Top 100 Beverage New Product Review of 2023: Besides COSTA Coffee, Guozi Shule (Fruit Ripens), and Yuanqi Forest, Who Else Are the 'Top Students' Among New Products?

From the perspective of new products’ market share within their respective categories, non-refrigerated ready-to-drink (RTD) fruit juice launched later—around April–May—compared to RTD tea. Its market share also lagged behind that of RTD tea, stabilizing at only about 3% of the category’s total share. In the dairy beverage category, Mengniu ranked first among corporate groups with three new products on the list: a new flavor of Youyi C, and two new flavors of Zhen Guoli Flower-Fruit Milk. Wahaha, Yili, and New Hope Dairy each had two products listed; Junlebao and Shidai Ecology each had one. Notably, New Hope’s new products this year were particularly representative: both dairy beverages centered on taro paste as their core selling point. While taro-flavored items previously thrived in freshly made bubble tea and pastries, their successful emergence in pre-packaged foods suggests further growth potential for this flavor profile. From the standpoint of new products’ market share within the dairy beverage category, overall new-product share remained low. After a concentrated launch wave in March–April, the peak share in May still fell short of 2%, indicating relatively weak innovation momentum across the category and a stable, entrenched position held by traditional products. Third-tier categories: RTD coffee, RTD milk tea, sports drinks, and carbonated soft drinks Compared to second-tier categories, third-tier categories—including RTD coffee, RTD milk tea, sports drinks, and carbonated soft drinks—each featured roughly six to seven new products on the list. In the RTD coffee category, Coca-Cola’s COSTA Coffee series performed exceptionally well this year. The series’ outstanding performance in China was even highlighted by Coca-Cola’s CEO during the company’s Q3 earnings call—a claim strongly supported by new-product data. Of the seven RTD coffee products on the list, five belonged to Coca-Cola’s COSTA Coffee series, spanning latte and mocha varieties—including low-sugar and regular versions—and incorporating blended flavors such as nuts, coconut, and vanilla. Outside the COSTA series, Nestlé and Wei Quan each contributed one product. New-product market share within the category further illustrates the rising trajectory of the COSTA-led series. Growth began as early as February 2023 and stabilized between 2%–3% throughout summer. Given RTD coffee’s strong suitability for hot consumption, its new-product share surged again in August and September as temperatures cooled nationwide, peaking above 6% in October. Though it dipped slightly in November, it remained above 5%. Even though the COSTA series will no longer qualify as ‘new’ next year, its robust market performance remains highly promising. In the RTD milk tea category, Coca-Cola’s COSTA Coffee series likewise topped the list with three products—all light milk teas built around the core trio of fruit + tea + milk. Xiang Piao Piao and Yuanqi Forest appeared on the list with their respective cow’s milk tea and Yuanqi Forest’s newly revamped milk tea. Following its 2023 refresh, Yuanqi Forest’s milk tea lowered its price point from ~¥10 to ~¥6 and reformulated its entire lineup as low-sugar. These strategic adjustments in both product and pricing have yielded strong results.

Data Deep Dive on 'COSTA Coffee': An Unconventional New Favorite That Tastes Great

Overview of the RTD Coffee Category According to data from Shangma Ying, RTD coffee achieved a 7.1% year-on-year market share growth in 2023—ranking fourth among 22 Level-4 beverage subcategories. First, let’s examine CR10 (the combined market share of the top ten players) in this category. The overall group-level CR landscape shows Nestlé firmly in first place, far ahead of all other competitors. Starbucks and Coca-Cola’s COSTA—two globally prominent café brands—rank second and third respectively among foreign players, underscoring how their strong coffee-related brand equity successfully translates into the bottled RTD beverage space. Following them are Tingyi Holdings (Master Kong), Uni-President, Never Coffee, Yetai, Wei Quan, Nongfu Spring, and Dongpeng Beverage. Among these, Never Coffee and Dongpeng are relative newcomers to the RTD coffee category: Never Coffee approaches it through a new-consumer lens, while Dongpeng seeks to leverage its proven success in the energy drink segment—another category anchored by the ‘alertness’ benefit—to carve out a foothold in RTD coffee. Regarding channel distribution, RTD coffee shows significantly higher penetration in convenience stores and grocery shops than in hypermarkets, supermarkets, or small supermarkets. This likely reflects purchase behavior skewed toward immediate consumption rather than household use or bulk stocking—a pattern consistent with RTD coffee’s functional ‘alertness’ benefit. Consumers buy it to drink right away before moving on to their next task, aligning closely with the micro-retail environment. Geographically, Northeast China exhibits notably higher RTD coffee penetration than other regions—possibly due to comparatively sparse coverage by chain cafés and weaker consumer association with alternative alertness-focused beverages. Conversely, RTD coffee’s share remains relatively low in North, Central, South, and East China—regions where coffee culture is deeply rooted and economic development is advanced. This may stem from the rapid proliferation of affordable chain cafés: Luckin Coffee, Kudi Coffee, and Lucky Cup (a sister brand of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea) enjoy extensive coverage here. Their coffee offerings are competitively priced—for example, Lucky Cup’s ‘Little Red Cup’ series (net content >300ml) sells espresso Americano, espresso latte, and espresso chocolate coffee at ¥5.9, ¥6.9, and ¥9.9 respectively. Offering superior coffee experience and larger volume at prices comparable to bottled RTD coffee, these cafés naturally become consumers’ preferred choice. In terms of flavor and feature composition within the RTD coffee category, latte (coffee + milk) dominates overwhelmingly—its market share exceeds the sum of all other flavors combined—highlighting the deep-rooted cultural influence of this classic pairing in China’s imported coffee culture. Traditional options like mocha and Americano trail far behind, each holding less than 10%. Another noteworthy trend: innovative latte-based variants—such as cheese latte and coconut latte—have captured substantial share, already outpacing traditional flavor profiles like caramel, hazelnut, and vanilla.

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