For Beijingers in their 30s and 40s, gulping down a cool bottle of bright yellow-colored orange soda or licking a cream-colored ice pop used to be one of the most luxurious moments in the city's hot, sweating summer days, making a sticky walk to a street stall "worth it."
Such a sweet childhood memory no longer works with the younger generation, who are heavily dependent on fans or air conditioners in summer.
Now, Alibaba's Tmall makes it easier to enjoy a trip down memory lane. The popular food of the past has become the new fashion.
The champion of the Tmall summer shopping spree on June 18 for ice cream was Zhongjie 1946, a traditional ice pop brand popular especially in northeastern China. Within only four minutes, the sales topped 100,000. In just one year after the Chinese brand opened its Tmall store, it has overtaken international big names, including Haagen-Daz, taking up a quarter of the total ice cream sales on Tmall, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
In addition to Zhongjie 1946, more than half of the 2,000 verified time-honored Chinese brands have opened online stores on Tmall, helping once popular regional brands go way beyond their regional realms.
The bright yellow-colored orange soda in Beijing, branded "Arctic Ocean," for example, has now entered the Hong Kong market. Through Tmall, it aims to spread to Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, the U.S., and even the real Arctic Ocean.
Data from Beijing's statistic bureau shows that online sales of local time-honored brands reached 320 million yuan in the first half of 2017, up 71.8 percent, a growth rate that is much higher than the average in Beijing.
"Retail on Tmall responds quickly to the fast, fashionable lifestyle of Chinese youth. Many time-honored brands have joined the platform to serve more customers," Chen Lin, deputy general manager of Beijing Yiqing Food Group, told Beijing Youth Daily. The company is known for many local brands, including "Arctic Ocean."
Specifically, the "Arctic Ocean" soda and ice pops also joined the "one-hour delivery" program of Tmall, promising quick delivery within one hour after an order is placed within certain locations in Beijing.
Big data has also helped the old brands adapt. Wu Fang Zhai, a rice food producer founded in 1921, began to serve customized "zongzi" in May, the rice dumpling eating during the Dragon Boat Festival. On its official Tmall store, customers can choice their own unique fillings, from shrimp to eel and to steak.
"China's time-honored brands symbolize traditional business and culture. They carry the history, quality, and craftsmanship passed on from centuries ago. It is natural to explore ways to bring out their vitality. E-commerce and digital business has provided an innovative answer," said Ma Qiji, a researcher at the School of New Media under Peking University.
