Digital platforms helping with new snacks surge

While confined to her apartment during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 last spring, Wang Chuanjiao put on nearly 5 kilograms.

She realized she needed to tackle the problem. Since gyms were temporarily shut and outdoor workouts weren't so appealing, the 26-year-old middle school teacher decided to change her eating habits.

It was then she encountered WonderLab, a meal-replacement brand that was all over China's social media last year. She ran into its ads on e-commerce site Taobao, high-flying short-video platform Douyin and on WeChat Moments－a function allowing people to update their status in messaging app WeChat, which has 1.2 billion users.

"What struck me most were the messages left beneath the ad by my acquaintances. That prompted me to give it a go as well," Wang said.

Getting the right public exposure is integral to cutting into China's fierce consumer market. Apart from ad placements, the 2-year-old company knows how to captivate trend-chasing customers via brand crossovers.

It has entered into partnerships with fitness studio SuperMonkey, milk tea producer Heytea and messaging app QQfamily by rolling out co-branded offerings with customized packaging to entice new users.

"Through these joint initiatives,WonderLab manages to gain brand awareness among a growing portion of customers, position our brand tonality as 'young and chic', and promote a healthy eating lifestyle in a fun way," said Fu Yao, a public relations manager at WonderLab.

Heated online discussions have translated into robust sales. WonderLab's bottled milkshakes took the top spot in the category of meal replacements by Tmall, China's largest business-to-customer online shopping site.

Wang said she was an avid buyer of its six-flavor meal-replacement powder box. For flavor choices, it cooperated with Heytea. "They taste better than I thought, and the calories in one bottle are less than a normal meal, which is conducive to my weight-loss plan."

The company also reported user numbers topped 1 million as of the end of last year, among whom are those born after 1995－a demographic which surged 48 percent year-on-year－the fastest pace of expansion across all age groups.

Co-branded products are by no means a publicity stunt, Fu said. Rather, it provides better impetus for the company to delve into some serious research and co-development by cooperating with leading raw materials suppliers.

"For instance, we cooperate with New Zealand dairy brand Fonterra on whey protein, an essential source of high-quality protein－and Chinese food ingredient company BLB on a key sugar substitute－and we set up a fitness food research center with Hangzhou Hengmei Food Technology," she said.

Fu said the company, positioning itself as a "new nutrition brand", is looking to expand its portfolio beyond meal replacements. For instance, it has recently launched a probiotics product focused on female health.

"While the products can come in various forms, our goal is always to help customers become more beautiful, healthier and have higher spirits."