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News on Consumers & Retail in China

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Spicing up sales

What led to Laoganma’s first TV commercial?
Oct 4, 2019 (WiC 469)

Consumer products tend to bank on publicity. But not Sriracha. For 40 years, the chilli-garlic paste’s maker Huy Fong has never paid a penny for advertising. And yet the company churns out 12,000 bottles per hour, with revenues reaching $154 ...

Moutai reaches new heights
Sep 27, 2019 (WiC 468)

One week, and two very different experiences for Shanghai shoppers eager to get hold of a bottle of Moutai for China’s National Day celebrations on October 1. At one end of the scale were those Costco customers who’d paid Rmb299 ($41.91) ...

What is breathing new life into China’s instant noodle market?
Sep 27, 2019 (WiC 468)

Forget the Walkman, the electric rice cooker or the QR code. It was instant ramen that the Japanese considered their greatest invention over the last century, according to a poll in 2000. Ando Momofuku, founder of Osaka-based food giant Nissin, ...

Luckin Coffee plans tea spin-off – switching to a franchising model
Sep 20, 2019 (WiC 467)

In early September, nine coffee drinkers came together for a blind tasting – hosted by a consumer group in Hangzhou – to judge six different coffee brands sold in the city. To their surprise, coffee from Family Mart, the Japanese convenience ...

Naspers spins off Tencent proxy in Europe
Sep 20, 2019 (WiC 467)

When Naspers elected to spin off its international internet assets into a new entity earlier this year, it decided to call the company Prosus: a derivation of the Latin word for ‘forwards’. South Africa’s largest listed company subsequently ...

Luckin Coffee plans tea spin-off – switching to a franchising model
Sep 20, 2019 (WiC 457)

In early September, nine coffee drinkers came together for a blind tasting – hosted by a consumer group in Hangzhou – to judge six different coffee brands sold in the city. To their surprise, coffee from Family Mart, the Japanese convenience ...

Stirring the pot

Yum makes another acquisition in China
Sep 6, 2019 (WiC 465)

Back in 2011, Yum China – which owns the Chinese businesses of KFC and Pizza Hut – agreed to pay $586 million for a stake in the popular hotpot chain Little Sheep. The goal, the fast food giant said at the time, was to introduce hotpot to a ...

Fashion faux pas

Why luxury brands are apologising to China
Aug 23, 2019 (WiC 463)

China is expected to overtake the US as the world’s largest consumer market this year, according to New York-based research firm eMarketer. So it’s not hard to see why international brands were quick to apologise when they got caught in the ...

Muji loses mojo

Tougher times for Japanese retail brand in China
Aug 23, 2019 (WiC 463)

Back in June, there was news that Miniso, a Muji-lookalike in China that sells a range of no-brand, no-logo lifestyle and household goods, was looking to raise as much as $1 billion in an IPO. Founded in 2013, Miniso has a strategy that ...

Meat at midnight

KFC enjoys success with bold new menu for China’s late night snackers
Aug 2, 2019 (WiC 462)

Chowing down food between 11pm and 6am doesn’t earn your doctor’s approval. But a lot of Chinese are undeterred by the warnings against late-night snacking. In cities across the country, street hawkers sell meat skewers, crayfish and ...

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