Chapter 5 Section 4 Medium and low-end tea

The analysis of the article at the beginning of the article "70,000 Chinese tea companies are no match for one Lipton" is indeed too one-sided, and the selected information and facts are also somewhat misleading.For example, Lipton is indeed invincible in the bagged tea market in China, but more than 97% of the tea consumed in China is loose tea, and only 3% is teabags; for example, Chinese tea has little influence in the international market, largely due to foreign People mainly drink black tea; although Lipton has a global output value of 23 billion, which is 2/3 of China's total tea industry, its sales volume in China is "only" 500 million, accounting for less than 2% of China's total tea industry. successfully.

However, these facts do not mean that Lipton is not a successful enterprise, nor does it mean that Lipton is not successful in China, nor does it mean that Lipton's tea management method has no reference value for the Chinese tea industry. Lipton currently only deals in bagged tea in China, and its main product is black tea. Both are not the favorites of the Chinese people, but they can already achieve 500 million yuan per year, which is higher than that of old Chinese brands such as China Tea, Wu Yutai, and Zhang Yiyuan. Gao, this can't be considered a success?Opponents on the Internet are always clamoring that no one around them drinks Lipton, but in fact Lipton’s popularity in China is beyond doubt, far surpassing China’s own tea brands; they always show off famous teas, such as West Lake Longjing, Anxi Tieguanyin, Huangshan Maofeng...but How many people can drink famous tea?How much real famous tea and good tea can there be?Are all the top famous teas produced in China good teas?It is an indisputable fact that fewer and fewer young people drink tea, but there are quite a few young people and urbanites who buy Lipton products, and Lipton is indeed positioned as an urban population aged 18-35; willing to drink tea, love What will happen to Chinese tea after the tea drinkers get old?

Those patriotic comments looked familiar, like old world low-end wine growers babbling about New World "industrial wine".Now we can still sneer at brands like Lipton and "foreign monks", but who can guarantee that one day in the future, Lipton will not only successfully sell the "industrial black tea" that Chinese people used to despise , and sold Tieguanyin (already started), Longjing tea, Biluochun, etc., and captured the new generation of Chinese consumers in the surprised and distressed eyes of old Chinese tea lovers? And it relies on the same spirit as New World's middle and low-end wines - to narrow the distance between man and nature by transforming and perfecting nature to adapt to man, so that the public can taste the natural flavor that best suits their wishes.

Nowadays, ordinary people all over the world can easily buy all kinds of tea in the market. Even if the budget is small, there are definitely many choices.But you don’t know that in England more than a hundred years ago, tea was a luxury that only the upper class could enjoy. Around 1610, the Dutch brought tea to the West for the first time.By 1657, when tea was first sold publicly in London, the public's love for tea had grown so great that the government was forced to impose duties on the tea.But tea has been a luxury for nobles for a long time. It is expensive and full of mystery. It can only be bought in pharmacies, hardware stores and coffee houses. It can be seen.

However, Thomas Lipton, the creator of the Lipton brand, succeeded in popularizing such "not to be played with" black tea to the middle and lower classes.How do you do it?Or transform nature to accommodate people. 1. Lower prices The tea wholesalers in London repeatedly proposed to Toms, who runs a food store, to purchase from them, but in order to get the best price, Thomas personally went to Sri Lanka by boat, where he reached an agreement with the owner of the Sri Lankan tea plantation to supply the Lipton Company. Tea.At the same time, we also bought several Sri Lankan tea gardens in Kandy, the best tea region in Sri Lanka. Without the exploitation of middlemen, and combined with mature blending technology, Lipton could significantly reduce the price of tea.Before Toms, the lowest price of every pound of tea in the UK was more than three shillings. What about the price of Lipton tea?They used the slogan: "Best quality Sri Lankan tea for 1 shilling and 6 cents a pound" and cut the price by at least half!

2. Improved packaging In the past, all teas were sold by weight, but Thomas thoughtfully packaged tea in different weights such as 1/4 pound, 1/2 pound, and 1 pound for sale.These methods seem too ordinary now, but they were extraordinary in that era.In this way, it is not only convenient and hygienic, but also better preserves the flavor of the tea, and the quality of the tea can also be stated on the packaging bag.In the past, they could only look at the piles of tea that didn’t seem to have much difference, and weigh some out of them. The British people who were skeptical about the purchase, seeing such a brand-new tea, but the price is completely affordable, can’t they flock to it? ?

3. Product development Lipton's campaign in North America is even more "accommodating".At the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, iced tea was a huge hit because of the hot weather.After the fair, iced tea became very popular.The shrewd Lipton Company immediately launched teabags and instant teas suitable for making iced tea in the catering industry. Thomas died in 1931, but the Lipton Company carried on his marketing philosophy.In the 1950s, when the tea market stopped growing, Lipton did not stop there, but immediately developed a variety of new tea beverages according to people's needs.For example, according to the American habit of drinking iced tea, the company has developed a black tea called "cold brew".This kind of tea can be brewed with ice water without losing its color and taste, and it saves the trouble of chilling. It is very popular in the United States.

Some Chinese who understand tea always disdain Lipton: "Is that kind of tea powder still called tea?" I read such a story on the Internet: When a group of people arrived at the hotel, someone said they wanted to drink tea.One person picked up the Lipton tea bag, but saw the Fujianese who was traveling with him slowly take out the tea set and tea leaves from the bag, glanced at the Lipton tea bag, and said quietly: "I never drink Lipton." Happily, at first glance, this matter is very proud, proud, and relieved, especially after reading the news that "China's 70,000 tea factories lost to the Lipton family".

But why don't they jump out of the atmosphere of "Chinese tea is real" and think about it, how many people are willing to carry teapots, cups and spoons everywhere?Drinking tea is fun, but cleaning the tea set is always the same fun?Are all Chinese teas all that good?For the same price as Lipton, what quality tea can you buy?What if there is no boiling water? Not everyone has enough spare time, patience, energy, and money to drink Chinese-style "slow" tea all the time.This is not "worshiping foreigners", but just practical considerations and personal needs.And Lipton is taking care of these people who "can't afford" slow tea and good tea.

1. High cost performance The prices of Lipton’s classic yellow-brand black tea, green tea, Tieguanyin, etc. are all around 35 yuan/200 grams (100 packets), calculated to be within 90 yuan per catty; the price of herbal tea (with seasonings other than tea) is at 13.5 yuan/32 grams (20 packets), about 200 yuan/jin.Even in China, it is a low-end price, very close to the people. Think about it, for the same price, what quality tea can you buy in a tea shop?Don't be picky about the taste, is the tea real?is it safe?When was it produced? This is not a prejudice. In recent years, domestic tea has repeatedly been exposed to safety and quality problems, which really discourages consumers.Even health and quality cannot be guaranteed, let alone taste and convenience. In 2004, the "Weekly Quality Report" of the CCTV news channel revealed that the tea factory in Langxi County, Anhui Province used highly toxic and high-residue pesticides in violation of regulations, and sprayed rice paste on the tea to increase the weight. In 2006, according to a survey by Guangdong Huizhou Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Supervision and Testing Center, 60% of the tea sold in the Huizhou market exceeded the standard for pesticides.In two or three days, this certain tea has exceeded the standard of methamidophos, that certain tea has exceeded the standard of lead, and even the so-called "famous brand tea companies" such as Tianfu Tea have been sacked. Can the more affordable tea make people feel at ease?What's more, now that there is a brand of tea, all the stores and tea packaging are desperately pulled up, and the price is also rising. If you don't have a few hundred dollars in your pocket, you really don't have the confidence to enter a luxury store.

Those without a brand are worrying, but those with a brand are chilling.How about some tea?Is it difficult to ask for a simple and natural flavor with peace of mind? 2. Packaging design Lipton's packaging design is truly an excellent reflection of the nature of the industry. The first and most obvious is that all kinds of packaging seem to be designed with convenience and thoughtfulness as the highest criterion, and the needs of tea drinkers are taken care of obediently. Lipton tea basically comes in tea bag form (tea in bag).Although the tea bag was not invented by Lipton, Lipton undoubtedly made full use of it and carried it forward.Think about it, for those who don’t have time to put on a good posture and drink “slow tea”, small package tea (one bag per brew, individually packaged. Many Chinese brand tea companies are doing this now) is good, but there are still problems: After drinking tea, there will be tea leaves sticking to the mouth. No matter how you spit it out, it is not very elegant and annoying; wash the cup after drinking the tea leaves, and the tea dregs and tea leaves sticking to the bottom of the cup are still annoying.In contrast, it is really worry-free to throw the tea bag in before drinking, and reach out and throw it away when you don't want it.And don't underestimate the tea bag, how to make the tea in the tea bag still release the taste in the water is not a simple matter.A pack of ordinary Lipton tea bags can be drunk in less than 30 seconds in a cup of boiling water. The production process and process behind it are not simple.exist On the basis of a simple small bag, Lipton has extended the development of two other tea bags: one of which is "triangular three-dimensional space", which is aimed at the original tea leaves.In the past, tea bags were limited to broken tea (the tea leaves are chopped into fine particles during processing, the ingredients contained in them can be brewed faster and easier, and the taste is thicker and stronger).Now with this new packaging, it is not difficult to imagine that a considerable number of people who think that crushed tea spoils the taste of tea and therefore only drink raw leaf tea may also be moved.The other is the "double pack tea bag", which is said to allow the boiling water to penetrate faster and more fully to saturate the tea leaves. The other is the outer box packaging of tea.Chinese tea is too "powerful", and people always think that tea drinkers want a sense of dignity, so they decorate the tea shop magnificently, and pack the tea in a bright and bright way, so that the ridiculous phenomenon that "the packaging is more expensive than the tea" appears.Lipton has a down-to-earth mentality. No matter what flavor of tea drink, the packaging is always a simple cardboard box. There is no gold or silver, no pretentious pretense, just use bright yellow, green, blue to depict flowers Grass, hearty and fresh natural breath blows.At the beginning of its establishment, the packaging bag was painted with the posture of a local tea picking girl in Ceylon, and the advertisement was marked, that is, "Direct from tea garden to the tea pot".Can there be a more straightforward way to quickly bring people's hearts and nature closer? 3. Product development As mentioned above, Lipton has developed various new products, including iced tea, for the sake of pragmatism and Americans who pursue new products.For the Chinese who have a long history of health preservation with medicinal materials and herbal teas, Lipton has launched a "herbal series" full of Chinese style. Generally speaking, contemporary tea drinkers have two purposes for drinking tea: one is for health; the other is for taste. Let's talk about taste first. Now there are too many beverages to choose from on the market, such as Coke, Sprite, various fruit juices, milk drinks, etc. Why should I drink tea that is so bland and boring?Too many Chinese tea merchants will only keep advocating how long-lasting and natural the flavor of tea is, such as Longjing, which is "rich in aroma, sweet and refreshing", and Tieguanyin, which is "naturally rich in floral fragrance, mellow and fresh in taste, with a long aftertaste".But in fact, it is difficult for mid-to-low-end teas to allow consumers to experience these wonderful flavors simply by nature. Tea flavors have always been bland, let alone mediocre teas?Isn't this very similar to the embarrassing situation of low-end wine in the old world?I desperately want to instill in consumers the best nature and the best flavor, but I don't think about whether I have the capital.People want to eat "lollipops", but you forcefully bring out unsightly white bread, isn't it difficult for someone to force you? Lipton is more self-aware.Every year, it spends 0.7% of sales (approximately 15 million US dollars) to investigate consumers, including various factors such as tea drinking trends, tea drinking habits, preferences for tea color, taste, and packaging.So as you can see, they sell various "lollipops", two types of iced tea, eight types of milk tea, six types of herbal tea, etc.They also sell "white bread", but "remind" you to remember to "smear jam" and "serve with drinks"-drinking tips: add sugar, milk, lemon slices, honey. The second is health. Drinking tea is of course good for health, which can probably be regarded as the consensus of people or a little common sense in life.But just how healthy is it?How much do you want to drink?What kind of tea do you drink?These are more realistic questions that embarrass tea sellers.And Lipton put these problems through "strengthening" and "categorizing", and launched the "herbal series" to meet the needs of this group of people. The products in the herbal series are generally based on basic teas such as green tea and black tea, with other materials such as flowers and herbs added.Such teas are generally classified as "reprocessed tea" or "scented tea", which is a territory that Chinese tea merchants generally do not have or do not want to set foot in.why?It can be seen from the classification of Chinese tea that the six categories are green tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea, yellow tea and dark tea, all of which are pure "tea". It is equivalent to drinking tea, but scented tea is indeed a way of selling tea. Otherwise, do you think that Lipton’s astonishing tea production every year is all used to make “pure tea”?No, a large part of it is "hitchhiking" or "supporting each other" with other things to people's cups, such as lemon, lotus leaf, mint, wolfberry in the herbal series... milk tea in the afternoon tea series etc. Therefore, the so-called "enhancement" means to strengthen the "health" element of tea through herbal tea.For example, the "Liyan Tea" of the herbal series uses green tea and black tea as the base, adding roselle (roselle) and roses to enhance the beauty effect (the concept of tea as the base here has been greatly weakened, because compared with the ingredients For example, the "Xianyang Tea" of the herbal series uses green tea as the base, adding ingredients such as lotus leaf and mulberry leaf, which have weight loss effects in traditional Chinese medicine, to strengthen the effect of weight loss; and "Qin Xing Tea" Mint and lemon in "Jingying Tea", wolfberry and chrysanthemum in "Kingying Tea", etc. All the products in this series use black tea and green tea as the base (main body). The health effects of tea are vague and general. People’s needs for health are expanded and subdivided, and functions are “classified” by adding different ingredients. A variety of different health needs have been met, also promoting the "enhancement" of the effect. Take a small example.We also have team members who like to drink tea, know that tea is healthy, and at the same time disdain the taste and quality of Lipton tea, a large industrial product ("tea powder"), but sometimes buy "herbal series". Why?When he drinks other teas, such as Tieguanyin and Longjing, it is because of its flavor and health; but when he passes by the Lipton shelf in the supermarket, he thinks that he is short-sighted, and maybe drinking "Jingying tea" is helpful; Drink some "Liyan tea" for maintenance. These are the specific needs that pure tea does not meet, but "tea powder" Lipton takes care of it with ingredients. Recently, Lipton vigorously promotes "Liya Tea" to capture people who love beauty and want to lose weight.What they say is this: Lipton Liya tea is a green tea bag product with weight loss function. It organically combines high-quality green tea leaves and selected green tea extracts. 2~2.5 times.At the same time, many current clinical studies support that catechins can inhibit obesity by enhancing fat oxidation and energy consumption. In particular, catechins can reduce visceral fat and help prevent abdominal obesity. ——Strengthen weight loss effect. At the same time, the ingredients contained aspartame (containing phenylalanine, an artificial sweetener), green tea flavor, etc. Some people didn't notice it, some didn't care, and some people refuted the bad reputation of "aspartame".What you believe is up to you.But what I want to point out is that this is really the best example of transforming nature to accommodate people: the "catechin" in tea does exist, but the content of tea in Liya tea is 2 times that of ordinary Lipton green tea. ~2.5 times, this is a step to transform nature for the needs of people to lose weight; adding artificial sweeteners and flavors is to meet the needs of greedy people who still don’t want to hurt their tongues when losing weight, this is another step to transform nature .One step is "health" and one step is "flavor (taste)". Liya tea and Lipton are indeed a model of transforming nature to meet people. 4. Propaganda means It can be said that Lipton tried his best to get close to tea drinkers and non-tea drinkers! Lipton seldom puts hard media advertisements, but it doesn’t look up and down: in TV movies, stars drink it——today’s popular Lijiu beauty Wu Peici drinks Liya tea, and Xu Jinglei, the protagonist, is Lipton brand tea. Spokesperson; it is still the petty bourgeoisie in online novels; a creative contest (marketing design for Lipton products) was held on campus, and most enthusiastic contestants won prizes (the prize was Lipton tea); 200,000 free afternoon teas in 2008 In the tea gift box event, you fill in your friend information and your own information online, and Lipton will help you send tea and small cards to your friends for free. How many people know about Lipton?How many absolutely real customer data and their choices and expectations for tea beverages have Lipton obtained? Statistics show that nearly 70% of post-80s do not like tea, and 95% of post-90s do not like tea.But that probably doesn't count Lipton.How many people born in the 80s and 90s have never had Lipton tea?Never used Lipton tea bags?Don't disdain Lipton's "tea powder".Unilever (the group to which Lipton belongs) bought 12% of the world's black tea in 2008, and the world's black tea production accounts for more than 70% of the tea production.If you are a Chinese tea merchant, you don’t want this market?Don't brag about how good Chinese tea is. Of course we have the world's best tea, but it is really unreasonable to praise Chinese tea.China produces more than one million tons of tea annually, all of which are good teas?Can it all be digested internally?Are the good ones staying at home and the bad ones going abroad? However, the safety and quality of middle and low-end tea in China are really uneven, making tea drinkers worry.A market that can only be done by "humanity" is indeed too easy to be occupied by standardized and reliable brand owners in modern times; at the same time, many tea farmers are living very hard, spraying too much pesticide, Excessive chemical fertilizers were applied, and local tea trees were cut down to plant high-yielding tea varieties. All of these caused the quality of tea to decline again, and the income did not increase significantly. They had to resort to opportunistic methods to increase income, resulting in a vicious circle; On the one hand, such behavior will also cause extremely low-quality tea to flow into the market, damage the reputation of Chinese tea, worsen consumers' doubts about the quality of Chinese tea, and reduce their desire to consume tea. Of course, we also have many people who have always supported Chinese tea, and there are also teas with high cost performance in the middle and low-end teas.But the reality that has to be faced is that the main group of people who drink slow tea are getting old, and those who will occupy the mainstream of society are those young people who don't want to drink or have no time or interest in drinking Chinese "slow tea".Since we have so many teas that are far better than Lipton's at an affordable price, why not change ourselves a bit and offer them to the masses who do not yet appreciate Chinese tea? This is no longer the era when China's mid-to-low-end tea merchants can still enjoy themselves while maintaining their true colors.Fortunately, we have also seen that many Chinese tea merchants are also changing, starting to introduce bagged tea, launching various flavors, stabilizing quality and taste, and promoting (but we must find the right direction, don’t always follow "luxury" and "cultural" Wind), but the moves are still chaotic, most of them follow suit and swarm, because they didn't find the right direction. If we want to succeed in China's mid-to-low-end tea market, we must let go of our airs, transform nature to accommodate people's various needs, and take the initiative to narrow the distance between nature and people.