Description
“Due to the epidemic, e-commerce has expanded faster in lower tier cities and along with the revival of traditional culture, regional brands will benefit a lot from mature e-commerce and regional culture. In the long term, how to make festive foods fun and novel will be an important, ongoing task, but technology may be an effective tool. Meanwhile, eco-friendly packaging will be included in healthy festive food claims as consumers regard ‘healthy’ as an all-encompassing idea that extends beyond the edible parts of the product.”
– Pepper Peng, Research Analyst
Key issues covered in this report:
- Market factors, including the impact of COVID-19 on the festive foods market
- Launch activity and product innovation
- Consumer behaviour and perception of festive foods
- Growth opportunities
Table of Contents
-
Overview
- What you need to know
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Covered in this Report
- Excluded
-
Executive Summary
- Market Context
- Innovation Trends
- What Consumers Want and Why
- Self-gratification is strong among females under-30s
- Figure 1: Gifting recipient for different festivals, December 2020
- Channel strategy is a game of volume and efficiency
- Figure 2: Purchasing channel, December 2020
- Different price points for different gifting targets
- Figure 3: Price budget for the Spring Festival, December 2020
- Flavour customisation with a personal blessing
- Figure 4: Interest in customization, December 2020
- Sugar reduction and eco-friendly packaging will help brands respond to health-conscious consumers
- Figure 5: Interest in traditional festive foods innovation, December 2020
- What We Think
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Issues and Insights
- Leverage technology to make festive foods more fun and novel
- The facts
- The implications
- Regional culture and e-commerce bring more opportunities for regional brands to thrive
- The facts
- The implications
- Use environmentally-friendly packaging to convey healthiness
- The facts
- The implications
- Figure 6: Nestlé Kit Kat Santa’s Workshop Advent Calendar, UK, 2020
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- Figure 7: Oatly Ikaffe’s carbon report on packaging, Denmark, 2019
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Market Factors
- Food spending holds strong throughout a challenging 2020
- Figure 8: Financial confidence in the next three months, 2019-2020
- Figure 9: Changes in spending compared to last month, % of spending more, 2020
- Revival of traditional culture enriches the meanings of festive food
- Figure 10: Interested cultural elements incorporated, November 2020
- More opportunities for regional specialities as e-commerce expands further
- COVID-19 makes family bonding more important
- More mindful of healthy eating even when shopping for festive food
- Food spending holds strong throughout a challenging 2020
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Competitive Strategies
- Finding ways to stand out: a year of co-branding
- Heritage brands meet e-sports
- Figure 11: DAO XIANG CUN X Honor of Kings (王者荣耀) Gift Box, China, 2020
- Play up “retro” with full experiences
- Figure 12: Yuan Qi Sen Lin X Xiang He Bo Bo Pu gift box for Mid-Autumn Festival, China, 2020
- International brands joining the game
- Figure 13: NESCAFE X GUANGZHOU RESTAURANT gift box for Mid-Autumn Festive, China, 2020
- Regional brands join forces with regional museums
- Figure 14: Qian Sheng Yuan X Suzhou Museum mooncake gift box, China, 2020
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- Figure 15: Shanxi Thirteen X Shanxi History museum, China, 2020
- Deep dive into traditional culture to enrich holiday vibe
- Figure 16: Rabbit in the Moon gift box from Yu Xiao Guo, China, 2020
- Figure 17: Mooncake gift box from Ma Xiao Jiu, China, 2020
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Who’s Innovating?
- Use self-heating technology to bring convenience and elevate taste experience
- Figure 18: Self-heating broth zongzi from Zhenzhen Laolao, China, 2020
- Vinegar bubble beads and hairy crabs
- Figure 19: Toasted hairy crabs mooncake with vinegar bubble beads from Hema, China, 2020
- Bring novelty to tradition with new product shapes
- Figure 20: Nayuku X Hema Treasure Zongzi, China, 2020
- Ambrosial shows how festive food can be consumed in new ways
- Figure 21: Mooncake-flavoured ambient yogurt from Ambrosial Yili, China, 2020
- Interactive fun packaging
- Figure 22: Sound and light mooncake gift box from Simple Style, China, 2020
- Figure 23: Mooncake gift box from Liuhexin and MSHC, China, 2020
- Festive foods gift box for pets and their owners
- Figure 24: “Pet owner & Pet Mooncakes” (人宠月饼) from Navarch (耐威克) and DaddySweety (爸爸糖), China, September 2020
- Use self-heating technology to bring convenience and elevate taste experience
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The Consumer – Gift Giving Incidence by Festival
- Traditional festivals still dominate
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- Figure 25: Festivals on which consumers buy foods as gifts for others, 2014, 2017 and 2020
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- Figure 26: Gifting recipient for different festivals, December 2020
- The Spring Festival is the Holy Grail for buying festive foods
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- Figure 27: Gaps in gifting incidence, buying for oneself vs buying for others, December 2020
- Self-gratification is significant in females under 30s on Western festivals
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- Figure 28: Incidence of gift giving – bought for oneself on Western festivals, December 2020
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Purchasing Channel
- Leaders are obvious but emerging channels are also diversifying volume
- Figure 29: Purchasing channel, December 2020
- Lower tier cities rely more on comprehensive shopping websites
- Figure 30: Typical purchasing channel, by city tier, December 2020
- New channels have higher conversion rates among consumers who need novelty recommendations from social media
- Figure 31: Purchasing channel, by preference for getting recommendations from social media, December 2020
- Leaders are obvious but emerging channels are also diversifying volume
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Gifting Budget for Spring Festival
- RMB400-800 covers average spend for multiple occasions
- Figure 32: Price budget for the Spring Festival, December 2020
- Price budgets for self-indulgence and business partner show no difference on city tiers
- Figure 33: Price budget for typical recipients for the Spring Festival, by city tiers, December 2020
- RMB400-800 covers average spend for multiple occasions
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Interest in Customisation
- Flavour and texture customisation garner strongest interest
- Figure 34: Interest in customization, December 2020
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- Figure 35: Interest in customization – TURF Analysis, December 2020
- Customization service will benefit hotels and restaurants
- Figure 36: Interest in customization, by purchasing channel, December 2020
- Flavour and texture customisation garner strongest interest
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Interest in Traditional Festive Food Innovations
- Sugar gets attention as consumers want healthier offerings
- Co-branding without product novelty does not stand out, even among younger generations
- Figure 37: Interest in traditional festive foods innovation, December 2020
- Fun for females under-30s, premium ingredients for males in their 40s
- Figure 38: Typical interests in traditional festive foods innovation, by age and gender, December 2020
- Health-conscious consumers show higher interest in eco-friendly packaging
- Figure 39: Interest in traditional festive foods innovation, by typical attitudes, December 2020
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Attitudes towards Festive Foods
- Environmentally-friendly packaging can equally convey premiumness
- More health-conscious shopping, even for festive foods
- Classic or novel? Each has its fans
- Figure 40: Attitudes towards festive foods, December 2020
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Meet the Mintropolitans
- Western festivals are about pleasing myself
- Figure 41: Buying for oneself on festivals, by consumer classification, December 2020
- Mintropolitans expect more innovations that are high-end and fun
- Figure 42: Difference of innovation interests for traditional festival foods, by consumer classification, December 2020
- Western festivals are about pleasing myself
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Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
- Methodology
- TURF Analysis Methodology
- Abbreviations
About the report
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