FLOW Fulu Launches New Sub-Brand SUSHI: 3 Ceramic Pod Pack for 69 Yuan

On July 5, it was reported that the well-known domestic e-cigarette brand FLOW held a new product launch conference in Zhengzhou on July 4, officially announcing the launch of its sub-brand SUSHI and new pod products, aiming to enter the affordable segment of the industry.

Regarding the launch of SUSHI, FLOW's CEO Zhu Xiaomu stated:

The e-cigarette industry is constantly in turmoil, and brands need to have a keen sense and awareness to cope with changes that may occur at any time. They must also maintain a sense of crisis and plan their brand layout in advance. The launch of this sub-brand is our foresight that the industry will eventually fall into a price war and development bottleneck, so we started preparing for the SUSHI project early, waiting for this day to come, and we will be the first to break the deadlock.

The market price for the SUSHI pod kit is set at 169 yuan per kit (one device and one pod); the promotional sale price fluctuates around 40% off the retail price; the pods are priced at 69 yuan per box (3 pods). It is understood that although the SUSHI series belongs to the affordable product category, it still leaves sufficient profit margins for distributors.
 
Readers may have noticed a key point: the price of SUSHI pods has dropped directly to 69 yuan per box, which is quite rare among mainstream brands, as most are priced between 80-99 yuan. Some may argue that the soft mist series pods launched by the industry leader RELX are priced at 20 yuan each, which offers a competitive price advantage.

Of course, if we only consider price, the soft mist may be the strongest contender among mainstream brands, but discussing price alone without considering pod structure is one-sided. It is important to emphasize that the SUSHI series pods use a more widely adopted ceramic core rather than a cotton core.

As we all know, due to the production costs of ceramic cores and considering channel distribution, the operational space for pricing ceramic cores is limited. Even leading brands like RELX and YOOZ have launched low-priced cotton core pods, yet they still cannot shake the market position and pricing of ceramic cores, highlighting the difficulty of reducing ceramic core prices.

Currently, the e-cigarette industry resembles a survival game, with the continuous expansion and overflow of stores leading to a shrinking overall market space and intensified competition. To break out of the "toxic circle," the final competition will definitely be based on brand support, store operations, product advantages, and other comprehensive qualities.

In 2019, RELX defined 99 for three pods, making city dwellers happy; in 2020, YOOZ defined 9.9 for new users, making channels happy; in 2021, FLOW launched SUSHI at 69 for three pods, making everyone happy.

Clearly, after a six-month return, the old internet celebrity FLOW has once again demonstrated its brand strength by creating a product that truly offers exceptional value for money, regaining market voice. With its low price of 69 yuan without compromising quality, SUSHI is bound to become a powerful weapon for FLOW in the sinking market war, gaining widespread consumer favor.
 
Let's take a look at the basic parameters and craftsmanship advantages of the SUSHI pod device.

Basic Parameters

E-liquid capacity: 2.0ml

Battery life: 450mAh large capacity battery

Function: 15 puff LED reminder

Body material: aluminum alloy

Surface craftsmanship: anodized body, high-precision laser perforation

Technology: labyrinth-style leak-proof design

Craftsmanship Advantages

PCTG oil tank: PCTG environmentally friendly material, compliant with food contact management requirements

Aluminum alloy body: sturdy, solid, and made with quality materials

Anodized process: scratch-resistant, stain-resistant, and corrosion-resistant

High-precision laser micro-holes: processed with aerospace-grade precision instruments to enhance quality

Laser engraving logo: finely crafted, pursuing perfection
 
Even though it is referred to as a sinking product, the quality and configuration standards of this product have not been compromised, and it is manufactured according to the standards of mainstream pod products in the market. #p#分页标题#e#

In summary, SUSHI offers bronze prices with king-level quality.

It is reported that the first batch of SUSHI products launched three colors of devices and eight flavors of pods, with the flavor selection led by the popular "Iron Sword" flavor.
 
While maintaining low prices, FLOW does not compromise on quality, which may stem from its self-built factory, YuZhi Technology.

As we all know, having a self-owned factory allows for better control over product quality and production capacity, without being limited by third parties. It also maximizes cost control, providing satisfactory profit margins for agents and store owners while benefiting consumers, creating a win-win situation.

FLOW may be the only leading brand in the industry with its own factory, which is its greatest competitive advantage for survival in the industry.

Historically, whenever a brand launches low-priced pods, there are often complaints in the market, claiming it disrupts market prices and undermines the fundamental interests of store owners. However, in an era where micro-businesses, counterfeit products, and generic brands are all under the banner of "crushing original prices," making it difficult for legitimate stores to survive, adopting a counterintuitive strategy of offering lower prices and higher quality products to retain users may not be an ineffective approach.

As Zhu Xiaomu said: When the industry market begins to form a temporary saturation and internal competition, rather than continuously breaking prices and affecting the industry ecology, it is better to innovate and launch products suitable for the current environment to break through. The sinking market still has a lot of space to cultivate consumer awareness; only when the audience is sufficiently expanded can distributors have greater survival and development space.
 
Additionally, the factory manager of YuZhi Technology, Fan Jianming, is an industrial designer by training. His belief is that a good designer should not just leave design on paper; good design should be better realized. Having one's own factory is the most direct way to realize this, and the perfect integration of design and production can deliver better products to consumers.

In terms of ceramic core development, Fan Jianming revealed that although ceramic core technology is already quite mature, YuZhi Technology has developed more advanced technology in the ceramic core field, establishing its own colorful ceramic brand HUE and obtaining patents.

This ceramic core utilizes advanced color ceramic technology, undergoing hundreds of professional laboratory tests and tuning thousands of formulas, ultimately successfully developing multi-colored ceramics, with each ceramic core suitable for different flavored pods, maximizing the flavor and taste of each e-liquid.

Zhu Xiaomu and Fan Jianming believe that having a self-owned factory is the lifeline of FLOW. With design and product quality control in their hands, FLOW's future will be more sustainable.
 
In line with FLOW's consistently open brand thinking, the launch of SUSHI also redefines the franchise model. Unlike previous focuses on opening brand specialty stores, SUSHI can be introduced into brand collection stores, trendy product stores, 3C accessory stores, and even specialty stores of other e-cigarette brands, further accelerating the expansion speed of the sinking market.

With stable quality output, a consumer-friendly price positioning, and a new franchise model, whether FLOW can successfully break the industry deadlock with SUSHI remains to be seen.

This article is reprinted from Blue Hole New Consumption.