---
title: "Traffic = Sales? How Long Can the 'Halo' of Internet Celebrities Cross-Border into Food Last?"
description: "Internet celebrities and stars may win cheers from fans online, but when they cross over into the food industry, they find it difficult to convert their traffic into product sales. A recent investigation by Beijing Business Today reveals that while initial sales may surge, most products see mediocre sales over time, with issues such as reliance on OEM production and quality control challenges."
author: "白杨 张君花"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2020-08-13"
language: "en"
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# Traffic = Sales? How Long Can the 'Halo' of Internet Celebrities Cross-Border into Food Last?

> Internet celebrities and stars may win cheers from fans online, but when they cross over into the food industry, they find it difficult to convert their traffic into product sales. A recent investigation by Beijing Business Today reveals that while initial sales may surge, most products see mediocre sales over time, with issues such as reliance on OEM production and quality control challenges.

**Click the image above for details**
**Internet celebrities and stars may win cheers from fans online, but when they cross over into the food industry, they find it difficult to convert their traffic into product sales.**
Internet celebrities and stars may win cheers from fans online, but when they cross over into the food industry, they find it difficult to convert their traffic into product sales.
Recently, the company behind Li Ziqi established a separate food company. This is not an isolated case in the industry. Previously, Lin Yilun created his own high-end chili sauce brand "Fanye," and Yue Yunpeng established the "Hai Hai Pi Pi" chili sauce brand. Even "National Husband" Wang Sicun made a foray into the beverage sector.
**However, according to a Beijing Business Today reporter's investigation, compared to the surge in sales at launch, most products now see mediocre sales.** The "Hai Hai Pi Pi" chili sauce received tens of thousands of orders on its first day, but now monthly sales are only around a thousand orders. Meanwhile, Zhao Benshan's "Xiangya Mountain Ice Spring" has monthly sales in single digits. Behind the fact that stars' traffic cannot be equated with product sales is the reliance on OEM factories for production, making quality control difficult. While consumers may buy some star-created products, ultimately they consume the product itself.
**-01-**
**Monetization Paths for Internet Celebrities and Stars**
Recently, the company behind Li Ziqi, Hangzhou Weinian Brand Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Weinian"), established Guangxi Xingliu Food Co., Ltd., with business scope including food sales (pre-packaged food), food import and export, and goods import/export.
As early as 2018, Weinian began leveraging the Li Ziqi brand to monetize traffic. On August 17, 2018, Li Ziqi's Tmall flagship store opened, and within six days, sales from just five products exceeded 10 million yuan. It is reported that in 2020, Li Ziqi's Tmall store's monthly turnover exceeded 100 million yuan.
Regarding the reasons for establishing a food company and future plans, Beijing Business Today interviewed Weinian, but had not received a response by press time.
In fact, there are many examples like Li Ziqi who leverage high traffic to cross over for monetization. In 2014, singer Lin Yilun created his own brand "Fanye" to make high-end chili sauce. At the start, thanks to his high popularity and attention, he sold 30,000 jars in two hours, and sales exceeded 10,000 yuan within two months. Yue Yunpeng, who made a big splash in "Happy Comedians," not only opened a store on Taobao Star Store in 2017 to sell hometown delicacies but also cooperated with Henan Taoyuan Jianmin Food Co., Ltd. to create the "Hai Hai Pi Pi" chili sauce brand, officially entering the food sector.
Similarly, Zhao Benshan, leveraging the high attention of "Country Love," brought the mineral water product "Xiangya Mountain Ice Spring" from the show into real life. In March 2019, Benshan Media, founded by Zhao Benshan, wholly established "Xiangya Mountain Cultural Industry Co., Ltd." and launched Xiangya Mountain Ice Spring. It hit the market in July 2019 with a retail price of 3 yuan per bottle. It is reported that Zhao Benshan plans to launch beverages, alcohol, and other products in the future.
Additionally, in 2017, Wang Sicun also entered the beverage industry based on his high topicality and attention, launching an "Ailuo" maca energy drink, positioned as a "trendy energy drink for young people."
In the view of Lai Yang, vice president of the Beijing Business Economics Association, many celebrities and internet influencers will endorse brands or establish their own company brands due to high traffic. Thanks to such celebrity effects, these brands initially gain high attention from consumers. **However, the monetization model of gaining attention through high traffic is just the beginning; to sustain it, the brand must maintain lasting appeal to consumers.**
**-02-**
**High Traffic ≠ High Sales**
However, the high traffic of internet celebrities and stars does not equal high product sales.
Relevant data shows that on the first day the "Hai Hai Pi Pi" chili sauce was launched, Yue Yunpeng's Taobao store received 10,000 orders. In subsequent development, although Yue Yunpeng's Taobao store "Jianghu Puzi" launched multiple chili sauce flavors and various snacks, sales have been unsatisfactory. As of now, the highest-selling chili sauce in the store has 1,018 orders, and the highest monthly sales for Henan braised noodles are only 1,853 orders.
In contrast, as of now, Yue Yunpeng's Weibo followers number 27.51 million, and his Douyin followers are 470,000. It is evident that Yue Yunpeng's follower count and attention are not proportional.
Zhao Benshan, leveraging the high attention of "Country Love," monetized the Xiangya Mountain Ice Spring from the show but failed to replicate his high traffic successfully.
A Beijing Business Today reporter found that although each bottle of Xiangya Mountain Ice Spring is meticulously labeled as "Country Love Star Edition Mineral Water," sales are not impressive. As of now, the highest sales for Xiangya Mountain Ice Spring in the Xiangya Mountain flagship store are in single digits. In 2019, "Country Love 11," starring Zhao Benshan, had 600 million views, ranking second only to "Empresses in the Palace."
Similarly, Wang Sicun's "Ailuo" maca energy drink has also seen unsatisfactory sales. The highest monthly sales on the Taobao Ailuo flagship store are around 50. In April 2020, Wang Sicun's equity in Shanghai Ailuo Star Food Co., Ltd. changed from 49.5% to 14.55%, and he ceased to be the major shareholder.
Lai Yang stated, **"Although many celebrities and internet influencers monetize traffic by establishing brands or companies, this monetization model has certain problems."** The lasting appeal of a brand or product to consumers depends more on its quality and value for money, not the star's high traffic. If the product itself lacks strong competitiveness and appeal, this monetization model is only a short-term behavior.
"Moreover, operators' management of the product and brand is equally important. If management is improper and product issues arise, it can affect the internet celebrity's traffic or reputation. The continuity between the celebrity and the product makes this model somewhat uncertain. If one side has a problem, it will affect the other," Lai Yang said.
**-03-**
**OEM Model Has Hidden Concerns**
It is worth noting that almost all cross-border products by internet celebrities and stars use the OEM model.
A Beijing Business Today reporter's investigation found:
  * Li Ziqi's luosifen is produced by Guangxi Zhongliu, the spicy noodle sheets by Sichuan Baijia Food, and the chili sauce by Sichuan Kou Daxiang.
  * Products under Yue Yunpeng's Taobao store are also processed by commissioned manufacturers. Among them, Jianghu Puzi's large-piece beef chili sauce is produced by Henan Wangbudi Food Co., Ltd.
  * Jianghu Puzi's spicy duck tongue is produced by Henan Benxiang Food Co., Ltd.; Jianghu Puzi's spiced peanuts are produced by Kaifeng Lifengxiang Food Co., Ltd.
Food observer Dou Xiaoqiang told Beijing Business Today that it is understandable for celebrities to use their fame and traffic to earn commercial benefits, but they do not have quality control in their own hands because they do not have their own factories and inevitably rely on OEM factories for production. **OEM factories are profit-driven, and there is a need to balance bidding and lowering factory prices through agents to increase profits.** Therefore, OEM costs and quality may be squeezed. **Once the balance is broken, product quality will be greatly compromised.**
Previously, Yue Yunpeng's products were blacklisted due to quality issues. In May 2018, the State Administration for Market Regulation released sampling information showing that the "Chewy Black Pork Strips (five-spice flavor, 120g/bag, 2017/9/16)" sold in the "Hai Hai Pi Pi Yue Yunpeng Star Store" on Taobao, labeled as commissioned for processing by Hai Hai Pi Pi (Beijing) E-commerce Co., Ltd., exceeded the standard for total colony count. The total colony count reflects food cleanliness and may be due to improper transportation or storage.
Many netizens believe that **the influence of public figures is enormous. Internet celebrities and stars who create their own brands should not just collect money and be done; they should seriously manage the products they sell and not lose public trust.**
However, in the view of Bao Yuezhong, a fast-moving consumer goods retail expert, it is reasonable for internet celebrities and stars to rely on the OEM model for their own brands. In fact, besides internet celebrities, many emerging brands also choose the OEM model in their early stages, such as Genki Forest and Zhong Xue Gao. **Frequent product quality issues are not a model problem but a management problem.**
Source: Beijing Business Today; Authors: Bai Yang, Zhang Junhua


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