Can't the fancy marketing of three squirrels make reliable children's snacks?

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Brand is brand, and food is food.

Writing/starry night

Editor/Yang Haoran

As we all know, the "rich second generation" brand born with a golden spoon has become the head brand of children's snack track within one year by copying the model of three squirrels.

But a brand is a brand, and food is food. Xiaolan, known as the "one-stop scientific feeding scheme", really managed the food safety of children?

"Hello, master. I am a professional and caring baby nutritionist Lan Lan. " "Master, parenting experts are blue." The names of this pair of consumers are exactly the same as those of the three squirrels to their users many years ago.

It's just that today's deer shine on you is better than blue: with the image of a deer, as a parenting assistant, plus a lot of marketing of additives and preservatives, it has gained a large number of "mom" fans. But at its core, the three squirrels still have no way out: OEM and multi-channel targeted marketing throughout the network. This method is old-fashioned, but obviously effective.

However, after learning more about zinc scales, it was found that Lu Xiao Light Light Blue was questioned by consumers on many platforms, and many of its cooperative factories were exposed to illegal operations in production and operation. As for nutritionists who can provide consumers, they are also ambiguous in customer service and anchor mouth. ...

Being in the children's food market whose scale will exceed 300 billion yuan, backed by three squirrels known as "the first national snack", the deer seems to have stepped on the scoring point of this era. However, when the children's food market that needs precipitation and ingenuity is carried away by fast-paced marketing routines, who will seriously make products?

The quality control of children's snacks in the whole network is worrying.

When the post-80s mother Shen Ruoyi chose snacks for her 3-year-old and 2-month-old son, the most important thing was "0 addition".

On the list of children's snacks of Tmall and JD.COM, Lu Xiao Light Light Blue appeared in Shen Ruoyi's sight for many times with the first sales volume of the whole network. However, because of her rich experience in buying children's snacks, Shen Ruoyi found that the price of deer light blue was too high, which was obviously not cost-effective.

Soon, Shen Ruoyi waited for the promotion of "199- 100", and then selected a variety of signature products such as fresh shrimp slices, sandwiched laver and cod sausage. After receiving the product, Shen Ruoyi's first impression was that this brand, which came out of the Internet era, was really well packaged.

But to say whether the product itself is as good as advertised, Shen Ruoyi questioned it after trying it. At the beginning of the purchase, Shen Ruoyi saw Lu Xiao Lanlan's propaganda "One thing, one code, one key quality traceability", and showed on the product details page that the product had been audited by the local market supervision administration.

The products obtained are different. Take fresh shrimp slices as an example. After scanning the QR code on the package, Shen Ruoyi enters the interface where the quality inspection report can be extracted, and the corresponding quality inspection report can be obtained after entering the production date as prompted. However, the report obtained here belongs to the factory inspection report, that is, it is allowed to leave the factory after self-inspection by the foundry.

In fact, the factory inspection report provided by the manufacturer itself cannot be generalized with the quality inspection report issued by the state or a third-party organization recognized by the state, which is exactly what Shen Ruoyi is worried about. "The fawn light light blue doesn't have its own factory. The inspection list issued by the foundry itself cannot be guaranteed to be foolproof, but it has become a major marketing direction. I have to say that it is really confusing. " Shen Ruoyi mentioned the zinc scale.

Shen Ruoyi's worry is not wishful thinking. It can be seen on several platforms that Lu Xiaolan's products do not seem to be as clean and nutritious as advertised.

"The package says that rice cakes are suitable for babies over 6 months. When they are given to babies, they are not only instantaneous, but even sticky. " Kiki, who has a son, found that the blue rice cake of deer is actually a kind of "dangerous goods", and many babies can't melt it when they eat it, which leads to suffocation.

In the supplementary comments of Xiaohongshu, Weibo and even the flagship store of Lu Xiao Lanlan E-commerce, many treasure mothers found that cod intestines were moldy, hair was eaten in hawthorn lollipops, and worms were eaten in seaweed floss.

Consumers found foreign objects in Lu Xiao blue products.

Coincidentally, zinc scales were found in the complaints of black cats through search, and almost all complaints about deer light blue were related to food safety, including products such as yogurt dissolved beans, baby noodles and children's grinding sticks.

It can be seen that the quality and safety problems of Xiaolan children's snacks may not be accidental.

Many foundries are fined, and everything has nothing to do with the brand?

Product promotion is different from the real thing, which may be normal for an Internet brand like Xiaolan. In the final analysis, products are provided by third-party foundries. Even if the control is strengthened, it may still be beyond the reach.

Zinc Scale once learned from Lu Xiao Lanlan that its current cooperative factory was reached after the second screening and the running-in of products and technologies in the cooperative factory owned by three squirrels. However, the seemingly stricter way of cooperation has not fully realized the foolproof food safety.

Through the search, it was found that many foundries of Lu Xiao Light Light Light Cooperation were punished by relevant departments for violating the Food Safety Law of People's Republic of China (PRC).

Specifically, Wuhan Xuzhongxu Food Co., Ltd., which provided "Baby Shrimp Slices" for Lu Xiao Lanlan, was fined 202 1 165438 yuan by Wuhan Dongxihu District Market Supervision Administration on 10000 on October 25th, and ordered to immediately stop production and operation of unqualified products and recall them on the market.

Jiangsu Xianzhiyuan Aquatic Food Co., Ltd., which provided "Sunshine Strawberry Sandwiched Porphyra" for Lu Xiao Lanlan, was fined 800 yuan by Rudong County Market Supervision Administration because it involved in the promotion of disease treatment function when selling instant laver slices online, which violated the first paragraph of Article 73 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Food Safety Law and Article 17 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Advertising Law.

Fujian Yimei Food Co., Ltd., which provided Lu Xiao Lanlan with "curiosity freeze-dried cheese", was repeatedly punished by Zhangpu County Market Supervision Administration and Suian Market Supervision Administration of Zhangpu County from 20 17 to 20 18. Almost all the reasons are the production and operation of food, food additives and food-related products that violate other laws and regulations or food safety standards. Zhejiang Huang Guan Fruit and Vegetable Co., Ltd., a light-blue "interesting fruit pulp for infants" in Lu Xiao, was fined 206 1 12 yuan by Taizhou huangyan district Market Supervision Administration on March 3 this year for producing and selling other foods that did not meet food safety standards or requirements.

Lu Xiao light light blue part of the foundry punishment information.

These are just a part of Lu Xiao Light Blue Co-casting. Perhaps the mode of OEM+brand, verified and upgraded by three squirrels, can really make Lu Xiao Light Light Blue use quickly, but the hidden quality supervision problems under this mode are still unresolved.

Regarding the problems existing in the foundry, the person in charge of Lu Xiao Lanlan's products once responded to the media that "the fine record occurred in March-April, 2020, and the brand launch time of Lu Xiao Lanlan was June, 2020 19, and the fruit pulp of Lu Xiao Lanlan was also launched after September, 2020, so the penalty of the foundry was not directly related to the brand of Lu Xiao Lanlan."

Indeed, the products related to the penalty imposed on foundries may have nothing to do with Deer Light Blue, but they reflect the quality level of these foundries to some extent.

In addition, in the publicity, Lu Xiao Light Light Light worked very hard to provide a one-stop scientific feeding program for babies, which included an important differentiated competitiveness-professional baby nurses holding certificates.

The propaganda copy wrote, "Master, Jia's customer service has professional nanny qualification, certificate and one-on-one free consultation." In order to verify this, Zinc Scale tried to contact the customer service of Lu Xiao Lanlan. When the zinc scale asked the nutritionist some questions, the customer service did not show that he was a nutritionist, but repeatedly told the customer service to ask if there was any problem.

After several times of "kicking the ball", the anchor said with a hint of embarrassment: "Does the customer service say that I am a nutritionist? Then tell me your question and see if I know it. "

Shen Ruoyi also encountered a similar situation in the consultation process. "In fact, these are all additional services that exceeded expectations, but Internet brands always seem to like over-marketing, which is quite disgusting."

Marketing routines emerge one after another, who can really cook?

The three squirrels, known as "the first snack on the Internet", were once strongly implanted in major TV dramas and variety shows. Under the light asset model of OEM+ brand, the growth of online channels and the impact of brand marketing, they quickly took the top spot in Internet snacks. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. The 2020 annual report of the three squirrels shows that its operating income is 9.794 billion yuan, down 3.72% year-on-year, which is the first decline in revenue since listing. In the previous 20 19 years, the net profit of the three squirrels fell sharply in the third and fourth quarters.

Finding the second growth pole is an urgent problem for the three squirrels. Therefore, the three squirrels launched sub-brands in four areas: convenience food, children's snacks, pet food and wedding gifts. The final result is obvious, deer light light blue has become the final winner.

In March of this year, three squirrels publicly answered questions and said, "In the multi-brand business of 202 1, the company will focus on developing the Lu Xiao light light blue brand, expand the whole baby food category, enrich the existing product line, continuously improve the new speed of zero complementary food for babies, and expand new categories such as staple food, seasonings and characteristic surroundings."

Judging from the achievements made by the deer, the ability of the three squirrels to reshape the brand is indeed worthy of recognition. But all this seems a bit simple and rude. The same supply chain, the same IP building method, the same sales channel ... every step of Xiao Lanlan seems to be copying.

Even the product quality problems that are criticized today come from the poor supervision of the foundry. "At present, this marketing method is actually deformed. In the final analysis, it is because it makes money faster. " Lucilla, the marketer of a world-renowned cheese brand in China, talked about the zinc scale.

Lucilla's cheese company has many years of experience in R&D and children's food production, and she found that the competition focus of children's snack track is raw materials and marketing. Raw materials test the research and development technology of enterprises and cannot be faked. For example, she said that her company once launched a fruit cheese that was very popular all over the world, but the fruit raw material only came from an overseas orchard. Later, with the closure of the orchard, they chose to take the product off the shelf instead of replacing it with a substitute to continue selling it.

"Traditional food companies are very strict about the choice of raw materials. Every material has to go through a long time of global selection. If the raw materials have changed and we can no longer provide the same products, then we would rather not sell this part and maintain the quality. " Lucilla believes that such an initial heart can no longer be seen in the Internet food industry.

At the same time, Lucilla found that the core propaganda point of domestic children's snacks lies in the basic elements beneficial to children's growth, including the concepts of less sugar, less salt, dietary fiber, high protein, high calcium, multivitamins and probiotics. "On the whole, domestic Internet children's snack enterprises are still continuing the product research and development achievements and directions in Europe and the United States, making adjustments, and there is less guidance and innovation in the true sense."

In other words, at present, domestic Internet children's snack brands have made great progress in creating IP and promoting concepts, but they have not accumulated for a long time. It is probably not the real intention to cooperate with foundries to make children's products.

In addition, established food manufacturers such as New Hope, Luo Jin and Jianhe have also raised the prices of children's snacks. Whoever can come up with food that has strict auditing standards and is conducive to the growth of children can really fly into others. At present, the way of grabbing traffic and sales is conducive to the rapid rise of brands, but it is not conducive to building a healthy and safe children's snack market. If the child's stomach is only regarded as a gold mine to be mined, the market without a patron saint may eventually fail.