Cold-activated bottle
Thailand’s Oishi Group Pcl, the leader in RTD tea, launched a new flavour Oishi Sakura-Strawberry Flavor green tea in December 2016. it also comes with the first first cold-activated bottle where the label changes to bright pink when it is cold to coincide with the colour of sakura. The colour changing effect is made possible with the use of the Thermochromic Shrink Label technology. The cold-activated bottle are only available in small quantity following the launch.
Growth in fruit tea segment
“In 2017, we anticipate the fruit green tea segment will continue to outshine the others with consistent growth. Oishi is confident that our product innovations, in this case, ‘Oishi Sakura-Strawberry Flavor’ green tea, will easily become one of the top flavors that helps accelerate the growth of the RTD tea market while reinforcing Oishi brand leadership,” said Mrs. Jesdakorn Ghosh, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Oishi Group Pcl.
The new Oishi Sakura-Strawberry Flavor green tea comes on the heels of another fruit tea launched in January 2016 – Kyoho grape flavoured green tea, which served to tap anticipated growth in the fruit tea market. Kyoho grape green tea was the first ever to include nata de coco and has become one of the company’s best-selling new products in 2016.
According to Ghosh, the Oishi Kyoho Grape with Nata de Coco green tea has been instrumental in the growth of the fruit green tea segment, which has reached THB 2,160 million baht in value in an overall market that is on the decline.
Image above comes from Ichitan Q2, 2016 Opportunities Day citing Nielsen data
The THB 2.16 billion figure is actually based on the projected sales of THB 14.4 billion for 2016 mentioned by Ghosh in January 2016 during the launch of Kyoho grape flavoured green tea. Back then, fruit tea was estimated to account for 15% of 2016 RTD tea revenue. Nevertheless, it does show the strong potential of green tea given its low base and its popularity with young consumers who are keen to experiment with flavours.
In 2015, the fruit tea market grew 18% year-on-year to THB 1.88 billion, said Ghosh.
The decline of the RTD tea market is attributed to sluggish economic growth on the backs of drought and lower farm product prices.
Ichitan jumps into the Kyoho grape bandwagon
Rival Ichitan is following where the money goes with Ichitan Chew Chew in July 2016. Ichitan Chew Chew is a fruit tea with coconut jelly focusing on consumers aged 15 to 25 years. It is available in 410ml in PET bottle.
Digital activation campaign
To create excitement about the product, Oishi has included a new feature to the Oishi mobile application. Users will feel the offering of graphical sakura flowers appearing to pop out of their mouth, ears and eyes.
https://www.facebook.com/OishiDrinkStation/videos/1205811279488648/
What Mini Me thinks
The tea-with-jelly segment is expected to continue to be a growth hotspot for RTD tea as the overall market posted decline in both volume and value for the first time in 2016.
