Rushing and observing coexist: Food and beverage companies explore the billion-dollar "medicinal and food homology" track | Live coverage of the Sugar and Wine Fair

China Economic Network (3月28日讯) (By reporters Wu Weiling and Shen Jiaojiao) As “light wellness” has become a daily demand among younger consumers, products based on the “medicine and food of the same origin” are accelerating their shift away from an “a supplement” image. During this year’s China International Food and Drinks Fair (China Sugar, Wine & Tobacco Fair), a range of traditional Chinese medicinal ingredients, such as danggui and fuling, are rapidly being integrated with new product forms like drinks, snacks, and coffee. Behind this change is a massive market with a scale already exceeding 3,700 billion yuan and a valuation across the entire industry chain surpassing 2 trillion yuan. Meanwhile, taste, pricing, and R&D barriers are becoming challenges faced jointly by both new and established players.

From wellness tea to coffee and snacks: Food giants move in to seize a new trend

“(Wellness water) can be seen as something like East-Tree Leaf from many years ago. At first, consumers thought the taste wasn’t good, but as health awareness improved, the market opened up.” A relevant executive from Panpan Food told China Economic Network reporters.

In terms of market size, data released by the 2025 China Special Food Industry Conference shows that China’s “medicine and food of the same origin” market has already surpassed 370 billion yuan, with the valuation of the entire industry chain exceeding 2 trillion yuan.

The Panpan Food source mentioned above told China Economic Network reporters that, judging from the broader soft-drinks market, although the overall scale of unsweetened tea drinks today is not as large as that of sweetened tea drinks, it belongs to an upward-growth track. Meanwhile, the market share of sweetened drinks is declining. Under this market trend, the company enters the “medicine and food of the same origin” track through a series of wellness water products such as Qibai Water and Jasmine Five-Flower Tea, mainly targeting first-tier and coastal cities including Shanghai and Shenzhen, and it is currently in a market cultivation phase.

Traditional companies are also accelerating their transformation. In addition to Almond Milk beverage, Chengde LuLu (000848.SZ) launched a “LuLu Plant-Based” series of products. A relevant company executive told China Economic Network reporters that last year’s sales had already reached several hundred million yuan.

“The product itself doesn’t really speak to efficacy, but its raw materials like goji berries and loquat, etc., are all very healthy, and the ingredient list is very clean.” When discussing the product’s functions and advantages, the company source said to China Economic Network reporters.

Even the coffee segment—where competition is becoming intense—has also found a “functionalized” entry point. Yunnan brand Four Cats Coffee, targeting weight-loss needs, adds ingredients such as L-carnitine and probiotics to traditional black coffee, creating “effective black coffee.” “It just exploded in orders right after the New Year!” A company staff member told China Economic Network reporters with感慨.

A game between “tasty” and “healthy”: Some leading enterprises are cautious

Even though the future looks promising, reality is still full of challenges. The first challenge comes from the product itself. “‘Medicine and food of the same origin’ isn’t just about ingredient additions. Consumers especially care about no added ingredients and a clean ingredient list. If the ingredients are good, you need strong R&D capability to make it happen; otherwise you can’t do it.” The Panpan Food source above said directly.

Taste is another key obstacle. A channel partner at the fair told China Economic Network reporters: “(Wellness water) still, more or less, has a bit of a traditional Chinese medicine taste.” Although there were already wellness-water brands that had previously proactively held talks, during the fair he did not pay special attention.

The contradictions in the snack segment are even more obvious. At the end of last year, Gan Yuan Foods (002991.SZ) launched a snack series containing ingredients such as danggui and fuling. Its pricing is clearly higher than that of conventional flavored products. A consumer directly compared: “First, the price is a bit expensive. Second, when you compare the flavor of Angus beef with the flavor of fuling and danggui, I’m more inclined toward Angus beef. Snacks first and foremost have to taste good.”

A relevant executive from a beverage listed company told China Economic Network reporters that the company is cautious about the “medicine and food of the same origin” track. Although it already has production qualifications, it has not entered the market yet. “On the one hand, the product’s taste is greatly affected by the temperature, so stability isn’t good enough. On the other hand, product homogenization is already quite apparent.”

Product homogenization is especially突出 in beverages. China Economic Network reporters observed in the market that although most wellness drinks are priced in the range of 5–6 yuan per bottle, multiple brand owners told China Economic Network reporters that there are price promotions, and that this is ‘very common.’ A brand owner whose main business is children’s health drinks said directly to China Economic Network reporters: “Now there are more and more brands of the same type. It’s not just us—other people’s brands have it too. Everyone is fighting inwardly, and it’s getting intense.”

From traditional tonics to everyday consumption, the 370 billion yuan “medicine and food of the same origin” market is being given more possibilities. But whether this track, which combines health needs with consumer taste, can ultimately become a sustainable growth engine still requires the product’s actual competitiveness to provide the final answer.

(China Economic Network reporters Wu Weiling and Shen Jiaojiao)