Tea is familiar to Chinese people. According to the "Global Strategic Positioning Report: Trillion-Dollar Opportunities in National Mind Resources" released by Ries, China inherently possesses the national mind resource of tea. Tea can be highbrow, with tea ceremony, tea studies, tea art, and tea Zen... People gain philosophical insights through tea. Tea can also be lowbrow, with a pot of tea after farm work or large bowls of tea on the streets... This is the simplicity and authenticity of tea. Beyond these traditional impressions, in recent years, new categories such as ready-to-drink unsweetened tea, new-style tea drinks, and new-style bagged tea have expanded the concept of "tea," making it more beverage-like, youthful, and casual. Today, we will discuss a category that is often overlooked but gradually growing: ready-to-drink unsweetened tea. We have noticed that in recent years, besides the footprints of giants like Uni-President, Nestlé, and Coca-Cola, some "new species" have emerged in China's ready-to-drink unsweetened tea market. For example, FS Juice launched "cold-brewed tea with visible tea leaves," Linlong Tea Room's "adult's tea" positioned for a new demographic, and Genki Forest's "Jianmeiqing" used corn silk, which was rarely seen before, as an ingredient. From left to right: FS Juice, Linlong Tea Room, Jianmeiqing. Image source: FS Juice, Linlong Tea Room Tmall flagship store, Ran Tea Tmall flagship store. What stage of development is China's unsweetened tea in now? A decade ago, unsweetened tea was just emerging in China. Where will it go in the next decade? Before the fierce competition, how should new and old brands position themselves to achieve a "Normandy landing" in this category war? To better answer these questions, we talked with the founder of FS Juice and attempted to sort out the development history of China's unsweetened tea category, compare it with the earlier-starting Japanese unsweetened tea category, and look ahead to the next decade of unsweetened tea. -01- A Decade of Dreams: Is the "Worst-Tasting Drink" a Flash in the Pan or a Countercurrent Rise? 2011 was a key node for the mainland unsweetened tea market. That year, Uni-President's "Chariwang" withdrew from the mainland market, and the newly launched Nongfu Spring's Oriental Leaf was called the "worst-tasting drink." This is a very interesting coincidence. In 2011, what stage of category development was unsweetened tea, which was facing setbacks everywhere, in? We have combined the three development stages of the mainland unsweetened tea market compiled by the Consumer and Market Center of COFCO Nutrition and Health Research Institute: market cultivation period, corporate trial-and-error period, and market segmentation period, and sorted out a development timeline from 1997 to 2021: Market Cultivation Period (1997-2010): In 1997, Suntory Oolong Tea entered the mainland market with the slogan "A new generation of beverages beyond water," but it did not cause much of a stir at the time. In 2004, "Chariwang," which had been launched in Taiwan first, entered the mainland market with "sweet aftertaste" as its selling point, emphasizing low-temperature extraction technology and product taste, but it ended with its withdrawal from the market in 2011. Uni-President's old version of Chariwang. Image source: Uni-President. During the market cultivation stage, the trial efforts of foreign and Taiwanese brands did not show obvious results in the short term, but they played a subtle role in nurturing the unsweetened tea category, allowing it to begin to sprout. Corporate Exploration Period (2011-2017): In 2011, Tianwo Tea House launched three unsweetened teas with the appeal of "relieving life's greasiness"—Golden Guanyin, Golden Pu'er, and Golden Dahongpao—but they failed to strike gold. In 2011, Nongfu Spring's Oriental Leaf, which was called one of the "TOP 5 worst-tasting drinks," hit the market, but it has survived to this day. In 2012, Master Kong launched Benwei Tea House unsweetened tea, which is nowhere to be seen now. Overall, brand competition during the exploration period was not fierce. Although brands entered the market one after another, due to the limited living space of the category, only a few brands could laugh last. Market Segmentation Period (2018-2021): In 2018, Coca-Cola's unsweetened tea "Chun Cha She" included series such as Yulu Green Tea, Yumu Black Tea, and Tieguanyin Oolong Tea. At the end of 2018, Wahaha launched "Anhua Dark Tea" and "Yi Cha," including Anhua Dark Tea, Fu Brick Tea, and Pu'er Tea. In 2019, Uni-President launched the high-end unsweetened tea drink Chuanqi Cold-Brewed Dancong Tea, priced as high as 20 yuan per can. Uni-President's "Chuanqi." Image source: Uni-President Tmall flagship store. In 2019, Coca-Cola also brought in Ayataka Green Tea imported from Japan, emphasizing "fresh and natural, just good tea." In 2020, Yinlu launched the unsweetened tea brand "Shanyun Chahua," focusing on urban white-collar workers and positioning as "famous tea at hand." In 2020, the emerging unsweetened tea brand "Rang Cha" was established, and in 2021 it launched a pure tea series, focusing its promotional efforts on "zero burden." Rang Cha. Image source: Rang Cha. Since 2018, ready-to-drink unsweetened tea has not just been a diversified attempt by old giants; more and more new brands have begun to enter this blue ocean market, hoping to get a piece of the pie. We found that entering the third stage, brands began to think about how to tap into more segmented needs to achieve differentiation. For example, FS Juice, which entered the healthy beverage track from NFC juice, found that apart from a few unsweetened tea beverage brands that have been on the market for many years, there has been little innovation in recent years. FS Juice chose "visible tea leaves" as its selling point to highlight the freshness of the tea. Another example is Yinlu's "Shanyun Chahua." Yinlu spent three years preparing two new products, Chacui and Shanyun Chahua. In the first two years, it mainly tried to answer the question of "how should the market be segmented," and only in the third year did it begin product positioning. In addition, Oriental Leaf, which survived the exploration period, has also entered the market segmentation stage. In fact, Oriental Leaf sat on the "cold bench" for seven years. In 2013, it ranked at the bottom along with Coca-Cola's Yuanye and Sany Deli in a consumer satisfaction survey of tea drinks, but Nongfu Spring did not give up. Instead, it gradually adjusted its positioning in 2018, no longer focusing solely on "tea lovers," but taking a more youthful route. Oriental Leaf's 10th anniversary added two new products: Qinggan Pu'er and Genmaicha. Image source: Nongfu Spring. When unsweetened tea was once labeled as "bad-tasting," brands continued to "swim against the current" and launch unsweetened tea products, hoping to occupy a position in the unsweetened tea market in advance. -02- Has the Spring for China's Ready-to-Drink Unsweetened Tea Arrived? Liang Shiqiu once said, "Wherever there are Chinese people, there is tea." After more than a decade of ups and downs, ready-to-drink unsweetened tea has finally begun to be accepted by more and more Chinese people. It can be said that "after the clouds part, the moon shines." On platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu, we can see that some unsweetened tea brands have cultivated a group of loyal fans. Screenshots of recommendations for unsweetened tea in the comment section of Modu Shijianju. Image source: Modu Shijianju. This phenomenon is not an isolated case. As mentioned earlier, Chariwang withdrew from the mainland market in 2011 but returned in 2019. In Uni-President's 2020 financial report, Chariwang was specifically praised for "achieving multiple growth in revenue in 2020." Oriental Leaf has occupied more than 50% of the market share and has been the number one brand in unsweetened tea for many consecutive years. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, driven by the growth of Chinese consumers' health awareness, the retail sales of unsweetened tea drinks in China have continued to grow rapidly, with retail sales reaching 4.1 billion yuan in 2019, and a compound annual growth rate of as high as 32.6% from 2014 to 2019. In 2020, riding the wave of the sugar-free trend, the unsweetened tea market also accelerated its expansion, officially entering the 5 billion yuan camp. Frost & Sullivan also predicts that by 2021, the demand for unsweetened tea drinks will reach 10.858 million tons, and the market share will rise to 12.3% by 2024. Judging from the trends in the unsweetened tea category this year, this incremental market has already activated the acceleration button. In 2021, Oriental Leaf, for the first time since its launch in 2011, launched two new products after 10 years on the market: Qinggan Pu'er and Genmaicha. On April 24, Oriental Leaf also co-hosted an event with Yixi called "Until You See the World from Tea," bringing together multiple speakers to discuss tea and tea culture, allowing consumers to taste the tea while also understanding the history behind this "cup" of tea, to strengthen Oriental Leaf's image as a "tea professional." Genki Forest also launched a new unsweetened tea product—Qingjian Yulu Green Tea—using a blend of "Yulu green tea + ground matcha," and continuing Genki Forest's concept of zero sugar, zero fat, and zero calories. In addition, new brands such as Rang Cha and FS Juice have also sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain. Why has unsweetened tea, once "disliked," come back to life? 1. Brand cultivation and iteration Looking at the entire unsweetened tea category, brands such as Suntory, Uni-President, and Nongfu Spring have never stopped cultivating it. Some predecessors may fall along the way, but there will always be successors to catch up. At the same time, these brands are not static; they are constantly improving and enriching the category. We found that Uni-President's "Chariwang" and C'estbon's "Zuowei Chashi" have both been upgraded. Even Oriental Leaf, a brand that has persisted for 10 years, has undergone multiple upgrades and iterations. Oriental Leaf and Oriental Leaf. Image source: Nongfu Spring. Recently, Oriental Leaf further upgraded its best-selling "jasmine tea." Through in-depth research on the processes of picking, baking, and scenting jasmine tea, and based on the characteristics of tea drinks and consumer feedback, it innovated and upgraded the traditional process, allowing jasmine flowers to release their fragrance at the most appropriate time during scenting, so that the green tea can fully "absorb" the floral aroma. These brands' cultivation and iteration of the category have brought a steady stream of living water to the reservoir of unsweetened tea. 2. The "children" have grown up There is a widely circulated saying about Oriental Leaf: "The people who drink tea drinks (teenagers and young adults) will grow up, and sweet tea will eventually become their Giffen good, and then they will see this gift that Nongfu Spring has long prepared for them." In addition to the changes in taste preferences that come with age, the factors affecting young people's consumption choices also include concepts. Mintel once stated in its 2017 consumer trend report "The Sweet Hereafter" that reducing sugar intake is a common awareness among most consumers (84%) when purchasing food and beverages, and young people pay more attention to health than middle-aged and elderly consumers. In the context of the internet, young people are more likely to accept new information and ideas, and are more likely to "influence trends." The popularity of the concept of "0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories" not only made sugar substitutes popular but also brought the unsweetened tea category into the spotlight. Young people who practice "punk health preservation" are both receivers and transmitters of concepts. Unsweetened tea review. Image source: Screenshot from Xiaohongshu. 3. More daily drinking methods The long-formed tea drinking habit is difficult to change in a short time, which is a challenge for the entire ready-to-drink unsweetened tea category. For example, many Chaoshan people who are away from home say that no matter how far they go, they will bring a set of tea utensils and drink tea according to the rules of Chaoshan Gongfu tea. However, for the fast-paced young generation of consumers, the ready-to-drink form makes "tea" more daily and civilian, and it can be enjoyed in various consumption scenarios, which is also an advantage that Gongfu tea does not have. Coupled with the improvement in the quality of ready-to-drink unsweetened tea and the further expansion of sales channels, ready-to-drink unsweetened tea can reach a broader consumer group. Over the past decade, with its insistence on quality, Oriental Leaf has gradually gained recognition from consumers, especially professional tea lovers. Official data shows that sales of Oriental Leaf in various regions have continued to grow in recent years. -03- Japan's Tea Drink Market, 90% Occupied by Unsweetened Tea China is the hometown of tea, but how to make this "agricultural product" have more added value? It must be said that the development model of Japan, where the FMCG industry started earlier, is worth learning from. When we worry about the dilemma of a gap in tea culture, Japan has explored a path where traditional tea culture and the food industry do not reject each other but complement each other. In Japan, the tea ceremony nourishes people's spiritual world, while tea bags, tea powder, and ready-to-drink teas have also penetrated the daily lives of Japanese people. In Japan, where tea drinks are very popular, unsweetened tea accounts for more than 80% of all tea drinks, but in China it is still less than 10%. Today, unsweetened tea has almost become a red ocean market that every Japanese beverage brand will enter, forming a situation of "a hundred schools of thought contending." Among them, brands such as Ito En, Suntory, Coca-Cola Japan, and Kirin have performed prominently. Various kinds of unsweetened tea. Image source: Steppy Trends Weekly.

1. Ito En, the pioneer of ready-to-drink tea

When it comes to the Japanese market, two giants must be mentioned: Ito En and Suntory. Suntory Oolong Tea is more well-known in China, but in fact, the oolong tea developed by Ito En in 1980 and launched in 1981 was Japan's first canned ready-to-drink tea, changing the Japanese tea industry. Ito En's first canned oolong tea. Image source: Ito En official website. In 1984 and 1990, Ito En successively launched canned green tea and PET bottle green tea. On the surface, Ito En only changed the way of drinking tea, but in reality, it is a "technical school" truly driven by technological innovation. In addition, the "6-step freshness method," the "freshness-preserving bottle" with 70 cuts, and the "Itoen Tea Taster" qualification certification system are all manifestations of Ito En's dedication to technology. Ito En's freshness-preserving bottle has 70 cuts on its shoulder. Image source: Ito En official website. In April 2020, Ito En's green tea single product, with a global total sales of $2 billion (approximately RMB 13.79 billion at the 2019 average exchange rate), was certified by Guinness World Records as the world's best-selling natural health RTD green tea beverage in terms of annual sales.

2. Suntory, the latecomer that surpassed

Suntory Oolong Tea, launched in 1981, was a "follower." How to compete with the powerful Ito En? This is a classic case of positioning theory. In the perception of Japanese people, the best oolong tea comes from the hometown of tea—China. Therefore, both Ito En and Suntory used tea leaves from Fujian, China, but Ito En did not emphasize this point, while Suntory used various methods to gradually establish the perception in Japanese minds that "Fujian oolong tea is high-quality and good tea." In addition to highlighting China on the label, Suntory also began shooting advertisements in China in 1984, using the slogan "Oolong tea, the emperor's proud tea," and through Chinese elements such as Beijing crosstalk, Havoc in Heaven, and Chinese dance, it deepened the impression that oolong tea comes from China. Fan Bingbing in a Suntory Oolong Tea advertisement. Image source: Screenshot from Suntory advertisement. Since then, Suntory has successively launched low-sugar oolong, higher-concentration black oolong, and more fragrant jasmine oolong tea products. In terms of innovation in the ready-to-drink green tea category, Suntory has also continuously launched seasonal limited light-scented green tea, strong-scented jasmine green tea, green tea featuring natural water, Sokenbicha, and mild barley tea, establishing a diverse brand image. Among them, the brand Iyemon, developed in collaboration with Kyoto's Fukujuen tea shop, is a beautiful interpretation of Japanese green tea. Iyemon advertisement. Image source: Video screenshot.

3. Kirin, which makes "nama cha"

When it comes to Kirin Nama Cha, it is easy to think of its Japanese minimalist bottle, with the prominent "nama cha" (raw tea) characters full of vitality. Kirin Nama Cha. Image source: Kirin official website. Kirin Nama Cha differs from traditional green tea. It uses Japanese domestic gyokuro, morning-picked raw tea leaves, and deep-steamed tea, and adopts a new technology called "micron tea leaves." The whole tea leaves are instantly frozen at minus 40 degrees Celsius and then ground into ultra-fine micron tea leaves using a ceramic ball mill, releasing the sweetness and aroma of fresh tea leaves. Then water and extracted tea powder are combined and brewed at low temperature. In addition to process innovation, Kirin Nama Cha's advertisements also teach people new ways to drink nama cha, such as freezing the tea into ice balls and slowly melting and savoring it. Kirin Nama Cha. Image source: Kirin official website.

4. Coca-Cola Japan, with many "children"

Coca-Cola Japan is also a major player in tea drinks that cannot be ignored, owning multiple brands such as Ayataka Green Tea, Karada Meguri Cha, and Kocha Kaden. Coca-Cola Japan continues its ability in brand building, and on these three brands, we can see a very strong aesthetic value. Ayataka's new packaging supporting traditional crafts. Image source: Ayataka official website. Ayataka was jointly developed by Coca-Cola Japan and the long-established tea manufacturer Uji Kamibayashi in 2007 and is very popular in Japan. In 2012, Ayataka achieved sales of $1 billion. Currently, Ayataka's market share in the ready-to-drink green tea market is approaching that of Iyemon, which ranks second. Unlike Iyemon, which plays the cultural card, Ayataka emphasizes the taste close to brewed tea in its promotion, taking a technical route. Karada Meguri Cha, on the other hand, refers to the traditional Chinese medicine health concept of the traditional sixteen tea, adding ingredients such as reishi mushroom, Eucommia bark, and wolfberry, and incorporating Western ingredients for differentiated innovation. For example, the new Karada Meguri Cha includes hyaluronic acid as an ingredient. Three products of Karada Meguri Cha. Image source: Karada Meguri Cha. Coca-Cola Japan has made many moves in "functional foods." In Coca-Cola's new advertisements, we can see that unsweetened tea occupies a large part of its functional labeled beverages. Coca-Cola's functional labeled foods. Image source: Coca-Cola Japan official website. In 2014, Coca-Cola Japan launched a sugar-free tea drink called W with added dietary fiber, which obtained the "Food for Specified Health Uses" certification. Coca-Cola W. Image source: Coca-Cola Japan official website. -04- The Next Decade of China's Unsweetened Tea Compared with the Japanese market, ready-to-drink unsweetened tea still has great potential to be tapped. Looking ahead to the next decade, where will ready-to-drink unsweetened tea go?

1. Technology and raw material innovation, "brewing" a good bottle of tea

In terms of tea quality, China has unique advantages in tea resources, and we have enough confidence to compete. But as we often say, "70,000 tea companies cannot produce a Lipton," there are many tricks from traditional brewing to modern bottled drinking. First, quality. In the past, in our impression, the tea raw materials used in ready-to-drink tea drinks were mostly low-end products on the tea market, such as tea dust and tea fragments. With the improvement of economic development and consumer taste, consumers are increasingly eager for higher-quality and higher-grade products. Ready-to-drink tea brands need to reconsider how to conquer consumers with quality. The founder of FS Juice pointed out that there are currently two types of products in the unsweetened tea category on the market: one is flavored tea using sugar substitutes, and the other is pure tea. The competition in the flavored tea market is already a red ocean, and flavored tea does not rely heavily on the quality of tea raw materials, so sugar-free flavored tea itself is more similar to traditional tea drinks. FS Juice believes that the future of unsweetened tea lies more in the improvement of the quality of the tea leaves themselves, delivering a truly high-quality tea, and passing on traditional tea culture to young consumers. Second, technology. One of the trends in the development of high-end tea drinks is to emphasize tea extraction technology. Some people have lamented that although China has so many high-quality teas, the quality of Japanese green tea extracts is better than that of China. In tea-making technology, Japan is very standardized. For example, matcha and sencha, which were introduced from China, have been developed and become well-known in Japan. Ito En matcha. Image source: Ito En official website. In addition, our gap in the food industry still needs to be filled. FS Juice told us that in order to ensure the freshness of tea, this new product directly puts whole tea leaves into the bottle, uses HPP ultra-high pressure sterilization technology, and uses a pressure close to 6000 times atmospheric pressure to release the aroma and nutrients in the tea leaves through high pressure, with cold brewing throughout the process. And because it has not been sterilized at high temperature, the tea soup still retains many nutrients and can be kept fresh for 45 days in a low-temperature environment. Consumers' demand for unsweetened tea is far more than just sugar-free; it is the comprehensive experience brought to consumers. To form a certain "barrier," it is necessary to improve in all aspects. For example, in 2011, when Zhong Shanshan went to Japan to inspect production equipment, he learned about the million-level (log6) aseptic production line and introduced it. In the product design stage of Oriental Leaf, in order to fully present the real tea soup to consumers, Oriental Leaf adopted this aseptic line and triple-barrier technology, so that it does not need to be fully wrapped with labels like Japanese tea drink products, and can more transparently present the color of the tea soup.

2. Cultivating unsweetened tea with low sugar

Although the ready-to-drink tea market is still mostly sweet tea products, as more and more low-sugar, sugar-free, and sugar-substitute products appear, consumers will gradually change their concepts and turn to healthier unsweetened tea. We can also see from Japanese brands such as Ito En that they have not completely abandoned sugar but have launched products with different sugar contents to meet the needs of different groups, allowing consumers to choose freely, and through providing high-quality unsweetened tea and day-to-day publicity, they influence consumers' choices subtly. In fact, several products of Genki Forest's Ran Tea are not traditional unsweetened tea. For example, "Peach Aroma Ran Tea" adds erythritol, concentrated peach juice, and dietary fiber. But using fruit juice and sugar substitute additives, while also adding dietary fiber to emphasize the product's functional attributes, can better make consumers accept it, thereby winning a good reputation. Genki Forest's "Peach Aroma Ran Tea." Image source: Ran Tea Tmall flagship store. Recently, Genki Forest has also been gradually testing some truly unsweetened teas, such as roasted oolong tea and the new Qingjian Yulu Green Tea. Genki Forest's roasted Ran Tea. Image source: Ran Tea Tmall flagship store.

3. Exploring diversified "boundaries" outward

The boundary of the concept of "tea" is very broad. It can be green tea, black tea, oolong tea, or a compound tea that integrates multiple Chinese herbs. The innovation space of the ready-to-drink tea category is still to be explored. This year, Oriental Leaf's "Qinggan Pu'er" and "Genmaicha" were sought after by consumers as soon as they were launched. Qinggan Pu'er uses the famous "Xinhui tangerine peel" paired with high-quality Yunnan large-leaf Pu'er, and is deeply loved by senior tea drinkers. Some consumers say this is the real Qinggan Pu'er, especially refreshing after eating heavy-flavored food. "Genmaicha" uses Nongfu Spring's self-produced high-quality "Northeast fragrant rice," precisely controls the roasting conditions, and pairs it with Japanese steamed green tea, making "one bottle of Genmaicha, two kinds of Oriental fragrance." Some consumers commented that this is the taste of truly high-grade Genmaicha. In addition, we can see that some Japanese and Korean brands have incorporated health-preserving elements into tea, such as Asahi's Sixteen Tea and Korea Lotte's burdock root drink, expanding the boundary of the concept of "tea" drinks. From left to right: corn silk, burdock root drink. Image source: Lotte. In terms of tea drinking methods, the French-founded tea drink brand DOZO has also developed a different way of playing. It adopts a form of separating tea and water, with tea powder set in the cap. Through three steps of twisting, closing, and shaking, consumers can experience the fun of manually mixing and making tea drinks. DOZO separated matcha. Image source: DOZO official website. Overall, China's ready-to-drink unsweetened tea category is still in its infancy, and there is much room for improvement in product development, technological innovation, or brand building. But as future competition intensifies, Chinese brands may explore more development paths, establish unique advantages, and drive the entire category to go further. What do you think about the future of China's ready-to-drink unsweetened tea? Welcome to share in the comments. Source: FBIF Food & Beverage Innovation (ID: FoodInnovation) Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.