Page 129 - CTI81_EN

I

Coconut grey ice-cream and double-yolked egg discounts from shops/sellers) invented by the self-pub-
ice-cream, which have been popularized by influencers, lishing media. McDonald’s has somehow ensured that no
are almost exclusively found in convenience stores, matter how the flavors change, be it the exotic elderflow-
with the price of a single unit ranging around 10 CNY. er or cherry blossom, or the highly acceptable Ovaltine
In addition to freshly made Gelato, DQ Ice Queen and or Oreo flavors, they would attract a large number of
Häagen-Dazs, Mengniu’s Deluxe, Guangming’s Fresh customers to try them out.
Milk Ice Cream and Zhong Xue Gao are all set at a unit Last year, IKEA and McDonald’s explored the new
price of 20 CNY or more. From the brands’ point of ‘ice cream sandwich’ with the launch of the “Ice Dog”
view, high quality is closely linked to high profit mar- and “Xindongjiao” respectively.
gins and greater gross margins. The majority of people The Ice Dog from IKEA, as the name suggests, keeps
who share similar views with the media mentioned the hot dog bun and replaces the sausage and ketchup/
above are not yet willing to carefully select and evalu- mustard in the middle with three soft ice creams. It tastes
ate their purchases for a once-in-a-while ice cream. like the 1 CNY sundae cones and is also available in the
They tend to choose traditional brands and flavors that Swedish Food area for only 3 CNY- 4.90 CNY each. Ow-
they are familiar with. It’s the young people who are ing to its name, or the high temperatures in August and
following the trend that are likely to pay for these mid- September, the Ice Dog has rapidly become a hit on
to high-end ice creams. For community shops, where Weibo, Red Book and other social media. The IKEA in
residents generally have limited spending capacity, the Shanghai’s Xuhui district even opened a special ice cream
high-priced popular ice creams don’t actually sell well. counter for those who want to try it first time for free AD9
However, there are still ‘alternatives’ in this part with a receipt and the second-time buyers.
of the world: IKEA’s 1 CNY sundae cones and McDon- The “Xindongjiao” is only found at McDonald’s
ald’s year-round second half-price twist cones. Know- kiosks, and is clearly aimed at ice cream lovers and those
ing the nature of the local market, they united with who want to eat on the go. Launched two months later
consumers and put price in the key position of product by IKEA’s Ice Dog, this ice cream sandwich uses a crois-
targeting and market planning, and thus reaped the sant as the container for the ice cream, filled with soft
victory of the “price war” under the psychology of “wool ice and then topped with the sundae’s iconic chocolate
pulling” (A way to save money by trying to get more sauce for a richer taste experience. It has been trans-
formed from a single category of ice cream to one of those
desserts that everyone wants to try all the time. What’s
even more appealing is the price of the “Xindongjiao”,
which is only 5 CNY for both a croissant and a sundae.
Plus the advantages of the dotted geographical distribu-
tion of McDonald’s kiosks and the updated flavors of the
ice cream sandwiches, young people’s love for them is
only growing.
In terms of market trends, the future of ice cream
in China remains promising. However, from the consum-
er’s perspective, ice cream products with only minor
adjustments and innovations in terms of taste, quality
and pricing are still unable to break the traditional per-
ception of them. But if ice cream is brought back to its
original form, as a dessert option rather than a ready-to-
eat frozen snack in supermarkets, it might be able to
thrive in the “third space” led by boutique cafes and the
tea-break enjoyment highlighted by new tea drinks, and
to be popular beyond the summer season.

128