Click to read the original article for details "You don't sleep well, but I see you haven't cut down on eating." This meme, used by Sun Yining to mock President Wang, has been widely shared by netizens recently due to its effective "de-oiling" and "anti-whining" effect. Jokes aside, this meme indeed reflects the current lifestyle of many young people: no matter how late they stay up, as long as there's delicious food "calling," they can struggle out of bed and shout "I can do it" in a sleepy voice. Thus, this phrase has become a "self-deprecating check-in" caption for netizens when they can't control their mouths. On one hand, they can't control their mouths for food; on the other hand, they constantly worry about their figures. The "Post-80s and Post-90s Health and Wellness Consumption Insight Report" points out that 82.7% of young people in China are either on a diet or on their way to dieting. How can they rationalize the natural contradiction between "tasty and slimming"? Young people are finding answers in low-calorie snacks. Low-Calorie Snack Scene Embraces Chinese Style When it comes to low-calorie snacks, Japanese snack brands are almost unavoidable. On social platforms like Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, just search for "low-calorie snacks" and a series of "low-calorie snack review recommendation lists" will appear, with Japanese snack brands often dominating. Take two videos with high views under the "low-calorie snacks" tag on Xiaohongshu as an example: among the snack brands recommended by bloggers, Japanese brands account for almost 80%. Among them, Hamada's meal replacement biscuits and konjac jelly appeared repeatedly in both videos, showing their popularity. Moreover, many Japanese snack brands also launch "low-calorie versions." For instance, the functional chocolate launched by Glico, a well-known brand, controls each bag's calories at 262 kcal, aiming to allow consumers who say "no" to high calories to satisfy their cravings while maintaining a good figure. The reason Japanese low-calorie snacks are favored in China is largely because in the past, there weren't as many consumers pursuing healthy eating as there are today. A relatively niche consumer demand is hard to attract market attention, which caused domestic brands to be "half a beat slow" in expanding into healthy snacks. With few options, consumers could only prioritize Japanese brands that were already popular in the market. But as mentioned at the beginning, in the past two years, as more young people pursue weight loss and wellness, domestic snack brands have gradually sniffed out the "business opportunity" and started moving toward low-calorie snacks. In terms of brands, there are traditional snack brands represented by Wei Long, and emerging snack brands represented by Liangpin Shop. The former has won over many young consumers with star products like "Konjac Shuang" and "Feng Chi Hai Dai" (spicy kelp). The latter officially announced its new sub-brand "Liangpin Feiyang" last year, targeting mainly the 18-35 age group of general health-conscious and weight-management consumers. Additionally, soft drink brands like Genki Forest have also launched low-fat, low-calorie chicken breast sausages, popping boba yogurt, and other low-calorie snacks, building a product matrix toward healthy light meals. These three brands happen to represent three types of players in the current healthy snack scene. One type, represented by Wei Long, directly launches new healthy snack products under existing brands. Another type, represented by Liangpin Shop, treats healthy snacks as a sub-brand, forming a multi-brand matrix. The third type, represented by Genki Forest, is a cross-industry player extending into healthy snacks beyond its main business. Currently, domestic consumers' attention and consumption enthusiasm for healthy food continue to rise. According to McKinsey's "2020 China Consumer Report," 72% of consumers say they now prefer a healthy lifestyle, shifting from a past focus on low prices to a demand for health and nutrition. For domestic low-calorie snacks, this means new opportunities. As public demand for low-calorie snacks increases, "Tanglang Finance" believes that more domestic brands will join the low-calorie snack market in the future. Young People Cry for Weight Loss, Brands Rush to "Contribute" Low-calorie snacks essentially still belong to the leisure food category. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, Gen Z and millennial consumers are the main consumer group in China's leisure food industry, accounting for 38.2% of the population and 69.2% of leisure food consumption. Therefore, for low-calorie snack brands, capturing the "hearts" of young consumers is particularly important. According to a survey by "Guyu Data," calories and taste are the aspects netizens care most about in low-calorie snacks. But combining the two is not simple. Take chicken breast low-calorie snacks as an example. To help consumers ignore the naturally "dry" texture of chicken breast, brands have tried almost every conceivable form, including ready-to-eat chicken breast, chicken breast strips, chicken breast sausages, chicken breast balls, and even chicken breast chips. In short, as long as consumers are willing to eat, snack brands can "make" chicken breast in any form. At the same time, "Guyu Data" survey also shows that cookies, cakes, chocolate, and puffed foods, which originally seemed high-calorie, have also become popular recommendations when netizens choose low-calorie snacks. Wanting the taste of high-calorie snacks without gaining weight—this seemingly difficult task has already been solved by snack brands. That is, by "working hard" on the raw materials of snacks. For example, konjac, known for its low calories, has been used by major brands to make "low-calorie versions" of various high-calorie snacks. Keep, an online fitness platform, launched konjac milk crisp bars, which, under the generally acceptable slightly sweet taste, can provide stronger satiety than ordinary biscuits, gaining recognition from many users. In addition, konjac cakes, konjac bread, konjac jelly, and other products have long been "introduced." What young people need to worry about is not whether they can eat them, but how to overcome "choice phobia" and pick their favorite one. From the above analysis, it's not hard to see that whether in terms of ingredients or snack types, brands are moving toward convergence. This indicates that after the early brutal competition, a more intense brand effectiveness competition is about to begin. Specifically, the aforementioned types of players each have their own advantages in market competition. In terms of category richness, Liangpin Feiyang under Liangpin Shop has an edge. Currently, in Liangpin Shop's Tmall flagship store, Liangpin Feiyang has launched about 10 products, including low-fat konjac, low-fat egg tofu, and high-fiber oat biscuits. As for Wei Long, the only products related to healthy snacks are Konjac Shuang and Feng Chi Hai Dai. As for Genki Forest, the low-calorie snacks mentioned earlier total only two or three, and they haven't been listed in its flagship store yet. But in terms of consumer mindshare, old brands like Wei Long have an advantage over new brands. A notable example is that Wei Long's flagship store has fewer followers than Liangpin Shop, but because Wei Long's reputation as the "king of spicy strips" in the snack world is too loud, it's easier for it to gain consumer attention when launching new products. Therefore, although both brands have launched konjac strips, Wei Long's store sales are significantly higher than Liangpin Shop's. In addition, brands like Genki Forest are also playing the "big single product" strategy in the healthy snack scene. Recently, Genki Forest launched a new brand called "Wang Lala," with the main product being konjac-made vegetarian tripe. Although it lacks competitiveness in product differentiation, in the view of "Tanglang Finance," Genki Forest likely aims to make it a "blockbuster product," recreating the miracle of "single product driving brand" like its sparkling water. Benefiting from the boost of "national trend new consumption," the healthy snacks launched by the aforementioned domestic brands have received positive market feedback. Wei Long's Konjac Shuang and Feng Chi Hai Dai fall under "vegetable product revenue." According to the company's annual report, in 2020, Wei Long's vegetable product revenue reached 1.168 billion yuan, accounting for 28.3% of total revenue, becoming the fastest-selling category for Wei Long in recent years. As for Liangpin Shop, according to its financial report, as of the end of 2020, Liangpin Xiaoshixian's sales revenue was 223 million yuan, with a net sales profit of 25.4098 million yuan. In summary, in the view of "Tanglang Finance," although it's young people who cry for weight loss, it's actually the snack brands that "contribute." In other words, it's these young people who "just want to lie flat, wanting both this and that," that stimulate the market demand for low-calorie snacks, thus pushing snack brands to continuously move toward "low-calorie." Can the Spark of Low-Calorie Snacks Start a Prairie Fire? Among the low-calorie foods that have become popular in the past two years, besides low-calorie snacks, there are also low-calorie meal replacements. According to CBNData's "Tmall Food Industry Trend Report," meal replacement food has become a national trend, with consumption in new first-tier and second-tier cities accounting for nearly 50%. Of course, some views tend to classify these two types of food together. But from a functional perspective, low-calorie meal replacements that replace staple foods and low-calorie snacks that replace snacks have quite obvious differences in consumption scenarios. Meal replacements, because they replace staple foods, have higher requirements for satiety and low calories. But low-calorie snacks are different; their actual purpose is not to "relieve hunger" but to "relieve cravings." Based on the difference in intake, low-calorie snacks have more "operating space" in taste, thereby enhancing their substitutability for regular snacks. According to a global adult weight survey published by an authoritative magazine, China has 43.2 million obese men and 46.4 million obese women, surpassing the United States to become the country with the most obese people globally. Although obesity is not absolutely positively correlated with eating snacks, it's always right to nip problems in the bud. Therefore, in the long run, "Tanglang Finance" believes that the mission of low-calorie snacks is not just to impress consumers, but more importantly, to push the entire domestic snack market toward a healthier new trend. This is not easy. According to Euromonitor, the compound annual growth rate of China's leisure food market from 2021 to 2025 is expected to be about 4.6%, reaching 447.59 billion yuan by 2025. To push such a large market toward "healthification" is clearly not something that can be accomplished by a few brands in a short time. In fact, in the view of "Tanglang Finance," snack brands can completely "copy the homework" of soft drink brands. Before Genki Forest was born, the "sugar-free trend" in the domestic soft drink industry was far from what it is now. But with the breakout of "sugar-free sparkling water," Genki Forest has completely ignited the domestic sugar-free beverage market, forcing "old-timers" like Master Kong and Nongfu Spring to accelerate their entry into the battlefield to "dig for gold," making the entire market crowded and lively. Similarly, for snacks like biscuits and chips to move toward "healthification," two elements are indispensable: First, there needs to be a brand like Genki Forest to explore the path in advance, letting the market see the growth potential of this category. Second, there need to be enough brands willing to participate, and only with joint efforts can the healthy snack cake be made bigger. As for the former, some brands are already doing it, with Wei Long, Liangpin Shop, and Genki Forest being representatives. As for the latter, according to a Nielsen survey, 82% of Chinese consumers are willing to spend more on healthy food products, far higher than the global average of 68%. Driven by huge consumer demand, it's believed that many more brands will choose to join the low-calorie snack battlefield. The "healthification" of domestic snacks: everything is ready, awaiting good news. Source: Tanglang Finance (ID: TanglangFin) -END-