This may be the best era in the consumer market and the worst era. The strong purchasing power shown by Chinese consumers has excited the entire consumer market - big brands have accelerated the speed of products and new iterations, and you can see the appearance of new products on convenience stores and supermarket shelves soon; various retail forms emerge, from technology-led retail forms to various well-designed Internet celebrity stores; not to mention cross-border products that constantly create surprise moments, allowing picky young people to spend hours queuing up to buy.
But in such an environment, the challenge of retaining a consumer is extremely huge. Just as the birth of the Internet shattered consumers' attention, the lively consumer goods market made consumers' "chasing for freshness" more prominent. In other words, it is difficult for consumers to develop brand loyalty today because every brand tries every way to attract them. The same is true for the baking industry. According to data from market research company Euromonitor Consulting, China's bakery industry experienced rapid growth from 2013 to 2017, with an annual compound growth rate of 13%. It is estimated that by 2022, the market size of the entire industry will double to 362.5 billion yuan. The broad market space has led to many new entrants in this industry, and even some tea brands have begun to sell baking products.
However, maybe you have observed that it will always be lively in 85 degrees C near the community or office building. Students who order a drink after school to do their homework together, white-collar workers in the company preparing for tomorrow's breakfast, and young people attracted by internet celebrity pastry, have allowed this baking brand that has entered the mainland Chinese market for 15 years to maintain its position. 85 Degree C does not seem to have lost in the fiercely competitive baking market. Instead, in the commercial society that pursues traffic and popular products, it has become the existence you will always be familiar with with with its original intention and innovation. The secret behind
85 degrees C: "Five-star quality, affordable consumption"
PwC pointed out in the report "Development Trends and Successful Routes of the Baking Industry under Consumption Upgrade" that "baking + drinks" is in full swing, and the evolution direction is to create a compound experience space. The report said, "The newest bread and tea shop has driven the trend of "baking + drinks". This model has changed the consumption habit of consumers who only buy drinks or only bread, but has matched the two. This seemingly slight adjustment has brought a wave of transformation to the Chinese baking market and quickly attracted a group of new players to try to expand the world."
In fact, this is not an innovation of a rising star. When Wu Zhengxue , the founder of
85 Degrees C, opened its first store in Taipei City in 2004, it used "fresh toast + pastry + drinks" as its business model. In the early stages of entrepreneurship, 85°C beverages were mainly coffee, and those who are familiar with this brand know that their name is 85°C because when coffee is at 85°C, it can best show a balanced flavor of sweet, bitter, sour and mellow.
Wu Zhengxue’s original intention of founding 85 degrees C was to provide affordable consumption to the public with five-star quality. At the beginning, 85 degrees C used the best choice in materials, reducing costs through large-scale operations, allowing more consumers to reach high-quality baked products. For example, flour, cream, milk, etc. are strictly screened. For example, the raw materials of the Yangzhi nectar that consumers are looking forward to in summer are selected from Xiaotai Mang in Hainan and Guangxi. The secret recipe of this drink comes from the control of the ripening of mangoes, which makes the aroma of mangoes stronger and the taste is the best.
It may not be the best, but it must be the one that understands you the most
In 2007, 85 Degrees C came to Shanghai and established its first store on Weihai Road. In fact, for mainland Chinese consumers, baking consumption has been iterated several times. In the 1980s, most of the market was old-fashioned bread; in the 1990s, baked bread and pastry appeared in South China, and many chain baking brands were born during this period, which expanded rapidly across the country.
However, the arrival of 85 degrees C has allowed the entire baking industry to see more possibilities.
The business model of "freshly toasted bread + pastry + beverage" appeared in the mainland Chinese market for the first time - it broke through the original single retail of bakery stores, mainly based on factory distribution, proposed a new concept of "bake +" - and was proved by 85 degrees C. At the same time, 85 Degree C breaks the retail format of Chinese bakery stores mainly based on product display, providing space to sit down, allowing consumers to stay in the store and enjoy bread and drinks. Such innovations in business models and retail experiences are still affecting the Chinese baking industry.
85 Degree C became very popular in Shanghai, and then it took this as its foothold to develop stores across the country. Behind the expansion, 85 Degree C still adheres to the original intention of "five-star quality and affordable consumption".
In fact, it is not easy to insist on doing this. In addition to adhering to the business model and the original intention of entrepreneurship, we also need to strictly require the management of the supply chain, the quality of the baking team, and the control of food selection.
85 Degree C currently has more than 20,000 employees nationwide, including 2,292 professional bakers and 31,301 pastry chefs. They all went through strict training and assessment systems before taking up their jobs and were assigned to their stores. Although the baking process is difficult to quantify, after layers of assessment and screening, these bakers and pastry chefs can inject 85 degrees C into each product to the greatest extent, so that every customer who visits 85 degrees C can feel the connotation of "five-star quality and affordable consumption".
In addition, the 85 Degree C R&D team continues to maintain innovation and craftsmanship at the rate of 10 to 12 new products every month, presenting more delicious food to consumers. They are like 85 degrees C "designers", cleverly blending visual and taste inspiration into new products to present more possibilities for baking.
This ingenuity and strictness are also reflected in the crucial supply chain. The raw materials used in
85 degrees C are all high-quality and transparent - French T55 flour, COFCO edible oil, Dacheng flour, Anjia imported animal cream, Hormer and Weiquan dairy products and other high-quality raw materials, ensuring that every product of it can appear in the store with the best quality.
You may not know yet. In order to make every product provided by 85 Degree C meet the requirements of high quality, 85 Degree C has 8 factories nationwide. The largest central factory is located in Dianshan Lake, covering an area of 50,000 square meters and cost about 400 million yuan. With advanced equipment, superb technology, strict processes and stable cold chain distribution, the central factory covers stores across the country, ensures product quality with standardized production processes and protects food safety with its strength. In addition, 85 Degree C strictly adheres to the principle of "making it on the same day, scrapping it immediately if you can't finish it, so that consumers can eat the freshest bread.
In the era of Internet celebrity stores and popular products iteration, everyone has their own preferences and taste rankings. But there is always a brand that silently provides you with the most familiar taste like the company around you. Behind this is the persistence of the craftsmen's original intention and the requirements of high quality. 85 degrees C is exactly like this, and it has fulfilled its original intention.
85 Degree C next step: craftsmanship and innovation
But in the Chinese market, just sticking to it is not enough. All the consumer brands here are using various innovative methods to cater to consumers' complex and unpredictable preferences. The trend of consumption upgrading is also gradually permeating the baking industry. When consumers buy a bread or pastry, they buy not only the taste, but the experience of every link.
In July this year, 85 Degree C's "3.0 store" was unveiled at the Guangyuan store in , Xuhui District, Shanghai . There are more optimizations in the space design. The dining area combines Japanese aesthetic Nordic design and matches color lighting to provide a more comfortable dining experience. The display method of products has also changed, using gentler and brighter light to present the best condition of each product. Not only that, the new generation of stores are also trialing the facial recognition payment function to make the shopping experience smoother. The cake fresh delivery home service mini program that cooperates with SF Express is also newly launched, so you can enjoy fresh cakes from 85 degrees C without going out.
In fact, 85 Degree C has undergone three store iterations.From the "take-out" service in 1.0 stores, to the "third space" of leisure afternoon tea in 2.0 stores, to the upgraded consumption experience of "design aesthetics and smart life" in 3.0 stores, the 85-degree C store has witnessed the gradual change of consumption habits and aesthetics of modern consumers.
Of course, 85 degrees C also naturally understands that for young people, baking products have given more meaning. Like social currency, they are new things that young people like to upload to social networks to share with their friends. For baking brands, we need to break the rules from product name, appearance, materials to taste, etc., and capture young people's interest in new personalized things.
This summer, the snow ice cake, succulent cake cup and egg mousse cake launched by 85 Degree C have become the favorites on social networks. These products are 85 Degree C integrated the resources of the global R&D team, combining the characteristics of various regions, giving consumers a new taste bud and visual experience from appearance to taste.
has developed to this day, and 85 Degree C has exceeded 1,200 stores worldwide, with more than 600 stores in mainland China, including 129 in Shanghai. The grasp of quality and brand philosophy during expansion actually tests every retail brand in the Chinese market today.
85C can still maintain its own attitude in the wave of consumption generation after generation, which is certainly related to its adherence to the concept of "five-star quality and affordable consumption". But at the same time, it can continuously innovate in the complex and changing market competition to meet consumer demand.
The secret behind every product is that 85 Degree C has been able to let consumers see its sincerity in every product over the past 15 years, thus making 85 Degree C the most familiar taste bud companion in consumers' hearts.
