/PRZWT/SHANGHAI, July 16, 2024 - Introduction: FMCG's long-term success requires respect for retail laws, product innovation, quality service, and channel cultivation.
The consumption trend in the shrinking era shows the characteristics of "K-shaped", and the decision-making anchor point of consumers also changes: from the "old mainstream price band" to the "new mainstream price band".
For fast-moving consumer goods, there is an essential difference between "cheap" and "taking advantage" between the two prices. The latter spells "price power" rather than simple "low price", that is, on the basis of price advantage, matching "inverted value" such as better service and quality, thereby providing consumers with the material and emotional satisfaction of "taking advantage".
It is not difficult to find that more and more FMCG brands have begun to take the initiative to enter the "two-front" battle, while rolling out the scale in the "old mainstream price belt", while expanding the potential and profit in the "new mainstream price belt". Instant noodle players represented by Master Kong have upgraded their products and are providing a definite solution for the entire industry to achieve double increase in brand volume and sales in a way that is better than "price" and not better than "low price".
01 Price-to-price proposal, instant noodles take the road of high-quality development
In the new consumption cycle of pursuing "extreme price-to-value", people emphasize that "value" exceeds "price", and pay more attention to the multiple satisfaction of product functions and value experience. This trend has brought a more positive impact on the development of the convenience food industry.
Facing the needs of consumers in different scenarios, the instant noodle industry is showcasing its talents in terms of product taste, taste, and nutritional value, in order to match the current changes in demand.
Take Master Kong as an example, between the product strategies of "big and complete" and "small and beautiful", it does not make a choice, but wants everything. There are "double radish beef belly noodles" that focus on natural taste and healthier nutrition, and "Suda Noodle Restaurant" that emphasizes "the ingredients are like freshly cooked taste" and layout of high-end markets; there are also sour radish old duck noodles, Dongpo braised meat noodles, and ginger chicken noodles that are limited to southwest, Jiangnan or southern China. There are also "dry noodle vermicelli" that can be matched with different cuisines such as Hong Kong flavor, Sichuan flavor, and Guangdong flavor. It can be called the "dry noodle vera" series that understands Generation Z and the "real taste" series with rich price belts...
In just 30 years, it has created a rich matrix of 261 flavors and 777 products, presenting a table of "Manchu and Han" belonging to the convenient fast food industry to consumers in different regions and circles.
On the one hand, for Master Kong, on the basis of completing the core task (allowing consumers to solve a meal quickly and conveniently), the pursuit is to more accurately link the consumer group and meet the needs of life and spiritual culture. It is a "price-to-price food proposal" that can form a tacit understanding with consumers' immediate needs, and is intuitively reflected in taste, portion size, packaging and marketing.
On the other hand, this year, Master Kong Instant Noodles has upgraded and iterated its classic barrel bag products. Starting from dough cakes and vegetable bags, eggs and noodles are used, and vegetables are doubled to match healthy consumer demand. It is reported that after the upgrade, the bag has risen to 3 yuan/bag, and the barrel has risen to 5 yuan/barrel. From this point of view, Master Kong can continue to expand the taste, upgrade the quality, and invest heavily in "real money and silver" in product upgrades.
From the early development of meat sauce buns, continuous upgrading of dough cakes, to the introduction of freeze-dried fresh-locking, concentrated stock technology, to strict control of raw material origin and transportation supply chain system... In just the past 10 years, Master Kong has invested in 300 million to build FD freeze-drying factory, invested in 500 million to build an innovative R & D and food safety research center in Shanghai, and established a professional team of 3,000 food safety and quality control.
According to the data of Master Kong's annual performance report in 2023, the annual revenue of the company increased by 2.16% year-on-year to 80.418 billion yuan, maintaining a growth trend for 7 consecutive years. Among them, the business revenue of the instant noodle sector reached 28.793 billion yuan, accounting for 35.80% of the group's total income.
"Retail Business Finance" believes that Tingyi instant noodles have shown strong business resilience while stabilizing the basic market - they can not only enjoy the trend dividend of long-term consumption upgrading, but also benefit from consumption stratification during the period of economic cycle fluctuations. In the final analysis, behind Tingyi's adherence to "long-termism" is the obvious product innovation, technological upgrading and business iteration, and the win-win symbiosis of brand values and cost-effective consumption concepts.
02 Buy and enjoy, win the "three-dimensional" channel battle with high certainty
"If there is no Master Kong in the store, the product structure is incomplete." Zhang Yuqi, who runs five supermarket chains, said bluntly: "If the stock is out of stock, it will cause a series of chain reactions. Not only will the ham and spicy strips not be sold, but it will also leave everyone with the impression of'nothing '."
The truth that channels are king is timeless, and the ability to deeply distribute is also indispensable. In fact, Master Kong is an early company in the industry to practice the concept of "channel intensive cultivation".
Since 1992, whether it is in traditional retail channels such as husband and wife stores, community grocery stores, or modern channels such as warehouse member stores, mass stores, supermarkets, chain convenience, community new retail, Internet e-commerce, or catering channels, special channels (airports, stations, gas stations, hospitals)... Master Kong instant noodles are always everywhere.
Offline, Tingyi sells well all over the country behind more than one million sales outlets, providing the driving force for organizations to operate. Even in the lower-tier market, Tingyi has firmly occupied a certain market share, allowing consumers to always achieve "instant noodle freedom".
Online, with the help of big data to innovate the marketing model, Master Kong has cooperated deeply with different e-commerce platforms to build a smart business system, and built a distribution network with platforms such as Alibaba, JD.com, and Tencent, creating a visual relationship of "people and goods market".
Nowadays, the retail industry is facing the third industry structural change driven by "people". Consumers prefer to buy and enjoy without hoarding, save time, worry and money, and the "high certainty" shopping mentality also allows FMCG products to return to "FMCG" itself. This is undoubtedly good news for Tingyi, which has the abundance and stability of local supply and a huge sales network system.
"The Internet logic that is used to making miracles and using blitzkrieg to make quick decisions will not work in offline channels." Industry analysts believe that the premise for FMCG to win the long-term war is to respect retail laws and have perseverance. "Those leading enterprises in the industry can make tens of thousands of salespeople, thousands of dealers, and millions of end points work together, and can achieve classic best-selling products. They are all long-term efforts rather than overnight."
Furthermore, the quality is recognized, the product is marketable, and the brand value wins the respect of consumers, which makes the distributor more confident.
For distributors, compared to other brands, Tingyi has lower sales and management fees, as well as faster inventory turnover efficiency. They are not only interested in the profits and market influence brought by Tingyi products, but also in today's omni-channel coordination and consumer demand-oriented, distributors pay more attention to whether the concept conveyed by the brand is recognized. Making good use of product service channel providers and serving consumers is also a reflection of the value of distributors.
It's easy for any brand to become popular for a while, but it's not easy to stay at the forefront of the industry. When we look at the changes in the FMCG market in a larger context, a higher dimension, and a longer cycle, Master Kong's real competitors are undoubtedly Nestle and Coca-Cola.
They all insist on self-innovation, as creators of product value rather than porters. Taste is only the first step to win over consumers, and strong channel capabilities and supply chain cost control capabilities are fundamental to help them truly retain consumers.
[Conclusion]
Big waves wash sand, "constant" is gold. Master Kong, who has maintained a running posture for many years, this fast food category born from the "inspiration of hunger", carrying the emotions of several generations, and bringing new pictures to the food industry, is transforming from "price" body sense to "value" experience.
If a brand wants to be invincible in the new "food" generation, the key is to have the innovation strength and business toughness to go through the cycle, and launch epoch-making gear-changing single products in the dimensions of quality, craftsmanship, word-of-mouth, and nutritional content. From "selling instant noodles" to "selling price-comparable food proposals", it can quickly iterate, and it can become a top-tier product with double results and unfailing reputation.
