---
title: "Yili Launches Plant-Based Milk, Nongfu Spring Pushes Plant-Based Yogurt: When Will the 'New Darling of Dairy' Scale Up?"
description: "In December 2019, Yili's Shixuan launched a plant-based milk series, introducing three premium products including high-protein soy milk, upgrading from soy milk to plant-based milk. In May 2019, Nongfu Spring launched three plant-based yogurts, creating its first plant-based yogurt brand. Other players like Uni-President, Dali, Mengniu, and leading soy milk powder brands such as Weiwei, Heiniu, and Beidahuang have also entered the plant-based milk market. Even Joyoung launched its Modoujiang series of boxed soy milk. With beverage brands and established dairy companies continuously launching new products, and soy milk powder enterprises upgrading their offerings, the plant-based trend is surging. But why are plant-based products so popular, and how will they develop in the future?"
author: "阿图"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2020-01-11"
categories: "Brand Marketing, Consumer & Categories, Management & Methods"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/i5FMIuq7C_QtYLcVDSJXEA"
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# Yili Launches Plant-Based Milk, Nongfu Spring Pushes Plant-Based Yogurt: When Will the 'New Darling of Dairy' Scale Up?

> In December 2019, Yili's Shixuan launched a plant-based milk series, introducing three premium products including high-protein soy milk, upgrading from soy milk to plant-based milk. In May 2019, Nongfu Spring launched three plant-based yogurts, creating its first plant-based yogurt brand. Other players like Uni-President, Dali, Mengniu, and leading soy milk powder brands such as Weiwei, Heiniu, and Beidahuang have also entered the plant-based milk market. Even Joyoung launched its Modoujiang series of boxed soy milk. With beverage brands and established dairy companies continuously launching new products, and soy milk powder enterprises upgrading their offerings, the plant-based trend is surging. But why are plant-based products so popular, and how will they develop in the future?

In December 2019, Yili's Shixuan launched a plant-based milk series, introducing three premium products including high-protein soy milk, upgrading from soy milk to plant-based milk.
In May 2019, Nongfu Spring launched three plant-based yogurts, creating its first plant-based yogurt brand.
Other players like Uni-President, Dali, Mengniu, and leading soy milk powder brands such as Weiwei, Heiniu, and Beidahuang have also entered the plant-based milk market. Even Joyoung launched its Modoujiang series of boxed soy milk.
With beverage brands and established dairy companies continuously launching new products, and soy milk powder enterprises upgrading their offerings, the plant-based trend is surging. **So why are plant-based products so popular, and how will they develop in the future?**

**-01- How hot is the plant-based market everyone is talking about?**
It can be said that in recent years, the concept of plant-based has taken the world by storm. According to Innova data, **from 2014 to 2018, the average annual compound growth rate of new food and beverage products with 'plant-based' claims globally was 68%.**
In developed regions like Europe and the US, sales of plant-based products have grown rapidly, with market size continuously expanding. Globally, the plant-based industry is valued at over $16 billion. The development of plant-based milk abroad has even affected milk sales.
According to Euromonitor International data, **in 2018, US traditional milk retail sales were expected to decline by 1.2%, while alternatives like oat and almond milk were expected to rise by 3%.** Dean Foods, the largest US dairy producer, filed for bankruptcy in November 2019. The official reason cited was that consumers are seeking plant-based alternatives, leading to an accelerated decline in the traditional white milk category.
In China, the plant-based market is also growing rapidly. Taking soy milk as an example, Euromonitor data shows that **from 2014 to 2018, the annual compound growth rate of pre-packaged soy milk sales in the Chinese market was 9.3%, while that of ambient milk was only 1.1%; Euromonitor predicts that in the next five years, soy milk growth will be more than twice that of milk.**
We use the fastest-growing liquid plant-based milk (hereafter referred to as plant-based milk) as a representative to explore the plant-based market.

**-02- Why has plant-based milk become popular?**
Plant-based milk is not actually milk, but refers to plant-based raw materials (grains, legumes, nuts, etc.) that are crushed, dissolved in water, extracted, and further homogenized to mimic the appearance and consistency of milk.
Strictly speaking, plant-based beverages only resemble milk in appearance and cannot be called milk. However, the name 'plant-based milk' sets a good nutritional tone for the category.
Plant-based milk is not a new concept in China, but categories like almond milk, walnut milk, and coconut milk already have leading brands with high market share (e.g., Yangyuan walnut milk has about 88% market share), leaving few opportunities for new brands. In recent years, plant-based product development has focused more on soy milk, as well as a few upgraded grain and nut milk products.
Since 2017, the domestic plant-based milk market has entered an explosive phase. Doudouben ignited the market, achieving 1 billion yuan in sales within one year of launch. Yili's Shixuan launched in 2017, evolving from Tetra Brik to ready-to-drink bottles, and recently introduced a plant-based milk series with high-end differentiation, including a 6.0g protein soy milk series, aiming to establish a benchmark for the plant-based milk category and capture consumer mindshare.
**We can't help but ask: why have there been so many moves and innovations in the plant-based milk market in the past two years?**

**1. Consumers' health awareness has upgraded, with more precise and detailed diets**
Due to high intake of animal products, consumers face issues like obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high blood lipids, and cardiovascular diseases at younger ages. Therefore, reducing sugar, reducing fat, high dietary fiber, and flexitarianism have become popular food trends.
Users are starting to pay attention to food labels, nutritional content, choosing healthier products and more natural formulas, avoiding artificial additives. Plant-based milk is a good choice. Moreover, plant-based milk contains unique functional components such as dietary fiber and plant sterols, which are beneficial for body shaping and regulation.

**2. Vegetarianism has become a lifestyle, not just a choice for vegetarians**
Vegetarians were previously a small group, limiting market size. But with increased health awareness, more non-vegetarians are starting to try vegetarian products, adopting flexitarianism, and treating vegetarianism as a healthy lifestyle choice. This has expanded the vegetarian consumer base and stimulated growth in plant-based products.

**3. Concern for environmental sustainability**
As the saying goes, 'When the granary is full, people learn etiquette; when food and clothing are adequate, people know honor and shame.' With economic development causing more environmental damage, more consumers are paying attention to the environmental impact of food. Compared to animal milk, plant-based milk products are more environmentally friendly, reducing energy loss from the animal link in the food chain and reducing environmental pollution caused by animals.
In summary, consumers of plant-based milk products have higher health awareness and stronger social responsibility. They need quality nutrition to meet bodily needs and also require more sustainable nutrition supply.

**-03- The wind rises: can plant-based milk ride the wind?**
It can be said that from both consumption trends and sustainable nutrition perspectives, plant-based milk has good development prospects. Will the entire market enter a period of explosive growth? Not necessarily. The explosion of plant-based milk requires solving the following issues.

**1. How to convert category growth trends into sales**
**It is essential to recognize the significant differences between domestic and foreign markets.** Compared to foreign countries, domestic consumers' milk consumption is still below the level of developed countries, and milk consumption continues to rise steadily. Consumers still have a positive view of milk.
Plant-based milk is a substitute for animal milk, but how to guide users to make the switch and accept plant-based products is a consumer perception conversion issue that brands need to solve.
Although many players have entered the plant-based milk market in the past two years, overall development is still not smooth. Doudouben, an early entrant, has been repeatedly reported to have difficulty in sales.

**2. Consumption scenarios are fixed and need to change**
Users' perception of soy milk is limited by existing cognitive systems, making it easy to compare soy milk with cheap soy milk (豆浆), and the consumption scenario of soy milk for breakfast is highly fixed, mainly as hot drinks.
Ambient Tetra Pak and ready-to-drink bottled plant-based milk are new categories for consumers, in the growth stage. The main task for brands is to attract new users and drive traffic. Currently, it is necessary to quickly help users understand consumption motives and habits, and guide consumption timing and scenarios.

**3. Communication methods are not precise; high-profile marketing can lose focus**
Looking at current brand communication, they still use a combination of advertising bombardment and channel promotions, signing big-name spokespersons, sponsoring variety shows to build brand awareness.
**Taking a new category like soy milk as an example, the most urgent need is to strengthen communication of the category's unique product benefits.**
This is better achieved through event and content marketing, strengthening KOL guidance and knowledge dissemination, outputting the unique value of soy milk, and building brand reputation and health image. Guide more users to consume soy milk in more scenarios, shifting from a breakfast staple to a daily beverage.

**4. Serious homogenization makes category breakthrough difficult**
Due to the low entry barrier in processing technology, and the fact that differences in plant-based milk mainly lie in raw materials and processing, current products have little differentiation and serious homogenization, leading to intense brand competition. Soy milk brands all promote non-GMO soybeans and zero cholesterol, with no obvious differences between brands.

**-04- Breaking the mold is inevitable for plant-based milk**
**The plant-based milk market must break the inherent marketing pattern.** Without breaking, there is no establishment. Only by truly breaking the mold, standing in opposition to milk, and facing animal dairy products with a new attitude, can breakthrough development be achieved.
**On one hand, the product side needs upgrading and transformation.** By processing raw materials and developing targeted products, brands can further develop functional products for different groups, meet user needs, and create consumption dependence.
**On the other hand, expand consumption scenarios to win more users' favor.** It can be seen that soy milk is gradually transitioning from an early breakfast beverage to a leisure drink. Explore consumption motives, expand consumption scenarios, and cater to user needs through product flavors and packaging forms.
In the development of the plant-based milk category, the founder of Oatly, the leading oat milk brand, did two things right.
**First, they redefined oat milk.** They positioned it in opposition to milk, making oat milk a more avant-garde, 'challenger' beverage that attracts milk's target customers, heavily promoting environmental friendliness, which aligns with the current green consumption trend.
**Second, they abandoned traditional sales models and used social media for communication.** They first leveraged the coffee trend, using baristas as a communication group, further expanding consumption scenarios. In China, they collaborated with brands like Heytea and Pacific Coffee to offer milk alternatives, gaining attention through social platforms.
For plant-based milk, the current stage is category growth. Brands should leverage consumption trends, concentrate efforts to expand the market, and during the expansion, gradually form leading brands through product positioning and product line management.

**Conclusion:**
**At the current development stage of the plant-based market, the positioning of new categories and education of consumption scenarios are important reasons for category success. Therefore, moving beyond simple product strength promotion and guiding consumers to understand and love plant-based products is a core issue.**


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 阿图
- Published: 2020-01-11
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/yili-launches-plant-based-milk-nongfu-spring-pushes-plant-based-yogurt-w-852241bc/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/i5FMIuq7C_QtYLcVDSJXEA

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