At 3 p.m., the reporter came to the New World supermarket located in Chongwenmen, Beijing. Although it was not the peak time for customer flow, there were still many customers selecting goods in front of the shelves. In the dairy products sales area, the reporter saw shelves full of various packaged dairy products. From a common bagged fresh milk at one yuan per pack to a high-end yogurt at 19.8 yuan per box, various dairy products attracted many customers to pick and choose.
Ms. Huang Yujin, aged 46, went straight to the Sanyuan Milk shelf, picked up five bags of premium fresh milk, checked the production date, and then put them directly into her shopping basket. "Our family has been drinking Sanyuan milk for all these years!" Ms. Huang told the reporter. There are five people in Ms. Huang's family, and drinking milk every morning has become a habit. "The quality of milk is crucial. Sanyuan tastes good and its quality is reliable, so we drink it with peace of mind."
Among the residents of Beijing, Ms. Huang is not the only one who has a special preference for Sanyuan milk. According to Zhang Baoyue, a Sanyuan milk promoter, after the melamine incident, Sanyuan was not only unaffected, but its sales volume continued to grow. "You can tell from the quantity of goods we purchase; our Sanyuan ranks first in sales among supermarket dairy products!" Zhang Baoyue said proudly to the reporter.
Dairy processing is a complete industrial chain, and no link can afford to make mistakes. Sanyuan itself has a complete dairy product industry chain and systematic product quality control. After enduring the severe test of the dairy crisis, Sanyuan has proven its superior quality with facts, gaining full trust from consumers. According to Wang Dan, the market manager of Sanyuan Food Company, as consumers become more rational, their consumption awareness becomes more mature, their ability to discern improves, and they place higher requirements on product quality and safety. With its excellent quality, Sanyuan milk has won the favor of consumers, and its sales have shown a steady growth trend. In 2009, its sales increased by nearly 70% compared to 2008.
Zhang Baoyue told the reporter that "besides having a secure quality assurance, the biggest brand feature of Sanyuan milk lies in its freshness and purity." In the Beijing market, Sanyuan has taken advantage of being a local enterprise to expand its fresh milk sales. "Sanyuan has its own fixed milk source. The fresh milk sold in Beijing all comes from local milk companies, without the problem of long-distance transportation, thus ensuring the freshness of the milk," Zhang Baoyue said.
In addition to the quality that consumers can trust and distinctive brand features, scientific and reasonable sales strategies and promotional means are also key factors in achieving stable growth in Sanyuan's sales volume.
"I learned about the Sanyuan brand after coming to Beijing for school. Sanyuan's promotion in Beijing is very strong; I just saw its advertisement on Line 5 of the subway. I think a company that can invest in such large-scale advertising should be trustworthy, so I chose Sanyuan milk," said Luo Ruijie, a third-year student at Beijing Institute of Technology, to the reporter.
While fully guaranteeing the quality of milk and adopting appropriate promotional activities, Sanyuan also adheres to differentiated marketing and continuously launches new products to meet the needs of different levels and age groups of consumers.
Zhang Baoyue pointed to the milk on the shelves and introduced to the reporter: "In terms of price, we have a relatively high-end 'Jizhi' brand, with a net content of 950 milliliters, currently priced at 19.9 yuan. At the same time, we also have ordinary products suitable for popular consumption at around 1.5 yuan. In terms of packaging, there are house-shaped milks favored by high-income groups, as well as affordable bagged milk." In the yogurt category, Sanyuan Company offers many varieties. Wang Baoyue said that a four-box pack of Fu Ling yogurt, each box weighing 150 grams, is currently priced at 7.9 yuan. Moreover, Sanyuan has launched various fruit pulp yogurts, such as grapefruit pulp, blackcurrant pulp, jujube pulp, etc. Especially the probiotic-rich yogurt 'Yijun Duo' is highly popular among children. The wide variety fully satisfies the needs of different consumer groups.
Zhang Baoyue told the reporter that the sales situation of milk varies greatly depending on the location of the supermarket. Since the New World Department Store is located in a bustling downtown area, many high-income customers focus more on the brand and quality when choosing milk, and are not too sensitive to price. Especially due to the improvement in residents' income level, "the higher-end the milk, the better the sales!" Wang Dan told the reporter that from the overall sales situation of Sanyuan Company, the sales volume of high-end milk is growing rapidly. As of now, the sales volume of high-end milk represented by 'Jizhi' has increased by 30% year-on-year.