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News on Consumers & Retail in China

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Nobody’s perfect

Why Yatsen’s shares have struggled since New York IPO
Sep 16, 2022 (WiC 600)

In April, when China was in the middle of one of its many Covid lockdowns, Huang Jinfeng, the chairman and chief executive of beauty retailer Yatsen, went to Japan. He told 36Kr that he had a burning question during his trip: “In times when ...

Fake it till you make it

War of words between livestreamers over Bird’s nest soup
Sep 9, 2022 (WiC 599)

Back in 2020 short-video platform Kuaishou’s biggest livestreaming host Xinba was found to have sold counterfeit bird’s nest soup on his streaming sessions. At first, Xinba, whose real name is Xin Youzhi, denied the product was fake. The ...

Two fruits just got sweeter

Cross-breed of the lychee and the longan proves a hit
Sep 9, 2022 (WiC 599)

Most fruits are already sweet but scientists have been tinkering with hybrids that are even sweeter and prettier than the originals. For instance, there’s the mandarinquat, an offspring of the mandarin and kumquat. Plumcots, as the name ...

Failing to deliver

Investors ponder their losses as grocery start-up’s strategy unravels
Aug 19, 2022 (WiC 596)

When the content creator IC Laboratory found out that Missfresh, a Chinese grocery delivery start-up, might be going out of business, he admitted to a tinge of sadness. “After all, when Shanghai was in lockdown, Missfresh’s delivery saved me ...

Coke’s latest challenger is...
Aug 19, 2022 (WiC 596)

Richard Branson tried to topple Coke with his launch of Virgin Cola in 1994. “But Coca-Cola had a lot more firepower than us,” the British businessman later admitted. “They poured all of their huge resources into squashing us, and soon ...

Setback for US fast food chain
Aug 19, 2022 (WiC 596)

Seeing the success of Kentucky Fried Chicken, American chicken burger chain Popeyes started out in 1972 as ‘Chicken on the Run’, serving traditional Southern fried chicken with a crunchy coating, in suburban Louisiana. But sales were ...

Fifteenth-time lucky?

China’s most persistent entrepreneur thinks he’s finally found success
Jul 29, 2022 (WiC 595)

Six months after Qudian went public in New York in 2017, the company founder and chairman Luo Min declared that until the consumer lending platform reached $100 billion in market value, he would relinquish his salary and bonus. Since then, it ...

Dior’s mamian skirt debacle causes a stir online
Jul 29, 2022 (WiC 595)

Last week, luxury brand Dior was embroiled in a controversy in China over the design of a skirt, which some accused of being a direct rip off of the design of a traditional Chinese garment from centuries ago. The item in question is a $3,800 ...

Right ingredients

IPOs signal investors favour tea chain suppliers
Jul 22, 2022 (WiC 594)

Even though its share price had more than halved in the year since its initial public offering in Hong Kong, upmarket tea drink brand Nayuki still wanted to celebrate the anniversary of its market debut. In late June it announced that it was ...

Consumers at melting point

Controversy over local ice cream centres on high prices and how it melts
Jul 15, 2022 (WiC 593)

Ice cream brand Zhong Xue Gao has always prided itself on using the best all-natural ingredients. That helps to support its hefty prices: the Ecuador Pink, its most expensive offering, promises pink cocoa powder from the South American country, ...

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