Over the past three decades, as the pace of globalization has accelerated, food culture has also crossed geographical boundaries, making various condiments widely popular around the world. In China, when it comes to hot sauce, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the well-known Lao Gan Ma. However, in this hot land, there is also a foreign powerhouse - McCormick hot sauce in the United States, which quietly occupies a place in the market, and even surpasses Lao Gan Ma in terms of revenue, becoming a phenomenon worth paying attention to.
Since its establishment in 1996, Lao Gan Ma has quickly occupied the market in Chinese mainland with its unique flavored tempeh, spicy vegetable flavored curd and other products. The success of this brand lies not only in the quality of its products, but also in the fact that it is deeply rooted in the lives of Chinese consumers and has become a cultural symbol. In contrast, McCormick, an American brand born in 1889, is often mistaken for a domestic product, despite its prominent position in the international market.
McCormick's success isn't accidental, though. Since 1970, it has chosen to cooperate with fast food chains such as McDonald's and KFC, and quietly entered people's daily life as a material supplier. In addition to fast food chains, McCormick can also be found in products such as Wong Tsai Pier, Kraft biscuits, and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. This difference in strategy makes McCormick not as good as Lao Gan Ma in terms of brand awareness, but it can surpass Lao Gan Ma in terms of revenue, and as of November 30, 2022, McCormick's annual profit reached 6$8.2 billion, with total revenue of 6.3 billion5.1 billion US dollars, or about 45.6 billion yuan, far exceeding Lao Gan Ma's 420.1 billion yuan.
The reasons behind this are worth digging into. First of all, McCormick has successfully globalized its products through partnerships with international chains, which not only expands its market reach, but also allows its products to better adapt to consumer tastes in different regions. Secondly, McCormick's packaging design incorporates a lot of localized elements, a strategy that makes some Chinese consumers mistakenly think that it is a domestic product, but it is also this localization strategy that makes its products more acceptable and continues to flourish in the market.
At the same time, although Lao Gan Ma is deeply loved by consumers at home and abroad, its marketing strategy is more traditional, mainly relying on the connection between products and direct customers. With the intensification of market competition, the challenges faced by the old godmother are also increasing, especially after Tao Huabi distributed the rights to the children, the company's revenue showed a downward trend. This also reflects that the traditional business model needs to be appropriately adjusted and innovated in the new market environment.