The price rise of milk tea industry chain gradually spread to the downstream. The price rise of raw materials and packaging materials such as vegetable fat powder, fructose, milk and cream has prompted milk tea manufacturers to adjust the price of their products.
On January 4, Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) (603711. SH) announced a price increase of 2% – 8% for solid brewing milk tea; On January 5, chayan Yuese, a milk tea brand, announced that most milk tea products rose by 1-2 yuan; The Panda Dairy Corporation(300898) (300898. SZ), which supplies condensed milk for milk tea, announced a price increase at the end of 2021. The price of the company’s main condensed milk related products increased by 3% – 10%.
A number of senior people in the food industry told the financial associated press that the biggest price increase in the cost of milk tea is packaging accessories, including bottles, labels and outer packaging. For brewing milk tea, this round of price increase will show some performance in the performance after two quarters, but its own market ceiling is difficult to break through, and the transformation is not easy. In the future, the market competition will focus on the middle-end instant milk tea with a price of 10-20 yuan.
A supermarket manager told the financial associated press that brewing milk tea has been obviously “difficult to sell”, and the sales volume has been declining, mainly relying on the low price to attract consumers. “It is easier to sell in winter than in summer. At the end of last year, the dealer’s price rose a little. At present, our retail price has not risen, and the purchase has become less.”
At the same time, it was reported that Wahaha AD calcium milk started to increase the price. Wahaha responded to the adjustment made by the dealers according to their own situation. The company told the financial associated press that there was no price increase plan for the products at present.
milk tea industry chain looking for new growth points
Since the rise of offline milk tea shops, the market has been singing bad about Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) and other traditional brewing milk tea. The above industry insiders said that the market space for brewing milk tea and instant milk tea is shrinking, “the current tea brands have also begun to make milk tea products, and the competitiveness of industrialized brewing milk tea and liquid milk tea is becoming weaker and weaker.”
Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) the products to be increased in this round include solid brewing milk tea of classic series and good material series, and do not involve the company’s liquid ready to drink products (including liquid milk tea and fruit juice tea), which is also a new growth point being built by the company.
According to the financial report of the first three quarters of Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) , the revenue of brewing products was about 1.412 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.05%; The revenue of ready to drink products was about 531 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.56%. It seems that it is not successful in terms of the growth of main products and the adjustment of product structure.
The main raw materials for solid brewing milk tea include skimmed milk powder and vegetable fat powder, white sugar, tea powder, red beans, coconut, etc. from the use scenario of vegetable fat powder, we can see the changes in the milk tea market. The financial Associated Press reporter noted that Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) ranked second in the list of the top five customers of Jiahe Foods Industry Co.Ltd(605300) (605300. SH) from 2016 to 2018. From 2019, The company’s main customers have become chain brands of current tea drinks, including honey Snow Ice City, aunt Hushang, Gu Ming, etc. In addition, the market focus of vegetable fat powder is also developing to coffee and baked food.
The top five customers of Panda Dairy Corporation(300898) providing condensed milk products to food manufacturers such as Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) have also changed in recent years. In order to get rid of the single risk of condensed milk products, the company has continuously increased the research and development of cream and cheese products. Shanghai LECHU Food Co., Ltd., a cheese dealer, has become the top five customers of the company’s condensed dairy products in 2020.
The manufacturing and production of packaging accessories is also a key link in the milk tea industry chain. The relevant person in charge of the food packaging equipment manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongya Machinery Co.Ltd(300512) (300512. SZ) told the financial associated press that the prices of packaging materials increased in varying degrees last year. “The company’s new orders this year are mainly in the fields of liquid drinks, dairy products and cheese sticks. Compared with dairy products and beverages, the market potential is greater.”
middle end milk tea may become a competitive home
At present, the major sub circuits of milk tea have produced representative leaders: the existing milk tea in stores is represented by new tea shops such as Xi tea, Naixue tea and honey snow ice city; Boxes and bags of milk tea occupy the main market with Lipton and Youlemei; In cup milk tea, Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) occupies about 60% of the share; Bottled liquid milk tea has a unified market share of more than 70%.
Although the sales volume of Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) ready to drink products is increasing, the gross profit margin is far lower than that of brewing products. The gross profit margins of brewing and ready to drink businesses are 40.61% and 18.35% respectively in 2020. At the same time, the race track of ready to drink products is also crowded. Meizhiyuan of Coca Cola, NFC juice of nongnongshan spring, Weiquan daily C and other products have their own consumers. It is uncertain whether Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) can expand the market by MECO honey Valley juice tea and other products.
According to Naixue’s tea prospectus, the raw material cost of a cup of milk tea accounts for 38.4% of the total cost, and the labor cost accounts for 28.6%. After simply deducting the raw material cost and labor cost, the gross profit margin is only 33%.
In contrast, the gross profit margin represented by the middle and low-end of the current tea brand is more considerable. A former employee of miyue ice city told the financial associated press that after deducting the cost of rent and electricity, the gross profit margin of a cup of milk tea is more than 50%, which is why the current tea at this price has the greatest impact on brewing and instant milk tea within 10 yuan.
“In the eyes of ordinary consumers, the price of 20-30 yuan of new tea is still too high. In the future, the competition will be more in the middle-end milk tea market of 10-20 yuan,” a person in the catering industry mentioned to the financial associated press. The middle and low-end tea has strong reproducibility, has greater development space in the sinking market, and its own price is easier to be accepted by the sinking market.
For brewing milk tea, relying on cost-effective advantages to tap the incremental market is also a way out. Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) from 2021, we began to explore the sinking market and proposed to implement different channel playing methods for nearly 700 districts, counties and more towns. Public data show that about 75% of the current Xiangpiaopiao Food Co.Ltd(603711) brewing sector revenue comes from the third tier and below markets. China catering category and brand development report 2021 shows that the proportion of tea stores in the second and third tier cities is the highest, reaching 23.7% and 22.2% respectively, surpassing the proportion of the first line and the new first line.
(Financial Associated Press)
