You're tuned in to Roundtable. I'm Steve Hatherly, together today with Niu Hong Lin and the new ambassador for trees and parks. the listeners of the pod and only the pod might not catch that i guess but if you're tuned into the radio you just heard that beautifully delivered message from You should.
Yes. Thank you. Very inspiring indeed. Coming up, forget fancy toppings, the real scoop on ice cream right now.
It's all about the price. quality showdown, walking that fine line between something that's affordable but still tastes amazing.
We've seen brands rise and fall as shoppers demand more bang for their buck.
So who's winning the frozen treat war and who is getting iced out?
After that, it's the happiest place on the airwaves, where we share the small bits of happiness from our recent lives.
Roundtable's Happy Place is on the way. Don't forget, you can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcasts.
And also don't forget that we love hearing from you too.
An email is wonderful, but the voice notes really warm our hearts.
So send those our way with your thoughts on any of the things that we talk about here on the show.
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Roundtable podcast at QQ.com. And now. Today we're going to discuss something that will take us back to our childhood.
It's universal, I think. It's ice cream.
And ice cream... is having a bit of a moment right now, but actually not in the way that you might think.
Here's what's going on. Consumers have decided to tighten their budgets and rethink indulgence. and the market, the ice cream market is undergoing a pretty significant shift Shoppers are now prioritizing products that strike that balance between quality and price.
It's an interesting trend, and I'm curious to find out what's driving it, this drive for simpler, more satisfying treats.
It's a battleground of price to quality.
And it's really challenging, I think, for brands to find that golden zone, that sweet spot, pun intended, I guess. that satisfies the ice cream lovers demands that it is summertime i'm the one who chose this topic for today by the way thought it's summertime.
Why are we not talking about ice cream at all?
Uh, you shouldn't get us into it a little bit.
How's the ice cream scene shaping up here in, uh, in China.
But why it is only about our childhood? It's a big part of my adulthood.
Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. So and also that is why it's so popular. in summer and we have been seeing so many and different trends in recent years.
Last year, I think we discussed it about it. how expensive these ice creams can be and we call them ice cream assassins and Oh, there's a term for it.
Yeah, we have a term for that. I'll explain it a little bit because At the moment, when you're like getting these ice creams, they don't have price tags in the fridge or on the fridge.
And then when you just get into the counter.
Yeah. You know the price and you feel like assassinated.
It's getting better this year, to be honest.
It's like a steak restaurant. You know, they don't order a steak.
If you don't see the price on the menu, don't order that steak. yeah and that is why I say there are there has been so many different trends now and this year the trends has been changing as well and from Like to show low sugar, low fat to functional ingredients like protein. probiotics and collagen and the plant-based bases like oatmeal, coconut oil, that kind of thing. now that is so popular is probably even accounting for twenty five percent of the market share now people are just in favor of these kind of like new materials in ice cream.
And also the consumption is surging this summer some ice cream such as just dreamed or popsicles jumped 167% month on month while These stick ice cream sales grew 127%.
That's why it's so interesting, because the market itself is growing, right?
And sales are booming. It's the summertime.
Everybody loves ice cream in the summertime.
And it's the same in the States, right? It's a $7 billion industry in America.
And that's even with the decline in consumption, because the same thing you mentioned, the different ingredients that you're finding in ice cream now, it's the same thing in the States and Canada.
There's a cutback on the sugary side of foods and the fatty side of foods, and we all know that ice cream isn't good.
I found this surprising. In 2023, the average American enjoyed 11.7 pounds of ice cream.
That's a lot, isn't it? That's about, what, five kilograms or so?
But that is down from the 16 pounds at the turn of the millennium.
And that is also the lowest number since record keeping started back in 1978.
I don't know why 1975, they started, we should start keeping records on ice cream consumption.
Anyway, so we're seeing a downward trend.
In a booming industry, but just a shift towards a different style.
A little bit. And here in China, like we mentioned earlier, this year, instead of looking at all the ice cream assessments, we are looking at a much reasonable price. price range of ice creams.
Data show that Chinese consumers buy ice cream in the three to five yuan range mostly, which is acceptable.
It's around 0.4 to 0.7 US dollars, not quite affordable.
And that is also my favorite range. Yeah, but that's like 70 cents American, so that's a pretty average price, I think.
Average price. And Yusheng has already mentioned low sugar and low fat.
And for me personally, I have bought a lot of my childhood foods. favorite type of ice cream, but they've switched the material to low sugar, low fat.
Meaning that you enjoy the same kind of flavor without the guilty feeling in your heart that you're hurting your body, which would lead to a next buy.
I mean... Returned customer. A returned customer.
Previously, maybe I have one ice cream every day.
Now I can have... Do you have an ice cream every day?
I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
Oh, that's with your 25 dumplings that you also eat every day.
40. 40. Yeah, right. Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?
Because... It's a product where you wouldn't necessarily expect a shift towards a healthy trend.
I mean, people kind of I mean, I would have thought people kind of accept the fact that ice cream isn't the healthiest thing on the planet for you.
But that's part of the reward mentally in a way that you know that you're being a little naughty with your diet.
But that's not really the story. We're not talking about changes in flavors.
We're talking about the shift from... the luxury priced ones and the cheaper ones, like the cheapest ones.
These are the two ends of the spectrum that are getting ignored now because...
Again, consumers are going for that middle zone.
But Yuxin, there was a time in China, even as recently as last year, you said, where these luxury ice creams, these expensive ones were kind of like I don't know.
Would you say they were kind of like a status symbol or is that too extreme?
Yeah, kind of. But it's not like a status symbol, but more of.
A novel thing to try. To put on social media with a selfie.
That's what I mean by status. And especially that you have like different or iconic shapes of these ice creams and you can buy them from the scenic spots.
I have to comment on this because this is something that maybe many of our Western listeners wouldn't be aware of.
I am so impressed by this. It seems like everywhere you go, they sell ice cream in the shape of the place that you're at.
Even our broadcast building sells microphone-shaped ice cream.
How can you say no to that? At the convenience store, you can't say no to that.
I can say no to that. I was at the Forbidden City, and it was so overpriced.
Can I say that to you? and I complain because the ice cream there is way too expensive, but it's also absolutely delicious. and you get to hold up your ice cream and take a picture of your Forbidden City ice cream at the Forbidden City.
That's money well spent, I think. And also in the fridge, you can buy average and cheaper ice cream.
You can choose those ones. It is your own choice to choose the Forbidden City type.
I know. And I came back to work and I was like, does everybody know about this?
Everybody was like, oh, yeah, we all know about that.
I thought it was breaking news. Yeah, it was kind of a trend back then.
A few years back, China's ice cream market went through a wave of... consumption upgrade and all of these brands and some of these brands are focusing on luxurious ice creams were popping up. and often with very, very expensive prices.
This brand called Chai Scream or Zhongxuegao, they usually like priced at almost 20 yuan, or some of them can be as expensive as 60 yuan.
That's about $9. $9. That's a lot. And also some ice cream.
That's for one ice cream bar. One ice cream bar.
$9. No way. Goodness me. And some of them can like collaborate with other luxurious brands, but not luxurious, but some...
Expensive brands. Yeah, like a cross collaboration.
Like the Baijiu brand Maotai themed ice cream can start it.
It can be priced at like also 60 yuan. That's also about like 8 to 9 US dollars.
And some limited edition... influencer favorite ice creams, including collaborations with luxury brands, even topped 100 yuan per piece.
And that is when, as you said, it is becoming kind of status.
That's like $17. Yeah. So the thing is, I, I think I kind of understand how people are being outrageous about the price tag.
But at the same time, isn't it the same logic behind the blind boxes, the so called consume for your emotional needs instead of for the product itself.
So I kind of understand both sides. Yeah.
And then, yeah, I mean, you've got your Western luxury brands of ice cream too, right?
Haagen-Dazs, we see that here in China, although.
Reportedly, they've closed a lot of stores over the past year.
They've been looking to bring customers in with very well-priced coffee, was in one report.
Um, you know, and that, that brand goes back to Haagen-Dazs.
Gosh, I think it was early 1960s when that started and then in, in the States and also Ben and Jerry's if you know that one that came in the 70s which is another kind of pricier kind of ice cream but We're seeing a shift now and people don't really want to spend that much on ice cream. anymore and I think it's because people now know that you can get a good quality ice cream for a much cheaper price that is the new uh sweet spot as you mentioned both It's a great pun, isn't it?
Yeah, luxury options and the very, very cheap ones. are losing ground and the industry itself is growing into a kind of bomb range of mid-price ice creams that balance quality and value offering a satisfying experience without breaking the bank.
You know, also expensive Instagrammable ice creams often turn out to be short-lived trends riding on temporary social media buzz rather than just long-term consumer demand.
And mainly people are more focusing on the taste, but not the price because That is the core of the ice cream.
Absolutely. We're seeing a shift, too, in flavors.
Functional ice cream. Mm-hmm. I don't even like putting those two words next to each other.
Functional ice cream. But yeah... I mean, that's kind of a trend, right?
Even in like bubble tea industries. Even though we know that it's not that healthy kind of beverages, but people are just putting all of these healthy herbs or... ingredients into that to make it healthy like sound healthy healthy and make you like Yeah, there are sleep aid ones, eye care ones, and these kind of products have already topped 5 billion yuan. almost 700 million US dollars.
And also for kids, There are health focused ice creams for kids and they have seen a growing of 75% by year by year growth. which, well, I think it's not the worst thing.
You have different types and probably one day they can really be beneficial to the health.
It may be. I mean, how much of this ice cream would you have to consume?
For it to actually make a difference in your body.
They have ice cream with chia and cumin oil now.
Now, I'm not a scientist or an expert. But I'm thinking if you have one ice cream with some chia oil or chia seeds, your body's not gonna really react to that.
But if you eat 100 of those things, Is it still beneficial to your body?
I don't know. Right. You see my point here.
This is just my opinion. I feel like there's a little bit of genius marketing. going on here.
But yeah, you see things, I think you brought it up before, like probiotics and things like that.
Protein, we talked about protein not so long ago on Roundtable, protein-infused ice cream.
There's lots of things happening. Now, with tech opportunities in the industry...
We're going to see things that are bringing products to market faster and reducing waste and commanding maybe higher prices than we're comfortable with.
But there are developments in the industry as well.
There's also channel opportunities where You've got different sales channels and fulfillment models.
Those are the methods that businesses can use to get a product from the seller to the customer.
Cold chain technology is allowing for different speedier delivery.
So there's a lot happening in the ice cream industry.
That's kind of the boring side of the ice cream industry, if you will.
But we'll finish it with this. What do you think about... These are two new flavors in the United States.
Oh, man. That's coming. We'll start with the one that...
Yushin doesn't react that strongly to. Beer ice cream.
Guinness. If you know that type of beer, Guinness.
Guinness ice cream. Guinness has collaborated with...
Guinness has collaborated with an ice cream maker to, I think it's called A Lovely Day for Guinness.
And I'm curious to know if you would be interested in that or not.
Not to me. No? Creamy and sweet. But I know rum-flavored ice cream is quite popular, right?
So maybe it's going to have the same kind of effect for two people.
Not interested in that. How about this one?
About nine months ago, baby brand Frida... cleverly teased the release of their new breast milk ice cream.
Seriously. Yep. according to their website the ice cream is lightly sweet a little salty with hints of honey and a dash of colostrum And if you're like me and you don't know what colostrum is, it's the first breast milk released after giving birth, and they call it liquid gold.
They call it liquid gold because of its high concentration of nutrients and antibodies.
The gold is all yours. Not for you, huh?
Ice cream. Go get one today. It's summertime.
Enjoy it. You're listening to Around Table.
I'm Steve with Yuxin and Yo-Hong Lin. And we've got Happy Place coming up next.
Delivery, delivery, delivery. What is it?
Happy Nails from Round Table I'm going to pass the mic to you two on Roundtable's Happy Place today because both of you just came back.
From a business trip where you had a very, very memorable experience.
Yes. and that is my happy place, my work trip to Tibet and there we visited like local enterprises, including a vegetable greenhouse at an altitude of 3,800 meters. and where we saw like produce that was once almost impossible to find at such high plateau area as well as giant Space breed pumpkins.
Wait, what? Space breed? Space breed. So the seeds had been to space?
Yes. in a rolling on Earth. Okay. It is as big as I couldn't even wrap my arms around it.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and we also stopped by a Tibetan carpet factory with a strong local character. where artisans remain committed to pure hand crafting. preserving a passing and also passing down this traditional culture for the people and also the society that's according to the manager of the factory.
And if you are interested, you can check out our special series about Xizang.
Also, yeah, that's the part that we have been through, and next is the philosophical part.
Please do. Yeah. we uh you know i what kept taking my breath away was the scenery of xizang Rivers flowing endlessly reflected the blue sky and villages nestled at the foot of the mountains. embraced by towering peaks, especially when we stood at a high point looking down at the mountains and rivers.
I said on the show, I felt like the smallness of humankind, like a tiny... dot or dust in the vastness of nature.
But That's my comment when I was in Xizang.
And on my way back, while sitting on a plane, I had a new realization, to be honest.
After being... awed by these massive wonders of nature in Xizang.
As we slowly ascended and passed through the clouds, I suddenly realized that such tiny human beings are also incredibly great because we can sit in that playing and humans can be great enough that though we were born without wings, we can soar at 10 000 meters and swiftly traveling to far corners of the world and you know small as we are we carry the ambition also the ability to challenge nature and that's why you know i believe you know getting out into the world to see, to feel, to experience is so essential.
As even a news announcer. Changes your perspective, doesn't it?
Yeah. How about for you, Niu Hongling? Because you were there as well.
Yeah, Xizhang has been very special, a very special place in my heart.
This is already my third time. and I agree with Yushun especially on the second point that is because the first time was four years ago and after the four years I've noticed a lot of changes, a lot of development aspects in Xizang.
Previously, when I was visiting another greenhouse there, we were talking about how in 1990s, people in Xizan can only rely on the kind of vegetables and fruits imported to the region.
And during my first visit, they were able to grow them on the land.
And that was a huge achievement. And now this time when we were visiting the the other greenhouses, we were talking about how come they can go pick fruit in the place as an experience, as a family-friendly vacation?
How come they're having not only a plain vegetables or simple vegetables.
They are also growing cherries and strawberries and very sweet watermelons.
The variety is improving. The fast development wows me a lot.
The fast development, the effect on the community. you visited one of the places on earth that the majority of human beings who live on planet earth will never ever, ever get to see.
Yeah. And yet Yushin's biggest takeaway was space pumpkins.
And that will do it for Roundtable for today.
I'm Steve Hatherly. He's Yeo Shun. She's Nyo Hong Lin.
And we all thank you for being with us today.
Again, go get yourself an ice cream, enjoy it, and come back next time.
