Why does adding sheng triple the price of cola and coconut milk?

Author: Tadpole Staff

When it comes to drinking milk tea, you should choose fresh coconut milk; if you're stockpiling drinks, prioritize fresh cola; even when buying bread, you must pick fresh toast. It's unclear when it started, but the food industry has been swept up in a trend for the word fresh. Despite the raw materials not differing much, adding the word fresh can double the price, yet fresh products on the shelves are still in high demand. Why are consumers willing to pay a premium for just one word? The secret to the price premium of fresh products actually lies in the craftsmanship and marketing behind them.

Let's talk about the magic of the character 生 (sheng) and its transformative power. A regular coconut milk tea costs 18 yuan per cup, but when it’s labeled as 生椰乳 (sheng ye ru), the price soars to 28 yuan. A large bottle of cola priced at 5 yuan can be sold as 生可乐 (sheng ke le) for over 10 yuan. Even a slice of toast can jump from 8 yuan to 15 yuan simply by adding 生 to its name. Interestingly, from draft beer and coffee to chocolate, anything associated with 生 tends to attract crowds eager to try it, even if the price is 30% to 50% higher than the regular versions, sales remain strong.

But do you know? Among all the raw foods, only raw beer has national standard certification. According to the GB/T4927-2008 Beer regulation, raw beer refers to beer that is not pasteurized or sterilized at high temperatures but instead is treated through other physical methods to achieve a certain level of biological stability. In simple terms, it means that the beer is sterilized using physical methods and bottled under sterile conditions, preserving the active substances in the beer, resulting in a fresher and livelier taste. Additionally, the conditions for storage and transportation are more stringent, which is also the reason why it is more expensive than cooked beer.

The fresh coconut milk, fresh cola, fresh bread, and fresh pastries that we frequently consume do not adhere to a standardized definition of fresh. The term fresh here primarily refers to unique processing techniques: fresh coconut milk is cold-pressed at low temperatures to preserve its coconut aroma without high heat damage; fresh cola is produced using a slow extraction process at low temperatures, which results in finer bubbles; fresh bread does not contain eggs and is made using a large amount of light cream, butter, and honey as ingredients, making it soft and moist. Essentially, these fresh foods preserve flavor and nutrition through specific processing methods. Although they come with higher storage costs, they are not completely unprocessed.

Since it's not some kind of cutting-edge technology, why are life foods so expensive? The core reasons are twofold: one is higher production costs, and the other is more effective marketing.

From a cost perspective, the production of raw food products requires more expensive equipment, more complex processes, and stricter logistics to achieve an exceptionally fresh taste and a naturally pure flavor. For example, the cold-pressed equipment for raw coconut milk is several times more expensive than regular extraction equipment. After extraction, it must be transported using cold chain logistics, maintaining a temperature of 0-4°C throughout storage; otherwise, it can easily spoil. The low-temperature slow extraction process for raw cola takes longer and has a lower production efficiency compared to regular cola, which naturally leads to a higher allocation of costs.

More importantly, from a marketing perspective, the term fresh precisely taps into contemporary people's demand for health. Nowadays, when purchasing food, people seek freshness, natural ingredients, and minimal additives. The word fresh conveys the idea of food that hasn’t been subjected to high temperatures, preserving more nutrients. For instance, fresh coconut milk emphasizes zero high temperature and zero additives, while fresh cola focuses on a purer taste. These selling points resonate with consumers' pursuit of health and high quality. Additionally, with influencers conducting reviews and promoting products on social media, fresh foods have gradually become a symbol of a refined lifestyle. Even if they come at a higher price, some individuals are willing to pay for this sense of ritual.

That said, we don't need to blindly pay for the term raw. Before making a purchase, we can consider two questions: First, does the processing of raw actually provide nutritional value? For example, the low-temperature brewing process of raw beer does enhance the flavor and is worth trying, but the value of raw cola, whether it's worth jumping on the bandwagon, remains debatable. Second, do we really need the characteristics of raw? We need to clarify our core priorities. If we are buying raw coconut milk to make milk tea, regular coconut milk can actually meet that need. If we simply want to drink cola, the standard version clearly offers better cost-effectiveness.

Ultimately, raw foods are not an intelligence tax, but they are also not essential purchases. The premium associated with them includes both genuine increases in cost and additional value created through marketing. The key to rational consumption is to discern the actual value behind the term raw rather than being led by novelty and gimmicks.

Review Expert: Zhang Jie, Director of the Science Popularization Center at the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.