The main market for dairy products is shifting to lower-tier cities. Tier-3 and below cities account for 53.6% of dairy shoppers, particularly so for shelf-stable milk, cheese, and infant formula. Well received as refrigerated milk is in tier-1 and tier-2 cities, there is still room to increase the penetration rate.

High-tier cities are approaching channel saturation. Online channels, like PDD, Douyin, and take-outs, accelerate dairy products consumption in lower-tier cities. The number of consumers in tier-3 to 6 cities has surpassed that in tier-1 to 2 cities in 84% categories. Lower-tier cities boast of a large population, and entry-level consumers and young people in small town are exhibiting a stronger spending tendency.

How should dairy brands leverage the massive growth potential in lower-tier Cities?

I believe you all know Lactalis. When we are thinking about the present, it has figured out the future. From a small cheese workshop in the west of France that produced a dozen Camembert cheeses in 1933, the company has grown to become the world's largest dairy group. The futuristic thinking behind Lactalis' €28.3 billion revenue allows it to take advantage of new opportunities in the market as they arise. The Chinese market is also included this year.

In recent years, the dairy industry seems to have entered an "innovative spring," with "new products every week" gradually becoming the new norm. If "new products every week" reflects the market's dynamism, then the success of these products must have something to do with their innovative elements.

On this topic, we've invited three "successful selling" brands: "Haihe Dairy", praised as a "Tianjin specialty" and highly acclaimed on social media; "New Raspberry", the first to enter the stirred yogurt race and become a growth dark horse; and "Da Vinci", a treasure brand whose annual sales have skyrocketed from 30 million to an impressive 260 million yuan in just three years. Together, we'll explore the strategies behind selling and buying products.

Only 10% milk in the world comes from grass fed cow in the open prairie, and this 10% market is growing at 22.4% CAGR. Growing at over 30%, grass fed milk is the fastest growing track in the U.S. Maple Hill Creamery is the largest dairy company that offers 100% grass fed milk, selling its products in over 8,000 stores, including Wholefoods, Walmart, and Kroger. Growth rate was above 40% between 2017 and 2022. High-speed growth is a reality on the other side of the world, perhaps it is time for grass fed milk to speed up in China when Chinese consumers are spending more on dairy products and shifting from eating to stop hunger to eating high quality.

As the leading brand in the domestic cheese stick category with a market share exceeding 40%, Milkground has achieved remarkable success in the cheese stick market with accumulated sales exceeding 3 billion units. However, the potential for cheese consumption clearly extends beyond cheese sticks. Breaking through demographic barriers and expanding into new scenarios present both opportunities and challenges. Milkground has already taken the first step towards practical implementation.

The Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM) is a natural component extracted from milk, with its unique biological activity and nutritional properties, making it essential in infant formula milk powder. According to AFI research, MFGM not only positively affects infant brain development and cognitive function but also benefits adults and elderly in areas such as immunity, gut health, and muscle health. This discovery is opening up new market spaces for MFGM.

Data from Fact.MR shows that the global MFGM market reached approximately $89.4 million in 2021 and is projected to grow to $234 million by 2032 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3%. Let's explore market gaps across generations starting from the Milk Fat Globule Membrane in milk and seize opportunities for growth.

Statistics show that the market size of the gray-hair sector in China is expected to reach RMB 12 trillion by 2026. Possessing both money and time, the gray-hair consumers are raising the bar of living standard. Formulated milk powder, thanks to its inherent health attributes, delivered impressive results. In the first half of this year, formula milk powder for the middle aged and elderly grew by 57% year-on-year. When infant formula powder drifts into competition in existing market space, claims around bone health, sleep quality, and blood sugar are creating new market spaces as health awareness improves among the middle-aged and elderly consumers. Mapping out the development in the middle aged and elderly formula milk powder market is the key to growing in an expanding market.

According to BCG, the global market for new proteins is expected to reach US$290 billion (about RMB 2.08 trillion) in 2035, accounting for 11% of the market share of all protein types. In recent years, microorganisms have also gradually come into the vision of China's agri-food companies, becoming the third largest source of protein in addition to traditional crops and livestock resources. What are the products and applications of global and local innovative companies based on different microbial species and technology pathways? What are the consumer perceptions? The results of the Consumer Communication Study on Fermented Protein Products will be presented exclusively on-site!

The dairy industry is being challenged by sustainability, cyclicality of raw material supply and relative monopolization of resources. The development of precision fermentation is bound to bring about a sea change in the dairy industry.

"Our product isn't just like cheese, it is cheese," exquisite fermentation technology is revolutionizing the cheese industry. In terms of consumer acceptance, research from Formo, a precision fermented cheese brand from Germany, shows that 71% of consumers are willing to purchase non-animal dairy products crafted with precision fermentation techniques. In terms of taste, Formo's products have also gained favor from Michelin-starred chefs! Moreover, from a business perspective, Formo has secured the largest Series A financing round to date for a food technology startup in Europe. This is truly awesome!

It's no exaggeration to say that Perfect Day has taken the lead in the burgeoning field of precision fermentation for new protein. Commercialization is particularly crucial in emerging markets. As the new protein industry gradually matures, what does the industrial ecosystem look like? What about the market environment? We're eager to hear the story of Perfect Day, the pioneer of "man-made milk," a star company that has raised $840 million, and simultaneously the company with the most commercialization cases in the precision fermentation field (being favored by international giants such as Unilever, Nestlé, the Bel Group, and Mars). Let them tell us the story of Perfect Day and its friends.

Over 50% offerings at cafés in China are milk coffee, making for a fertile soil for fresh milk growth. When milk moves from the backstage to the front under the hat of barista milk, performance becomes a core measurement. Founded less than 10 years ago, Milklab, the Noumi's subsidiary brand, has filtrated 73% cafés in Australia, thanks to its excellence in textures, stretches, and making latte art. This is just the beginning. Gradually taking off in China, Southeast Asia, Singapore, and Malaysia, Milklab is walking into a broad international market.

Welcome to on-site coffee tasting! We are afraid that at the dairy session only milk coffee is offered. Have a cup of coffee and experience the long-lasting aftertaste brought by the more integrated dairy, then in this aroma, chat with our speakers about the culture behind this cup of coffee.

Following freshly brewed tea drinks, freshly made yogurt cups have won the favor of not only investors but also prominent companies, like New Hope. Freshly made yogurt grew by 59.1% in 2022, reaching RMB 7.3 billion market value. Consumers born in the 1980s and 1990s are the main purchasers. Promising as the market is, FRESHLY made yogurt is also faced with challenges: shortage in upstream milk supply, deteriorating ingredient quality, premium pricing, flavor homogeneity, etc. What can brands do to turn barriers into springboards and lock in the millennials?

The moves made by the giants may give some clues about market trends in the future. How do they identify or incubate "growth stocks"?

In the face of performance growth, channel is undoubtedly a strong correlation variable. From offline to online, and then to the omni-channel layout, every change in the channel end has led to changes in the snack food industry. In 2023, China's offline channels accounted for more than 85% of the share of leisure food circulation, in the face of more and more like "going out" of the consumer groups, offline channel is now recovering! 

Haoxiangni invested in bulk selling in brick-and-mortar stores, Jiashili comprehensively build omni-channel and continuously expands sales networks.In the surging snack market, how can brands make high growth sustainable? Fully embrace the offline channel or the key!

In Japan, where gift-giving and dessert culture are very strong, chocolate has long been the "national snack" of Japan by virtue of its social attributes and sweet flavour, beating all other sub-categories by nearly 17%. The bigger the market, the bigger the competition, how in the world should brands break through? How can Godiva define itself as a high-end chocolate brand and make itself a "luxury brand" in the extremely voluminous market? How can Godiva quadruple its revenue in 13 years? How does Godiva make consumers fall into the chocolate "vortex"? You must comeon site to hear the answers!

(Source: LinkedIn@Godiva Chocolatier)

It is quite "bitter" for brands to sale the sweets. Besides health, what else can brands use to impress consumers? 

In the 112 years since its establishment, Kanro has launched amount of products that "accurately anticipate" consumers' preferences: launched voice care lozenges collaborated with a vocal academy, launched Braon energy candies collaborated with eSports players, air-infused Marosh candies, and watercolour gradient raindrop candies with a watercolour touch, all based on the theme of the plum rainy season... With deep consumer insights and strong R&D capabilities, Kanro has secured the No. 1 market share in the Japanese confectionery market!

Adjusting the hardness, adding functions, changing the shape, and gaining insights into the needs, Kanro proves with its strength that as long as it understands the consumers well enough, dares enough, and creative enough, the candy can absolutely capture the hearts of consumers of all ages!

The konjac is going viral! The konjac products of YanJin Food sales up 163% YoY in H1 2023. The first slice of konjac vegetarian tripe on the market with the ultimate taste and innovative flavors to make consumers from excited and "addictive". Let's see how YanJin Food can use konjac to pry the hundred-billion-level snack market.

Consumers of health, taste and texture of the ultimate pursuit of konjac, so that the dormant 3000 years of konjac has finally been "tapped" out more potential. This colourless and tasteless agricultural products, has become the brightest presence in the snack market.  In addition to jelly and vegetarian tripe, what kind of konjac product can still be created? Let's start from the R&D and innovation, to explore the konjac in the future of the infinite possibilities!

When it comes to plums, the LiuLiu Orchard Group must already appeared in everyone's mind. With a small plum, Slippery LiuLiu Orchard Group has opened up a big market: with 2 billion pills sold a year, green plums have taken over the minds of consumers.

However, the market needs innovation, so the LiuLiu Orchard Group has successively launched plums without kernel, plum jelly, plum cake, with plum as the core of the product matrix is becoming richer and richer. In today's snack market, how many more possibilities are there for the 3,000-year-old green plum?

Still think grains as a breakfast food? It has broken down the shackles of breakfast and penetrated more dining scenarios as indicated by 11.4% CAGR from 2017 to 2022.

Keto friendly, gluten-free, nuts-free, granola … Grains meet all of your needs all day long. Boasting of a thousand-trillion-scale market globally, grains—from cereal, energy bars, to outdoor snacks—have infinite potential in the domestic market.

You are missing out on trends if you have not tried an afternoon tea set that features nuts, grains, fruits and vegetables. These healthy food combos are never overwhelming to young consumers who want to tick all the boxes.

Consumer loyalty is shrinking. New products keep emerging and brands are caught in chaotic fights, trying hard to be remembered. In the fight for survival, no two species can occupy the same ecological niche, while in the business realm, brands have to pare down and focus on the core category to win consumers’ mind.

Let’s then have a chat about the "pruners" and "magnifiers" for brands’ deployment strategies.

Facing the ever-changing snack market and the new generation with an attitude, how can classic brands approach young consumers in a more vibrant, relaxed and approachable way? PepsiCo must be highlighted on this topic! How can PepsiCo, as an "old" brand, maintain the contrast of a young brand image?  It has completed iterations and upgrades time and again, used innovative thinking to lead the wave of the new generation, and has continued to promote the growth of brand power and commercial value in both directions. In this speech, Nina Mu, Chief Marketing Officer, Greater China Foods, PepsiCo, will focus on how to create a sense of youthfulness for the brand, expanding new scenarios, localised innovation and digital drive, which are the core secrets of PepsiCo always being "so young"!

What?! Young people are running away from home? Statistics show that the demand for snacks in outdoor activities, as one snacking scenarios, grew dramatically by 48.3%. Outdoor activities, like travelling, camping, and markets, are extremely appealing to young people and provide an excellent opportunity for snacks penetrating new scenarios. This time, brands shall go wherever consumers go.

Reminder: no time for camping due to this event? No worries! We will set up tents indoor and experience with you the ceiling-free romance. Make you seize every fleeting inspiration!

Under the new normal, the bakery track has changed from high-speed growth to medium-low speed, and it is especially important to look for new opportunities in the old track. For consumers, taste and texture are always the first pursuit in purchasing bread, and it has become a new consumer trend to pay for "eating healthy without burden". More than 87% of consumers are choosing bakery products by reading labels! As a result, the label "light" proposition has gained absolute advantage, and new retail channels have launched healthy concept products. Let's take a look at the global bakery market trends, unlock the bio-solutions, and see how bakery companies can capitalize on the trend and win the "fresh" opportunity!

The speed of bakery pop-ups has changed from "yearly" to "monthly" or even shorter, and bakery products have become the "secret of flow" to catch the Gen-Z. The main consumer "bread and dessert lover" is "pressing" the bakery industry to integrate with retail, supermarket, coffee and tea, catering, e-commerce and other channels. It has even successfully broken the circle and become the magic weapon of luxur to catch young people.

However, the complex technology, high cost and consumers' pursuit of freshness, flavor and high quality in the baking industry have often kept people away, so what else can be done? The Puratos Group, a century-old Belgian food technology company, will unveil the mystery of the baking industry, and use the new frozen technology to enhance the baking fusion, and directly tell you how to make the "cake" of frozen baking bigger and bigger!

Bagels → spicy bagels → spicy hotpot bacon bagels

Ciabatta → ciabatta with meat → ciabatta with mei gan cai (a preserved vegetable) and meat

In this session, cool and happy brands and bakeries are invited to co-create with us to show the "soft power" of bread.

Products are just the results. The first step of innovation starts with insights into new consumer segments, new scenarios, and new channels.

With the rise in commodity costs and the influx of e-commerce into the production end, a large number of OEM factories are stepping into the spotlight, facilitating the process of brand consumerization through channel borrowing. However, research and development are not simply about replacing big brands, and marketing is by no means equivalent to platform promotion. Supply chain brands lacking in R&D innovation and brand marketing capabilities will struggle to survive in the long term relying solely on "production" as their lifeline.

Keyang - the leader in cereal drinks. The growth rate in 2023 will exceed 150%, and it has been certified by Sullivan as the pioneer of the red bean and barley water category and the market leader in category sales! Zhonghe Food, a subsidiary of Keyang, has nearly 30 years of experience in red bean processing, and its annual filling production capacity is as high as 10W+ tons! From red bean processing to red bean barley water, how can Yang C-end successfully transform?

YUZU VALLEY's double yuzu juice ignited the market's enthusiasm for yuzu juice, prompting major enterprises to follow suit. YUZU VALLEY set a good example from the beginning by expanding and broadening the yuzu juice category. As homogeneous competition intensified, YUZU VALLEY upgraded to the new "Song You Juice" brand in July last year, transitioning from a category to a dual-drive model of category + brand. This broke through the low-price internal competition, resulting in sales exceeding 1.1 billion in just 2 years.

Restaurant chains grew from 12% in 2018 to 19% in 2022, according to Meituan. The highest growth in chain expansion, 45% year on year, is seen in the 5,000-10,000-store band.

Starting from traditional catering channels, Hope Water achieved sales exceeding 500 million yuan within 4 years and is expanding into more dining scenes. XianMu Technology occupies 20% of the catering supply chain market, focusing on emerging leisure dining scenes and building a bridge between leisure dining enterprises and beverage brands.

Facing the continuous differentiation and upgrading of catering channels, Hope Water and XianMu Technology will interpret new opportunities for beverage brands from different perspectives.

There's no doubt that ginger remains a promising contender. Ginger flavor enjoys considerable acceptance worldwide. As early as 2017, Google's beverage trend report noted a 32% increase in searches for ginger drinks (including ginger tea, ginger beer, and ginger ale) across the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, and Mexico. Searches for categories like ginger water and ginger juice grew by 79%. According to Technavio's data, the ginger market is projected to reach $3.4 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.3% from 2021 to 2026. While ginger beverages have seen rapid growth in the Asia-Pacific market, they have yet to establish dominance as a flavor profile in the Chinese market.

For 64 years, Bundaberg, originating from Australia, has been committed to handcrafting "craft" sodas. Not only is it well-known in Australia, but it has also expanded its business to 60 countries worldwide, generating a revenue of 1.5 billion.

Entering China 8 years ago, Bundaberg started with its classic ginger beer, using its unique ginger flavor to tantalize consumers' taste buds. It then introduced a variety of colorful fruit-flavored sodas, gradually establishing an iconic brand image. Now, how can Bundaberg in China leverage rapidly developing emerging channels to enter more everyday consumption scenarios and unlock broader markets?

In order to explore the possibility of ginger flavor in the Chinese market, FBIF specially invited 5 top domestic and foreign ingredient companies as beverage flavor designers to select and send 2-3 groups of ginger-themed flavor innovation works, and conduct on-site scoring through evaluation in various dimensions. Enlighten the perfect use of ginger flavor in beverages and the innovative development of ingredient design. In this interaction, creators can not only freely play around the theme, but also choose their favorite brands to create targeted creations, thereby gaining explosive exposure and cooperation opportunities. Don’t miss it!

Tepache is a traditional Mexican drink that is made from fermenting the peel of pineapples. After kombucha and kefir ignite the fermented drinks market in North America, Tepache ascends to be the next growth driver.

As the first brand that introduces Tepache in packaged products, how did De La Calle achieve 100% growth in 2022?

At FBIF2017, we attempted to discuss the performance and potential of cactus in the beverage category. Six years later, the latest data shows that from 2018 to 2022, the compound annual growth rate of cactus-flavored beverages launched in North America and the UK was 56.51%.

Nevertheless, due to the uniqueness of the ingredient, there is still a lack of awareness about the category of cactus beverages.

Pricklee, a cactus beverage brand from the United States, promotes its product with the slogan "No Coco," challenging coconut water, highlighting the health benefits and efficient hydration properties of cactus beverages just like coconut water. Through social media marketing, it has established a quirky and fun brand image and has achieved year-on-year doubling of success since its official launch in 2021.

Zero-sugar tea drinks account for around 90% bottled tea drinks in South Korea and Japan. China, on the other side, sees high-speed growth of sugar-free tea drinks, but the gap in market share is still large compared with mature markets like Japan and South Korea.

The substitution between sweetened and sugar-free tea drinks has come to a new stage. Apart from keeping pace with the health trend, anything else sugar-free tea drinks can do to win over consumers who like sweet drink?

To solve the "non-essential" identity crisis of fruit and vegetable juice from benefits, designs, and branding.

From "Tastes Great" to "Remind Every Day", from the iconic coffee bean ICON to the agile little red bird, Nescafé, which holds the largest share of China's retail coffee market, "recreated" itself this year with a new Nescafé: From brand mindset to innovative products, what insights are behind Nescafé's new moves? And what trends will it lead in the Chinese retail coffee market?

When personalized and aesthetic upgrades became the "standard rhetoric" for new consumer brands, it focused more on cost-effectiveness. When cost-effectiveness became the "consumer's first choice", it wanted to become a more story-driven, unique brand—Tasogare Coffee  seems to always take a different approach. Since starting with online sales of drip coffee, Tasogare Coffee, founded 9 years ago, has sold over 1.3 billion cups of coffee as of December 31, 2023, and has amassed over 10 million fans across all channels. In an increasingly competitive coffee industry, how can Tasogare Coffee, which does not aim for first place, find its niche and continuously create more value for consumers, the company itself, and society?

How to incubate new brands from common lemon flavors with strategic focus?

Zuixi Apricot Tea was sold 1 million bottles in four months. Asia Sarsae hit 200-million-bottle sales in one year. Over 10,000 cups of Guhe Sour Plum Soup are sold in one day ... Regional drinks are increasingly accepted by the masses, but it is hard to see one "super product". Fortunately, becoming a super product is not the only answer as supply chains of drinks are more mature. How to generate high growth for regional drinks?

As the health trend gains momentum, herbs appear more widely in new beverage products around the world. Over 300 million bottles of Yakan no Mugicha by Coca-Cola Japan since its launch less than one year ago. Aura Bora, a sparkling water made from real herbs, fruits, and flowers, is one of the fastest growing brands in the sparkling water category in the U.S. Xian Tea by CHI FOREST grew 10 times year on year with more than RMB 100 million sales achieved in the first eight months of 2022.

How can the potential of herbs be unleashed to the maximum by leveraging culinary cultures in the eastern and western worlds?

There is little hope to see the authentic formula that Coca-Cola has poured 75 billion to protect and kept a secret for over 130 years, but innovation in carbonated beverages has been ongoing. Besides "reducing sugar," what other unique ideas can we explore? Takahisa Yamada, the founder of UMAMI COLA, drew inspiration from Japan's long history of sake brewing techniques and "brewed" a cola using herbal plants. I'd like to share with you a new formula I saw on the can in advance, as it looks irresistibly alluring.

Replacing sugar with koji from Hakkaisan, UMAMI Cola blends elderflower, tulsi, citrus depressa hayata with ingredients that are often found in energy drinks, arginine, nicotinic acid, BCAA, GABA, vitamin B, etc. 

(Well, I tried. Please see the picture and let the invited speakers tell you more.)

Sipping Across Borders: Strolling Through the Global Alcohol Markets

In 2023, the groundbreaking collaboration between Wuliangye and Campari gave birth to a novel cocktail named "Wugroni." This innovative concoction not only pays homage to Negroni's enduring popularity but also opens up fresh avenues for the cross-cultural exchange and mutual admiration between East and West. What unique perspectives and considerations guided Campari in embarking on this inspiring journey of collaboration?

To what extent can past experiences remain effective when facing the transforming and distinctive Chinese market? What insights does the development of imported wine offer for the diversification of Chinese liquor?

From the ancient Chinese Baijiu with its long-standing heritage to the youthful emergence of Meijian, a new contender in the market, the diverse styles of Chinese liquor are making their mark in foreign lands. Whether it's the trendy bars of London or the bustling metropolises of America, Chinese liquor is finding its place and exploring new identities abroad. This journey goes beyond mere commerce; it's a celebration of cultural fusion.

In this age of new exploration, the question arises: how can Chinese liquor expand into broader overseas markets? How can it resonate with and win the hearts of local communities abroad? These are the challenges and opportunities awaiting us as we navigate through the intricacies of global trade and cultural exchange. Let's raise our glasses and toast to the future of Chinese liquor on the world stage!

Endless West boldly pioneers molecular brewing in the world of spirits: imagine a process where computers, not barrels, orchestrate the creation of your favorite tipples! By pinpointing and extracting key flavor molecules from nature's bounty—think plants, fruits, and yeast—Endless West crafts libations that tantalize the taste buds like never before.

But hold your glasses, because here's the twist: drinking isn't just about downing drinks. In an industry that thrives on cultural richness, ambiance, and ceremony, how far can Endless West venture into elevating the art of imbibing? Let the adventure begin! 

（Source: instagram@endlesswest）

DRUNK N’JUMP, which has different characterists of different pubs, played the revenue broke 100 million by the community in the last year, making a new kind of possibility of pubs.

Yi Sui said: "The logic of marketing is somewhat like a fisherman above the water, continuously attempting to catch freely swimming fish below using spears made of insights, trends, and creative campaigns. But why not try jumping in and swimming with them?"

DRUNK N’JUMP is like this, a sea where everyone can swim together, allowing each person to maximize themselves. In this process, people, space, and content naturally blend, and DRUNK N’JUMP has also become a small tavern with an annual revenue exceeding a hundred million, giving everyone the freedom to drink and to be themselves.

So, how was the "people-centered" DRUNK N’JUMP perfected?

1、What scenarios would make contemporary young people want to initiate a drink?

2、In these scenes, what kind of products can be selected?

Justin Guan, founder of INS Park, a new landmark in Shanghai's nightlife, and Neil, founder of BLUE DASH, a new drink brand that continues to grow sales by 200% year-on-year in the first half of 2023, will share their insights and practices with us.

Nearly every alcohol brand has rich "content" behind it, but merely shouting "content" often leaves consumers aesthetically fatigued. From a million-follower public account to over 30 offline stores, how does On The Road Store transform intangible youth culture into a 4-billion-valued "social new retail" through the form of "pub+convenience store"?

Let's toast to a beautiful world where every sip is a friendly invitation to embrace diversity and heritage.

There is a RMB 2 trillion market behind the busy morning hours and 60% spending in the hustle and bustle of evening hours. For a long time, this morning and night markets has not been paid due attention. In recent couple of years, catering brands have increased their presence in morning and late-night eateries. Is the morning-night economy booming? What characterizes consumers' behaviors and preferences? What are the new opportunities contained in condiments and 3R foods?

Regional culinary habits give rise to well-known regional condiments brands. But moving from regional to national is often challenging—lack of direction, lack of force, or lack of continued development. Can regional brands break the constraints and scale up by replicating a replicable model?

It takes decades of consistent export and popularization of foreign food culture and her ingredients to a new country. As a classic Asian condiment, soy sauce faces the challenge of winning over India, a country known for its diverse spices. Just 3 years after the launch of Kikkoman soy sauce in India, the company has achieved steady sales growth in more than 30 cities. The untold story is that its success is backed by an 18-year effort to export Japanese food culture. Give priority to cuisine culture first, then brands go global. 

Join us to find out from Harry.

Tomato flavor is a popular choice in the non-spicy world. Whether it's Chinese or Western cuisine, tomatoes are everywhere. When product innovation has to break through the shackles, how much effort does it take to make just one tomato good in the cooking?

The trend of salt reduction has been going on for years, and the solutions to reduce salt have been iterating. When consumers are convinced that a clean label is better, how do we meet consumer demands while ensuring good flavor? Perhaps yeast extracts can bring about a revolution in taste, allowing the tongue to feel "salty" and "umami" without consuming too much sodium.

In 1368 (Ming Dynasty), a small "MIOGEE" vinegar workshop revolutionized the vinegar making process, started to make vinegar for the royal family, and gradually grew into the Shanxi Mature Vinegar Group today. After 656 years, the vinegar is not old, but breaks through the shackles of vinegar as a flavoring supporting role, and creates the brand positioning of high-end light nutrition, making vinegar become the shining protagonist.

Tradition ≠? --The answer is MIOGEE itself!

In the eyes of consumers, one vinegar brand has moved to a much more premium position than others. Founded in 1605, Giuseppe Giusti is an Italian balsamic vinegar brand whose vinegar-making techniques and recipes have been used for over four centuries. As a supplier to the Italian royal family since 1929, the brand is known for its craftsmanship and innovation. Revenues for Giusti in 2023 is 130 Million RMB,  boasting a +25% increase from 2022 and an impressive +57% growth compared to 2021, and international markets contributed by 60%. Giusti trades craftsmanship and time for rarity. What exactly are the thoughts and perseverance behind a sip of vinegar? How has ordinary vinegar become extraordinary and become high-end?

When vinegar is a condiment, it may only be sold for more than ten yuan to the kitchens of thousands of households; when vinegar is a culture, its value will be infinitely enlarged, and it will be sold to more diversified applications scenarios and consumers. Vinegar, known as “black gold”, is not only the time to give high quality, creating a high value, while the plasticity of vinegar itself will also bring more innovative thinking brand. From “consumption” to “enjoyment”, how many commonalities and differences are there between Chinese and Italian high-end vinegars in brand marketing and new product development? (PS: Do you know how rare it is for the top vinegar brands of both countries to meet and exchange ideas together?)

Innovations in compound condiments seem to be drawn into a whirlpool of mutual copying. Standing in front of a shelf, one hardly sees anything else but fish with pickle cabbage, beef in sour sauce, or crayfish. Almost all Sichuan-style flavors have been turned into condiments products. China is a very big country. Are there any other flavors on the map holding high potential to win nationwide popularity?

If vinegar was not just a cooking condiment, could it be sweet, spicy, coffee-flavored, prebiotic, postbiotic, adaptogen, and Vitamin C? By adding functional ingredients and expanding the flavor boundary, overseas vinegar makers have changed the fate of vinegar, earning tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

What have they done?

The potential for spice is incredible. 74% of respondents paired chili sauce with food and half added chili sauce to food at least once a week, according to a survey of 2,000 American adults. Over 80% of respondents own two or more brands of chili sauce, and 83% are willing to try new brands. Chili sauce products are expected to reach USD 15 billion in 2031 from USD 9.3 billion in 2021. All statistics point to one thing: spiciness innovation.

When Chinese food makers are experimenting on the next product amid varieties of spiciness—savory spicy, numbing spicy, aromatic spicy, sour spicy, what creative attempts have been turned by overseas chili sauce brands into commercial success? It is time to think outside the box.

1. Inspirational share-outs

2. Novel flavors tasting

3. Brainstorming & discussion

A survey on Chinese consumers' trust in the safety of 3R food in 2023 reveals that only 22.18% of the respondents have very high trust. The "campus scandal" of 3R food in September brought 3R food again under scrutiny. Not fresh? Not safe? It has dawned on people that consumers' perception has not changed despite that 3R food has evolved for many years. Make yourself heard! How should we cope with the notorious reputation?

"I'm eating white people food, and my foreign colleagues are eating fried rice." While this punchline goes viral, we also realize that - on the other side of the world - Asian cuisine is favored by an increasing number of overseas consumers. Combining R&D techniques of Chinese cuisine and domestic supply chain advantages with overseas market opportunities, will it work for Chinese 3R food brands to make waves overseas instead of domestically?

In 2021, Ding Ding Fresh, founded less than a year ago, achieved over RMB 200 million in sales.

By December 2022, monthly sales reached RMB 220 million for Ding Ding Fresh.

In 2023, the company's annual revenue surpassed RMB 1 billion and attained a monthly repurchase rate of up to 30%.

 … 

From product selection to channels, how many details must be done right to make a viral product?

One approach is to turn culinary masters' recipes into the 3R format, and the other is to seek inspirations from everyday cooking at households. Each has its pros and cons. What are the similarities and differences in R&D, supply chain, channels, and marketing? Let's take a deep dive.

From catering to new retail, DaDong Roast Duck has triumphed to the top of the Double 11 Roast Duck category. Flavor restoration, form innovation, channel pioneering, and overseas exploration ... 

How did the business of roasted duck-prepared dishes from 0 to 1 become more and more prosperous?

In the age of the fast pace, consumers are sceptical of the ambient foods that they can't go without. Suppose you've ever taken a closer look at the ingredient lists of ambient food. In that case, you'd be surprised at how far they've come from illegal food additives and how unique and diverse the packaging is. However, most consumers, and even some in the industry, are still stuck in the years ago. "People harbour prejudices which are tantamount to the formidable mountain. "perhaps we need more companies with the spirit of a "Foolish Old Man" to remove some of the misunderstandings in people's minds about ambient foods. From the three key points of R&D of flavours, category differentiation and packaging diversification, how can ambient food players seize the innovation? Dispelling the misunderstanding of "temperature", how many growth opportunities are hidden under the ambient track?

The year 2022 saw the first negative growth of Chinese population, bringing China into an accelerating aging society. Japan, the country that is aging the fastest, has started exploration into food for the elderly population 20 years ago. Statistics by the Japanese Universal Design Foods Committee show that production value and annual sales of Universal Design Foods (UDF) grew 532.75% and 276.2% respectively from 2013 to 2022. Taking reference from the 100-billion-scale UDF market in Japan, what surprises are around the corner as the gray-hair economy booms in China?

When one checks out the recipes offered by top-ranking 3R food brands in the U.S. or Europe, he or she will be amazed by the wide array of customization choices, ranging from ketogenic diet, vegan, low GI, to flavors and cooking techniques. Every gastronomic need can be met. When customization creeps into the Chinese 3R food market, what inspirations can Chinese players get from the western model?

Functional foods come into a furious gallop, estimated to reach RMB 321.46 billion in 2023. As the market is increasingly regulated and more players join, research and development become the powerhouse of competition. Keeping trends in sight, which ingredients are on the brink of shooting up?

With Artificial Intelligence advancing at a rapid pace, how does the human brain match up? Smart eaters are leading the new trend of dietary brain health! It has been scientifically proven that probiotics can regulate emotional stress through the gut-brain axis, plus mystery brain nutrients can also boost focus, memory and more. In addition to probiotics, what other specific plant extracts can help? -- Soothing mood and boosting focus, a two-pronged approach to getting the brain back on top!

According to Future Forum, more than 40% of the world's workforce is now exhausted from work. Burnout is the result of long-term excessive stress that results in extreme emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. It not only creates negative emotions, but it also reduces our sense of value. With the increasing social pressure, "burnout" is spreading to more dimensions. In addition to giving ourselves a vacation at the right time, stress management is an essential lesson we all need to learn.

The emerging sport represented by marathons is becoming increasingly popular among the new middle class. The enthusiasm of the middle class for marathon running has surpassed the sport itself and has become a pursuit of quality of life and self-control. What is actually shed in marathon running is the anxiety about health. From fitness and shaping to improving immunity and emotional management, how can crispy middle-class individuals stand out on their health track? 

Lactococcus lactis strain Plasma (LC-Plasma) actives pDCs on the cellular level, and pDCs play a key role in the immune system. The key component of pDC activation is retained in the cellular material of LC-Plasma. Therefore, both live and heat-killed LC-Plasma work the same way. Japanese brand Kirin adds Plasma to beverages, candies, and even oats. Immune support is being built up from snacks to meals.

People will have different immune needs depending on their age stage, and this has not only become consumers' most significant health concern, but also the category with the largest sales share among probiotic supplements. Wanting to fulfill the different needs of yellow hair, the probiotic team applied for the battle!

DE111 (Bacillus subtilis), a long-established probiotic that has been around for over a century, has been officially approved for marketing by the NHC. Unlike other probiotics, DE111 is robust and can remain active even in harsh conditions, overcoming dosage form restrictions and opening up new possibilities. This well-established probiotic is set to make a big impact in the Chinese market!

Synbiotics, as the leader in gut microorganisms, is evolving into a new era of top immune ingredients. Synbiotics SYNEO® has been extensively researched in clinical trials and continues to impress with its lasting positive impact on infant gut health, and it can also benefit individuals with cow's milk allergy. Let's embrace the "Era of Synbiotics" together!

Diets like the low-Carb diet, the Ketogenic diet, people hate their restrictive nature. The Chinese carb fiends need to ensure average carb intake, which is crucial and not too harsh, to ensure that they do not regain the pounds they lose in the long run.

What is a more suitable weight loss solution for the Chinese? The answer will be revealed by - Resistant Starch (RS)!

From toddling to hobbling,  the bones and joints of the elderly population have become fragile. 32% of middle-aged and older people (pre-70s population) have been diagnosed with joint problems, and the freedom and flexibility of the body have gradually become a luxury.

Facing the deep aging in China, how does 5-LOXIN, a bone and joint health ingredient, help realize the dream of healthy aging for the huge elderly population to travel and play in their rich and free retirement time...

We all thought yangsheng—TCM-based health preservation—was far away from us, but the next second we see Gen Z have started to make wolfberry tea at the workplace and shaibei—exposing back to sunlight—on hot summer days prevails Xiaohongshu. On the other side of the sea, oriental herbs are also gaining popularity. Japan, for example, has seen price increase in nothing but OTC kampo (traditional Japanese herbal medicine)—up by 15% in the past 5 years and doubled sales online. In the western world, "food is medicine" takes off, packed with herbal drinks, like Rebbl and Kitto. It is evident that this generation of consumers value life. Let's look into the opportunities brought by oriental herbs from a global perspective.

There are about 20 brands for chickpea products in the U.S., with annual revenues ranging from USD 20 million to 50 million. Global CAGR of chickpeas is expected to reach 5.8% from 2023 to 2030, to which are contributed by versatile product forms—paste, milk, snacks, and staple food, etc. Chickpea products are quietly accelerating in China, expanding from a primary agricultural product to scenario-fit leisure snacks. There is void in the chickpea market to be filled by brands through reshaping the product, just like how they have built up oats in China. 

In Sept 2023, Nestlé premiered a breakthrough global sleep study in China, which found that a new formulation combination can effectively support sleep quality in adults and enhance next-day cognitive performance. Only five months later, Nestlé first launched a new milk powder based on this research in China, realizing the rapid conversion of scientific studies and products! How can global research resources be leveraged to achieve localized innovation so that there is a "zero distance" between scientific research and products? 

The reduced- or zero-sugar trend appears to be unstoppable in the beverages market, but fruit juice remains an unsolved problem. Different from other categories, fruit juice inherently contains fructose, sucrose, and glucose, for which regular actions, using less sugar or diluting, will not work. NTFC has successfully pioneered a sugar-extracting method that removes 100% natural sugar from juice while preserving nutrients. When dilution is no more the only way to reduce sugar, will this method see possibilities in other categories?

Pharma is entering the food and beverage industry too? AKG isn't alone. Known for rigorous production, AKG is set to connect with the FBIF audience.

Reports from Nature, Aging, and other journals reveal AKG's ability to extend the lifespan of aging mice and reduce the human body's physiological age by 8 years. Beyond anti-aging, AKG excels in beauty and skincare, antioxidants, exercise, and wellness. How is AKG moving from medicine to food and beverage?

Back in 1931, Winston Churchill dreamed of eating chicken without having to raise it. More than 90 years later, harvesting meat with a single cell in a lab is possible. Welcome to the world of cultivated meat. Joes Future, Meatable, and Aleph Farms tell you what each technological breakthrough means and what "the future of the meat" means!

Cultured meat has accelerated globally this year. However, competition is no more limited to tank capacity. Nutritional customization is now made possible for cultured meat. Customized lean-to-fat ratio? Yes! Customized flavors of fat? Yes! Customized content of saturated fat? Yes! This technology breakthrough has not only accelerated cultured meat but also every fat-related category!

Why do investors favor cellular meat worldwide? Some say cultivated meat is a more environmentally friendly option; some say cultivated meat is a bottom-up revolution in how human beings replenish meat; others say it is the choice of efficiency.

So, why don't we get all the Chinese and foreign investors together to discuss what we are pursuing for when investing in cultivated meat?

They are the top scientists and entrepreneurs in the cell culture meat industry, so take the opportunity to ask questions!

Douyin e-commerce GMV grew over 80% compared to last year, and Douyin Mall GMV surged by 277% year on year.  In the face of this "traffic is king" war, how do Three Squirrels implement the strategy of "product and sales integration" and "one product, one supply chain"? How to use sales to push back the supply chain optimization, and successfully create a number of single products with sales of tens of millions? And how did they work with thousands of live streamers to achieve a massive 500% growth in Douyin in just six months and become the No.1 in the snack category?

Frontline experience with customers all year round, powerful supply chain management, systematic innovation … those capabilities have allowed supermarket giants to develop sought-after products in close collaboration with their suppliers: Crispy Duck with Mashed Taro, Green Bean Milk, and Boneless Chicken Feet from Freshippo, with the last sold RMB 120 million in one year; Calamansi Juice, Chocolate Milk, and Cheese Cracker from Sam's Club; Coconut Ice Cream in coconut shells and Westacre yogurt from Aldi … What's the secret behind these private label pop-ups?

As of last October, the bulk-selling snacks industry has exceeded 22,000 stores, with leading enterprises embarking on a "race to ten thousand stores" mode. The overall market size soared from 6 billion yuan to 70-80 billion yuan between 2020 and 2023, achieving over tenfold growth in just three years. Many snack brands see opportunities in this expressway. Brands such as Yankershop, Three Squirrels, Gan Yuan Food, Cha Cha, and Weilong have followed suit, accelerating deployment in bulk-selling snacks stores, engaging in deep cooperation with Hao Xiang Lai, Busy For You (Ling Shi Hen Mang), Daiyonghong and Yummy Snack. How should food brands tap into this blue ocean? How should channel players adjust their direction to explore scientific development models while maintaining stability and seizing opportunities in the changing market structure?

Facing the intricate offline shopping landscape, how did Hsu Fu Chi deepen market presence, collaborate with distributors, prioritize consumers, and establish a deep distribution network spanning over 1 million terminal outlets from urban to rural areas? Amid channel transformations, how does it focus on core products, reconstruct growth, and navigate through the Market Cycle?

Freshippo, Bravo, Hotmaxx, and Xiaohongshu have put forward and stressed the "buyer concept" and "product selection thinking" one after another in a recent couple of years. The underlying logic is to build attractive products and an integrated supply model emphasizing user value at retail and e-commerce rather than manufacturer value. In this connection, how does BaiXiang Food develop differentiated products based on consumer trend insights from different platforms? How does it combine with KOLs and buyers to strengthen the interaction between products and users and realize brand renewal?

During the Internet dividend period, food and beverage consumer product innovation often adopts the approach of "focusing on online explosion, creating brand symbols, and then expanding sales channels". But as young brands' growth in the new retail landscape slows down, how will they go back and learn from traditional offline channel strategies to find a new growth curve in product sales? How do dealers think about change and find cost-effective products that sell well among the many new brands? Join FBIF to see how young brands and experienced dealers can work together for a win-win partnership!

The catering channel, the third largest channel for soft drinks after the traditional and the modern channel, is estimated to exceed RMB 197 billion sales in 2024. Catering accounts for 30% - 60% sales for many alcoholic drink companies. This is the marketplace where giants cannot afford missing out and startups make their initial success. 

SHUHAI SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS, as a food ingredient supply chain solution provider,  has served over 4000 restaurant brands and 50,000+ outlets to date. Covering a wide range of categories including Chinese cuisine, fast food, tea drinks, barbecue, hot pot, retail, Western cuisine, and food delivery, SHUHAI‘s services span across all sectors, offering product procurement and customization solutions to thousands of establishments. Join us at FBIF to learn how SHUHAI help manufacturers and brands enter the catering channel？

In 2023, "Mountains Moved Prices", discount stores, bulk-selling snacks stores, and price reductions became the main themes of physical retail in China. Faced with increasingly rational consumer behavior and a stronger pursuit of "excellent quality and reasonable price", should offline retailers universally opt for discount strategies? How can they navigate through this wave of discounts and find a way to survive?

With the instant retail market projected to reach 2,508.265 billion yuan by 2026, "instant" no longer simply implies “urgency” but is becoming a new, highly predictable lifestyle. As a pioneer in this field, Meituan Instashopping is gradually advancing "digital and retail integration" from a supply-demand perspective. Identifying more productive stores based on LBS demand to increase supply and optimize merchandise structure, thereby facilitating efficient distribution for brands. With the new trend of "In 30 minutes, everything at your doorstep", two key questions emerge:

-How do brands identify their target consumers?

-How can they efficiently appear where consumers need them?

The market size of vending machine is predicted to reach RMB 43.6 billion in 2023, up by 26.8% from 2021. This is the channel closest to consumers, and it can be a "spotlight". In addition to sales, vending machines perform "frontline scouting and new arrival discovering" for CHI FOREST as strategic enablers. In 2023, the supply volume of CHI FOREST products in the vending machine channel is expected to increase by over 300% compared to the previous year. Based on data analytics and consumer incentives, Da Mo Wang, a new energy drink from CHI FOREST, soared to the TOP1 of energy drinks by PSD.

Topic Reserved for TAO GONG CHANG

In the face of complex and diverse retail competition and increasingly rational consumer shopping demands, thousands of traditional supermarkets in China are continuously exploring their path forward. In recent years, Yonghui has been adjusting its business, with experiments and explorations in various directions such as digitization, warehousing stores, and discount zones. Since 2023, Yonghui has been optimizing stores around the principles of 'products, scenarios, and services'. Each store can now introduce nearly 400 new products per month, including brands entering offline channels for the first time and new products launching exclusively through Yonghui. Join us at FBIF to hear Yonghui's insights on how physical retail faces long-term transformation, strengthens its retail capabilities, and takes the first step towards breaking free from constraints.

It takes a global brand to compete against a global brand. Going overseas is an inevitable path, compounded by domestic market slowdown, overseas ecommerce acceleration, new opportunities brought along by ecommerce platforms like TikTok、Temu.

—What are the springboards businesses must not miss? How to deploy globally, mature market in Europe and North America, emerging markets in Southeast Asia, or niche markets in the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa?

—What skill set is required to approach overseas market? What are the challenges?

In Japan, a comprehensive discount store was founded in 1980, primarily selling closeout and overstock items. It has created a myth of consecutive double-digit revenue and profit growth for 34 years. With over 720 stores worldwide, the company has become the fourth-largest retail group in Japan. It is the King of Discount Retail in Japan—Don Quijote.

Don Quijote's revenue is projected to exceed 2 trillion yen (JPY) by 2025, equivalent to over 100 billion yuan (RMB). With its unique business model, Don Quijote has carved out its territory in the highly competitive Japanese retail market. Let's explore what insights its retail strategy can offer to Chinese businesses.

For Chinese brands, Japan represents a uniquely mature market compared to other overseas markets. As Japan's largest domestic e-commerce platform, Rakuten covers approximately 87% of the Japanese population, with its food business accounting for 38.3%. For Chinese sellers entering the Japanese market, how should they adapt to the changing local environment, innovate based on local consumer characteristics, and cultivate the market? Join us at FBIF to hear from the CEO of Rakuten Shenzhen Office as he decodes the differences between the Chinese and Japanese consumer markets and discusses how brands can implement a long-term approach to successful international expansion!

As one of the fastest growing regions in the world, Southeast Asia saw middle-class population reach 200 million in 2020, account for 1/3 of the total population. The region is often the first stop of Chinese businesses seeking overseas development thanks to its proximity in geography and consumption culture with China, fast growth of TikTok, Shopee, Lazada, and supportive e-commerce service, as well as the stable trade environment under RECP.

In just 8 years, Aice has become the leading traditional channel and second overall channel ice cream brand in Southeast Asia. It holds the top market share in Indonesia and its products are available in markets across Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and Timor-Leste. How did Aice engage in this mutual journey with Southeast Asian consumers?

Having highly localized overseas brands like YoyiC and Aice, Mengniu registered RMB 4.28 billion overseas revenues in 2023. YoyiC, the best-selling probiotics brand at 7-Eleven, is forcefully promoted with KOLs and TikTok live streaming and certified for Superbrand in Singapore. Since the establishment of Mengniu's factory in Indonesia five years ago, monthly sales have increased from around 800,000 units in the initial stage to approximately 8 million units per month in 2023, representing a growth of over tenfold in business volume.

What is the learning from brands that have achieved ovserseas excellence in both financial performance and brand impact?

Between 2023 and 2030, plant-based beverages are projected to reach a global market size of $71.62 billion, growing at a CAGR of 12.7%. As early as 1904, Chinese herbal tea appeared on the streets of America, introducing the world to this "Eastern mysterious beverage" over the past century. WALOVI, a well-known Chinese herbal tea brand, has been the global top-selling natural plant-based beverage for three consecutive years, successfully entering mainstream channels in North America from the Chinese market. Join us at the FBIF to hear this 200-year-old time-honored brand discuss how Chinese brands strengthen awareness among overseas consumers and gradually penetrate mainstream markets and channels in North America.

A Chinese chili sauce brand that was founded in 2018 by a girl from Chengdu took the U.S. market like a whirlwind. This is Fly By Jing. Fly comes from "fly restaurants" or hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Chengdu, and Jing is the given name of the founder Jing Gao.

Sold at USD 17 per jar, Fly By Jing quickly takes off in the mainstream U.S. market under selling points like "100% natural & additive free" and "chili for royal families in the old times". Contextual digital marketing, DTC website, and physical retail through Whole Foods, Target, and Sprouts have pushed the sales of FBJ to USD 10-million scale, covering over 4,000 physical stores and bagging USD 12 million Series B funding this year.

In an external environment characterized by slowing economic growth, intensified homogeneous competition, and an increasingly diverse and fragmented digital media landscape, how can brands strike a balance between long-term brand building and short-term growth demands? Furthermore, how can they seize opportunities for international brand development?

Sam, the Executive Creative Director of FutureBrand China, who has worked on visual strategies for diverse brands across multiple industries including Atlantis Hotels, Nestlé, Budweiser, Alibaba, and Carino, will provide forward-looking insights.

Global brand design expert Simon Collins, former Creative Director for world-leading brands such as Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Zegna, as well as former Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design, has helped transform the once-obscure design school into a global superbrand, collaborating with luxury conglomerates like Kering Group and LVMH. Currently based in Shanghai, he serves as the CCO of Design Innovation Institute Shanghai.

When discussing the topic of Chinese brands "going global", Collins, who has collaborated with numerous international and local fashion brands, remarked: Some local designers always hope that international consumers can perceive Chinese culture or elements through their designs; ironically, these local designers themselves rarely, if ever, wear those designs, yet they hope foreign consumers will choose them.

- Do Chinese brands have to involve "Chinese culture / elements" when going global?

- What insights can Chinese brands glean from internationally successful brands?

Collins will further elaborate on these questions and share his perspectives. We have extended the Q&A session to half an hour after the speech. Feel free to bring your questions for discussion!

Founding Prompt Design, the Thai design studio that has garnered over 200 international design awards within just 17 years, and making it the most decorated in Thailand. Renowned Thai designer Somchana Kangwarnjit, who has served over 300 clients including Nestlé, Tyson, Dole, and Meiji, will share invaluable insights on food and beverage brand expansion into the Southeast Asian market!

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

- Should designs adapt to local customs or maintain their "original flavor"?

- What restrictions does the Thai market impose on packaging design?

- What regulatory considerations should be observed in packaging copywriting?

Join us for a wealth of knowledge on these and more topics!

Think Global, Act Local. Different cultural practices and packaging regulations around the world pose challenges for global packaging compliance. In December 2023, the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court of Thailand ruled against China's Luckin Coffee in a trademark infringement case against Thailand's Royal 50R Group. For many brands, failing to plan trademark strategies in advance and understand local intellectual property laws can lead to unexpected difficulties.

Furthermore, due to the unique nature of food products, different countries have more detailed regulations for labels and packaging across various categories, including requirements for font size and the placement of information on labels.

Packaging compliance is the foundation for the normal sale of products. How can we 'dance with shackles on,' adhering to compliance while using excellent packaging design to connect with local consumers?

Behaviorally, one of the most renowned consumer behavior research institutions in US, has amassed the world's largest consumer behavior database (exceeding 60 million behavioral data) in its 52 years of operation. They have customized over 160,000 simulated shelves for clients and facilitated the successful launch of 80,000+ packages.

Behaviorally asserts that marketing's moment of truth is when a purchase transaction takes place. The first touchpoint of consumer goods - packaging - has a significant impact on shopper behavior. With the aim of improving sales conversion, they have condensed their professional practice into the 4S framework: Seen, Shoppable, Seductive, and Selected, to assess whether a package can "win on the shelf."

For consumer brands, today's shelf concept encompasses both offline retail shelves and online "shelves" - e-commerce platforms. These platforms present significantly different business challenges for brands. This workshop will take you through both offline and online shelves, analyzing successful packaging design cases using the 4S framework. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to experience eye-tracking technology firsthand and receive on-the-spot evaluations of their packaging designs using Behaviorally's latest AI tools.

Target audience: Consumer product brands, retail private label owners, etc.

From theory to practice, join us live to experience real shelves and eye-tracking technology firsthand! We'll help you decipher product competition on real shelves and analyze what packaging designs can stand out on the shelves.

In the online e-commerce environment, consumer behavior pathways differ from those in offline shopping. Should the product header image feature the packaging or the product itself? How should the product detail page be arranged for effective communication?

Behaviorally can conduct targeted AI model training based on different product categories and market data by summarizing consumer behavior patterns. We welcome you to bring your new product packaging to generate a Pack AI scorecard on-site!

Over her 16-year career in design, the red-haired dynamo, Chloe Templeman, has rapidly gained widespread influence within the industry through her dedication and sincerity. Her exceptional collaborations with high-profile clients such as Fortnum & Mason, Diageo, Unilever, Callaly, and Sacha Lichine have resulted in numerous internationally acclaimed design works. Chloe is also committed to giving back to the community, actively mentoring the next generation as a tutor for D&AD SHIFT and co-chairing the Pentawards.

In our current era of "collapsing" digital conventions, the pursuit of authenticity represents a fundamental human instinct. In her presentation, Chloe will discuss how brands can create authentic experiences that resonate deeply with contemporary audiences. Through a series of case studies, she will reveal strategies for forging impactful, genuine interactions in an increasingly homogenized digital landscape.

Typography is a critical element in visual communication. From sleek, modern sans-serif fonts to elegant, classical serif fonts, each typeface can evoke a unique emotional resonance in viewers. Nowadays, to invoke a sense of brand exclusivity in people's minds, more and more leading brands are opting to create custom fonts.

FounderType is the world's largest provider of Chinese typeface products, offering over 3,000 Chinese font styles. In recent years, FounderType has customized exclusive brand fonts for notable companies such as Coca-Cola, Alibaba, JD.com, HEYTEA, and Meituan. In this presentation, FounderType will share the stories behind these brand font customizations, discussing how brands cleverly use typeface design to establish deep emotional connections with consumers, and will present the latest trends and insights in font design.

Delicate chocolate squares are gently stacked on the soft, cloud-like snow, with the words "Melts in your mouth like snow..." and the golden "Meltykiss" logo, the packaging design of "Snow Kiss" chocolates exudes the dreamy, romantic aura of a teenage girl's story, just like the brand's promotional video.

In her nearly 30-year design career, designer Hiroko Ogawa, who has collaborated with brands such as Meiji, Tsujiri, and Suntory, has always insisted on crafting packaging that conveys emotions with softness and delicacy. She constantly ponders: How can audiences understand the "abstract" concept of experiential design?

"I believe that the result of products bringing people beautiful experiences is that even when the product is not visible, memories of the product and its deliciousness can still float in people's minds... Therefore, I'd like to invite everyone to play a little game about memories."

In Ogawa's carefully designed experiential workshop, participants are encouraged to bring their notebooks and pens. She will conduct a live comparison of snack packaging designs from China and Japan, highlighting specific areas where these designs could be enhanced.

Under the Suntory umbrella, BOSS Coffee features its iconic "Man Smoking a Pipe" logo. It was created by Suntory's Creative Director, Hiroyuki Ishiura. It is his profound insights into users that are behind his outstanding design. As a result of its continuous resonance with users' emotions, the BOSS coffee brand continues to evolve and grow, and now it boasts over 30 years of history. In 2022, BOSS's annual sales volume surpassed 100 million cases, making it one of the most renowned beverage brands in Japan.

In a short span of five years, Auge Design, an Italian design agency, achieved the remarkable feat of winning the prestigious Pentawards Diamond Award twice! When Auge was founded seven years ago, Creative Partner Davide Mosconi, primarily serving fashion and art brands, had never designed packaging before. Yet, he boldly accepted the challenging goal set by founder Giorgio Natale to become "Italy's premier packaging design agency."

"Why not?" he said.

Auge embarked on a journey of bold innovation, exploring the artistic sensibility of consumer product packaging design, and creating enduring brands of deliciousness. In 2023, Auge revitalized the brand and packaging of two global classics under the Bahlsen Group, "Pick Up" and "Leibniz," earning numerous international accolades.

What does "healthy" mean? Is it about a cleaner label? More eco-friendly? Or adding functional ingredients?

Danish design company EVERLAND has not only refreshed brands like Mizone, including its zero-sugar series, and become a design partner of Carlsberg since 2003, designing the packaging for 100+ products in its brand family, but also helped the emerging French plant-based meat brand La Vie achieve the top SKU sales within 18 months of launch. Chief Strategy Officer Christian will analyze the multiple pathways to becoming a "healthy" brand and their respective design strategies.

Fumi Sasada boasts nearly 50 years of design experience. At the age of 40, he served as the representative of Landor Associates in Japan; At 44, he founded Bravis (the name is a combination of Brand and Visual). At 54, he became the then President of the Japan Package Design Association; At 59, he published "CIKTMUPS: All About Package Design Goes on Sale". He has served various well-known brands, including Meiji, Kagome, Asahi, and Calbee. In this session, he will share insights into the packaging and market trends of health and functional food and beverages in Japan.

AB InBev links Corona with the dining scenario through limes. Oatly puts oat milk on a fast track by leveraging tea and coffee in China. Wusu and Hope Water builds up the momentum next to hotpots. Alienergy and Bu Shui La compete for sponsorship at ball sports and e-sports games. Clif Bar & Company, an American company for energy foods and drinks, connects with outdoor enthusiasts with the line "Keep Up with Season".

Specific scenarios contain endless opportunities for products and businesses. One may catch a big "fish" with solid work done in small "pools".

Domestic sports enthusiasts exceeded 600 million people, and sports nutrition is growing at a rate of nearly 20% per year! Aiming at the "sports scene", M-ACTION firstly solves the major pain point of traditional protein powder, which is difficult to find water and brew. It develops a variety of different professional products based on the people with different exercise intensity, such as high-intensity "practitioners" and medium-intensity "fat loss and shaping crowd". So how does M-ACTION, which has filled the gap in China's sports nutrition market, achieve "a thousand faces for a thousand people"?

Ylswan, a dark horse in the egg industry, surged to a sales figure of 1.8 billion within just a few short years! It has ranked as the top-selling high-quality egg brand nationwide for 3 consecutive years! Amidst a market with diverse products but lacking distinct brands, Ylswan took the lead in standardizing non-standard agricultural products, precisely targeting demographics, and crafting consumption scenarios, thus achieving both brand success and sales breakthroughs. So, how exactly did these small eggs manage to win over consumers' hearts

If you live in a first- or second-tier city, you might not be familiar with Tianlala. Yet, it has silently "branched out" across county towns, townships, and schools, opening 7,000 stores in a decade. This number even surpasses McDonald's 6,657 stores (as of February 2024). How has Tianlala managed to expand so rapidly in lower-tier markets? What patterns have be identified in these markets, and what "battle-tested" experiences can be shared?

Currently, the only domestic energy drink brand with a revenue exceeding ten billion yuan - Eastroc Energy Drink, achieved a revenue of 10.3 billion yuan in 2023! In addition, the revenues of other growth brands like Eastroc Daka and Eastroc Bushuila reached 914 million yuan, marking a staggering year-on-year growth of 186.65%, demonstrating remarkable vitality!

Such remarkable performance not only reflects consumers' choices, but also embodies Eastroc 's successful brand strategy! So, what exactly has Eastroc done in terms of brand strategy to resonate so deeply with consumers?

Social media age, potential crisis is everywhere, especially in the food industry! Facing issues such as food safety, product recalls, environmental concerns, and fraud, turning "crisis" into "opportunity" becomes a core challenge for businesses.

Even when a business operates smoothly, the moment a crisis strikes, a comprehensive crisis management plan becomes a "must-have" to safeguard the company's reputation.

Effective crisis management can enhance trust, as demonstrated by Starbucks and Haidilao; on the other hand, inaction or incorrect actions may lead to loss of trust and even a decrease in market share.

So:

- How to carry out systematic and professional crisis communications plan before, during, and after a crisis to eliminate risks at the "pre-disease" stage;

- How to timely issue warnings during sudden negative public opinion, develop emergency response plans, and execute precise tactics and communication strategies.

In the 2019 "Fortune Global 500" rankings, the United States occupies 208 seats, while China has only 40 brands selected, none of which made it to the top ten. Brands should not be a weakness in China's international economic and cultural exchanges, and companies should not merely focus on short-term efficiency gains in the "fog" .

FBIF have invited Professor Jan-Benedict Steenkamp,  the Massey distinguished professor of marketing and leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as an author  of the critically acclaimed book Brand Breakout: How Emerging Markets Brands Will Go Global (also published in Chinese) and one of the  only three scholars to receive the highest lifetime achievement awards from both the American and European Marketing Associations. He is also a fellow at Fudan University,  and  Chairman International Board of Experts, Institute for Nation(al) Branding, Shanghai. He will personally guide you from brand construction to market expansion, showing you how to position your brand in China and embark on a global journey. Don't miss out on this two-hour workshop!

Today, consumers have diverse needs for similar products in different contexts. Building upon this, instant retail has further optimized the "thousand faces, thousand scenarios" marketing strategy in e-commerce, implementing refined operations to directly showcase products in various usage scenarios. As an industry leader, Meituan Instashopping has deeply collaborated with multiple top brands to jointly explore and implement this concept. Faced with the challenge of "thousand faces, thousand scenarios," what scientific and precise strategies should brands adopt to meet the diverse needs of consumers?

In today's market, creating new products is crucial yet filled with challenges, as seen with the continuously popular and timely sugar-free tea niche. How can we lock in the correct R&D direction from the start? Without sufficient data in the early stages, how can we validate the true effectiveness of a new product? Once the product is on the market and in the operational phase, how can we effectively extend its lifecycle? These stages are interlinked, each is critical and not to be overlooked.

How then should we precisely execute each phase? And how can AI technology help enhance efficiency?

Lao Xue (Snow Beer Classic), a rising star under China Resources, achieved double-digit year-on-year growth in product sales in 2023!

In 2022, Laoxue had been viewed 1.13 billion times on Douyin thanks to the "Laoxue Challenge". The product exploded for the first time beyond its regular consumers.

In 2023, Laoxue joins hands with 70+ high-traffic restaurants to celebrate the Crayfish Festival in Wuhan, also known as a river town. A Laoxue+Crayfish template model has been built and reproduced in Shanghai, Jinan, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, and more cities.

Registering a much higher ecommerce growth rate than other beer brands and mobilizing the heavy offline channels, what has made Laoxue so successful?

With a limited budget, how to optimally allocate to various products? How to maximise the use of budget for various products to achieve "stable first place for mature products and rush to first place for potential products"?

Swisse used the Xiaohongshu to achieve a 166% year-on-year increase in sales of the mature product "K2 Calcium", and the efficacy of the potential product has become a hotly debated keyword. During the period of 618, the GMV even topped the TOP 1 of the e-commerce platform in the healthcare industry. So how exactly does Swisse tailor-make its products to achieve a differentiated product?

Thai advertisements are a unique presence in the industry—what you can't imagine, Thai ads can achieve. While this may sound like a joke, you can always trust Thai ads! They'll make you "guess the beginning of the story but never the end." After watching, you'll find yourself savoring every moment, wanting more...

In one commercial, a Thai girl, desperate to make friends at her new school, tries various methods learned from her friend but fails until she discovers an app. Within three hours, the video hits a million views, and the app's downloads soar by 28% in just one day!

So where does the magic of Thai ads come from? And what lessons can we learn from them?

(Resource: WPP website)

At the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Heineken emerged as the MOST awarded alcoholic beverage brand and made it to the TOP "Creative Brand of the Year" in 2023! Meanwhile, its global creative agency, Le Pub, also awarded 3rd for "Agency of the Year" at the same festival!

As the saying goes, "The hardest thing to earn is the human heart." So, how does Le Pub touch hearts with its "tradition-breaking" creativity?

FIVE exquisite case studies, 80 minutes, bringing you a "feast" of new creative experiences!

* This session is conducted in English. For your convenience in participating in live interaction, please pick up simultaneous interpretation headphones in advance.

* Engage in on-site interaction and win Heineken.

(Resource: Le Pub website)

When it comes to brands that play especially well with young people, Weilong deserves the honour! A small spicy snack can not only conquer your taste buds, but also win over your heart through creative cases! Weilong XBag received 200 million views. The "I quit" marketing by Weilong at the Double Eleven big sale hit 50 million views. The 'Dragon King' short video for the 2024 Spring Festival Gala achieved over 300 million exposures and 20 million views. So what exactly makes Weilong's creativity go viral across the internet?

(Resource: Weilong WeChat Official Account)

Year 2021 saw lemon prevail tea drinks. At certain points of time lemon-based drinks fueled 400% growth by sold units and revenue. Lemon Republic, Ningji Tea, LINLEE ... challenger start-ups swiftly seized the opportunity and rode the waves of consumers craving for a new category. With some giants joining the game—Coca-Cola, Nongfu Spring, Xiang Piao Piao—the "second growth curve" is taking shape.

Grabbing a trend is grabbing an opportunity of building a new business. What is the next big thing? What could be the next "lemon" for the food and beverages sector?

CAT FOUR COFFEE positioned itself as Yunnan local coffee, then become the first brewing coffee brand in the TikTok E-commerce platform. KaiCha, with its experience as a digital products distributor, decided to launch its first unsweetened tea drink fully offline. Now it ranks 8th in the market share of China's unsweetened tea. JiǎnFǎ Wheat selects the alkaline bread category and sold 300 million yuan in 2023, making it a dark horse brand for annual growth marked by Oceanengine

What are the learnings from their alternative approaches? How to find the market zero as efficiently as they did?

How can a challenger brand wedge into a market that is walled by giants? Starting a business to break through in the rice market seems impossible?

Shiyue Daotian, meaning October rice, is a staple food producer that made over RMB 4.5 billion revenue and went listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2023. It has successfully transformed the old rice business with clear focus on e-commerce and new-retail supermarkets and by tapping into Internet thinking and digital technology.

Running a bakery chain is an "attractive" business, but surviving amidst intense competition and uncertainty requires entrepreneurs to resist the temptation of rapid expansion. In the heavily reshuffled baking market, Babatang focuses on the "handmade toast" category, rooted in the continuous optimization of supply chain, product quality, and store operation efficiency. This strategy has led to the opening of stores in 182 cities, secured financing worth hundreds of millions, and achieved revenues exceeding 600 million yuan.

FBIF invited Cao Guoliang, founder of Babatang to share: How did the steadily growing Babatang pave a unique path of counter-trend expansion that is difficult to replicate?

What kinds of businesses are global entrepreneurs running now? How do their products break through technological, market or regulatory constraints and lead the trends in the field of food and beverage?

FBIF invite entrepreneurs with different backgrounds to present their impressive breakthrough cases.

The success of entrepreneurial projects can not be separated from the discovery and support of investors.

What are the potential "good ideas" that investors are looking for? How do investors incubate them to the center of attention In different market contexts?

Starting a business requires a good idea, a coordinated team, a tight plan and enough start-up capital. What's more, it requires optimism and an indomitable heart to face the possibility of failure.

Challenge has no border. Global entrepreneurs come together to talk about their startup stories.

When investors regain calmness, the hype around new consumption subsides and startups move back to the fundamentals of business. What are the fundamentals of business? Make products that consumers need, build solid and robust supply chains, grow, and improve distribution networks, and stay motivated and self-reliant. 

Is the New onsumer model defined by "asset-light + heavy operation"? A light frontend and robust Backend might be the key to navigating the era of cost-effectiveness.

Focus on One Dog Doge, the Shumai Brand with manufacturing-distribution-retail integration. Facing the challenge of formulas leaked and white-label competition, One Dog Doge chose to construct their own factory at any cost. Now it has surpassed 200 million yuan in sales and become the top1 in the Shumai sub-category on Tmall for 2023. Even if the cost is huge, why did they choose to build their own factory?

E-commerce, streaming, supermarket, oversea market... Behind the rise of every new brand, there is always an channel it specializes in. However, with increasing traffic costs, fierce competition and slowing growth, new consumer brands cannot survive on a single sales channel.

As the dividend from individual channels fades, how can new consumer brands, forced to step out of their 'comfort zones', make holistic considerations?

Man proposes, God disposes. Finding the product that is "meant" to rock is the first step of creating "the next big thing." 

Founded less than two years,  Yikeda™ has become the TOP1 in the tomato category on Tmall with 40+% repurchase rate and 60+% market share for cherry tomatoes. Relying on intelligent agricultural production system and the establishment of stringent fruit grading standards, Yikeda™ has successfully branded tomato products and redefined the category.

In 2020, Gebiliunainai's limited edition buffalo milk was launched, with 10,000 boxes selling out within 24 hours during the pre-sale;

From 2021 to 2022, Neighbor Liu's cumulative sales scale increased tenfold year-on-year;

In 2022, sales tripled compared to the previous year, and the newly launched "Buffalo Formula Mini Pure Milk" also became a best-seller.

Starting from scratch to develop the buffalo milk formula, how did Gebiliunainai, through consumer insights based on human nature, over 1,800 days of extensive research and development, and an extreme pursuit of user experience, establish a competitive edge in the highly concentrated dairy market?

A high-performing startup team may struggle to adapt during a transition phase: any turbulence can amplify existing organizational issues, making the transition even more challenging and exacerbating existing problems. On the other hand, a resilient organization is able to swiftly and agilely pivot amid uncertainties and risks, helping businesses survive cycles.

FBIF invites Freeman Xu, the Partner of Coostrategy with more than two decades of HR experience in multinational companies and local Internet startups. Join us and clear your doubts through talks with him.

Once involved in the "price war", entrepreneurs have to compromise their product quality, even selling at a loss, ultimately leading to a lose-lose situation. However, the frozen food brand Royal Xiao Hu has successfully navigated this challenge by completing a virtuous cycle: identifying user needs to boost sales - scaling orders to reduce costs - offering high quality and low price to enhance repurchase rates. Now Royal Xiao Hu has achieved sales exceeding 1 billion and secured the top spot for grilled sausage sales across the entire platform in just two years.

How can Royal Xiao Hu, committed to "value productism", further elevate its repurchase rate and win by efficiency?

Can't make sales without generating traffic? Can't survive without offering steep discounts? Wang Yumeng and Chabiubiu's "troubleshooting" experiences, with a combined total of over 160,000 views, have struck a chord with new consumer entrepreneurs. 

Why did she choose to speak out? What is the original leaf tea brand Chabiubiu still committed to, six months after its explosive popularity?

In 2021, Songxianxian was swept up in the influencer live-streaming trend and was forced into the spotlight due to an streaming incident. By 2023, Songxianxian had achieved profitability for two consecutive years, with a year-on-year growth of 300%. Its user base exceeded ten million, ranking first in the seasoning category on Tik Tok, and in the chicken essence categories on Tmall and JD.

Once a company falls into difficulty, reversing the situation can be extremely challenging. How did Songxianxian manage to turn losses into profits and become a leading brand in the healthy seasoning industry?

From its inception, ELECTRO X decided to cater to the "sports crowd" market. They concentrated their resources where this demographic is prevalent: focusing on first-tier and new first-tier cities with a high concentration of sports enthusiasts, entering premium supermarkets and convenience stores, partnering with gyms, sports centers, five-star hotels, sports brands and professional events, and integrating into the lifestyle of sports enthusiasts. In less than three years since its founding, ELECTRO X has completed three rounds of financing, achieving monthly sales in the millions and experiencing rapid growth in the crowded beverage market.

FBIF invited Li Yu, founder of ELECTRO X, to discuss how a startup with limited resources concentrate on a core positioning and achieve growth through "focus."

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool that goes beyond eye-catching marketing campaigns. It drives organizational transformation, reshaping how businesses operate. As business leaders, we face challenges: bridging skills gaps, ensuring AI enhances efficiency rather than replaces it, and looking beyond short-term ROI. Remember, AI provides the flight path, but you are the pilot.

Generative AI is spearheading a revolution, bringing a world of new possibilities to creative work.

In Laia's eyes, generative AI tools are her ultimate creative partner, capable of sparking endless inspiration. They can generate visual concepts and copy, analyze market data, and uncover the best design strategies. But Laia doesn’t just believe in this – she practices it! As a generative AI consultant, she uses AI tools to carry out advertising creativity, packaging design, product graphics for many brands such as Coca-Cola, creating works that perfectly combine art and commerce. Laia has won over 40 international awards, including the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

AI comes with its own set of challenges, particularly in the realm of legal and ethical considerations. For instance, will an AI-driven personalized marketing campaign inadvertently perpetuate bias or exploit consumer privacy? Will AI-generated creative content arouse copyright concerns? How shall we consider proper transparency and accountability for AI-driven decisions? Experts from different walks of life will be invited for a panel discussion on these questions.

Forget endless tinkering and trial-and-error! AI is poised to revolutionize the world of flavor innovation, putting the combined expertise of a thousand data analysts in your pocket. Backed by 1.5 billion flavor profiles across 38 markets in the globe, Gastrograph AI is able to analyze taste profiles, ingredient combinations, and cultural trends at a pace beyond imagination to suggest flavor pairings you never thought possible and predict the next breakout hit - push the boundaries of what's considered "delicious".

The days of one-size-fits-all marketing are fading faster than a fleeting trend. In today's hyper-connected world, consumers demand personalized experiences that resonate with their individual needs and desires. This is where Next-Gen MarTech steps in, no longer just about demographics, but with the power of AI and big data analytics, deep dives into individual preferences, buying habits, and even emotional triggers.

Your shopping experience will be totally refreshed when you have an AI assistant on your shopping cart! It suggests items you regularly buy, reminding you of forgotten staples and highlighting new products based on your dietary preferences. It uses smart maps and real-time inventory data to guide you efficiently through the store, highlighting the location of your desired items. When you're ready to checkout, simply scan your items directly on the cart, eliminating the need for cashiers and speeding up the entire process. 

In 2023, China's livestream e-commerce market reached a staggering 4.9 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year growth of 35.2%. While livestream shopping has brought significant growth to brands, it often entails high costs. From setting up live studios and navigating rules and processes to training and managing hosts, substantial human and resource investments are required. Now, AI digital humans are disrupting this traditional model: AI digital humans can conduct livestreams around the clock, provide precise product recommendations, and personalize suggestions. Additionally, they are highly customizable, allowing brands to tailor their appearance and style to maintain consistent brand identity.

With the democratic power of AI, hackathons no longer serve developers alone. Imagine transforming a simple text description into a breathtaking graphic design, or weaving emotions and sounds into captivating videos. The GenAI-driven text-to-image models, as well as audio and video tools, have opened the gate to this magical world, letting your storytelling abilities reach new heights.

A lot of cutting-edge food technologies are rising, from precision fermentation to vertical farming, from AI-powered recipe creation to hyper-personalized dietary analysis - these can all be game-changers that will redefine the industry. With the wave of the technological revolution upon us, food companies face the crucial question: how to navigate through these advancements? FoodLab, successfully investing in Meatable, Infinite Roots, and Formo, Europe's fast-growing food-tech companies, is poised to unveil the most promising technologies in the food industry.

Food from CO2? Austrian biotech scaleup, Arkeon, tackles greenhouse gas emissions by converting carbon dioxide into essential protein ingredients through gas fermentation. The company produces all 20 amino acids directly from archaea microbes, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen — without agricultural inputs. This groundbreaking technology not only reduces heavy industry's environmental footprint via onsite carbon capture and utilization, but also promises a sustainable and cost-effective approach to food production.

Have you ever wondered if there could be a protein derived from mushroom roots (mycelium) underground with a natural "meat-like" structure and eco-friendly? With fermentation techniques, biotech company Infinite Roots creates mycelium protein that rivals animal protein in terms of nutrition, flavor, and texture. It uses minimal land, and water, producing 110x faster than traditional agriculture, cutting carbon footprint.

A decade ago, did you ever imagine that today sugar-free beverages would become the new favorite? Did you consider the possibility that snacks high in oil and sugar would be facing competition from functional snacks? Consumer demands are evolving at an increasingly rapid pace, and having foresight is the key to gaining a competitive edge. With big data and AI, Givaudan utilizes the Customer Foresight platform to decipher the "code" of change, foresee industry opportunities in the future, and tailor forward-looking development strategies for businesses.

Imagine you are savouring a piece of delicious, nutritious meat, but it has come from a laboratory "petri dish". Food tech is transforming unattainable science fiction concepts into table fare. How do we realise the commercial potential of new technologies and take them from the lab to the table of millions of families?

As the largest beer brewer in Asia, how does AB InBev brew a sustainable future? AB InBev utilizes innovative energy-saving technologies to reduce water usage in beer brewing to one-third of the industry average. But that's not all! The greatness of a company lies not only in excelling itself but also in emphasizing "value co-creation". AB InBev assists suppliers in establishing carbon emission benchmarks, spreading the concept of sustainable development across every production stage.

Plastic is widely used in food industry: plastic bags, beverage bottles, packaging boxes, cling film...What's troubling is that plastic is difficult to degrade, leading to an increasingly severe problem of "white pollution." Now, with the revolutionary technology of "photodegradation degradation," there's no need for high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, nor for sorting and cleaning. Discarded plastic can easily degrade, while also producing byproducts for manufacturing new plastics. In Hainan, this technology is transitioning from the laboratory to comprehensive industrialization.

Unlike biomass materials from land, seaweed can be easily grown on a small scale and harvested quickly. Notpla has developed edible, biodegradable packaging derived from seaweed, which can be used as a direct replacement for common plastic cups and small sauce packets, or can be made into an outer coating of film or cardboard for a variety of food packaging.

From strategic planning to practical execution, Microsoft leverages AI for cross-industry innovation in sustainable development, aiding diverse sectors in overcoming challenges associated with sustainable practices. With the assistance of AI, businesses will find tasks such as understanding ESG principles, drafting ESG reports, and conducting carbon emission calculations to be significantly more efficient.

Technology will surely provide a solution to environmental problems such as carbon emissions and plastic pollution. What are the challenges to sustainability in business practice? What solutions does technology bring? Taking a look around the world, what advanced sustainable business models are worth learning from?

The total retail sales stood at RMB 34.2 trillion from Q1 to Q3 2023, up by 6.8%. Resilience, recovery, and hope are on the way. However, we must not ignore the fact that only 50% of consumers are pleased with their financial status. The confidence of consumers in different income bands, according to a report by BCG, could further diverge. Affluent consumers are more willing to spend, while the middle class, as the mainstream spenders, is stressed. Against this backdrop, product-ism and cost performance are making a comeback. We are going to discuss:

—What signals are indicated by the macro economy as to consumption trends in the future?

—What are the characteristics of categories for which consumers show a stronger willingness of purchase?

—What more is expected by consumers of brands and products?

The "giant" has global ambitions, but "going global" means new challenges: dietary differences require new product development, cross-border management lengthens the decision-making chain, and consumers prefer local marketing activities. ......

None of this is difficult for Nestlé. With more than 30 years of presence in China, Nestlé has established 22 factories, three R&D centers and five innovation centers, and is moving more quickly to localize its innovations. The next step in globalisation is "multilocalisation", and this is about to be realised by Nestlé.

Enterprises need to be rooted in the whole food industry chain to keep growth, which require them to innovate breakthroughs in upstream, midstream and downstream simultaneous. It is difficult, but these new brands build their own innovation system from raw materials cultivated to brand marketing, contributing to the stable industry with a new force.

Involution is a synonym of the Chinese market, with every growing segment overcrowded with brands. Category innovation is an indispensable approach to breaking out of the unproductive competition and finding new opportunities to expand the addressable market. We will start from brands that have successfully innovated categories and examine the enablers for category innovation. 

Explore the infinite possibilities of plant-based, from the warmth of oats to the richness of beans, from the diversity of grains to the purity of herbs, we invite you to an innovative journey about plant-based food and beverage.

Compared with the automobile or Internet industry, food and beverages seem less associated with technology. The truth is, however, that technologies, like digitalization, nano food, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, cell culture, precision fermentation, and synthetic biology have taken root in the food and beverages industry. The sector that answers people's desire to eat and drink is now going through tech-driven disruptions with efficiency evolutions happening along the value chain. 

In January, 4,588 new foreign-invested enterprises were set up nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 74.4 percent, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce in February. Behind the continued increase in foreign investment in "Invest in China" is the confidence in business growth. With market conditions changing rapidly and resilient growth on the horizon, what innovations are these giants in the food industry embarking on?

Freshippo kicked off a discount campaign in October 2023 with price competitiveness as the core goal. In the same month, 1688.com launched a section that was bluntly called Sam's Club Substitutes. Snacks bulk selling has become one of a few categories that have registered 10 times growth in the past couple of years. The downward trend in price without comprising quality is gaining momentum, playing right into the short-of-cash status among consumers. What does it mean to brands? How can brands achieve win-win results with channels when users are owned by platforms?

Yeast proteins are a sustainable alternative protein of microbial origin after addressing the global shortage of high-quality proteins with plant-based and insect proteins. We will walk you through innovative applications and development trends of yeast proteins as a food ingredient.

Synthetic biology injects endless momentum into the upstream innovations for functional foods. How will this technology drive functional foods to evolve? What are the recipes for developing efficient and sustainable food ingredients, like synthetic breastmilk, sustainable alternative proteins, and novel sugar substitutes?

Addressing the international market is both an opportunity and a must-do for many companies, given increasingly fierce competition. Functional gummies are no exception. What are the ways for brands to efficiently build brand awareness? What do they need to know about branding and cultural communication?

The silver economy has grown to a size that no one can afford ignoring. This consumer group exhibit a strong demand of nutrition and staying healthy, resulting in great market potential for functional foods for the middle-aged and elderly population.

What makes a product go viral is more than the product itself. There is a systemic methodology from marketing to channels at work, a.k.a., maneuvers. No product goes viral by chance. Viral success only comes from active and total planning from concepts to market popularity.

Once approved in China, HMOs (human milk oligosaccharides) have been quickly adopted in infant formulas by milk brands as a new star ingredient. The new functional ingredient has won tremendous attention thanks to its unique nutritional benefits. How will HMOs shape applications and trends in the infant nutrition market?

Consumers’ enthusiasm towards food-is-medicine products has lifted this market into fast growth. Snacks, like gummies, and tea drinks that contain ingredients of medicinal benefits keep emerging. Where does the market stand now, and how much potential does it hold for the future?

Functional foods are clearly the “next big thing” of the food and beverage industry in China. Its high growth speed has attracted many players to invest and deploy. Yes, there is a vast sea to swim for upstream raw material suppliers and processors, as well as midstream manufacturers and consumer brands!

The food and beverage manufacturing industry in China has been growing steadily, despite challenges resulted from cost spikes. Efficiency-boosting solutions are thus necessitated. Manufacturers press forward with digital transition to shift manufacturing processes from “traditional” to “smart”. How will digital and AI solutions empower manufacturers to cope with cost pressure and boost efficiency? How can competitiveness be built?

Probiotics is accelerating as gut health moves under the market spotlight, with brands adding the probiotic category to their portfolios. In an upgraded packaging solution, WonderLab has successfully addressed the pain point of probiotic foods with bottled probiotics. 

The measures to quantify and improve ROI of digital marketing, including advertising and social media tactics, are explored in this part. We will examine the key strategies to accurately evaluating and optimizing marketing investment in the digital era through case studies and data-driven analytics.