--- title: "Why Are \"Sleep Aid Beverages\" Struggling to Sell Despite 300 Million Insomniacs in China?" description: "Despite over 300 million Chinese people suffering from sleep disorders, \"sleep aid beverages\" have failed to gain traction in the market. This article explores the reasons, including the gap between consumer expectations and actual effects, regulatory restrictions on marketing, and the stigma of multi-level marketing." author: "刘雨静" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2020-09-12" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/why-are-sleep-aid-beverages-struggling-to-sell-despite-300-million-insom-4f15554b/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/why-are-sleep-aid-beverages-struggling-to-sell-despite-300-million-insom-4f15554b.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/T9Ibg7D_PHSluewCoPRVhA" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD3%E4%BA%BF%E4%BA%BA%E5%A4%B1%E7%9C%A0-%E5%8A%A9%E7%9C%A0%E9%A5%AE%E6%96%99-%E5%8D%B4%E4%B8%8D%E5%A5%BD%E5%8D%96-4f15554b.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/why-are-sleep-aid-beverages-struggling-to-sell-despite-300-million-insom-4f15554b/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # Why Are "Sleep Aid Beverages" Struggling to Sell Despite 300 Million Insomniacs in China? > Despite over 300 million Chinese people suffering from sleep disorders, "sleep aid beverages" have failed to gain traction in the market. This article explores the reasons, including the gap between consumer expectations and actual effects, regulatory restrictions on marketing, and the stigma of multi-level marketing. "Refreshing my social feed after 1 AM always feels oddly comforting," and "Fellow insomniacs, we're all in this together." According to the "2019 China Sleep Index Report," at least 300 million people in China suffer from sleep disorders, with the post-90s generation being the hardest hit. Among them, three-quarters go to bed after 11 PM, and one-third after 1 AM. **A typical sleep pattern for many Chinese is to stay up late while purchasing trendy sleep aids to cure their insomnia.** According to CCTV Finance, since 2019, sales of sleep aid products and supplements have surged, with the post-90s generation becoming the main consumers. Industry experts believe that China's sleep industry is on the rise, and by 2030, the market size is expected to exceed one trillion yuan. In the past two years, "sleep aid beverages" suddenly caught people's attention, with brands like Want Want, Mengniu, Junlebao, and Six Walnut launching corresponding functional drinks. However, they have generally faced the dilemma of "much ado about nothing," failing to truly open up the market. **This raises a question: Why are "sleep aid beverages" struggling to sell despite such a large potential market?** **-01- Ordinary Beverages Without the "Blue Hat" Certification: Paying Three Times the Price for a Regular Drink?** The main ingredients in domestic "sleep aid beverages" are gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and theanine, which are believed to promote sleep through the principle of "medicine and food homology" (food as medicine). In 2009 and 2014, the Ministry of Health approved these two ingredients as new resource foods and new food ingredients for use in food production, providing authoritative support for the safety of "sleep aid beverages." Many people mistakenly believe that sleep aid beverages are functional drinks. However, according to the "General Rules for Beverages" (GB 10789-2007 and GB/T 10789-2015), functional drinks are those that have been approved by relevant national departments to claim specific health benefits. Beverages that pass the health food review receive the "Blue Hat" logo, which is the only marker distinguishing health foods from regular foods. The approval number for health foods is "Guo Shi Jian Zi G + 4-digit year code + 4-digit serial number." **Currently, none of the "sleep aid beverages" on the market carry the "Blue Hat" logo; they are just ordinary beverages.** According to a survey by Bosi Data, before 2018, products using medicine and food homology for sleep aid diets did not develop rapidly. This field is still in its infancy and has significant market space. In the second half of 2019, the domestic "sleep aid beverage" market saw a boom, with major beverage brands launching products at an average price of around 15 yuan, promoted through social new retail channels. However, sales have been disappointing so far. - Want Want Dream Water: Launched in June 2019, currently priced at 30 yuan for 2 bottles x 100ml on Tmall, with monthly sales of 196 units. - Good Night Technology's Good Night Water: Launched in September 2019, now removed from all online platforms; previously priced at 94.8 yuan for 6 bottles x 100ml on Tmall. - Junlebao's One Hour Before Sleep: Launched in September 2019, currently priced at 56 yuan for 8 boxes x 200ml on Taobao, with monthly sales of 41 units. - Mengniu's Good Night: Launched in October 2019, no Tmall flagship store; the highest-selling Taobao store sells it at 108 yuan for 10 packs x 200ml, with monthly sales of 171 units. - Wahaha's Mianmian Yogurt: Launched in November 2019, currently priced at 108 yuan for 5 bottles x 200ml on Tmall, with monthly sales of 83 units. **Recently, the "sleep aid beverage" market has been mentioned again in data analysis reports. Among the 17 emerging trends in efficacy categories identified by Shushuo Radar, 7 are related to "stress/sleep disorders."** In fact, the domestic "sleep aid beverage" market started relatively late. According to the World Health Organization, about 27% of the global population suffers from sleep problems, and some countries have already launched beverages with sleep aid effects. Examples include Dream Water from the US (launched in 2004), Glaceau Sleep Water by Coca-Cola Japan (2016), and Good Night Drink`n`Dream from Austria. Their main ingredients are GABA, theanine, and natural herbal extracts with calming effects. Glaceau Sleep Water emphasizes theanine, and the company claims it is suitable for those who have trouble falling asleep or wake up during the night, as well as those who still feel tired after a full night's sleep. When searching for foreign sleep aid beverages on Amazon and Bing, we found that netizens' reviews and related reports also express doubts about the effectiveness of these products. ▲ Netizen comments on Glaceau Sleep Water **-02- Misconceptions About Ingredient Efficacy: Relaxation ≠ Falling Asleep?** According to the "2020 Xilinmen China Sleep Index," more than half of insomniacs believe that emotional fluctuations and life stress are the main causes of insomnia, followed by work pressure. Additionally, emotions such as anxiety, depression, and loneliness have a greater impact on insomnia than other emotions. ▲ Main factors affecting Chinese people's sleep ▲ Psychological factors affecting insomnia **From an ingredient perspective, GABA's primary role is to provide adequate nutrients to the brain, promote cerebral blood circulation, and thus alleviate brain tension and promote sleep. When the body lacks GABA, it can lead to anxiety, restlessness, fatigue, and worry. Theanine, an amino acid unique to tea, has calming and stress-relieving effects.** GABA and theanine seem to offer a "cure-all" effect, but consumer feedback has been less than satisfactory. In 2018, a wave of reviews for the Austrian trendy drink Good Night Water swept China. Up主 (content creators) on Bilibili generally concluded: the color resembles draft beer, it has a fresh fruity taste, but there was no sudden drowsiness, and it felt no different from ordinary beverages. In fact, there is no direct causal relationship between feeling good and falling asleep. Similar to listening to light music or drinking milk before bed, the efficacy of "sleep aid beverages" is more conceptual, possibly improving sleep through psychological suggestion. A reporter from Ninghai News once interviewed a biology PhD from Tsinghua University. According to the PhD, theanine is an amino acid also found in tea leaves. Studies have confirmed that theanine can have calming, soothing, and relaxing effects, but it has no direct effect on sleep. **Consumers' subconscious expectation of "drink it and sleep well" before purchase, followed by the psychological gap after consumption, inevitably leads to a loss of trust and favor towards the product and brand.** Unlike most "sleep aid beverages," Dream Water's second ingredient is melatonin, after GABA. ▲ Image source: Amazon official website Melatonin levels directly affect sleep quality, with the body secreting 5-10 times more melatonin at night than during the day. Therefore, consuming beverages containing melatonin can directly affect physiological changes and send sleep signals to the body, which is completely different from the effects of GABA and theanine. We found that although Dream Water positions itself as a functional beverage, Amazon categorizes it as a sleep aid. Perhaps this is why it is one of the earliest and best-selling "sleep aid beverages." ▲ Basic product information for Dream Water on Amazon ▲ Dream Water being widely discussed on Facebook **-03- Treading the Line of False Advertising? Online Promotion Cannot Mention Efficacy** Although "sleep aid beverages" are promoted as having sleep aid effects, they do not carry the "Blue Hat" logo, so they are not strictly functional beverages and cannot publicly advertise their efficacy, which is very disadvantageous for marketing. Douyin's shopping cart rules clearly state: ordinary food shopping cart videos must not promote health functions, nor imply or suggest health functions by promoting the effects of certain ingredients; ordinary foods must not contain ingredients from new resource foods or nutritional components. Kuaishou and Bilibili do not have explicit regulations for ordinary food promotion, but both clearly prohibit false advertising. We asked Bilibili and Kuaishou customer service whether "sleep aid beverages" can mention their functions in promotions. Kuaishou customer service said that efficacy cannot be mentioned. A direct sales representative from ByteDance told us that Douyin requires that ordinary food promotions avoid wording that promises or guarantees effects. Additionally, any efficacy claims must be supported by relevant evidence, and patented ingredients require patent certificates. The platform's review of efficacy-related content is strict. **Health food with the "Blue Hat" logo must first provide the health food certificate to the platform before promoting its functions. If a product is not a health food but promotes efficacy, it may be penalized for false advertising.** In April 2019, Beijing Good Night Technology Co., Ltd., the brand owner of Good Night Water, was administratively penalized for advertising that the ordinary food contained ingredients from new resource foods or special ingredients, with a fine of 5,000 yuan. ▲ Image source: Tianyancha Currently, Good Night Water has been removed from all online platforms. The last activity on its Tmall flagship store was in November 2019, and the last post on its WeChat official account was in December 2019. The official Weibo and WeChat accounts of Dream Water, One Hour Before Sleep, and Good Night primarily share co-branded activities and educational content, without explicitly mentioning product efficacy. There has been almost no influencer promotion or live-stream selling. In January this year, the head of Junlebao's milk powder innovation channel promoted One Hour Before Sleep milk during a live-stream for the "Most Hebei" e-commerce poverty alleviation festival. He mainly introduced the product's zero sucrose, taste, and suitable audience, only briefly mentioning "quickly falling asleep and increasing deep sleep time." For "sleep aid beverages," obtaining the national "Blue Hat" certification is crucial for effective online marketing. **-04- Why Do "Sleep Beverages" Struggle to Gain Market Trust? Suspicions of MLM and Pyramid Schemes** Due to platform promotion restrictions, most "sleep aid milk" products currently use social new retail sales methods, but they face accusations of being "WeChat business" or "pyramid schemes," making it difficult to gain consumer trust. Recently, a Beijing News article titled "Wahaha Mianmian Yogurt: Exaggerated Sleep Aid Function, Hierarchical Marketing Suspected of Pyramid Scheme" reported that Mianmian Yogurt uses social new retail and offline stores for sales. However, some people paid 10,000 yuan to become store agents, but couldn't sell the products and couldn't get refunds, forcing them to "lie to others" to recruit new agents. Additionally, Zhang Bin, the CEO/chief operator of Mianmian, previously ran Meikanghui Company, which was exposed and penalized for suspected pyramid schemes in Hunan. Mengniu's Good Night was also exposed for WeChat business scams, with operators recruiting members and suspected pyramid schemes. This is not the first time Mengniu products have been embroiled in WeChat business controversies. According to public information from China Judgments Online: In 2018, Beijing Youxuan Qiantong Technology Co., Ltd., the former exclusive WeChat business distributor for Mengniu's "Manran," was fined 43 million yuan by the Hubei Jingshan City Administration for Industry and Commerce. In 2019, the company's second-instance appeal was rejected, and the original judgment was upheld. ▲ Partial screenshot of the "Second Instance Administrative Judgment of Beijing Youxuan Qiantong Technology Co., Ltd. vs. Jingshan City Market Supervision Administration" Although the demand for "sleep aid beverages" is significant, there is still a long way to go to convert consumers from "need" to "trust." At this stage, the crux of why "sleep aid beverages" struggle to truly open the market can be summarized in three points: **1. The product's efficacy is primarily to soothe the mood, thereby aiding relaxation and sleep.** However, the product name and promotional language convey a subconscious message of "drink it and sleep well," leading to psychological gaps after consumption and a loss of trust in the product and brand. **2. "Sleep aid beverages" are just ordinary beverages, and their promotion cannot emphasize specific efficacy.** This severely limits their market promotion. Although major brands have launched related products in recent years, few consumers have heard of or understand "sleep aid beverages." **3. Due to platform promotion restrictions, "sleep aid beverages" are mostly distributed through social new retail. The distribution model from individual distributors to general agents easily leads to accusations of WeChat business and pyramid schemes, preventing market trust.** As a new concept, domestic consumers are already cautious about "sleep aid beverages," and major brands being embroiled in WeChat business or pyramid scheme controversies only makes things worse. It can be said that how to achieve brand innovation and scientific research results in product development, build market trust, and go beyond concept marketing will directly affect the market lifecycle of a "sleep aid beverage." Source: Blue Whale Hunwater (hunwatermedia) Author: Liu Yujing --- ## 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