There is a crisis of trust in Yuanqi Forest. “0 sugar” is just a cover. You will still gain weight after drinking it.

In recent years, people’s pursuit of health has led to the emergence of some “new concept drinks”, the most prominent of which is “Vitality Forest”.

However, when such control was out of control, this company, which was widely sought after by young people, suffered a crisis of trust because "zero sugar" did not exist at all in the milk tea products it featured.

Sugar-free market in Yuanqi Forest

If you have to choose between delicious food and not gaining weight, "I want them all" may be the most true psychology of contemporary young people. Portrait, and Yuanqi Forest is undoubtedly one of the fastest to discover the market and enter the market quickly. Since most of the sugar-free products on the market at that time were old products from established manufacturers, under the influence of the pursuit of novel consumer demands, the emerging brand Yuanqi Forest combined the healthy "0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories" concept with soda and sparkling water. It has quickly become a new favorite among consumers.

Of course, the concept of "sugar-free equals health" has always been over-hyped, because although sugar-free drinks may be sugar-free and do not cause obesity, the sugar-free drinks used in them are Sweeteners may cause the brain to be continuously excited, creating a greater demand for sugar substances, especially high-calorie substances. In fact, most sweet drinks are like this regardless of whether they contain sugar or not. This is what the taste itself brings about. Stimulation, so under this influence, it cannot be completely said that drinking sugar-free drinks is healthy. It also depends on the overall nutritional intake and amount of exercise.

Yuanqi Forest’s high valuation of 6 billion

Since entering the market, Yuanqi Forest’s “personality” and “health concept” focusing on young people have won many people Not only has it received a considerable amount of capital financing, but it has also continued to expand its product line, moving from simple sparkling water to more fields. Currently, Yuanqi Forest has reached US$6 billion after a new round of financing. The high valuation. As a new company, such a growth rate undoubtedly makes the entire industry feel jealous.

After the launch of Yuanqi Forest's milk tea drink, many young people once again regarded it as the main milk tea alternative because of its basically unchanged delicious taste and the slogan "Milk tea is not afraid of fatness" Taste. However, both public information and Yuanqi Forest’s own advertising prompts show that crystallized fructose and lactose are present in milk tea products, which is equivalent to a slap in the face.

The inside story of Yuanqi Forest was revealed

In January this year, a netizen posted a message saying that lactose and crystallized fructose themselves are also a kind of sugar, but the marketing claims that "drinking them will not make you fat." , this has already involved false propaganda, and the inside story of Yuanqi Forest has been revealed. According to the data, although Yuanqi Forest stated "0 sucrose" in its advertising slogan, fructose and sucrose themselves are actually a kind of industrial refined sugar. Excessive intake not only causes common liver damage from sugars, but also contains certain amounts of sugar. It is very possible for excess calories to lead to weight gain, and as long as dairy products are contained, lactose, as a type of caloric sugar, will inevitably exist.

The "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of my country has clearly stipulated that sentences with similar words and meanings such as "zero added", "does not contain", cannot exist in food labels. Obviously, the advertising and labeling of Yuanqi Forest have violated relevant regulations, and the zero sugar is just a cover.

At the same time, some experts pointed out that although sugar substitutes do have a certain inhibitory effect in terms of caloric supply, they themselves produce no calories or very little calories. Therefore, there is no problem with the promotion of "zero sugar", while Yuanqi In Forest's flagship sparkling water products, the main source of carbohydrates is calorie-free erythritol, but the intake of large amounts of sugar substitutes may also lead to some risks of interfering with energy metabolism, and you may still gain weight after drinking it.

In addition, the promotion of Yuanqi Forest directly links sugar-free and obesity to make consumers think that "drinking will not make you fat". This approach has always been considered by the industry to be a form of misleading consumption, and the relevant marketing copy The article also particularly emphasized the "hazards" of sucrose, so that disguised induction and propaganda have basically become a fact.

It must be clear that even though most people currently pursue a healthy life, health itself is not accomplished by drinking beverages and not consuming sugar to prevent obesity. Obesity does not mean that obesity is achieved by drinking beverages. If they can stop, many people even go to small clinics to undergo risky liposuction surgeries in order to lose weight. These are actually over-hyped certain marketing concepts, and fat itself is the most important protective measure for the human body. Maintaining internal balance and moderate exercise are the necessary ways to maintain health.

Yuanqi Forest’s apology

Obviously, when facing a public opinion crisis, Yuanqi Forest chose a very simple and direct approach, but the effect of this still remains to be seen. Because to a certain extent, young consumers’ enthusiasm for some products is very persistent but fragile at the same time. Once something falls into a crisis of public opinion and is confirmed, staying away and quickly turning the gun is as consumption It is a kind of "instinct" of the people. If the subsequent operations of Yuanqi Forest do not satisfy people, I am afraid it will be difficult to get over this crisis.

What changes will occur in the future?

Such changes are not without effort. However, neither the apology letter nor the 20 yuan compensation is very important in the eyes of many consumers. Many people even directly stated that they would not buy in the future. . It can also be seen from the reviews of related products that many consumers actually buy related products of Yuanqi Forest as "drinking without fat" and "sugar-free" milk tea alternatives. This also means that the purchasing group of related products It is extremely sensitive to fat, and apart from some loyal fans, many consumers have been induced.

What is even more risky is that Yuanqi Forest currently regards advertising and marketing as an important part of its brand development, but it does not invest much in research and development. The relevant person in charge has previously stated that it will In the future, we will gradually increase our emphasis on product research and development. However, under the current crisis of trust, Yuanqi Forest, which has just tasted the success of financing, may face more serious challenges.