NEW DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH TOPIC
What structural changes are reshaping China’s FMCG channels?
Analysis of distribution restructuring, channel economics, and the changing roles of brands, distributors, and retail outlets in China.
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2301 articles · Page 12 of 96
Soda Water Is Popular Again
Aaron, a buyer for a well-known online retail platform, observed that since last year, many new soda water brands have emerged, with a trend toward natural concepts and zero sugar, fat, and calories, leading to price competition. This summer, Nongfu Spring launched a green bottle purified water at 9.9 yuan per pack, triggering a price war in bottled water, and soda water is now facing similar internal competition.
AaronGlobal Major Trading Company Insights | McLane, with Annual Sales of $52.6 Billion, Under Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway
This article introduces McLane Company, a U.S. wholesale supply chain service company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, which achieved $52.6 billion in revenue in 2023. It details the company's history, its acquisition by Walmart and later by Buffett, its business model, and its competitive advantages.
任文青AndyZhao Bo of New Distribution: A Paradigm Shift in the Discourse Power of China's Commercial Circulation is Inevitable
This is the second article in Mr. Zhao Bo's series column 'China Commercial Circulation Revolution Series'. The series outlines four generations of retail models in China, from traditional mom-and-pop stores and wholesale markets to the current era of e-commerce and community group buying, and discusses the shift in supply chain dominance from brand owners to retailers and distributors.
赵波The Great Consumer Shuffle
Data from the Beijing Statistics Bureau shows that in the first half of 2024, the total profit of Beijing's catering industry above designated size (i.e., annual revenue of over 10 million yuan) was 180 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 88.8%, with a profit margin as low as 0.37%. Related news that went viral was that Din Tai Fung, a 'Michelin-level' dumpling restaurant, announced it would close 14 stores in Beijing, Tianjin, Xi'an, and other places by the end of October this year. In fact, high-end dining is just the tip of the iceberg. Due to increasing downward pressure on the economy, insufficient effective demand, weakening market expectations, cautious consumer spending, and sluggish market prices, the entire consumer market is undergoing an unprecedented reshuffle.
清和社长From "Light" to "Heavy": How Meijian, RIO, and Blue Dash Are Solving the 400-Billion-Yuan Young People's Alcohol Market | Category Watch
This article discusses the young people's alcohol market, which is worth 400 billion yuan. It analyzes why some low-alcohol brands have failed while others like RIO, Meijian, and Blue Dash have succeeded, and outlines future trends in the market.
焦逸梦The Beverage Market's 'Great Transformation': Development Loses Its 'Sense of Regularity,' with 'Consumption Folding' and the 'Lipstick Effect' Coexisting
Currently, if a consumer goods brand attempts to profile its target consumers, it will find it exceptionally difficult—if it still defines a consumer by labels such as age, gender, education, and income, it will likely only get a 'blind men and the elephant' result. Because in today's China, from first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to fourth- and fifth-tier towns and rural areas, from the southeast coast to the northwest inland, from the post-95s 'Generation Z' to the 'silver-haired' elderly, frugality and luxury, showing off and practicality may be differences in consumption concepts among different consumers, or they may occur within the same consumer...
一木Snack Industry's Top Student: Lay's 'Fresh-Baked Naked Rice Cakes' Debut, Disrupting the Rice Cake Market
The saying 'What's scary is not that others are better than you, but that they work harder than you' perfectly describes Lay's. After over 30 years in the Chinese market, Lay's not only dominates the potato chip category but also reinvents itself year after year. Recently, Lay's Gourmet Lab launched a new product—Fresh-Baked Naked Rice Cakes—which is set to disrupt the stagnant rice cake market.
冯瑶Prices Plunge 30%, Sales Slump: Are Mid-Autumn Gift Boxes No Longer Selling?
A frontline survey reveals that Mid-Autumn gift box sales have been sluggish since last year, with terminal prices dropping 30% and many stores reducing stock. Despite the downturn, opportunities remain in special channels and community-based stores, with two potential sales peaks expected.
张雨薇Pioneer of Affordable NFC Orange Juice: GanNing Brand Rises Rapidly with Dual Drive of Supply Chain and Market
In recent years, due to the downward economic cycle, consumers have increasingly valued the 'quality-price ratio' of products, posing sales challenges for high-end market categories with high production costs. In this context, quality factories capable of cost control and efficiency improvement will encounter new market opportunities. The case introduced in this article—GanNing brand—started with fresh orange business. In 2022, based on insights into consumption trends, it ventured into NFC orange juice, offering products of uncompromised quality at half the industry price, striving to break the boundaries of the high-end market.
赵胜男Price Competition Has No Future—Product Differentiation Does
Retailers and manufacturers can escape homogeneous price competition only by co-creating differentiated assortments, specifications, functions, experiences, and private-label products around real channel and consumer needs.
New Distribution2024 Consumption Opportunity Insights: Macro View Says No Money to Be Made, Micro View Says Opportunities Everywhere.
A podcast interpretation of two trend reports—McKinsey's 2024 China Consumer Trend Survey and Amazon's Global E-commerce Consumption Trends and Product Selection Survey—reveals that while the macro economy seems bleak, micro-level opportunities abound. Chinese consumers are not short on money but are saving it, with predictable high-certainty ongoing expenses suppressing consumption. The market is fragmented, with some sectors experiencing downgrading and others upgrading, and consumer confidence is diverging.
梁将军Brand Owners Must Read: Tackling the Hard Nut of Digital Integration Between Manufacturers and Distributors
In the face of economic downturn and the era of shrinking volume, brand owners and distributors are both seeking ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency, preserve existing markets, and find new growth. Digitalization has become an unavoidable topic for both parties, as it can genuinely make information transparent, business online, data-driven, and ultimately achieve cost reduction and efficiency gains. Today, digitalization is no longer a question of whether to adopt it, but has become a standard for enterprises, entering the deep water zone of digital infrastructure and operations, where every company wants to build its own private digital assets.
周斌Yang Senlin of C&S Paper: How Decision-Making AI Can Help Physical Enterprises Break Through
At the 6th China FMCG Conference held in Shanghai from August 20-22, Yang Senlin, CIO of C&S Paper, delivered a keynote speech titled 'How Decision-Making AI Can Help Physical Enterprises Break Through.' He shared practical cases and insights on leveraging AI for business growth.
杨森林From Traditional Trading to Regional B2B: Covering 15,000+ Stores in 5 Years, Business Doubles
In 2001, he entered the distribution industry and became a leading paper and hygiene products distributor with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan within 10 years. In 2015, he began transitioning to regional B2B, losing over 10 million yuan in 4 years. In 2019, he cut off traditional trading to focus all resources on B2B. By 2023, he covered 15,000+ local small stores, with 5,000+ monthly active outlets, 8,000+ SKUs across categories like beverages, snacks, grain and oil, daily chemicals, and achieved annual sales of 300 million yuan. This is...
周群Future Community Retail: 30% Eliminated, 30% Chained, Remaining 40% Served by New Distributors
At the 3rd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference on August 21, Zhang Haibo, co-founder of Lemeng, shared insights on the trend and impact of community retail chainization. He predicted that in the future, 30% of community retail stores will be eliminated, 30% will be taken over by chain brands, and the remaining 40% will be served by new-style distributors.
张海波Major Release | 2024 China FMCG Distributor Business Condition Survey Report
From August 20-22, 2024, the 6th China FMCG Conference, the 3rd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference, and the 3rd China FMCG Distributor Conference grandly opened in Shanghai. On August 22, at the distributor conference, Yuan Lai, Chief Content Officer of New Distribution, and Wendy Li, Partner of New Distribution's Research and Consulting, released the "2023-2024 China FMCG Distributor Business Condition Survey Report." Based on in-depth surveys of 302 medium-to-large distributors nationwide, the report covers 14 core FMCG categories across 131 cities, revealing the true state of distributors in a complex market environment.
袁来Exclusive Report | 36% of Community Retailers Plan to Transform into Discount Supermarkets, Accelerating FMCG Industry Chain Changes
In 2023, the bulk snack industry developed rapidly. While everyone was discussing this format around 'low prices,' New Distribution conducted extensive research and in-depth analysis, releasing the 'China Snack Hard Discount White Paper (FMCG Industry Insights 2023)' in October 2023, systematically explaining the underlying logic behind industry changes. In the past nearly a year, discount retail has become the focus of retail transformation, and hard discount has become an important force disrupting the order of the FMCG industry chain, involving not only snacks but also more FMCG categories.
New DistributionExclusive Report | 2024 China FMCG Distributor B2b Platform Strategy Insights
As a senior editor at New Distribution, I've observed a growing trend of distributors pivoting toward local B2b supply chain platforms to capture new growth opportunities. Based on this, New Distribution has released the '2024 China FMCG Distributor B2b Platform Strategy Insights Report,' offering a comprehensive framework for transformation and collaboration with brand owners.
袁来Uni-President's 2024 H1 Results: Steady Progress and Continued Breakthroughs
Uni-President China Holdings Ltd. ("Uni-President", 00220.HK) reported 2024 interim results with revenue of approximately RMB 15.449 billion, up 6% year-on-year, and profit attributable to equity holders of approximately RMB 966 million, up 10.2%. The beverage business exceeded RMB 10 billion, growing 8.3%, driven by product innovation and upgrades, while the food business remained stable.
高兴CCTV 'Dialogue' In-depth Interview with Zhong Shanshan: An Idealistic Madman
In a rare one-hour interview on CCTV's 'Dialogue' program aired on the evening of August 10, Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan discussed topics such as being the richest man, online violence, and his idealistic vision. He described himself as an 'idealist' and elaborated on his efforts in agriculture, water sources, and tea, emphasizing his commitment to helping farmers and promoting Chinese tea globally.
New DistributionExclusive Report | Only 55% of Distributors Met Brand Sales Targets in H1, 63.2% Saw Profit Decline
In the past two years, business models, channel structures, and consumer demands have been changing, placing China's commercial distribution business in a state of continuous transformation. The industry has entered a knockout stage, requiring distributors to enhance their capabilities. More brand owners are shifting their approach to collaborate with local distributors to co-manage markets. However, a gap exists between distributors' operational goals and brand owners' expected value. Against this backdrop, New Distribution conducted an exclusive survey and released the "2023-2024 China FMCG Distributor Business Condition Survey Report," based on in-depth research of 302 medium and large distributors across various categories, aiming to present the true state of distributors in a complex market environment.
New DistributionTwo Sharp Blades: An In-depth Look at Panpan Food's Olympic Marketing Campaign
As the Olympics begin, athletes compete on the field while a marketing battle unfolds among consumer brands. In Paris, Chinese brands are pulling out all the stops, with Panpan Food's Olympic marketing strategy drawing particular attention. Panpan's deep roots in sports sponsorship, combined with its innovative hero product and integrated marketing approach, position it to stand out in the 2024 Olympic marketing arena.
丹序The Pain of Traditional Terminal Stores: Struggling to Survive, Yet Unable to Thrive
Terminal stores, a unique group in the FMCG industry, are often family-run mom-and-pop shops, especially in county and township markets. They bear the brunt of terminal sales but are frequently overlooked, facing challenges from channel compression and shifting consumer demands. This article explores their plight and the empowerment initiatives by Tongfu Group, including a live-stream ordering event aimed at revitalizing these stores.
田静Monthly GMV Exceeds 10 Million, Single Product Sells Out in 3 Days: Food Merchants Profiting Big on This 'Dark Horse' Platform
As market conditions change and consumer demands diversify, distributors in the FMCG industry are evolving from single-agent models to platform-based service providers, local retailers, and omnichannel operators. Amid this transformation, Dewu, a platform focused on young consumers, has emerged as a new blue ocean for food and beverage distributors, offering significant growth opportunities through its young user base and content-driven marketing.
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