We are all aware of the worldwide trend of going healthy across the board in the F&B segment; China is no exception! We mentioned Genki Forest and its ‘Sugar-Free’, ‘Low Calorie’ campaign, but this was just the beginning. Now, almost every brand is compelled to join the trend because ‘everybody’s going healthy’!
Yes, this trend is really sticky; from soft drinks to milk and plant-based drinks, the brands in China cannot stay idle to the demands of the consumers. In a KANTARTNS survey, data shows that 74% of Chinese in 2021 are paying more attention to high-quality food, healthy diversification, and balanced dietary nutrition, with natural health attributes. Well, this is a huge number of people, and, obviously, the F&B brands translate this to potential business.
So, we mentioned Satine and its new high-protein cow milk that needs to give the counterblow to all the plant-based protein drinks out there. But apart from the obvious, even Coca-Cola in China is losing the sugar in its Sprite drinks, offering a fresh mint flavor, with 0 sugar and 0 fat.
Genki Forest, which we mentioned earlier, has a sub-brand of energy drinks, called ‘Alien’. A new launch of products, the Big Devil line, promises the consumers healthy energy drinks filled with taurine (110mg/can), ginseng powder, wolfberry juice, vitamin B6 and niacinamide.
The list of brands bringing new and healthy drinks into the Chinese market will get longer and longer. Consumers, and especially Gen Z, are very specific about their demands for a better and healthier lifestyle. Even alcohol is consumed differently in China now compared to 20 years ago. Business will go hand-in-hand with a better F&B experience and probably a much healthier one.
