Medicine tonic is not as good as food tonic, and food tonic is best stewed. What’s more, those precious ingredients are also exquisite in the production method. For example, black sesame seeds, Chinese medicine believes that black sesame seeds need to be steamed and dried for nine times before they reach the ideal state. Huang Jing also needs nine steaming and nine drying. It is called nine system Huang Jing, which is purer and more peaceful. Bird’s nest is called “Oriental Treasure”. Its stewing method is also very elegant. First soak for 2-6 hours to soak, tear strips, clean hair and impurities, and simmer for 20 minutes in water. If you are not careful, it will turn into water or not swell. Just listening to this production process is very troublesome, let alone letting people who have difficulty doing it do it themselves, it is estimated that they would rather not eat it.
However, with the fast-paced lifestyle, unhealthy work and rest and diet, huge psychological pressure… Today’s people urgently need nourishing and health care to “continue their lives”.
1 Ready-to-eat nourishing food has become a new consumption hotspot.
With the rise of consumption upgrading, health awareness and the concept of homology of medicine and food, Chinese health care has set off a new trend in the era of “taste economy” and “beauty economy”. In the consumer market, the population of nourishing consumers has changed, and the new middle-class consumers, mainly white-collar and gold-collar workers, have become the cutting-edge force of nourishing. On the one hand, they have the ability and are eager to get fresher and more nutritious nourishing products. On the other hand, the pressure of fast-paced life forces them to pursue convenience and efficiency. In “2021 China Women’s Health Food Market Insights”, ready-to-eat traditional tonic products will grow by more than 20% year-on-year in 2020, which is twice as fast as other forms of traditional tonic products. Ready-to-eat supplements are expected to dominate the market in the future. According to a Euromonitor International survey report, the market size of traditional tonic products in 2020 will be 96.9 billion, accounting for about 34% of the overall health care product market.
2 Instant nourishment solves the pain point of traditional nourishment – snacking and convenience.
For a long time, the weak growth of China’s traditional tonic market has fundamental reasons for the limited audience and the cumbersome and complicated production process. The traditional way of eating Chinese tonics cannot meet the health needs of the new generation of consumers. Noble temperament and “ungrounded” traditional nourishment can no longer meet the fast-paced lifestyle of modern young people who need nourishment. Consumers hope to enhance immunity, nourish qi and blood, and improve sleep by eating tonic. Young consumers prefer “ready-to-eat” and well-designed tonic products. Snacking and facilitation can make it not limited by time, form, and place, so that you can drink whenever you want, and eat whenever you want.
Consumers’ favorite instant tonics are bird’s nest, fish maw, and brown sugar. The nourishing brands trusted by consumers include traditional brands Tongrentang, Yunnan Baiyao, Dong’e Ejiao, new brands Ru Xiaoxian Stew, Guanzhan Fish Maw, Yungengwu, etc.
3 What are the popular instant tonics?
3.1 Ginseng
Ginseng is the root of ginseng, a perennial herb of the Araliaceae family. Traditional ginseng is inconvenient to eat, and the utilization of nutrients in wine, decoction or stew is less than 50%. The factory’s regular human workers use high-temperature steaming, sterilization, slicing or powdering, which results in nutrient loss, monotonous form, and does not fully realize the visual sense of ready-to-eat. Today, with the drive of industrial technology, ready-to-eat whole ginseng, ginseng paste, ginseng oral liquid, etc. have entered the consumer’s field of vision. Whole ready-to-eat ginseng has entered the mid-to-high-end tonic field in China with a new category. It uses low-temperature steaming and curing technology and secret herbal drying technology to realize the whole ginseng can be eaten immediately after opening the bag, and completely solve the pain point of ginseng nourishing. According to company reports, this low-temperature curing technology can retain more than 90% of the nutrients of ginseng and remove the dryness of ginseng. And it is individually packaged for sterilization and bacteriostasis after being dried in cold air, so that the whole ginseng is convenient and ready to eat. This also further eliminates the phenomenon of tablets and powders being adulterated and shoddy.
3.2 Ejiao
Ejiao is a solid rubber block made of donkey skin after decoction and concentration. The main producing area is Shandong, and it is rich in Dong’e County. It has a history of more than 2,000 years. The traditional donkey-hide gelatin is bought in the form of a block, and it is necessary to melt the donkey-hide gelatin before it can be made into a supplement. Generally, after smashing the gelatin, put it in a bowl, add water, and steam it in a pot until it is completely dissolved. Ejiao can also be directly powdered, soaked in boiling water to dissolve, or soaked in rice wine, and it takes 24 hours to dissolve and eat in a warm place.
Ejiao cake is no stranger to everyone. Ejiao is boiled and dissolved, add red dates, wolfberry, black sesame seeds, walnut kernels, rock sugar, etc., cool, slice, and package. It is very convenient to eat 1-2 tablets per person. There are already many mature Ejiao cake products on the market.
Ejiao powder has only appeared in recent years, and of course, it has many advantages. At present, most donkey-hide gelatin powders have good water solubility and are easily absorbed by the human body. They are also individually packaged and ready to drink, which is convenient and fashionable.
3.3 Fish Maw
Fish maw is fish maw, which is made by drying the swim bladder of large fish. Fish maw is rich in protein and gum. At present, there are various kinds of fish maws on the market, such as red-mouthed fish maw, big ear glue, spider glue, fish maw, Beihai fish maw, golden dragon fish maw, vegetable maw, and so on. Ready-to-eat fish maw saves consumers from tedious processes such as cleaning, soaking, and stewing. It adopts the freezing impact technology to remove the fishy smell, which is smooth, soft, and glutinous, fresh and delicious, easy to carry, and convenient to eat immediately after opening the lid. Merchants can even provide intimate services such as fresh stewing, liquid nitrogen locking, vacuum packaging, cold chain transportation, and home delivery.
3.4 Bird’s Nest
Bird’s nest is one of the traditional foods that have been eaten in China since the Ming Dynasty. It is a bird called the swiftlet that uses a combination of fresh moss, seaweed and soft plants to combine their feathers and saliva in a bird’s nest as their hiding place. People take down the bird’s nest, and after refining and picking, it becomes a nourishing food bird’s nest. Bird’s nest is now well known for its scarcity, nutritional and cosmetic value.
In recent years, instant bird’s nest has subverted the traditional way of eating bird’s nest from soaking and stewing, creating a brand-new and convenient way of taking it. Ready-to-eat bird’s nest is now a very mature category, and both traditional and new brands have related products. The more famous brands are Tongrentang, Xiaoxiandou, Yanzhiwu and so on.
3.5 Cordyceps sinensis
Cordyceps Sinensis is a kind of nourishing medicinal material commonly used in our country. Traditional Cordyceps Sinensis can be eaten by boiling water, making soup, making wine, and making powder.
There are many convenient dosage forms such as Cordyceps capsules, Cordyceps oral liquid, Cordyceps tablet candies, etc. on the market. Cordyceps lozenges are made of Cordyceps into powder and prepared in the form of tablet candies, which are more popular with consumers. Although the candy tablets are small, they contain the nutrition of Cordyceps.
3.6 Ganoderma lucidum
Ganoderma lucidum is as hard as wood and cannot be eaten directly. The traditional consumption of Ganoderma lucidum is generally to boil water, make wine, make soup, and make porridge. Ganoderma lucidum is still a traditional Chinese medicine in my country, so you will find that other than Ganoderma lucidum tablets, it is difficult to see other common foods related to Ganoderma lucidum, in fact, it is because of regulations. Ganoderma lucidum products currently appear in Chinese patent medicines in dosage forms such as granules, oral liquids, and capsules.
In 2020, Ganoderma lucidum spore powder was approved by the General Administration of Market Supervision as a raw material for health food filing, and there are many similar products on the market now. Ganoderma lucidum spore powder can be broken through wall treatment to achieve the purpose of fully utilizing its active ingredients. In addition to Ganoderma lucidum spore powder and Ganoderma lucidum spore oil, products such as Ganoderma lucidum spore oil currently belong to the category of health food.
4 Instant nourishment depends on “true health care” rather than “pseudo health care”
Traditional nourishing products are the cultural achievements of thousands of years of traditional Chinese medicine culture. There are many categories, and they have deeply occupied the minds of consumers. Therefore, this type of product does not require consumer education, as long as its own brand and products are well established, they can be recognized by most consumers.
However, there are still many problems in the instant nourishing industry: the lack of industry standards, the inability to confirm key ingredients, the lack of standardized production and management, and the lack of transparency in many aspects such as the authenticity of raw materials and product effectiveness… Because of these various deficiencies, making Many consumers believe that instant nourishing foods such as instant bird’s nest and instant isinglass are IQ taxes.
In fact, at a time when brands are all over the world, there are still some small brands that do not care about brand influence to harvest consumers under the guise of “health” and “nourishing”. Therefore, when it is impossible to judge the quality of the product, it is recommended to buy products from big brands and time-honored brands, which are relatively reliable.
Snack-based and convenient nourishing and healthy food is aimed at young consumers, and it provides a good solution for young people to live a healthy life. Consumers are not blind in their pursuit of health preservation. They eat expensive nourishing food and will put a lot of expectations on it. Ready-to-eat, convenient, effective, and beautiful tonics will be more favored by consumers and will become a new wave of Chinese health care.
