Recently, a new kind of drink gets its popularity in Xiaohongshu, a lifestyle platform that encourages people to explore more lifestyles, which is “4KG coconut water”. People can see its appearing in Wuhan, Chongqing. Most of people will feel cool when they see this cold thirst-quenching coconut water. And this super bucket sells for RMB 168 yuan.
Since last year, “super bucket” has came back the limelight when many brands introduced super fruit bucket that consists of 5-6 fruits, including Guming, YH.Tang, Auntea Jenny. This year, it is still gaining momentum that “4KG Mung Bean Smoothie” and “Super Mango Bucket” can be seen in market. On May 24, NAYUKI unveiled its new peach series—BAQI Peach, whose volume is 1L yet its price is only RMB 28 yuan. Not long after, CHABAIDAO introduced a similar drink, called “Super Peach”.
In the first half of this year, China’s tea brands have launched a total of 37 new fruit buckets, commonly available in 1L and 700ml, and a number of them are 4L capacity, enough for more than 5 people to share in a party.
Left: BAQI Peach Right: Super Peach
And why is super bucket popular this year?
First of all, price between RMB 10~20 yuan gives a cheap feeling to customers. In fact, a large volume doesn’t see a higher price yet. Most of super buckets are sold between RMB 10~20 yuan. For example, YH.Tang’s “Sweet Watermelon Bucket” sells for 13 yuan and SHUYI’s One Fruit Bucket’s price is at 15 yuan. Second, multiple fruits can satisfy people’s demand to drink cool fruit tea and eat fresh fruits. In hot summer, people are more eager to eat fruits and super bucket exactly meet their demand.
Last but not least, many customers will make secondary innovations on the bucket. They will put different stickers on bucket to make a distinctive pen holder, or wrap colourful clay to make a flower pot, or even paste a toy to transform it to a storage bucket. Brands also get involved to teach netizens more DIY ways to play.
How to stand out from other brands?
1. "Super bucket" is only suitable for creating hot topics.
Although many brands are introducing large bucket products, the profit is not high. Whether it is a 1L single fruit bucket or a diverse fruits bucket, the cost is between 4 to 8 yuan, higher than other tea-based drinks. Moreover, its price is generally 10 to 20 yuan which further squeezes the margin. Oversized buckets of 4L or more, while giving consumers more satisfaction, their costs and prices will also be raised. For example, 8kg of coconut water is priced at RMB 168 yuan, while the 5L fruit tea of SHUYI last year was priced at RMB 89 yuan.
After all, the excessive capacity will turn the consumer's "psychological satisfaction" into a "psychological burden" because they may feel displeased if the drink be wasted or drink overmuch.
2. Add more niche, more differentiated fruits.
At present, there are two common forms of fruit bucket: single fruit and diverse fruits bucket which usually consists of lemon, passion fruit, watermelon, pineapple, kumquat, orange, green orange and mango. Single fruit bucket is a bucket containing a kind of fruit, such as the "Super Peach" of CHABAIDAO, Auntea Jenny's Fresh Orange Bucket.
Therefore, it is also an idea to create differentiation by adding some relatively niche fruits such as carambola, guavas and mulberries while taking costs under control.
3. Improve customer’s experience to enable super bucket both pretty and convenient to handle.
Plum Torch Cup
At present, there are still some pain points of super bucket, for example some consumers say that the current cup type is inconvenient to place when watching movies.
SHUYI recently launched the “Plum Torch Cup” which employs a wide top and narrow bottom design, solving the grip problem and scenario problem.
Auntea Jenny's 5L camping bucket has a spout at the bottom of the side that solves the problem of multi-person sharing and adds stronger camping atmosphere.
Conclusion
The development of super bucket represents the two eternal criteria for a milk tea field: either it's "super value" or it's fun.
