JunYao Health Luo Yujie: Every year, consumers redefine "health." How can companies seize new opportunities?

What are the driving factors behind the evolution of consumer health cognition?

China Economic Journalist Liu Wang reported from Beijing

“Every year, when reviewing the health food and beverage sector, we find that the term ‘health’ has been continuously evolving.” On March 25, at the 2026 China New Consumer Industry High-Quality Development Forum organized by the China Business Journal, Luo Yujie, Marketing Director of Junyao Health, summarized her deep insights from years in the food and beverage industry.

As an important listed company in the consumer goods sector under Junyao Group, Junyao Health has been deeply engaged in the health food and beverage sector for over thirty years. From the early slogan “A glass of milk strengthens a generation of Chinese,” to the launch of the Weidongli probiotic in 2011 that created an annual sales volume of 2 billion for a single product, this company has witnessed the gradual evolution of Chinese consumers’ understanding of “health.”

Today, in the face of the wave of “new quality consumption,” Luo Yujie believes that the biggest challenge for food and beverage companies is how to find their own new quality productivity within the continuously evolving definition of health by consumers.

“Health Chips”: Embedding Probiotics in More Scenarios

Luo Yujie admitted that the food and beverage industry has a low barrier to entry and is extremely competitive. “Currently, competition in the food and beverage sector revolves around specifications, prices, and costs. When there’s no way to compete further, suddenly some companies come up with new formulas and ways of doing things.”

She used probiotics as an example to review the changes in consumer cognition. “More than a decade ago, everyone thought the sweet and sour probiotic drink was a very healthy beverage.” But today, the situation is completely different. “After more than ten years, everyone looks at the ingredient list. When they see that the probiotic ingredient list has a dozen or twenty components, consumers immediately slide this product into the category of merely tasty but not healthy.”

Consumer trends are constantly changing, and the understanding of health by consumers is also continuously evolving. It is especially important for companies to keep up with trends and seize consumption opportunities at this time.

Junyao Health’s solution is to return to the technology itself. In 2023, Junyao Health acquired the professional probiotic powder company Junyao Runying, fully upgrading its probiotic research and development capabilities. Luo Yujie described probiotics as “health chips.”

“Probiotics can cover many health scenarios, such as gastrointestinal care, weight management, oral health, and even specific scenarios like hangover recovery and liver protection,” she said. “They act like health chips that can be embedded in our health foods and beverages.”

The results of this strategy are already visible. Luo Yujie cited the example of Junyao Health’s customized “live bacteria green plum water” for Hema, which achieved differentiation in the fiercely competitive beverage market by adding active probiotics. “We use new science, technology, and health benefits to help categories carve out new paths in the realm of new quality productivity, allowing the industry ecosystem to give birth to new development directions.”

The “Decision Points” of Consumers Have Changed

In Luo Yujie’s view, beverages, being low-cost and subject to instant decisions, often see consumers making decisions in “those few moments” in front of the shelf. Today, the logic behind these moments of decision-making has undergone profound changes.

Using the popularity of coconut water as an example, she dissected the refinement of consumer decision-making. “100 milliliters of natural coconut water contains about 5 grams of sugar, which is a very low sugar content. Similarly, among 100% freshly squeezed juices, we find that consumers are more inclined to buy juices with lower sugar content.”

Luo Yujie pointed out that behind this phenomenon is the consumers’ deep interpretation of nutritional ingredient lists. “There are more consumers pursuing healthy juices, and their decision points start from the ingredient list.”

Based on a deep observation of consumer decision points, Luo Yujie’s team identified new opportunities in sports scenarios. She described the team’s observations at the smart cabinet by the sports field: “Consumers only choose two types of beverages: first, electrolyte drinks, because they need to replenish electrolytes after sweating during exercise. Second, consumers choose strong-tasting sodas.”

When the market has electrolyte water and soda each occupying a side, Luo Yujie raised a “small but real” pain point: “Why must consumers choose between soda and electrolyte water? Can’t we ‘pamper’ them a bit and offer the refreshing taste of soda along with the energy-replenishing function of electrolytes?”

This insight directly points to the underlying logic of new product development. “Sometimes, consumers just need you to ‘pamper’ them a little more, and that may truly lead to finding a new scenario,” Luo Yujie stated.

Bypassing “Old Brand Education”

In terms of brand communication, Luo Yujie also proposed new thoughts. She noticed that today, consumers have developed a resistance to health communication from brands. “When trying to communicate with consumers through strong scientific indoctrination, they react very negatively. On social media, there’s often a saying that brands are ‘educating me in an old-fashioned way,’ which elicits a strong resistance from consumers.”

How to convey health values without being rejected by consumers? Junyao Health found a solution when revamping the Weidongli probiotic. Facing the decline in the children’s probiotic market, the team incorporated effective ingredients like DHA, calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamins, and minerals into the product, rebranding it as the “Rainbow Nutrition Bottle.”

“This way of communicating is very attractive to parents and to the children standing in front of the shelf, without feeling that the brand is forcefully trying to indoctrinate them with concepts or products,” Luo Yujie said.

Regarding the future of the food and beverage industry, Luo Yujie maintains cautious optimism. “The innovation space left for each enterprise seems small, but in reality, if everyone digs in, there is still much to be done.”

In her opinion, every year, consumers redefine the term “health,” and whoever can grasp this continuously evolving definition will find their new height and direction amid the “industry involution.”

(Editor: Yu Haixia Review: Sun Jizheng Proofreading: Yan Jingning)