Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Growth recovered to pre-COVID levels
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- Figure 1: Retail market value of yogurt, China, 2016-2026
- Figure 2: Market volume of yogurt, China, 2016-2026
- Ambient yogurt continues robust growth while chilled segment faces challenges
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- Figure 3: Retail market value of ambient yogurt, China, 2016-2026
- Figure 4: Retail market value of chilled yogurt, China, 2016-2026
- Companies and brands
- Yili extends its lead
- Ambient and plant-based segments get more crowded
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- Figure 5: Market share of leading yogurt players, by value, China, 2019-2021
- Targeted product innovation on the premise of health
- The consumer
- Ambient yogurt leads in usage frequency but faces threat from chilled drinking yogurt
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- Figure 6: Consumption frequency, 2021
- Most consumers look to improve digestion and supplement protein
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- Figure 7: Consumption purpose, 2021
- The biggest market lies in mid-range yogurt products
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- Figure 8: Spending habits, 2021
- Convenience stores show up with opportunities
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- Figure 9: Purchase channels, 2021
- Brand claims are trustworthy to consumers, especially for chilled drinking yogurt
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- Figure 10: Brand trust, 2021
- Low penetration of new yogurt formats
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- Figure 11: New yogurt format penetration, 2021
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Premiumise with alternative functions instead of indulgence
- The facts
- The implication
- Increase high protein claims in chilled drinking yogurt
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 12: Examples of chilled drinking yogurt with high protein claims, 2021
- Add beauty benefits to new yogurt formats
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 13: Example of Blueglass product with beauty-enhancing claims, China, 2021
Market Size and Forecast
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- Growth bounced back in 2021
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- Figure 14: Retail market value of yogurt, China, 2016-2026
- Premiumisation continues in the market
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- Figure 15: Market volume of yogurt, China, 2016-2026
Market Segmentation
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- Ambient returns to pre-COVID levels and growth will remain robust
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- Figure 16: Retail market value of ambient yogurt, China, 2016-2026
- Chilled yogurt has a slowdown in growth
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- Figure 17: Retail market value of chilled yogurt, China, 2016-2026
Market Factors
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- Retail consumption is recovering
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- Figure 18: YoY growth (%) in retail sales of goods, China, July 2020 - June 2021
- Improved health management due to COVID-19
- Raw milk price keeps increasing
- Companies focus less on yogurt business
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- Figure 19: New dairy product launches, by type, China, July 2016 – June 2021
Market Share
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- Yili solidifies its leading position while Mengniu sustains performance
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- Figure 20: Ambrosial’s marketing campaign with Bilibili, May 2021
- Junlebao and New Hope gained market share
- Bright and Hokkai Pastures introduced new ambient yogurt brands
- New entrants in the plant-based segment
- Other strong players
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- Figure 21: Market share of leading yogurt players, by value, China, 2019-2021
Marketing Activities
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- “Chilled” ambient yogurt
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- Figure 22: Ambrosial in the freezer section of a convenience store, China, 2021
- Diversified methods to advertise probiotics
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- Figure 23: Examples of marketing materials that quantify the number and types of probiotics, China, 2021
- Figure 24: Meiji’s yogurt products that highlight specific strains, Japan, 2020
- Yogurt taps into other categories
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- Figure 25: Moving annual trend in percentage of products with co-branded claims in total food and drink launches, China, July 2016 – June 2021
- Yogurt plus noodles
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- Figure 26: Ambrosial x Cai Lin Ji Yogurt Plus Noodles, China, 2020
- Yogurt plus tea drinks
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- Figure 27: Product examples of “A Yogurt Cow”, China, 2021
New Product Trends
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- Flavour and ingredient innovation
- Increasing “minus” claims
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- Figure 28: “Minus” claims of yogurt, July 2016 – June 2021
- Figure 29: New yogurt launches with “minus” claims, China, 2021
- Festival-themed products
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- Figure 30: Examples of festival-themed yogurt, China, 2020
- Niche flavours come into play
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- Figure 31: Examples of niche-flavoured yogurt, China, 2020-2021
- Plant-based yogurt in the global market
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- Figure 32: Percentage of different plant protein sources in total plant-based yogurt launches, Global, July 2016 – June 2021
- Figure 33: Examples of plant-based yogurt, 2020-2021
- Health-related and functional innovation
- Focus on skin and body care
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- Figure 34: Examples of yogurt with skin and body care claims, 2020-2021
- Target specific diseases
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- Figure 35: Examples of yogurt targeting specific diseases, 2020-2021
- Private label on the rise
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- Figure 36: Percentage of branded and private label in total yogurt launches, China, July 2016 – June 2021
- Figure 37: Percentage of private label in total yogurt launches, by selected market, July 2020 – June 2021
- Figure 38: Examples of private label yogurt, China, 2020-2021
Consumption Frequency
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- Ambient yogurt leads in penetration and usage frequency
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- Figure 39: Consumption frequency, 2021
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- Figure 40: Consumption frequency – more than once a week, by gender and age, 2021
- Chilled drinking yogurt is less attractive to consumers in their 40s
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- Figure 41: Consumption frequency of non-users (a), by age groups, 2021
- Ambient yogurt and chilled drinking yogurt are close substitutes among heavy users
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- Figure 42: Consumption frequency of chilled drinking/spoonable yogurt, 2021
Consumption Purpose
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- Top purpose is to improve digestion
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- Figure 43: Consumption purpose, 2021
- Men focus on gut health while women target beauty enhancement
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- Figure 44: Consumption purpose, by gender, 2021
- Extra functional benefits can increase consumption frequency
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- Figure 45: Consumption purpose – repertoire analysis, by consumer frequency, 2021
- Figure 46: Consumption purpose, by consumer frequency of ambient yogurt*, 2021
- Gen Z ask for indulgence
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- Figure 47: Consumption purpose, by age groups, 2021
- Increasing functional needs with age
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- Figure 48: Yakult milk flavour bifidus drink, Japan, 2021
- High protein content helps attract more consumers
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- Figure 49: Consumption purpose, TURF analysis, 2021
Spending Habits
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- Mid-range products have the largest market space
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- Figure 50: Spending habits, 2021
- Gen Z tend to spend less on yogurt
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- Figure 51: Spending habits – below RMB10, by age groups, 2021
- Pay more for alternative functional benefits, not for indulgence
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- Figure 52: Consumption purpose of ambient yogurt, by typical spend on a single-serve yogurt, 2021
- Figure 53: Consumption purpose – for indulgence, by typical spend on a single-serve yogurt, 2021
Purchase Channels
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- Offline channels still dominate
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- Figure 54: Purchase channels, 2021
- Target Gen Z via convenience stores
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- Figure 55: Top three purchase channels, by age groups, 2021
Brand Trust
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- The majority of consumers think branded claims are credible
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- Figure 56: Brand trust, 2021
- Chilled drinking yogurt leads in brand trust
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- Figure 57: Brand trust – “very credible”, by consumer groups, 2021
- People consume for indulgence believe less in functional claims
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- Figure 58: Brand trust in functional-related claims – “very credible” or “somewhat credible”, by consumer groups, 2021
New Yogurt Format Penetration
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- New yogurt formats haven’t penetrated much
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- Figure 59: New yogurt format penetration, 2021
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- Figure 60: New yogurt format penetration, by city tiers and monthly household income, 2021
- Penetration is higher among women than men
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- Figure 61: New yogurt format penetration, by gender, 2021
- Figure 62: New yogurt format penetration, by gender, by age groups, 2021
- Yogurt users are more active in exploring new formats
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- Figure 63: New yogurt format penetration – across all formats, by users and non-users of yogurt, 2021
Appendix – Market Size and Forecast
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- Figure 64: Market value of yogurt, 2016-2026
- Figure 65: Market volume of yogurt, 2016-2026
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Appendix – Market Segmentation
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- Figure 66: Market value of ambient yogurt, 2016-2026
- Figure 67: Market value of chilled yogurt, 2016-2026
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Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
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- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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