Page 128 - CTI84_EN

I

Without the upgrade of a healthy

mainstream market, the ever-competitive

and seemingly-thriving market will end

up with broken bubbles.

Small stores stay away from lagged behind those in the first-tier cities.
competitive higher-end market They struggle to feed more ice cream to cus-
tomers, and there is no customer foundation
As of now, the market scale has surpassed to support increased prices. This creates the
one hundred billion yuan every year. Chinese fad gap between Little Puddings and Chicecream and
ice cream has earned success through trendy product its peers. Though this part of the market is not dominat-
iteration and consumption scene expansion. Fully fledged ed by western-style ice cream, the higher-end Chinese fad
cold logistics and diversified customization channels have ice cream normally priced over 15 yuan has less potential
added more product options and consumption scenes for to be the leader. Similar to many foreign foods, the scale
Chinese ice cream customers. of ice cream consumption in China is lower than the in-
Looking at the Chinese brands, we can find that a ternational average. The same trend can be seen with
high-end brand position, rare flavors and eye-catching other foreign treats such as chocolate. This sweet memory
product shapes are their strategies for innovation. The of our childhood, started its boom in 1990s and still enjoys
once-popular concrete gray coconut, salty yolk and liqueur rapid growth. However, the consumption per capita in
flavors, as well as the various shapes from simple cherry China is less than a quarter of the international average.
blossom to complicated Yellow Crane Tower, indicate the When customers pay more attention to health, mainstream
price trends in this crowded market. The price is also chocolate products fail to penetrate to the upgraded envi-
pushed higher. The basic products of Zhongjie 1947, NOC ronment, and the higher-end chocolate and healthier dark
and Chicecream are around 15 rmb. Chicecream once chocolate have not yet been acknowledged by the main-
launched an Ecuador ruby coco ice cream, with a ceiling stream market. Since 2020, when most of the fast-consum-
price of 66 rmb each, an ice cream version of Hermes. The ing snacks were thriving in the pandemic, the chocolate
higher market is in competition, but the small stores in market in China shrank by 2 billion yuan.
your hometown still sell cheap products less than 5 yuan The outlook is certainly more optimistic for ice
from Mengniy and Yili, and some even cheaper ones from cream. The unique Chinese styles are still fancied by cus-
local brands. Couldn’t the higher-end market triggering tomers, and Chinese fad stories are better told with inno-
the cheap brands’s sense of crisis in our hometowns. We vated popular products and upgraded consumption scene.
normally use its caps and collars to examine growth space However, to progress a market worth ten billion yuan, the
for a market. In recent years, the higher-end brands have pursuit merely of high price and unique experiments will
used Chinese fad to introduce frequent flavor innovation, encounter more restrictions and challenges.
special co-brand efforts and diversified supply channels. Without the upgrade of a healthy mainstream market,
Generally, the complex strategies lead to a higher price to the ever-competitive and seemingly-thriving market will
test the price cap for this category. In the massive low- end up with broken bubbles. In this way, the blazing Chi-
er-tier cities, the consumption scene and supply chain nese fad may melt ice cream, making it drop tears.

128 129