不到10年前，最大的味精生产商——河南莲花味精（Henan Lotus，3年前更名为莲花健康(Lotus Health)，以下统称“莲花公司”）还雄踞亚洲食品市场。在中国成为最大味精消费国的过程中，莲花公司实现了数十亿元人民币的销售额。Less than a decade ago, Henan Lotus — the largest producer of monosodium glutamate — bestrode the Asian food market, racking up billions of renminbi in sales as China became the largest consumer of the flavouring.
今天，这家公司成为了一个典型案例，表明如果企业错过了转向健康产品的趋势，它们就可能被中国1800亿美元的城市快消品市场抛弃。这股趋势也把可口可乐公司(Coca-Cola Company)等国际综合性企业搞得十分狼狈。Today, it is a monument to how companies can lose out in China’s $180bn urban market for fast-moving consumer goods if they miss a shift towards healthy products, a trend that has also wrongfooted international conglomerates such as the Coca-Cola Company.
自2011年以来，莲花公司的营收下降逾9亿元人民币（合1.32亿美元），至去年的18亿元人民币，主要原因是同期该公司在全中国的味精销售额下降8亿元人民币。Lotus’s top line has fallen by more than Rmb900m ($132m) since 2011 to Rmb1.8bn last year, mainly driven by a Rmb800m decline in national MSG sales over the same period.
分析师表示，由于味精被认为不健康，消费者对味精的看法已经转为负面。Analysts say consumers have turned against MSG because it is perceived as unhealthy.
根据研究集团欧睿(Euromonitor)的数据，中国的味精销量在2013年达到顶峰，至120万吨，之后就一直下降。根据咨询公司英敏特(Mintel)的数据，超过一半的城市消费者已经在努力限制自己的味精摄入量。Chinese MSG sales peaked in 2013 at 1.2m tonnes and have since declined, according to research group Euromonitor. More than half of urban consumers have tried to limit MSG in their diet, according to Mintel, a consultancy.
英敏特分析师Summer Chen说：“对于食品，人们的关注点更多地转移到了营养上。”对购买行为影响更大的是关于健康的某些“看法”，而非营养学事实。“消费者关注盐和味精对人体的害处多过糖对人体的害处。”“Concerns about food have shifted more towards nutrition,” said Summer Chen, analyst at Mintel. Perceptions about health drove purchases more than nutritional facts. “Consumers are more concerned about the harm salt and MSG will do to the human body than sugar.”
莲花公司的衰落使其总部所在地——拥有大约100万人口、位于北京以南约600公里的项城受到了沉重的打击。“男工人基本都离开这里，到外地找工作去了。”商店店员马春（音）说，“它曾经是我们市最强的企业。”Rebranded as Lotus Health three years ago, the company’s decline has taken a heavy toll on Xiangcheng, its home city of about 1m people, 600km south of Beijing. “Male workers have nearly all left town to seek jobs,” said Ma Chun, a shop clerk. “It used to be our city’s strongest enterprise.”
当地人表示，近几年，莲花公司让数千名员工提前退休了。Locals said the company had given early retirement to thousands of staff in recent years.
去年离开莲花公司的一位女士说：“这里的每一条街上都可以找到一个下岗的莲花员工。”“Every street you walk on here, you can find a laid-off Lotus employee,” said a woman who left the group last year.
莲花公司的困境也在国外产生了影响。2016年全资收购了英国阿斯顿维拉(Aston Villa)足球俱乐部的商人夏建统(Tony Xia)，持有莲花公司11%股份。自2015年以来，这些股份的价值已经损失了80%；上个月，受财务压力所迫，夏建统出售了阿斯顿维拉俱乐部的部分股权。他还以“个人原因”在上个月末辞去了莲花公司董事长一职。The company’s troubles have had ramifications abroad. Tony Xia, a businessman who bought the English football team Aston Villa in 2016, holds an 11 per cent stake in Lotus. That stake has lost 80 per cent of its value since 2015, contributing to financial strains that forced him to relinquish ownership of the club last month. He also stepped down as chairman of Lotus late last month for “personal reasons”.
受到影响的不仅仅是味精。It is not just MSG which has felt the impact.
根据咨询公司贝恩(Bain & Co)和凯度消费者指数(Kantar Worldpanel)进行的调查，过去两年中，中国的口香糖销售额下降14%，巧克力和糖果的销售额分别下降6%和4%。Sales of chewing gum fell 14 per cent in China over the past two years, while chocolate and confectionery saw declines of 6 and 4 per cent respectively, according to a survey by consultancies Bain and Kantar Worldpanel.
该调查表明，中国城市消费者努力过更健康的生活，是中国快消品市场的“最大主题”。快消品市场包括食品饮料、洗漱用品、非处方药和其他易耗个人护理品。增长最快的食品饮料类别包括瓶装水和酸奶这两种被认为对健康有益的产品，销售额增长都超过10%。The survey indicates that efforts by Chinese urban consumers to lead healthier lives are the “biggest theme” in the country’s FMCG market, which includes food and beverages, toiletries, over-the-counter medicines and other perishable personal care items. The fastest growing food and beverage categories included bottled water and yoghurt, both of which saw sales value grow by more than 10 per cent, driven by perceived health benefits.
与人们的健康生活理想并存的一个现实是，目前中国的肥胖水平以及糖尿病等与肥胖相关疾病的发病率均处于世界前列。The desire for healthy lifestyles comes as China boasts world-topping obesity levels, and rates of related diseases such as diabetes.
这股趋势正在影响中国6250亿美元的餐饮业。中国最大的外卖平台之一美团(Meituan)表示，2018年第二季度，沙拉的外卖订单同比增长了160%。The trend is affecting China’s $625bn catering industry. Meituan, one of China’s top food delivery platforms, said orders for salads rose 160 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2018.
这股健康趋势带给中国品牌的好处比带给跨国企业品牌的更多。去年，中国品牌斩获中国快消品销售额增长的98%，它们几乎在每一个品类攻城略地。而在这一年，跨国公司的市场份额连续第四年流失。Chinese brands have benefited more than multinationals from the health trend. They captured 98 per cent of the growth in FMCG sales in China last year, taking share in nearly every category. It was the fourth consecutive year in which multinationals lost market share.
在果汁领域，农夫山泉(Nongfu)和无限极(Infinitus)等本土品牌夺走了可口可乐等海外品牌的市场份额。相比类似可口可乐旗下的美汁源(Minute Maid)等以浓缩果汁为基底的产品，中国本土品牌依靠100%纯果汁产品实现了逾20%的销售额增长。In fruit juice, overseas brands such as Coca-Cola lost share to local offerings such as Nongfu and Infinitus, which achieved more than 20 per cent sales growth by offering 100 per cent juice rather than concentrate-based products such as Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid brand.
去年，可口可乐中国在大中华区的销售额仅增长2%，低于不到10年前的双位数增速。分析师表示，海外品牌的集中决策制约着它们的发展，但随着它们适应消费者变化的口味，它们丧失市场份额的速度正在放缓。宝洁(P&G)在2016年销售额下滑后承认在中国市场犯错，此后宝洁通过销售更多高端产品在中国市场恢复增长。Coca-Cola’s China sales grew just 2 per cent in greater China last year, down from double-digit rates less than a decade ago. Analysts say that overseas brands have been hampered by their centralised decision-making, but the pace of their market share loss is slowing as they adapt to changing tastes. After admitting mistakes in the China market in 2016 as sales fell, Procter & Gamble has returned to growth in China by selling more upmarket products.
去年，可口可乐在中国市场推出了雪碧零卡(Sprite Zero)，今年又推出了雪碧纤维+(Sprite Fiber+)，后者据称含有相当于两个苹果的膳食纤维。此外，可口可乐还收购了中国酸奶品牌乐纯(LePur) 12%的股份，所花的价钱并未披露。乐纯的创始人Denny Liu表示，可口可乐赢得这笔交易的原因是“他们的主题正变得更健康”。Coca-Cola introduced Sprite Zero in China last year and this year launched Sprite Fiber+, said to contain the same amount of fibre as two apples, while paying an undisclosed amount for a 12 per cent stake in Chinese yoghurt brand LePur. Coke won the deal because “their theme is going healthier”, said LePur founder Denny Liu.
乐纯的月销量超过100万盒，主要卖希腊式酸奶，这种酸奶被“消费者认为更加健康。我们赶上了这场健康消费升级的尾巴”。LePur sells more than 1m units per month, mainly Greek-style yoghurt, which is “perceived by consumers as being extra healthy. We are riding on the tails of this healthy consumer upgrade.”
在健康饮食趋势的推动下，中国对牛油果等水果的进口激增，2017年中国水果进口总额同比增长25%，达到580亿美元。其中大部分是在线购买的外国品牌水果，这表明跨国公司可以受益于更快地把它们的海外产品推向中国。China’s imports of fruits such as avocados have surged because of the healthy eating trend, with total food imports growing 25 per cent year on year in 2017 to reach $58bn. Much of that is comprised of online purchases of foreign brands, suggesting multinationals can benefit by bringing their overseas products to China more quickly.
跨国公司“拥有优质的产品，在人们心目中是健康的”，贝恩合伙人布鲁诺•拉纳(Bruno Lannes)说，“我认为问题在于，它们需要更快地把创新推向市场”。Multinationals “have the premium products, they have the perception of being healthy”, said Bruno Lannes, a partner at Bain. “I think the issue is more the speed at which they need to bring innovation to the market.”