After the harsh winter of the epidemic, consumption is recovering in 2023. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods were close to 23 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. With the improvement of the consumption environment, many companies are making every effort to seize the opportunity of market recovery.
Nashi found that recently, Hsu Fu Chi's gummy candy workshop with a total investment of 120 million yuan was officially put into operation, which means that Hsu Fu Chi has another "new engine" to accelerate market expansion. It is worth mentioning that Hsu Fu Chi has achieved a 30% growth in the candy category since 2023, of which the gummy candy has increased by 79%.
"Within two years, Hsu Fu Chi promises that it will not be out of stock again! The capital increase and production expansion project is a milestone for us to achieve high-quality growth, further consolidating Hsu Fu Chi's leading position in fruit juice gummies, meeting consumers' demand for healthy candy and leading the healthy development of China's confectionery industry." Liu Xinggang, president of Hsu Fu Chi, said.
Liu Xinggang, President of Hsu Fu Chi
A one-time investment of 120 million yuan to expand production capacity
According to Kantar Worldpanel, the overall sugar category has been greatly affected by the epidemic in the past few years, but with the recovery of the out-of-home consumer market, concandies have become one of the fastest recovering categories (compared to the same period last year).
In the face of the increasingly recovering market, Hsu Fu Chi took advantage of the situation and actively expanded the company's production capacity. It is understood that the new gummy candy workshop of Hsu Fu Chi has a total investment of 120 million yuan and has built an automated juice gummy candy workshop of nearly 6,000 square meters to make up for the lack of production capacity due to sales growth in recent years.
It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the construction of the new workshop, a special visit channel was also designed - a "Dr. Bear Colorful Paradise" was created in the image of its Dr. Xiong IP dolls, so that consumers can not only experience the clean and tidy factory environment and modern production process, but also add a lot of childlike fun to consumers on site, making people feel as if they are in a dreamy candy paradise.
"In recent years, although Hsu Fu Chi has successively invested 180 million yuan in the intelligent transformation and upgrading of production lines to improve production capacity, it is still not enough at present, and this one-time investment of 120 million yuan to expand production capacity is expected to completely supplement the production capacity demand. At the same time, the upgraded automated production line can better meet the changing market demand, and it is also hoped that the capital increase and expansion project will boost the confidence of enterprises and the industry. Liu Xinggang, President of Hsu Fu Chi, said at the commissioning ceremony.
Nashi believes that the Hsu Fu Chi capital increase and expansion project of over 100 million yuan not only demonstrates the confidence and confidence to enter the market, but also with the continuous release of production capacity in the future, it is bound to further drive the company's new round of growth and consolidate Hsu Fu Chi's leading position in the leisure snack industry. What is the confidence behind Hsu Fu Chi's big investment?
Innovate in the classics
With the upgrading of consumption, traditional foods are becoming more and more healthy, and Tangqiao has also begun to upgrade in the direction of health. As one of the most concerned categories, consumers have also derived diversified needs in addition to delicious gummies when buying gummies.
The 31-year-old Xu Fu Chi grasped the changes in market demand, and Qumanguo juice gummies came into being. It is understood that the Qumanguo brand is based on the market with the concept of "real juice and real fruity flavor", and has refreshed the record of gummies with 100% juice content, retaining the original flavor of fruit juice, coupled with delicious, healthy and trendy product selling points.
It is worth mentioning that at the moment when the wind of 0 sugar health is blowing more and more fiercely, Xu Fu Ji Qumanguo has also launched a 0 sugar burst gummy candy product, which not only uses 0 sugar formula, but also contains iron or lactic acid bacteria for fermentation. This 0 sugar popping gummy has become a hit in the market since it was launched in July this year, and it is now a hot selling product of Sam's Top 3, releasing strong growth potential.
According to Hsu Fu Chi, at present, Quman fruit juice gummies have become an important force to promote the growth of Hsu Fu Chi category. Nashi believes that this undoubtedly shows the market insight behind the "candy king" Hsu Fu Chi brand, and at the same time, it can't help but make people admire Hsu Fu Chi's own brand power and innovation.
Close linkage between online and offline
Seize the commanding heights of product sales
For a long time, the FMCG industry has been popular with the saying that "channel is king". From the perspective of the current leisure snack industry, offline channels have always been the main battlefield for brand competition. According to the data of the "2022 China Leisure Snack Industry Research Report", offline channels are still the main channel for domestic leisure snack sales. Among them, snack shops, supermarkets and convenience stores accounted for 83% of the overall sales channels, and online channels accounted for only 13%.
As a snack brand that has been deeply cultivated for many years, Hsu Fu Chi itself has a relatively complete and huge sales channel. In order to expand distribution coverage, Hsu Fu Chi spent nearly two years to promote a wider distribution of goods through the expansion of consumer groups and the extension of large-scale sinking channels, adding 1 million terminal outlets.
In addition to making offline channels complete and thorough, Hsu Fu Chi has also vigorously developed interest e-commerce online, built a live broadcast store matrix, and established a close connection with consumers through the newly built factory direct distribution system, which effectively promoted the rapid growth of performance. In addition, as a high-end gift-giving brand, Hsu Fu Chi also uses festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival, and festive days to promote gift group buying, and has established its own "circle of friends" in the gift group buying channel to deliver "blessing" to thousands of households.
In the overseas market, Hsu Fu Chi's classic products such as crisp candy and nougat, which have been best-selling for more than 30 years, have successfully entered 600 Costco (Costco), Wal-Mart and the vast Chinese market in North America. On the basis of last year's doubling growth, the North American market has doubled again this year.
These layouts have built an omni-channel sales system for Hsu Fu Chi, and also built strong support for Hsu Fu Chi in its own market, driving the continuous growth of the overall business.
Innovation doesn't stop
Continue to move towards the goal of "10 billion years".
In 2022, Hsu Fu Chi, a national classic snack brand, proposed for the first time to build Hsu Fu Chi into a company with a "10 billion centennial" (revenue of more than 10 billion, and a century-old brand). If you want to achieve a century-old cause, innovation is the only way for Hsu Fu Chi.
In April this year, Hsu Fu Chi cooperated with South China University of Technology to establish a joint research center for healthy snacks. It is understood that this is the first joint research center for healthy snacks established by school-enterprise cooperation in China, and the two sides will be committed to the three major research directions of functional raw material innovation, advanced technology innovation and health food innovation to help product upgrading. Some industry insiders believe that the establishment of a joint research center for healthy snacks in cooperation with South China University of Technology is an important milestone for Hsu Fu Chi to promote the innovation process.
At the same time, aiming at the current consumer demand for healthy snacks, Hsu Fu Chi has innovated in the direction of "nutritional addition, ingredient subtraction, and healthier processing technology" in terms of products. For example, in recent years, Hsu Fu Chi has successively launched nutritious snacks such as 30% reduced sugar shaqima, 0 sucrose bar shaqima, and 0 sucrose black qiao, which have been widely recognized by the market and consumers.
The continuous investment in product research and development has also given Hsu Fu Chi more confidence in the face of market competition and changes in consumer demand. At present, Hsu Fu Chi has a professional R&D team of more than 100 people, led by experts in the fields of consumer preference analysis, raw material application, formula and process research and development, nutrition and health, and sensory evaluation. At present, Hsu Fu Chi has invested nearly 200 million yuan in R&D for 11 consecutive years.
With the continuous efforts in many aspects, Hsu Fu Chi has also been recognized by the outside world: Hsu Fu Chi's two products, Shaqima Nut Bar and Qumanguo, have been promoted to the "iSEE Top 100 Global Food Innovation Brands" in 2023; The brand has won many industry honors, including "Bakery Food Leading Enterprise", "Excellent Snack Food Innovation Enterprise", "Top 20 Chinese Pastry Leader Brands" and so on.
A century-old enterprise, the foundation is evergreen. On the road of specialization, refinement and strengthening, Hsu Fu Chi has been steadily going through more than 30 years. Now, with the continuous investment and deep cultivation of Hsu Fu Chi in production capacity, products and channels, Hsu Fu Chi, a national classic snack brand, is more determined and confident to move towards the grand goal of "10 billion years". It is expected that Hsu Fu Chi will continue to lead the development of the industry in the future and create a steady stream of surprises for the industry.