship in Inner Mongolia, pasting hanging money in Tianjin, burning fish lanterns in Sichuan, beating drums in Yunnan, and dragon dancing in Fujian.
Tiger elements have become a new highlight of this year's New Year goods, with fierce or cute tiger designs becoming a major design feature for various brands.
During the Tmall New Year Shopping Festival, skincare brands such as MAC, Estée Lauder, and FRESH launched tiger year limited editions. Pop Mart, 52Toys, and other trendy toy brands released tiger year limited gift boxes. Luxury brands like IWC and Coach also released special tiger year editions.
Hsu Fu Chi's "Jili Jinli" gift box incorporates patterns of the tiger and auspicious clouds; Want Want's large gift pack continues the Chinese red base with the character "旺" (prosperity) in the center.
The "Fortune Bottle" condenses the Chinese people's hopes for a better life into a stroke of calligraphy. The Chinese have long believed in the "Five Fortunes" (fortune, prosperity, longevity, happiness, and wealth), a concept first seen in the "Book of Documents: Hong Fan": "The first is longevity, the second is wealth, the third is health and peace, the fourth is virtue, and the fifth is a natural death." This is the earliest concrete interpretation of "fortune" by the Chinese.
Image: Photo by Liu Dongxue
"Fortune" can be said to be the lifelong aspiration of the Chinese people: pursuing happiness in life, expecting blessings in work, and saying "You are blessed" when seeing someone with many children and grandchildren.
In Spring Festival couplets, the "福" character has always held a central position; the large "福" on the screen wall is "fortune at the door"; the "福" hanging on the indoor wall is "fortune at home"... Having fortune every year is the expectation of every Chinese person for the New Year, representing hopes for the coming year and blessings for life.
Chinese people have always attached great importance to the Spring Festival, during which visiting relatives and friends, exchanging gifts, and conveying blessings have become traditional customs. Especially for young people working away from home, the Spring Festival is a rare opportunity to communicate and strengthen bonds.
In the past, gift-giving was simple: cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, and tea—there was always something presentable. But now, with changes in consumer psychology and needs, simple and crude gift-giving no longer works; gifts must be thoughtful and suit the recipient's wishes.
Yushan has already added the "Fortune Bottle" to her shopping cart, planning to pay before the train departs, so that "fortune" can go home with her. However, due to the recurring pandemic, whether she can return home smoothly is still uncertain. "If I really can't go back, I will send the 'Fortune Bottle' home. Since I can't be there, let fortune accompany my parents."
(Jiajia and Yushan in the article are pseudonyms)
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