---
title: "The Secret to Long-Lasting Sales: The Logic Behind the Popularity of Luosifen and Sauce-Flavored Liquor"
description: "The author, who studied in Nanchang, reflects on why Luosifen (river snail rice noodles) became a hit while other regional noodle dishes did not. He argues that long-selling products in the FMCG industry share a common trait: intense flavors that create sensory memory and addiction, driving repeat purchases."
author: "空手"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2021-06-06"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/the-secret-to-long-lasting-sales-the-logic-behind-the-popularity-of-luos-9a9b6553/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/the-secret-to-long-lasting-sales-the-logic-behind-the-popularity-of-luos-9a9b6553.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nPFzzbHjRLeN_igZqeiEtg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E9%95%BF%E9%94%80%E7%9A%84%E7%A7%98%E5%AF%86-%E8%9E%BA%E8%9B%B3%E7%B2%89%E5%92%8C%E9%85%B1%E9%A6%99%E9%85%92%E7%9A%84%E8%B5%B0%E7%BA%A2%E9%80%BB%E8%BE%91-9a9b6553.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/the-secret-to-long-lasting-sales-the-logic-behind-the-popularity-of-luos-9a9b6553/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# The Secret to Long-Lasting Sales: The Logic Behind the Popularity of Luosifen and Sauce-Flavored Liquor

> The author, who studied in Nanchang, reflects on why Luosifen (river snail rice noodles) became a hit while other regional noodle dishes did not. He argues that long-selling products in the FMCG industry share a common trait: intense flavors that create sensory memory and addiction, driving repeat purchases.

I went to university in Nanchang. As a true northerner, Nanchang mixed noodles were my first introduction to rice noodles, and to this day they remain one of my fondest memories.
Since starting work, I've tried rice noodles from many provinces and cities on business trips, such as Changsha rice noodles, Guilin rice noodles, Liuzhou Luosifen, Chongqing hot and sour noodles, Guizhou Huaxi beef noodles, Zunyi mutton noodles, Yunnan crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, and so on. Although many places have particularly delicious noodles, there's no doubt that in the rice noodle track today, the hottest and most prominent is Luosifen.
I still remember the first time I ate Luosifen in Liuzhou. Although I consider myself quite open-minded about food, back then who would have thought that this food, with its own sour and smelly odor, almost worthy of being on a "dark cuisine" list, and which required some getting used to at first, would become as popular as it is today?
In 2020, Liuzhou Luosifen sales revenue reached 11 billion yuan, and online sales of packaged products reached an astonishing 1.1 billion bags. In five years, production and sales volume increased 21 times. If time could turn back, I think a few years ago, few people would have realized that this street snack could skyrocket to its current worth of over ten billion yuan.
(Photo taken by me in Liuzhou, haha)
So, why Luosifen? Why isn't Nanchang mixed noodles popular?
I've also read CBN's analysis on this, which attributes it largely to the local government's policy support and industrial cultivation of Luosifen, including the establishment of Luosifen industrial parks and industrial colleges, breakthroughs in Luosifen pre-packaging technology, protection of Liuzhou Luosifen geographical indication certification, as well as the involvement of many celebrities, internet influencers, and leading brands.
But these analyses are all from the supply side, analyzing the recombination of production factors such as resources, technology, products, and corporate organization. Today, I want to think from the demand side: why do consumers accept and love Luosifen?
In November last year, Huxiu held the F&M Festival, inviting hundreds of content creators to ask 1001 curious questions on business, workplace, lifestyle, and other fields. One question I raised was: "Luosifen has become a new internet celebrity, sugar-free drinks are highly sought after—is the national trend in food and beverage consumption moving towards healthy and light, or heavy flavors?"
This is a question I've been pondering in recent years, especially during my years serving the health liquor brand Jingjiu and watching the nationwide popularity of Laotan sauerkraut beef noodles.
To explain this clearly, I'd like to first introduce a concept: long-selling products.
In recent years, we've heard a lot about bestsellers and blockbusters. But for a company, especially an FMCG company, long-selling is the real key to success. A long-selling product not only supports the entire company's performance with a single big product, but it also wins consumers' sustained purchase and consumption enthusiasm for many years, enduring without decline.
For example, Jingjiu, which I served from 2009 to 2018, a 125ml small bottle of Jingjiu can achieve annual sales of 10 billion yuan, selling well in China for nearly 30 years. Such a product is a long-selling product.
For me, whether as a consumer or a marketer, I deeply dislike companies with complex product lines. I remember one year when I was helping the department choose office computers, I first looked at PC brands like Asus and Acer, and their product lines completely confused me.
Their PC products are first divided into different series, then under each series there are different models, and the same model comes in different configurations, sizes, and colors. I couldn't tell the difference between different series and models, so I couldn't decide which product to buy, and in the end, I gave up and bought a different computer brand.
Complex product lines increase consumers' decision costs. They force consumers to spend a lot of time and energy researching the differences between products and figuring out which one to buy. Many consumers either give up halfway or simply abandon the purchase when they see how complicated it is.
Complex product lines also increase a company's marketing costs. They lead to scattered marketing resources, making it impossible to focus manpower and money on promoting the best products. Moreover, the marketing department has to rack their brains to find selling points and differentiation for products that are essentially no different.
However, many companies are often forced to launch new products. Because old products gradually lose consumer interest after a few years on the market, lacking user stickiness; at the same time, poor distributor management may lead to the breakdown of the old product's price system. At this point, the company has to push new products, ultimately creating a bloated and complex product line.
But as I just said, new products not only require a lot of resources for development, but also high costs for promotion, and consumers may not even buy them. So launching new products every year is actually a very headache-inducing task.
At this time, having a long-selling big product is very important. It supports the basic sales volume, and then the company can appropriately launch some new products each year to stimulate consumer interest and demand, maintain brand heat, and ensure brand image renewal. But facing human nature's love of the new and dislike of the old, how can long-selling products capture consumers' hearts?
First, the most basic should be ultimate product functionality and word-of-mouth. This represents the breadth of the product, with a large mass base, and the brand has sufficient coverage and influence.
Second, there should be strong points of user experience and memory symbols. In the five sensory experiences of users, the product should have a special memory point and sensory symbol. This memory point not only sticks with users and builds a deep relationship, but it can also transcend product functionality, helping the product gain personality differences and emotional symbolism. For example, Apple's consistent minimalist, rounded design has become the universal design language for 3C products.
Finally, there should be timeless historicity and popularity. This represents the product's time dimension. The product either becomes a classic that transcends the era, becoming a collective consumption ritual and belief for a generation of consumers, or it continuously iterates and transcends trends. Just like products such as Feitian Moutai and iPhone.
If this characteristic is applied to the food and beverage industry, it boils down to one word: "intense." This is a common feature of processed food products. Intensity creates taste memory, making the product stand out in the consumer's experience; intensity makes consumers addicted, leading to continuous purchases.
In fact, most liquor consumers cannot distinguish what kind of liquor they are drinking. They mainly rely on the surface trademarks, prices, and packaging to differentiate between different liquors, and when they drink it, they don't even know the aroma type.
A typical example is the famous light-aroma liquor brand Niulanshan Erguotou. Its best-selling product is actually strong-aroma, not Erguotou at all (Erguotou is a light-aroma process).
But the special taste and aroma of sauce-aroma liquor leave a deep impression on most people who have tried it (I personally describe it as having a paint smell, while others say it's like soy sauce or metal). Moreover, those accustomed to sauce-aroma generally find it hard to go back to light or strong aromas, just as people used to heavy oil and spicy dishes find light dishes bland and tasteless. This is the logic behind the rise of sauce-aroma liquor.
In Guizhou, I heard a saying that the best dish to pair with Moutai is stir-fried peppers with fermented black beans. Thinking about it, it makes sense. The heavy flavor of this liquor is inseparable from the heavy flavor trend in dining. In the entire dining and food consumption sector, recent years have seen development in two opposite directions: one is healthy and light, the other is heavy flavor.
Representatives of the former include the rise of various sugar-free drinks, sparkling water, and salad restaurants. The latter has more representatives, such as crayfish, hot pot, grilled fish, and skewers in dining, and Luosifen and Laotan sauerkraut beef noodles in packaged food, as well as surströmming and Laoshan white flower snake grass water, which became popular due to their peculiar tastes.
For the FMCG industry, because consumers make low-involvement decisions, they usually don't bother to collect product information or understand detailed ingredients, technology, and processes before purchasing.
So the main factors influencing their decisions are, first, brand awareness and brand image—buy whoever is famous, buy whoever you like. Second, the sensory experience of the product itself—if the product experience is easily distinguishable, it's more likely to be remembered.
This is very important because no matter the category, FMCG products are usually in extremely fierce competition, with many choices and substitutes for consumers. Additionally, FMCG products are typically one-time consumables, heavily reliant on repeat purchases. Therefore, products that can make consumers addicted naturally have the highest repurchase rates.
At this point, the value of intense flavors emerges, whether spicy, sweet, bitter, sour, or various strange tastes. Studying the FMCG industry, you'll find that long-selling products are all heavy-flavored. Because—
First, "intensity" can provide product differentiation and brand recognition, allowing consumers to form long-term memory of your product.
Second, "intensity" obviously makes it easier for consumers to become addicted, forming taste memory and taste habits, thus leading to continuous repurchase.
In an article I wrote two years ago, I mentioned that in 2008, Uni-President launched Laotan sauerkraut beef noodles, which quickly became popular nationwide. In 2011, this product helped Uni-President achieve sales of 3.5 billion yuan, and in 2012, it reached 4 billion. During the same period, Master Kong, which is larger than Uni-President, launched over 200 regional-flavored instant noodle products, which together contributed only 4 billion in performance. From then on, Laotan sauerkraut beef noodles and braised beef noodles split the market, dominating the industry.
South Korea's ramen brand Nongshim has grown 40 times in 20 years in China, with global annual sales of 12 billion yuan. Nongshim's most representative and best-selling product is Shin Ramyun, which has remained popular for 35 years since its launch.
Take the four basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy. Spicy is very popular now, with Sichuan and Hunan cuisine sweeping the nation. Basically, consumers' taste preferences are moving towards heavy numbing and spiciness. We know that spiciness is not a taste but a pain sensation. People who like spicy food have more taste buds damaged, making light diets increasingly unpalatable, and their tastes become heavier.
Sweet has always been popular, such as the strong rise of milk tea in recent years. The preference for sugar is a biological instinct of humans, especially after being deceived by "sugar-free" labels, people consume soft drinks without restraint. Bitter is starting to become popular, such as the rise of coffee and craft beer, with products like IPA and stout being very bitter. Sour is generally paired with sweet or spicy.
In previous years, when I was serving liquor brands, I studied global spirits consumption data and found a very interesting phenomenon: when a country's economy experiences drastic fluctuations (whether boom or bust), spirits consumption increases rapidly.
This is certainly because economic growth brings more business cooperation and social opportunities, but perhaps more importantly, people need alcohol to stimulate and soothe themselves during emotional ups and downs, great joys and sorrows. Conversely, when the economy is stable, the region is dominated by wine (lower alcohol content, milder). I call this phenomenon the "spirits index."
Now, as people constantly lament overtime workers, 996, laborers, and involution, it's likely that people's fatigue and numbness require even more heavy-flavored stimulation and comfort.
Source: Kong Shou (ID: firesteal13)
Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once the tip is adopted.


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671