Sales have soared 20 times, and annual financing is nearly 1 billion yuan. Is the “micro-drug market” on the rise?

The spring of low-alcohol is here? Since Coca-Cola’s official announcement of “selling alcohol” on Children’s Day, the “low alcohol” market has begun to attract a lot of attention from the outside world. JD.com’s “618 Report” shows that the sales volume of new and innovative brands in the liquor category, which are mainly low-grade, slightly drunk and pleasant-looking, has increased by 20 times year-on-year. After opening social sharing platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, topics such as “low alcohol” and “wine suitable for girls” emerged endlessly. The topic of “low alcohol” on Weibo has been read 122,000; the topic of “wine suitable for girls” has been read as much as 150 million. On Douyin, this topic has been viewed more than 20 million. The fast-growing low-alcohol drink market has won the favor of many capital institutions. Statistics show that in 2020, the total financing scale of the low-alcohol race track will reach nearly one billion yuan. Numerous data show that the low-alcohol market is setting off a fiery wave. Who are keen to consume low-alcohol alcohol? Is low-alcohol really a potential market? The reporter recently visited the supermarket and many consumers and learned that the delicious and good-looking fruit wine among the low-alcohol wines is the most popular among young people. Some experts pointed out that the low-alcohol wine track is still in the market growth stage, and quality control and reputation may be the key to enhancing competitiveness. Who is consuming low-alcohol alcohol? “Slight drunkenness is the best state to relieve stress.” Xiao Zhang, born in 1997, worked as an interpreter in a company. She told reporters that she likes to drink, but does not like alcohol that is too strong. She only drinks fruit beer and green plum wine. Wait for some fruit wine. “Relatively speaking, low-alcohol alcohol is healthier,” Xiao Zhang said. “The most important thing is that a slightly relaxed state can help you release workplace pressure and some anxiety.” The reporter found that with the development of the times, the wine consumption culture is becoming younger, diversified and enriched, and low-alcohol wine is becoming a trend of consumption for more and more young people. There is no pressure from alcohol, “If you are in a bad mood or tired after a day of stress, you will want to drink into a slightly drunk state.” There are no restrictions and restrictions, “You will also have a drink while you are having a meal and chatting with your friends.” According to the “White Paper on Alco-pop Category Culture of Chinese Young People’s Low-Tide Drinking Alco-pop”, low-grade drinking Alco-pop is subverting the traditional Chinese wine culture and becoming a new alcoholic lifestyle that young people can control independently. Low-alcohol drinking, that is, low-alcohol alcohol with an alcohol content of not more than 20 degrees and outstanding sweetness, and some sugar-free sodas, generally contain fruit elements. Popular categories include pre-mixed cocktails, plum wine, fruit wine, wine, fruit beer, etc. Drinking has become one of the ways for many young people to relax. At 618 this year, Meijian, Berry Sweetheart, and 10:15 respectively won the first place in Tmall plum wine, fruit wine, and soda; during the “618” period of JD.com, the turnover of emerging brands in the liquor category increased by 20 times year-on-year, of which The turnover of fruit wine brand JOJO increased by 30 times month-on-year, Oran’s turnover increased by 200% year-on-year, Meijian’s turnover increased by 8 times year-on-year, Baijiu brand Guanyun’s turnover increased by 20 times year-on-year, and Snow Mars Green’s turnover increased by 137 times year-on-year . In the first quarter of 2021, Tmall has 2,449 wine brands with a sales growth rate of 100% and above, of which 1,415 are low-alcohol brands, accounting for 57.8%. In terms of fruit wine consumption areas, the first- and second-tier cities are still the mainstream population and maintain rapid growth. However, the consumption potential of the fourth, fifth and sixth tiers cannot be underestimated. In the past six months, consumers in the fourth, fifth and sixth tier cities have bought out More than 30% of fruit wine. Why are low-alcohol wines popular? “The low-alcohol market has always existed,” Zou Wenwu, the founder of the China Fruit Wine Industry Research Center, told reporters. “Low-alcohol, as an entry product in the drinking market for young people, has undergone a transformation from beer to pre-mixed wine to fruit wine. Mainly because the continuous development of alcohol technology has provided opportunities for the reproduction of the low-alcohol market, the low-alcohol market has also been continuously developed and upgraded, and it is developing in the direction of quality, diversification and healthier.” Wal-Mart Supermarket Shelves The reporter visited Guangzhou Wal-Mart Supermarket (Haizhu Liying Plaza) and found that in the wine container area, there are various brands, flavors, and colorful low-alcohol wines, including green plum flavors, sweet-scented osmanthus flavors and other popular fruits and flower flavors. . Generally speaking, the alcohol content of various low alcohols is generally less than 20%, and the price ranges from 8-80 yuan (without distinguishing product capacity). Basically, the “face value” of every bottle of wine is not low. The reporter searched for “Fruit Wine Low Alcohol Slightly Alcoholic Drink” on Tmall and JD platforms and found that Rui’ao, Meijian, Samurai, and JOJO were the top sellers. Among them, on the Tmall platform, the monthly sales volume of a pre-adjusted cocktail of the Rui Ao Weibo series is more than 20,000. A Tmall shopkeeper told reporters, “After the summer, the fruit beer and cocktails in the shop are selling very well.” According to a user evaluation data on the Internet, 85.8% of the evaluations of “low alcohol” focused on “good taste”, followed by “low price, low wine taste, not easy to top, the packaging looks good, and the authenticity is guaranteed.” Guo Shiliang, a columnist at the Tencent Securities Research Institute, said: “Low-alcohol wine has the attributes of good taste, natural taste and suitable for social activities, and it is easy to become a favorite object of young people.” In the opinion of the post-90s Miss Mi, who usually likes to drink low-alcohol wine, the entrance of low-alcohol wine is relatively soft, not as spicy as white wine and foreign wine, and has a high value. “When you see a bottle, you have the urge to buy it, usually less than 200 yuan. The price is acceptable.” Is the low-alcohol market on the rise? Attracted by young people’s consumption, capital is rushing to the low-alcohol market. Matrix China, ZhenFund, JD Qianshu Capital, Junyang Capital, and Baohai Investment have all invested in the market. In 2020, the total financing scale of the low-alcohol industry will be close to one billion yuan. According to incomplete statistics, since 2016, at least 23 low-alcohol brands have received a total of more than 30 financings, and at least 10 companies have received over 10 million financing. Among them, Bingqing and Berry Sweetheart have completed three rounds of financing. According to the “Analysis of the Market Prospects and Status Quo of the Low-Alcohol Industry in 2020” by the Research Institute, the market size of China’s fruit wine industry in 2019 is about 231.5 billion yuan. In the past two years, the consumption of my country’s low-alcohol market has increased by more than 50%. Low-alcohol wine seems to have become a lively blue ocean in the red sea of ​​wine. In addition to the above-mentioned emerging players directly entering the game, traditional wine companies are also accelerating their layout. Moutai Group launched its own brand “Youmi” blueberry wine in 2019; Wuliangye launched the “Wutiao” series of fruit wine products with four flavors of green plum, pomegranate, peach and pineapple in May this year; Luzhou Laojiao also established a fruit wine company, In 2019, three low-alcohol fruit wines, “Qingyu”, “Huajianzhuo” and “Shiguang” were launched. In 2020, the “Lady’s Illustrated Green Plum Fruit Wine” was launched. In fact, as early as 2014, low-alcohol wine had a boom a few years ago. At that time, among low-alcohol wines with an alcohol content of 3%-20%, cocktails were the only ones, led by Ruiao and Bingrui. The two largest oligarchs in China account for almost 60% of the market share. Major traditional wine companies have also deployed. Public reports show that brands such as Luzhou Laojiao, Gujinggong, Wuliangye, Shuijingfang, and even Heiniu Foods have stepped into the pre-mixing business. Moutai also launched a low-level cocktail “Youmi” in 2017. Fighting among the heroes eventually caused market saturation. Coupled with “consumer mentality is not yet mature”, “traditional wine industry lacks motivation to cultivate emerging brands” and other reasons, the popularity of low-alcohol wine quickly declined. Liquor expert Cai Xuefei told reporters that even low-alcohol liquor was once labeled as “cheap” and “low-quality” in the market. In recent years, with the help of digital platform channels such as e-commerce and live broadcasting, low-alcohol wines such as fruit wine and rice wine have made a comeback. The newly emerging low-alcohol wines are mainly distributed in two categories: one is hard soda wine that focuses on low sugar and low calories, and the other is flower fruit wine and rice wine that are more suitable for women’s tastes. Take Berry Sweetheart as an example. In 2020, in Li Jiaqi’s live broadcast room, more than 50,000 bottles were sold in one night, which is equivalent to one month’s sales of traditional liquor brands that have laid channels offline. However, with the rapid growth of the market, the influx of imitation products and the reshuffle of the industry are issues that every emerging category of products must face. Can low-alcohol wine avoid “repeat the same mistakes” this time? Zou Wenwu, founder of the China Fruit Wine Industry Research Center, pointed out: “The low-alcohol wine track is still in the market growth stage, and many brands are entering the low-alcohol wine track. The biggest hidden danger at present is the flood of production capacity of various low-end wines. If once the market is given the impression that low-alcohol wine is inferior and blended with three essences and one water, it will cause category damage to the rise of low-alcohol wine, especially various fruit wine categories.” Speaking of future development, Cai Xuefei, a wine industry marketing expert and wine industry analyst, said, “As the entire low-alcohol wine continues to mature, some large-scale enterprises should grow to raise the threshold of the entire track.” “At present, on the low-alcohol wine track, in addition to Rui’ao, Meijian and other brands, there are also many Internet celebrity brands such as Zui Goniang,” Zou Wenwu told reporters: “The core competitiveness of low-alcohol wine is mainly products. The taste and quality of the wine is the key to the success of low-alcohol wine.” Tencent Securities Research Institute columnist Guo Shiliang also said, “Low-alcohol wine meets the health needs of young people today. Therefore, the market will have higher requirements for the quality of low-alcohol wine. In the future, companies or companies that pay more attention to the procurement of raw materials and the level of winemaking technology Will win.” Ao Yi journalist Guan Yuhui, trainee reporter Zhang Jieying