Finally, the domestic VEGAN industry has a complete and systematic first VEGAN lifestyle research report, which provides an objective basis for domestic and foreign practitioners to plan and make decisions in 2024. It also provides assistance for business partners who have entered or are about to enter the domestic VEGAN market to reasonably evaluate and position the development model on this soil.
Localization has always been a proposition worth discussing repeatedly, and in the end, what we can bring to the healthy life of Chinese people in a harmonious and different context, real information is always the most important. Based on their own uniqueness, we can better establish a new atmosphere of integration and innovation. On November 17-19, 2023, the conference released the first survey on the VEGAN lifestyle in China.
The views of the thematic roundtable guests at the conference:
Through this survey, we saw the strong correlation between the ancient Chinese character 茻 (plants flourish and bloom with life) and vegan.
More and more young people see VEGAN as more than just a way to eat, but a way of life. The "modern vegetarians" in the vegetarian group, as a young group living in first- and second-tier cities, present thoughts and behaviors that are highly consistent with the concepts of "ecological protection, low-carbon life, conservation and environmental protection" advocated by the world, and they can be said to be typical "global citizens". At present, the base of such a group of people is not large compared to other groups, but it gives us hope for the future, and with their growth and the participation of the younger group in the future, we have reason to believe that the next way of life is taking shape and spreading Vegan Life.
I think one of the most impressive aspects of the Vegan survey is that it has categorized and categorized vegetarian actors according to their real motivations. From an investment perspective, this helps us better understand the start-up's target customer base and the suitability of the product market. The other is that the modern vegetarian is a group of potential entrepreneurs, and his original intention and practice of knowing and acting are also more in line with the portrait of impact investment targets.
The findings of this survey give us confidence in the future prospects of the VEGAN concept in China. Vegan's sense of identity with the vegetarian population and its stickiness to the vegetarian category cannot be easily shaken, which gives the relevant business a certain amount of time to gain insight and catch up with business opportunities.
The performance of the survey respondents in our Buzz community research model is eye-catching, and they fully demonstrate the broad horizons and deep conversation of the vegetarian population on this platform. The high level of vegetarianism defines the plannability of the relevant business and ensures the profit margin. Although the vegetarian sector does not yet have the same high penetration rate as other mature categories, it is expected to move quickly from the embryonic stage to the rapid development stage. As for the prospect of going green, we can also see the trend in our cross-category consumer shopping survey for the top e-commerce platforms.
While the data shows that only 3% of people are vegetarian at the moment, it is likely that another 28% will be vegetarian in the future. This trend is really cool, and even most people who haven't tried a plant-based vegetarian diet before will be willing to try it in the future.
As a service and mass business, we should focus on guiding consumers right, especially around the benefits, uses, ingredients, and nutrition of the Vegan diet. In general, as long as the quality of the product reaches the right balance, it is a very positive guide for the market.
The research verified my previous **, at present, many people do not become vegetarians because of animal protection, but once they choose to become vegetarians, they will be steadfast and advocate and practice in their lives.
Based on the portrait of vegetarian populations reflected in the survey, brands should focus on the largest proportion (34%) of healthy vegetarians--- which may also be the most direct entry point for more non-vegetarian people to convert to vegetarian groups in the future. Therefore, enterprises should think more about product design and market communication methods on how to provide solutions to health problems, so as to influence more people to pay attention to the benefits of VEGAN and make consumption choices. We will also use the community of customers to carry out community sharing and discussion on health solutions, so as to enhance the awareness of non-vegetarian users on vegetarian food, which in turn will promote the growth of customer demand for natural food products.
From the perspective of effective channels to promote the VEGAN lifestyle, the inspiration of the survey results is that companies need to use a combination of education + experience + products to reach more people (innovative vegan food tastings, nutrition courses, etc.). Ringing Cedar's future online and offline events will combine wellness concepts, experiences and products. At the same time, many of the contents of the "Anastasia" series of books that are beneficial to the body, mind and the global environment will be made into more participatory and rewarding content, and shared with more people. By understanding the brand and product, customers can also play a role in cultivating healthy nutrition awareness.
According to the survey, the main obstacle to the transition from non-vegetarian to vegetarian is that it is not easy to make a vegetarian diet that satisfies the taste experience and is nutritious. Therefore, from the perspective of the brand, the product needs to be more convenient and delicious, with a variety of eating scenes and matching scenes. Take our pine nut flour as an example, customers can use it to make milkshakes, plant-based milk for coffee, pastries, and combine it with porridge and salad.
Mingxiang Cedar is a green lifestyle brand that uses Korean pine from the primeval Taiga forest in Siberia as raw materials to provide natural food, pure plant skin care and daily necessities, and handmade plant energy accessories. At present, the product module with the largest proportion of revenue is natural food, and through the survey results, we see a large growth space and potential of vegan skin care products (7%), which is a very positive sign. Therefore, it will also more consciously spread the concept of pure plant-based skin care, and combine marketing of different categories to drive consumers' awareness and experience of vegan skin care products.
The survey community expressed positive signals of support for the VEGAN certification. Certification will create a good environment for consumers to choose VEGAN products more conveniently and with peace of mind, and the industry should work together to promote the improvement of this standard. Mingxiang Cedar will also actively participate in the certification of products, so that more consumers can choose with confidence.
From the perspective of the vegan consumer market: China has the world's largest meat consumption market, and in the context of increasing national health awareness, Chinese people's awareness of dietary health is gradually improving, and has consciously reduced meat intake in their daily diet. However, due to the cultural differences between the East and the West, as well as long-established dietary Xi, the implementation of strict vegan, that is, veganism, is a very big market challenge in China.
From the perspective of brand marketing practitioners, I personally believe that it is very important to carry out market education through these two ways to implement VEGAN in China, one is to enhance the comprehensive understanding of Chinese people on healthy dietary structure through the popularization of Western nutrition knowledge;Second, combined with the traditional table food culture of the Chinese people, create more experience scenes, so as to gradually lead a new food consumption culture. These ideas are also supported by data in the survey.
From the perspective of the Inyu brand, we believe that the VEGAN industry's education on the mass food and beverage consumption market will be helpful to the implementation of the holistic health concept advocated by our brand. Among the eight Xi habits of mindful living advocated by the Inyu brand (eating, breathing, sleeping, exercising, calming, rationalizing, neutralizing, and celebrating life), diet is a very important Xi habit to improve a person's overall health. From the perspective of the awakening of the five senses, the sense of taste is also a very important point to open up a person's physical and mental awareness. The healthy food culture we promote will not directly emphasize VEGAN directly, but will combine Western nutrition with traditional Chinese oriental health preservation and the concept of "medicine and food are the same source", and then through the creative expression of the chef, we will present delicious and healthy plant-based food dishes to our guests, and at the same time, we hope to create such an immersive experience to help guests open up their physical and mental awareness and enhance their overall health awareness.
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Stay tuned to "Vegan" to help you fully interpret the lifestyle of Chinese vegan, and make your business strategy, product planning, brand communication and community promotion in 2024 clearer and more accurate.
In 2024, the first VEGAN life will be planned***, and partners who are interested in participating in the co-launch and launch are welcome to join us.
***tony@chin**egans.org
* Anthony, Pierre, ed. Angel