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.
Related research and analysis
2301 articles · Page 8 of 96
How Mingren Built a Brand–Distributor Community of Shared Interests
Mingren's distributor model combines stable supply, protected economics, joint responses to competition, and co-created local-market programs—a practical alternative to purely transactional channel relationships.
New DistributionNew Marketing Trends: Life and Emotion as New Breakthrough Points
Marketing is undeniably effective in the FMCG industry. In 2024, Chagee invested a staggering 1.1 billion yuan in marketing, significantly boosting its brand awareness. At the FBIF expo, a beverage brand founder revealed that consistent exposure on social media and offline channels increased their product's order rate by 10% compared to competitors. Today, the consumer industry is polarized between extreme pursuit of practical value and cost-effectiveness, and extreme pursuit of emotional value. Brands are increasingly seeking deep emotional connections with consumers, becoming their 'spiritual substitute' or 'life partner', which is seen as the fastest and most stable path to consumer loyalty.
方歌“I'm a manufacturer's sales rep, and during the Dragon Boat Festival, I'm still doing promotions...”
During the Dragon Boat Festival, while others share family reunions on social media, I remain on the front lines. Setting up a tent at the supermarket entrance early in the morning, I sweat and shout through a megaphone... By noon, the sun is scorching and the crowd is sparse; in the evening, as it cools down, consumers pass by without being attracted by the 'buy one get one free' offer. Today's consumers seem more rational, caring about their immediate needs rather than being swayed by price. After a whole day, I sold less than 800 yuan...
金名Children's Milk Market 'Consumption Upgrade': What Makes Future Star Zhuanhu Catch the Eyes of New-Generation Parents?
As post-90s and post-95s parents become the mainstream consumers in the children's market, their demands for children's milk have shifted from basic nutrition to health, functionality, and specialization. Future Star Zhuanhu, a pioneer in age-specific nutrition milk, launched its HMO-containing liquid formula for children aged 3+, aiming to fill the gap in the market and win over new-generation parents with its scientific formula and precise positioning.
汪海Second-Generation Succession: Lifeline or Death Knell?
As the second generation takes over leading Chinese food and beverage companies, a wave of turmoil has erupted—from Zong Fuli's turbulent reign at Wahaha to the Wan brothers' feud at Shuanghui, and from Dali's Xu Yangyang's aggressive reforms to Jinmailang's management exodus. This article examines the systemic challenges and strategic dilemmas facing these heirs, highlighting the clash between traditional channel-centric business models and the new generation's focus on digital traffic and innovation.
渔火Chinese-style health drinks go viral, with a 10-billion-yuan track and fierce competition among new products
Chinese-style health drinks, such as red bean and coix seed water, are gaining popularity among young urban professionals as a convenient way to maintain health. The market is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan by 2028, with major beverage companies and new retail platforms entering the fray.
零售商业评论Big KAs Fall, LKAs Stand Firm
The rise of new retail in China, whether warehouse clubs, hard discount, or instant retail, is diverting business from traditional retail and forcing supermarkets to reform. However, a fact often overlooked is that Pangdonglai, the most cited model for supermarket reform, is an LKA that opened in 1997. Moreover, Pangdonglai is not unique; many LKAs like Hebei Xinyu Lou, Northeast Beiyoute, and Xiamen Yuanchu have remained resilient by leveraging regional advantages.
张振宇Professor Chen Liping: From Retail Revolution to Circulation Revolution, How Can China's Supermarket Industry Cross the Cycle?
China's supermarket industry has shown clear phased development over the past 30 years, with major changes every decade. Currently, the industry is undergoing a new round of transformation, which can be called the second revolution in the circulation field. To achieve cross-cycle development, enterprises must adapt to environmental changes and survive by being fit. The article discusses the current changes, the shift from retail to circulation revolution, and predictions for the next decade.
CCFAChina's Offline Beer Market in 2024: Four City Archetypes and One New Channel
Research covering nearly 4,500 comparable beer distributors and 177 cities shows a contracting but highly differentiated market, with premiumization, service quality, and discount stores creating selective growth.
New DistributionMajor Shakeup in China's Dairy Industry: Farms Dumping Milk and Culling Cows, Yili and Mengniu Slow Down, the Golden Era Is Over
Over the past year, China's dairy industry has sent a clear signal: transformation is imperative. On the demand side, the performance of the two dairy giants has sounded the alarm. Domestic leader Yili experienced its first revenue decline in nearly 20 years in 2024, while Mengniu also saw a double-digit drop. The core issue lies in the liquid milk business, with statistics showing that Yili and Mengniu each saw sales in this category decrease by about 10 billion yuan—a figure nearly equivalent to the annual revenue of a second-tier dairy company. Meanwhile, the supply side is also under pressure. Since 2023, farms have frequently reported incidents of dumping milk and culling cows, directly due to raw milk prices falling to a 15-year low, severely impacting farm operations. Weak demand and oversupply are forcing rapid structural transformation across the entire dairy industry.
刘颖10,000+ SKUs, Covering 4,000+ Outlets: Turning a Traditional Trading Company into a 'One-Stop Supply Platform' for Local Retail Stores!
In recent years, New Distribution has visited many distributor bosses who report that business is tough and revenue growth without profit growth is the norm. Many distributors are struggling to survive, being eliminated by the market, or acquired by competitors. The main difficulty for distributors today is the increased uncertainty in the downstream retail market. On one hand, the wave of traditional supermarket closures leads to customer loss, and mid-sized stores have weaker risk resistance. On the other hand, snack stores are expanding aggressively with low prices, followed by discount stores, and supermarket renovations require distributors to supply at bare prices. These channel changes have a huge impact on today's distributors.
汪海Coconut Beverage Market on the Verge of Change: The New Wave Pushes the Old
Coconut tree Group and Huanlejia, once dominant players in the coconut beverage market, are now facing growth stagnation. Huanlejia's 2024 annual report shows a 3.53% revenue decline and a 47.06% profit drop, with its flagship coconut juice revenue falling 3.66%. In Q1 2025, the decline widened, with revenue down 18.52% and net profit down 58.27% year-on-year. Meanwhile, new entrants like Qinglan, Chanbao, and KOKO Coconut are gaining momentum with innovative products and strategies.
AaronLoneliness: The Next Economic Opportunity?
This article explores how loneliness and the search for meaning are driving new consumer trends, from fan communities and stand-up comedy to vintage clothing, retro experiences, and crowdfunding. These trends point to a shift toward more spiritual and personalized consumption, offering opportunities for businesses to provide emotional value and connection.
刘润The Second Half of the FMCG Industry: Retailers Lead a New Circulation Revolution, Entering the Era of 'Integrated Production, Supply, and Sales'
From last year to the first half of this year, several major events have occurred: 1. Retail enterprises have begun to build their own supply chain companies. On March 31, Jiangsu regional retailer Hongxin Supermarket listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to its prospectus, wholesale business accounted for about 56% of revenue in the first nine months of 2024, and its wholesale business grew much faster than retail. Traditional retailers are no longer limited to a single retail business; the model of wholesale + retail + regional deep cultivation has begun to enter the public eye. In addition, since the second half of last year, Metro...
戚特The 'Cheese Queen' Aims for 10 Billion in Revenue
When asked about her recent state, Chai Xiu, founder of Miaokelanduo, described it as 'busy and happy.' She said that with the new year, the entire company is fully committed to the new three-year goal, and this year marks the beginning of the new strategic plan. In mid-March, Chai Xiu told the author, 'After more than two years of layout and adjustment, Miaokelanduo has entered a more vibrant and confident state, with a significant trend of returning to high growth. In the first three months of this year, the company's work has been advancing efficiently.'
李欣"Where There Are Scenes, There Is Sales": Brands Need a Scene 'Roadmap' for Sustained Growth
Coca-Cola's sustained growth is attributed to its consistent practice of scene marketing, which involves discovering new consumption scenes. The article introduces a scene marketing roadmap for new brands, comprising four types of scenes: source scenes, lead scenes, mainline scenes, and branch scenes, guiding brands from initial user education to sales expansion.
刘春雄Dialogue with Cai Yu: What This Generation of Users Wants Is Not Touching, but Complicity
In the first installment of our series on business narrative, we invited Cai Yu, author of the Dedao course 'Cai Yu's Business Reference' and the book 'Emotional Value.' She believes that after oversupply, sales ability becomes crucial, and sales ability is narrative ability. Narrative is our filtering, narration, and interpretation of information, selling a certain proposition to others through various actions. Today, a company's content and narrative capabilities should be part of its product strategy, even its corporate strategy; relegating them to marketing is an underestimation.
梁将军Annual Sales of $54 Billion, Covering Over 100,000 Outlets: The Business Logic of McLane as a 'Middleman'
China's current retail transformation, whether it's membership warehouses, discount retail, or instant retail, as well as the forced adjustments in supermarkets and convenience stores, is all about improving supply chain efficiency. Improving industry efficiency inevitably involves supply chain adjustments, and distributors, as a key intermediate link, are the hardest hit. Many distributors are confused about their future business positioning. However, this cycle of industry chain adjustment has been experienced in the retail development history of all developed countries. Naturally, the solution for the 'middleman' business can also be found in global retail history.
张振宇China's FMCG Channel Transformation in 2024–2025
A survey of 85 leading consumer brands maps the rise of discount, instant retail, and specialist channels—and shows why brands and distributors need deeper specialization, data sharing, and ecosystem coordination.
New DistributionChina's Beverage Market Shake-up: Cola Falls from Grace as Ready-to-Drink Tea and Energy Drinks Rise
In 2020, among China's seven major beverage categories, only carbonated drinks saw growth, while all others declined. By 2023, the situation reversed: carbonated drinks were the only category in decline, while the other six grew significantly. China's market has ultimately turned its back on carbonated beverages, with market share shifting from cola to ready-to-drink tea and energy drinks.
刘颖B2b Transformation: The Pitfalls and the Paths
In recent years, transforming to B2b has become a hot topic, mainly because many distributors face increasing challenges in their operations, forcing them to reassess and adjust their business models. These challenges include shrinking supermarket channels, the impact of new retail formats, high returns with low profits, difficult payment collections, sluggish growth, and inventory backlog, all of which are pushing distributors to transform. B2b offers a relatively clear and structured path, drawing widespread attention. On March 19, 2025, at the 10th China FMCG Innovation Conference and the 4th China FMCG Distributor Conference hosted by New Distribution, Mr. Liu Peng, Dean of the Business School of Chengdu Laiken Information Technology Co., Ltd. and Deputy General Manager of Operations at Chengdu Qilian Technology Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote speech titled "B2b Transformation: The Pitfalls and the Paths," which resonated deeply with many manufacturers and distributors present, sparking lively discussion. New Distribution is pleased to share the highlights of his speech with our readers.
刘朋Three Keywords for the Future of Instant Retail: Co-Integration, Demand-Pull Supply, and Supply Determined by Demand
From the exploration of Taoxianda's one-hour delivery business in March 2018, to the entry of platforms like Meituan, Ele.me, and JD.com, and to the emergence of various new models today, the instant retail industry has gone through seven years of development. In Chinese traditional culture, the number 'seven' is full of mystical significance, and 'when it reaches seven, change is inevitable.' Looking back at these seven years, from the initial growth of new channels, to deep connections with brand owners, retailers, and distributors, and to today's scenario-based marketing, instant retail has continuously iterated and innovated, gradually becoming an all-encompassing 'marketing + sales' new ecosystem.
贝念军Spring Sugar Fair Concludes Successfully, Jinsha Distillery Amplifies Presence with 'Exhibition + City + Conference' Strategy
The 112th National Sugar and Wine Fair and 2025 Spring Sugar Season concluded successfully in Chengdu on March 27. As the chief partner, Jinsha Distillery impressed the industry and market with its 'Strive Upstream' brand narrative, delivering a multidimensional event covering product experience, cultural interaction, and industry dialogue, celebrating the upstream genes of the Chishui River and declaring its commitment to the industry's future.
金沙酒业Bain & Company's Lu Xiuqiong: Consumer Breakthrough through Scenario Growth
Scenario marketing is currently a hot topic in the FMCG industry and a key strategy for driving growth. Over the past few years, it has been widely applied with notable results. Coca-Cola's OBPPC concept, which includes five elements: O for Occasion, B for Brands, P for Pack, P for Prices, and C for Channel, was proposed decades ago and has been practiced for over 50 years. The core of scenario growth lies in defining scenarios—composed of people, place, time, and emotion—to drive consumer demand. This approach requires a shift in business logic from production and price competition to demand creation through innovation and experience.
鲁秀琼