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Recently, a new ice cream shop in Shanghai has quickly become popular with its unique herbal flavor and has become a hot topic among citizens. The restaurant attracted a long queue of diners, and some of its innovative flavors were sold out at one point. Consumers have expressed their interest in this novel experience of combining traditional Chinese medicine and modern desserts, and the health attributes behind it, which has become the main reason for their scramble to buy.
The clerk of the ice cream store said that this is a new Chinese herbal concept, a combination of medicine and food. According to him, they have carefully developed a variety of Chinese herbal ice cream flavors, such as wild chrysanthemum pistachio, mint watermelon cream, smoked black plum, hawthorn bergamot and Chuanbei loquat paste, etc., each of which incorporates different traditional Chinese medicine elements to bring consumers both delicious and healthy enjoyment. For example, chrysanthemum ice cream is a combination of chrysanthemum petals into the ice cream base, which not only retains the silky taste of the ice cream, but also adds the fresh aroma of chrysanthemum, which is refreshing. In terms of price, 120 grams of ice cream costs 38 yuan, and 150 grams of ice cream costs 45 yuan.
Talking about why the traditional Chinese medicine ice cream was launched, the clerk of the ice cream store said, "Nowadays, people pay more attention to diet and want to regulate their body, so we want to say that it can be combined." The clerk also revealed, "Although we have some herbs added to it." But if you want to achieve such a function as traditional Chinese medicine, I don't think so. ”
In addition, the store also offers an optional topping service, including precious medicinal herbs such as ginseng and cordyceps sinensis from the Changbai Mountains in Northeast China. Not only are these toppings expensive—12 yuan per serving of ginseng and 18 yuan for cordyceps—but they are also made in a very particular way, such as ginseng can be eaten directly, while cordyceps sinensis needs to be boiled before being added to ice cream to ensure the nutritional value and taste of the ingredients. However, compared to the ice cream itself, not many customers choose to add toppings.
However, with the popularity of traditional Chinese medicine ice cream, it has also aroused questions and discussions among some netizens. "Is this a gimmick by the merchant! Traditional Chinese medicine health care is not to eat cold things, let alone ice cream, don't be blinded by the gimmick of 'Chinese medicine'! "Traditional Chinese medicine never advocates eating cold drinks, instead of selling ice cream, it is better to sell sour plum soup and five-skin drink", "Don't people who believe in Chinese medicine don't eat cold drinks? Isn't Chinese medicine ice cream in conflict with the concept of Chinese medicine health preservation?"
The ice cream industry in mainland China has developed rapidly in recent years, and the market demand is increasing. As consumers continue to pursue the taste and quality of ice cream, major brands have launched innovative flavors and ingredients to meet the needs of different consumer groups. At the same time, ice cream brands are also increasing investment in product research and development and production processes to improve product quality and taste.
Distribution of offline market share of Chinese ice cream brands in 2021
In terms of brands, Yili, Mengniu, Nestle and Heluxue, the four leading enterprises, have established market coverage nationwide and occupied a leading position in the industry by virtue of their capital strength and brand awareness. At present, the market share of ice cream products of these four companies has exceeded 50%. In addition, companies such as Deshi, Zhongjie, Hongbaolai, and TechnoAlpin have formed strong regional brands by virtue of their influence in their respective regions. At the same time, emerging brands such as Modern have strengthened their online business in combination with the new retail model.
Ice cream production in China
With the expansion of the market scale, the supply of ice cream in mainland China is also showing an upward trend year by year. In 2018, the supply scale of the ice cream industry was 5.18 million tons, and in 2020, the supply of ice cream in mainland China reached 5.67 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%.
The development trend of China's ice cream industry
In China, consumers are increasingly concerned about spiritual needs, healthy living, and the country's dual carbon strategy. In this context, the future development of China's ice cream industry is bound to show completely different characteristics from the past. Product innovation, technological innovation and cultural innovation will become a difficult problem for enterprises in the ice cream industry to overcome in the future.
Traditional Chinese medicine ice cream is sold out of stock, and industry insiders point out that this marks the rise of health elements in the catering market segment, indicating that in the future, health products that combine regional characteristics and innovative flavors will be richer and more diverse to meet the growing demand for healthy catering among consumers.
With the improvement of consumers' health awareness and the pursuit of high-quality life, the ice cream market is gradually developing towards health, diversification and high-end. According to relevant data, the ice cream market continues to grow and is expected to maintain a steady growth trend in the next few years. At the same time, ice cream products continue to innovate, integrating traditional and modern elements to meet the diverse taste needs of consumers. In addition, the significant improvement of cold chain logistics has also provided strong support for the expansion of the ice cream market. On the whole, the mainland ice cream industry has a bright future and huge development potential.
Prospective Economist APP Information Group
For more research and analysis of this industry, please refer to the "Market Demand Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report of China's Dairy Industry" by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute
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