---
title: "Wild Consumption Will Eventually Fade: How Can Baixiang Avoid Being Forgotten Again?"
description: "We often use the phrase 'the elephant in the room' to describe things that exist but are not noticed. For example, China currently has 85 million disabled people. What does that mean? It means one in every 16 people is disabled, yet we rarely see them on the streets. Moreover, this data is from 2018, but in 2022, we still rarely see them on the streets. Not seeing them does not mean they don't exist. From another perspective, this invisibility might be a selective ignorance and conspiratorial silence."
author: "郑一鸣"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2022-03-20"
language: "en"
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---

# Wild Consumption Will Eventually Fade: How Can Baixiang Avoid Being Forgotten Again?

> We often use the phrase 'the elephant in the room' to describe things that exist but are not noticed. For example, China currently has 85 million disabled people. What does that mean? It means one in every 16 people is disabled, yet we rarely see them on the streets. Moreover, this data is from 2018, but in 2022, we still rarely see them on the streets. Not seeing them does not mean they don't exist. From another perspective, this invisibility might be a selective ignorance and conspiratorial silence.

We often use the phrase 'the elephant in the room' to describe things that exist but are not noticed. For example, China currently has 85 million disabled people. What does that mean? It means one in every 16 people is disabled, yet we rarely see them on the streets.
Moreover, this data is from 2018, but in 2022, we still rarely see them on the streets.
Not seeing them does not mean they don't exist. From another perspective, this invisibility might be a selective ignorance and conspiratorial silence.
**There are always those who see the groups we don't see**
The nature of industrialization requires production to be unified and standardized, especially for a instant noodle company. But in Jining, Shandong, Baixiang Food has 237 disabled employees, accounting for one-third of its total workforce, and they have a resounding nickname: 'Self-Strengthening Employees.'
Baixiang has specially modified barrier-free assembly lines for these employees and pays them equally to regular employees, without deliberate preferential treatment or discrimination. **For disabled people, the greatest respect is to treat them like ordinary people.**
Baixiang insists on hiring disabled people as employees, and has donated 3 million yuan for the pandemic, 5 million yuan for the Henan floods, and 10 million yuan for Hope Primary Schools. It also established the Henan Baixiang Charity Foundation, quietly supporting impoverished employees, disaster relief, and rural education over the years. These efforts were noticed because of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
At the same time, after the 315 Gala, the 'pit pickled cabbage' incident that caused a stir has had its follow-up: four officials in Huarong County, Hunan Province, were held accountable, and the chairman of the involved company publicly apologized. While many related companies were scorched by public opinion, six simple words put Baixiang on top of the trending list: 'No cooperation, rest assured to eat.'
Topics like 'Baixiang instant noodles' secret can't be hidden anymore' and 'How amazing are Baixiang instant noodles?' kept trending. Beyond 'winning by lying flat,' looking back at Baixiang's history is disheartening. What exactly led to this elephant's decline?
**The shelf is the advertisement**
In 1970, Shanghai Yimin Food Factory No. 4 launched China's first fried instant noodle. At that time, instant noodles were very simple, consisting only of a seasoning packet and a noodle block. Due to scarce production, a pack cost as much as 0.25 yuan, making it a luxury item of that era.
In the 1980s, China's economy entered a period of rapid growth. Many well-known instant noodle brands today, including Baixiang, started during this period. Under the leadership of Yao Zhongliang, Baixiang Food turned a struggling food factory profitable within just one year, with sales exceeding 100 million yuan.
Entering the 21st century, amid debates about whether instant noodles were healthy, Baixiang Food chose to launch 'Big Bone Noodles' to segment the market, capturing consumers' health needs and focusing on the soup packet.
The product sold 60 million packs in eight months. After continuous improvement, Baixiang Big Bone Noodles won the highest award at the World Food Science and Technology Conference in 2012: the Global Food Industry Award.
In 2000, Baixiang Food achieved revenue of 4 billion yuan, second only to industry leader Master Kong at the time. By all logic, Baixiang, with its 'core technology,' should have dominated and moved toward becoming the leader in the instant noodle industry.
However, according to data from the Convenience Food Conference, in 2020, in the mainland China instant noodle market, Master Kong, Uni-President, and Jinmailang accounted for 46%, 15%, and 11% of sales respectively, firmly holding the top three positions. Baixiang's share was less than 10%, at only 7%, ranking fourth.
**For FMCG, channel is always the top priority.** 'Developing a world-class engine costs 10 million, but making everyone in the world know it's the world's best engine costs 100 million, and that's annually.'
Consumers buy instant noodles because 'I'm hungry,' and 'I'm hungry right now,' so 'I need it immediately.' If they can't buy Baixiang, they can buy Jinmailang, Master Kong, or even Kangshuai Fu.
Terminal supermarkets and distributors won't give Baixiang more shelf space because of its charitable deeds. It wasn't until the rise of e-commerce and the mobile internet era that 'wild consumption' arrived.
Baixiang, once again in the public eye, was hailed as 'the pride of domestic brands, the light of China.' Its e-commerce channel sales saw a single-day increase of up to 650%. A large number of orders flooded in, inventory ran out, and even Baixiang's official Weibo had to post a notice advising people to 'buy as much as you eat.'
Undoubtedly, this is another wave of 'wild consumption.' Consumers' purchasing behavior is not entirely based on product quality recognition, but rather they attach a layer of cultural identity to the company's charitable actions.
This recognition of the person rather than the product comes quickly and fades quickly, and it is highly substitutable. One moment it can be Erke, the next it can be instant noodles, which have nothing to do with sportswear.
Today, Erke's official flagship store is losing followers at a rate of 10,000 per day, no longer enjoying its former glory.
**After Wild Consumption,**
**Seeing the Industry's 'Besieged City'**
How to transform people's short-term attention and consumption enthusiasm into long-term trust and preference for the brand and product is an urgent issue for Baixiang Food. But frankly, Baixiang's road to revival is still long. This is not the company's fault, but because the instant noodle industry no longer has its past glory.
Looking back at China's instant noodle market over the past two decades, it's easy to see that this product, with 'convenience' as its core selling point, is gradually shifting from a substitute to being substituted. Twenty years ago, instant noodles were essential for travel and a companion at home; ten years ago, they were synonymous with 'unhealthy'; today, they seem to have little presence.
The reason is simple: instant noodles, which once defeated train boxed meals and station waiting room restaurants, allowing consumers to fill their stomachs cheaply and conveniently on green trains that often took more than twenty hours, are now being replaced by fresh food and food delivery available anytime, anywhere.
The increasingly developed food industry has spawned more diverse 'instant noodle-like' foods, and the rise of smartphones has made many previously inconvenient services convenient, with more refined scenarios. More importantly, with consumption upgrading, consumers have stricter requirements for taste, and the heavy oil and salt of traditional instant noodles are no longer favored by the market.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from 2018 to 2020, China's instant noodle production decreased for three consecutive years, with a cliff-like drop from 11.032 million tons in 2017 to 6.9948 million tons in 2018.
Although the pandemic has kept the ready-to-eat food market growing, after being eroded by river snail rice noodles and self-heating hot pots, how much share can instant noodles claim? Master Kong had 238 production lines nationwide in 2014, but that number has been declining: 227 in 2015, 205 in 2017, 167 in 2018, and 163 in 2020.
While this partly reflects improved production efficiency, it is more about the instant noodle market shifting from incremental growth to stock competition.
**Instant noodles need to create a new value point that consumers recognize and accept.**
Instant noodle companies have been trying to do this. Wugu Daochang launched 'non-fried, healthier' noodle blocks, Uni-President launched the 'Soup Master' series, and there are attempts like 'Lamian Shuo' and 'Suda Mianguan' that let consumers replicate restaurant-style noodles at home. The goal is to highlight product differentiation and compete with emerging ready-to-eat products on the attribute of 'deliciousness.'
But 'delicious' is an emotional need and cannot replace the rigid need for 'convenience.' A few years ago, 'instant noodle cafeterias' added ritual to instant noodles, using exquisite decor to satisfy social media check-in needs. Despite their brief popularity, they were just a flash in the pan and eventually closed.
Because 'trying something new' is also an emotional need, not a rigid one.
To cater to diverse needs, Baixiang has made many efforts, adding new business lines and launching new products. Fresh noodles, frozen foods, self-heating hot pots, soup bases... these are all areas Baixiang has tried to enter. Whether it's the health-focused 'Fuxi Noodle Workshop' or the high-end Chinese-style instant noodle 'Xian Mian Zhuan,' these decisions have been more thunder than rain.
New products have had poor market reactions, and its flagship products have been caught up by competitors. Baixiang, as the pioneer of China's 'bone soup instant noodle' category, has been beaten back by Uni-President's 'Soup Master.'
According to Uni-President's 2020 annual report, 'Soup Master' has seen double-digit growth for 12 consecutive years. In terms of cultivating user mindshare, 'Soup Master' is clearly superior.
In terms of user segmentation, Baixiang's users have always been more down-market, but most consumers who can appreciate 'soup' are clearly more upscale. The brand value of 'soup' is hard for Baixiang's users to perceive.
Uni-President, on the other hand, recognized the importance of user education and made appropriate adjustments from brand name to selling point promotion, including pricing, to seize user mindshare.
For Baixiang, the most important thing now is to return to its fundamentals. In recent years, its reform measures and attempts to shed the instant noodle label seem to have failed to find a core positioning.
At this point, if it were to take a risky move, trying to capitalize on the traffic dividend by launching products with new value, the risk would be too great for Baixiang.
Although the dual hot topics of 315 and the Winter Paralympics have given Baixiang a new lease on life, massive attention is only accidental. The company must eventually return to normal production rhythms. If Baixiang is dazzled by this wave of traffic and makes strategies that don't align with market conditions and its own strength, failing to turn its flagship product into a big single product and thereby define the category with its variety,
Then when the internet trend recedes, Baixiang will return to its previous awkward position.
 _-END-_


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