A few days ago, Yuanqi forest launched the new product "Yuanqi forest cola flavor soda bubble water", which uses the latest technology to realize that it does not contain preservatives such as sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.

Is this coke or bubble water?

As we all know, Yuanqi forest started from bubble water, and its products are rapidly updated at the "Internet speed". Is this going to enter the coke market?

Behind the ambiguous statement of the government is the careful exploration and bold exploration of Yuanqi forest in the face of the encirclement and suppression of industry giants.

Since then, Yuanqi forest has been hard on Pepsi's and Coca Cola's flagship products - cola. The latter two have long occupied the majority of the global carbonation market share, and entered the Chinese market in 1979 and 1981 respectively. Since then, the duopoly has monopolized the coke market for decades.

Yuanqi forest's exploration of the coke market is bound to provoke the counterattack of Pepsi and Coca Cola, and a commercial war is inevitable.

Compared with the two beverage giants, Yuanqi forest is a rising star in the beverage industry. Under the account of the new army, "coke products" have faced strong opposition. Even Tang Binsen, founder of Yuanqi forest, once said internally that it was "a product that is likely to fail."

However, for the vitality forest of "Internet speed" update products, it is an inevitable choice of strategy to find the next explosion. Even if you try wrong, you should try. Whether the new product is a flash in the pan and does not enter the dust of history or tear up the market that has been monopolized for a long time, only time can give the final answer to the unpredictable business changes.

Yuanqi forest cuts into the "double happiness" pattern

"Yuanqi forest cola flavor soda bubble water" replaces the controversial artificial substitute aspartame with natural substitute erythritol, and completely removes chemical synthesis additives such as phosphoric acid. This means that it has the taste of coke, but it is not a coke product in the traditional sense. This is also the first time that Yuanqi forest has entered the coke market controlled by Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola.

Cola flavored drinks have gained popularity in China and become a popular consumer category, which is inseparable from the development of the carbonated beverage market and the two companies of Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. Due to the late start of Chinese enterprises and other reasons, including Cola type drinks, China's carbonated beverage market has long been held by the two giants of Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola in the United States, accounting for more than 90% of the market. It is difficult for "domestic products" to get out of the circle.

In the 1980s, there was a golden period for domestic Cola in the domestic beverage market, including more than 30 domestic Cola such as Laoshan cola and Tianfu Cola. In some regional markets, domestic Cola still occupied an advantage in market share by adopting positive channel strategies.

However, since the 1990s, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola have, on the one hand, invested in domestic beverage enterprises by means of joint ventures and shares. While acquiring channel channels, they have also hidden or suppressed domestic Cola brands by means of business adjustment, which has led to gradual loss, production stoppage and withdrawal from the market. Since then, Wahaha launched extraordinary Cola in 1998, and once competed with the two major Cola brands, but eventually lost in the market and channel competition.

After years of intensive market cultivation, the channels and brand recognition of the two major international Cola brands in the Chinese market have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Take the Chinese carbonated beverage market in 2019 as an example, the market share of Coca Cola was 59.5%, that of Pepsi Cola was 32.7%, and the industry concentration R2 was as high as 92.2%. Under the "double happiness" pattern, it is not easy for other cola to get out of the circle. Therefore, beverage enterprises are not willing to "fight hard", For a long time in the past, Yuanqi forest has always avoided overlapping with the two Cola giants in terms of products and tastes, and has more developed innovative tastes and differentiated competition.

According to the internal disclosure of Yuanqi, Yuanqi Cola is also their most entangled product, which has been brewing for a long time! This can also be seen from the trademark layout.

As early as August 24, 2020, Yuanqi forest submitted an application for registration of the trademark "Yuanqi Cola", which is classified as category 32 in the international classification, and is used in bubble water, cola (soft drink), cola beverage and other commodities.

However, Yuanqi forest does not directly name this product "Yuanqi Cola", but "cola flavor soda bubble water", and its positioning is only one of its bubble water systems with different flavors.

Big track

In fact, there are multiple reasons for the expansion of Yuanqi forest.

From the perspective of the overall framework, the scale of the bubble water racetrack is relatively limited. According to iResearch consulting data, the market scale of China's sugar free beverage market was about 3.2 billion yuan in 2016 and increased to 14.3 billion yuan in 2021. The sugar free bubble water where Yuanqi forest is located is only a part of the sugar free beverage market.

In the face of the demands of the new generation of consumers, domestic brands need to be constantly replaced. Whether it is taste, packaging or marketing methods, they must always make positive responses. If the new product of Yuanqi forest can trigger the thinking and progress of the sugar free Cola industry and drive the innovation of more domestic brands, the beverage industry will be further developed healthily in the future, the production capacity will be further expanded, and the industrial structure can be further improved and optimized.