news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

21st Century Business Herald reporter He Hongyuan and intern Han Chang report

The instant noodle market is once again caught up in a public opinion storm.

On July 16, 2024, in response to consumers claiming that there were suspected rat heads in Uni-President’s Laotan Pickled Cabbage Beef Noodles, Uni-President responded that the company had sent someone to visit the consumer, the original video had been removed, and it said it was still under internal analysis.

It should be noted that instant noodles are already facing growth pressure at this moment.

Keming Food mentioned in the institutional research minutes disclosed on July 16 that in the first half of the year, the overall sales volume and revenue of its Wu Gu Dao Chang brand declined slightly year-on-year. Wu Gu Dao Chang is a well-known domestic instant noodle brand, mainly non-fried products.

In addition, in 2023, the revenues of instant noodle giants all declined.

The financial report shows that in 2023, the revenue of Master Kong's instant noodles business was 28.79 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%, and the growth rate was -6.7pcts year-on-year; the revenue of Uni-President Foods' business was 9.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.6%, and the growth rate was -26.2pcts year-on-year.

In fact, the instant noodle market is in a critical period of structural adjustment.

Take Master Kong, which has the largest market share, as an example. From 2013 to 2016, Master Kong instant noodles experienced a decline in revenue for three consecutive years. The main reason was that in 2014, the rise of the takeaway industry represented by Meituan and Ele.me directly impacted the instant noodles market. The takeaway subsidy war allowed consumers to have a big meal for only a few yuan.

In response to the erosion of revenue caused by takeout, Master Kong instant noodles began to develop mid- to high-end brands, from upgrading the original packaging to launching new products such as "Master Soup" for students, white-collar workers, and middle- and high-income groups, with unit prices ranging from 5 to 20 yuan. After 2017, instant noodle revenue gradually recovered and reached a peak of 29.51 billion yuan after the epidemic, with a compound growth rate of about the same from 2021 to 2023.

If the aforementioned "suspected rat head" incident is confirmed, it will deal a huge blow to the instant noodle market that wants to "upgrade consumption."

According to the analysis of many industry insiders, based on current food production regulations, it is not easy for "rat head" to sneak into instant noodle seasoning packets.

On July 16, Uni-President China closed at HK$6.11 per share, down 10.01%.

On the same day, the Shanghai Composite Consumer 80 Index closed at 4267.36 points, up 0.06%.

agriculture

Average pork prices rise in agricultural product wholesale markets nationwide

On July 16, according to the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as of 14:00 on the same day, the average price of pork in the national agricultural product wholesale market was 24.93 yuan/kg, up 1.0% from yesterday.

Abiove cuts Brazil's 2024 soybean production forecast to 152.5 million tonnes from 153.9 million

On June 18, according to Cailianshe, the Brazilian Vegetable Oil Industry Association (Abiove) released a report showing that Brazil's soybean production forecast for 2024 was revised down from 153.9 million tons to 152.5 million tons. Abiove maintained its forecast for Brazil's soybean exports in 2024 at 97.8 million tons and its domestic soybean crushing volume in 2024 at 54.5 million tons. The agency also said that Brazil's year-end soybean inventory forecast for 2024 was revised down from 5.305 million tons to 4.105 million tons.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs: The qualified rate of veterinary drug residue monitoring of aquatic products in the first half of 2024 was 99.8%

On July 16, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently released the national monitoring of veterinary drug residues in aquatic products in the first half of 2024. The monitoring results show that the qualified rate of veterinary drug residue monitoring in aquatic products in the first half of 2024 was 99.8%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points year-on-year, and the quality and safety situation of farmed aquatic products continued to improve.

Tangrenshen: The current progress of the company's pig breeding business cost reduction is basically in line with expectations

On July 16, Tangrenshen stated on the investor interaction platform that the company has always been committed to building a low-cost production system. At present, it mainly reduces the cost of pig farming by optimizing feed formula, reducing raw material procurement prices, optimizing immunization procedures, optimizing sow breeds, improving pig health, and reducing mortality costs. At present, the cost reduction progress of the company's pig farming business is basically in line with expectations.

Hebei, Shanxi, Ningxia and other provinces have included triticale for feed in the scope of support for the "grain-to-feed" project

On July 16, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with the Ministry of Finance, implemented the "Grain to Feed" project, supporting the storage and use of high-quality forages such as silage corn, alfalfa, and forage oats, while taking into account regional specialty forage varieties such as forage triticale that have forage demand in various places. During the implementation of the project, project provinces such as Hebei, Shanxi, and Ningxia have included forage triticale in the support scope of the "Grain to Feed" project. In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will continue to support the development of specialty forage varieties such as forage triticale, encourage and guide relevant regions to explore and promote appropriate technical models for planting forage triticale in winter idle fields based on actual conditions, improve the comprehensive benefits of land, and achieve a win-win situation for production and ecology.

food and drink

Xiwang Food: The order amount at the National Distributor Conference exceeded 490 million yuan

On July 15, according to Xiwang Food, Xiwang Food's 2024 National Distributor Conference was held in Guiyang. During the Mid-Autumn Festival ordering session, the on-site order amount of distributors across the country exceeded 490 million yuan, and the order volume far exceeded expectations, setting a historical record.

Baishuishan responds to bromate content reaching EU limit: We have objections to this matter and the company's legal department has intervened

On July 16, according to the 21st Century Business Herald, in response to the Hong Kong Consumer Council's random inspection of Baishuishan mineral water, which was found to contain bromate content that reached the upper limit of the EU standard, a person related to Baishuishan responded to reporters, saying, "We have objections to this matter, and the company's legal department has intervened in this matter." "The domestic drinking natural mineral water standards and the World Health Organization's drinking water quality guidelines both limit the bromate content to 0.01mg/L, and the EU standard limits the bromate content to 0.003mg/L," the person further explained, "The bromate content of the company's mineral water samples that were randomly inspected was close to 0.003mg/L, which did not exceed the EU standard."

Nongfu Spring demands an apology from the Hong Kong Consumer Council: its products comply with drinking water safety standards in various countries and regions

On July 16, according to the WeChat official account of Nongfu Spring, the article "Drinking Water, Thinking of the Source 30 Bottled Water Flavor, Minerals, Safety Testing" published by the Hong Kong Consumer Council on July 15, 2024, based on misunderstanding and unprofessional analysis, made an objective evaluation of the bromate content of Nongfu Spring products, which caused great damage to Nongfu Spring's reputation. Nongfu Spring solemnly requested a written clarification, apology and elimination of all negative impacts on Nongfu Spring. Nongfu Spring said that the quality of its products meets the safety requirements of various countries and regions.

Three Squirrels: Net profit is expected to increase by 85.85%-90.08% year-on-year in the first half of 2024

On July 16, Three Squirrels announced that the company's operating income in the first half of 2024 was 5.04 billion yuan to 5.10 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 74.19% to 76.27%; net profit was 285.5 million yuan to 292 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 85.85% to 90.08%; the growth momentum came from the "high-end cost-effectiveness" strategy and omni-channel collaborative approach, and the sub-brand Xiaolu Lanlan achieved double-digit growth and obtained good profitability.

Snacks is Busy and Zhao Yiming Snacks officially announce Jay Chou as the new spokesperson

On July 16, Mingminghenmang Group's snack brands Henminghenmang and Zhao Yiming Snacks jointly announced that Jay Chou became their new spokesperson.

New Dairy: The company uses special milk tankers for cold chain transportation of fresh milk and GPS and video recording throughout the process

On July 16, Xinruye said on the interactive platform that the company's fresh milk is transported in a cold chain using special milk tankers, with GPS and video recording throughout the entire process. The company strictly inspects the internal hygiene of the milk tankers to ensure that it meets the standard requirements and guarantees the quality and safety of fresh milk. The company strictly abides by and implements relevant national and industry laws and regulations.

FOOD

Burger King China to close offline data centers: all moved to Alibaba Cloud

On July 16, Burger King China announced that it would close all offline data centers and migrate all business systems to Alibaba Cloud. At the same time, Burger King will also build a cloud-native big data platform based on Alibaba Cloud, and explore ways to improve marketing efficiency with the Tongyi Qianwen big model team. It is understood that the data warehouse built by Burger King China on Alibaba Cloud was migrated from Microsoft Cloud.

E-commerce retail

JD.com launches "Super 18" project

On July 16, according to JD.com, JD Retail announced the launch of a continuous low-price project called "JD Super 18". Starting from July, a series of high-value products will be launched for 28 hours from 8 pm on the 17th to the 18th of each month, sold at a fixed price of 18 yuan. The first event will start at 8 pm on July 17.

Express Logistics

New Hope Group's FreshLife Cold Chain Logistics Signs Strategic Cooperation Agreement with CATL

On July 16, according to the New Hope Group, New Hope's Fresh Life Cold Chain Logistics Co., Ltd. and CATL signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Ningde City. The two parties will strengthen the linkage of the industrial chain and carry out all-round and in-depth cooperation around "zero-carbon logistics". According to the agreement, the two parties will deepen production and research cooperation, strengthen market linkage, and jointly build a green and low-carbon cold chain logistics industry chain.

Textiles and Apparel

Metersbonwe will open new "Lifestyle Hall" stores and cooperate with local lifestyle e-commerce channels such as Meituan and Douyin

On July 16, Metersbonwe held a strategic upgrade press conference and announced that it would enter the so-called "5.0 new retail model". Specifically, Metersbonwe said it would open nearly 100 life experience centers in multiple cities, selecting local cultural characteristics for cultural content output; at the same time, it would look for partners to open nearly 10,000 "community life centers". Metersbonwe said that both types of new stores will be combined with local life retail and e-commerce channels such as Douyin, Kuaishou, Meituan, Dianping, and Xiaohongshu to achieve online and offline product synchronization.

Septwolves: Plans to repurchase 150 million to 300 million yuan of shares

On July 16, Septwolves announced that it plans to use its own funds to repurchase RMB common shares (A shares) through centralized bidding transactions for the purpose of implementing equity incentives or employee stock ownership plans. The total amount of repurchase funds shall not be less than 150 million yuan and not more than 300 million yuan, and the repurchase price shall not exceed 5.50 yuan per share.

Jewelry

Zhou Dasheng: Net increase of 124 stores in the first half of 2024

On July 16, Zhou Dasheng announced that as of June 30, 2024, the company's total number of stores will be 5,230, including 343 self-operated stores and 4,887 franchise stores. The net increase in the number of stores in the first half of 2024 is 124.

Travel

In the first half of July, the national railway transported a total of 211 million passengers

On July 16, according to China Railway, since the start of the summer travel season, from July 1 to 15, the national railway has transported a total of 211 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%, with an average daily passenger volume of 14.034 million.

Hong Kong Tourism Board: Visitors to Hong Kong increased by more than 60% in the first six months of this year

On July 16, the Hong Kong Tourism Board released data showing that the preliminary number of visitors to Hong Kong in June was 3.13 million, up 14% from the same period last year. From January to June this year, there were about 21 million visitors to Hong Kong, up 64% year-on-year, with an average daily visitor volume of 116,000. Data showed that in June this year, there were about 2.34 million mainland visitors to Hong Kong, an increase of about 8.6% over the same period last year; and about 790,000 non-mainland visitors to Hong Kong, an increase of about 33.6% year-on-year. In the first half of this year, about 16.15 million mainland tourists visited Hong Kong, an increase of about 60% year-on-year; the number of non-mainland tourists was about 5 million, an increase of about 80% year-on-year. Among the overall visitors to Hong Kong, 50% were overnight visitors, with an average stay of 3.2 nights in Hong Kong.

Luxury

Swarovski announces Ariana Grande as global brand ambassador

On July 16, Swarovski teamed up with Ariana Grande and announced her as the global brand ambassador.

Film and Television Entertainment

The box office of the first half of the 2024 summer season is 4.58 billion

On July 16, according to the Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of 21:00 on July 16, the total box office of the first half of the 2024 summer season (June 1-July 16) reached 4.58 billion, and the movies "Silent Killer", "Catching Dolls" and "There is a Small Shop at the Edge of the Cloud" ranked in the top three in the box office in the first half of the summer season.

Enlight Media: Two films will be released in August

On July 16, Enlight Media stated on the investor interaction platform that the film "Safe Evacuation from the 21st Century", which the company participated in and distributed, will be released on August 3; the film "Her Little Dimples", which the company mainly invested in and distributed, will be released on August 10, so stay tuned. At the same time, the company has many other projects and will arrange appropriate release dates based on the market and approval conditions. Maoyan Entertainment is a joint-stock company of the company, and the company will recognize investment income accordingly for its profits.