From Top Tomato Brand to Beverage Rising Star: How YikeDa Hit ¥1B Revenue in 2.5 Years via Scenario Expansion
If you’ve visited Hema or Family Mart recently, you may have spotted eye-catching tomato drinks on the shelves—clear tomato water, or tomato sparkling water infused with dark plum flavor. Both are from YikeDa, a brand that has redefined the tomato category in China.
Founded in late 2022, this young brand surpassed ¥1 billion in annual revenue in just two and a half years. During the 2025 618 Shopping Festival, it ranked No.1 in the tomato category on Tmall for the third consecutive year.YikeDa first gained fame by elevating the tomato to a premium fruit: stylish paper-box packaging, fresh vineon presentation, and strict quality control turned an ordinary tomato into a “light luxury staple” in middle-class households.
But YikeDa did not stop at fresh produce.When the brand observed consumers actively discussing and searching for tomato juice and tomato drinks on social media, it smoothly extended its product line into beverages. Rather than launching conventional NFC tomato juice, it unveiled two products tailored for daily consumption scenarios: tomato water and tomato & dark plum sparkling water.
(Image: YikeDa Tomato Drinks | Source: Xiaohongshu @阿傅傅傅傅傅)
Tomato Water emphasizes purity with a clean ingredient list. Tomato & Dark Plum Sparkling Water targets the health trend, featuring low calories, 0 sucrose, and 0 fat.
The logic behind these drinks aligns perfectly with YikeDa’s fresh tomato strategy: it does not simply bottle tomatoes, but gives consumers a new reason to consume tomatoes.
Technical Barriers: From Fresh Tomato to Bottled Drink
Turning tomatoes into beverages sounds straightforward, but involves considerable technical challenges.
Tomatoes contain natural pigments and pectin, leading to two common issues in clear bottled products:
- Oxidative darkening of color during shelf life
- Loss or distortion of natural flavor during processing
For tomato & dark plum sparkling water, the challenge grows: balancing tomato’s sweet-sour taste and dark plum’s smoky notes without sucrose, ensuring harmonious, non-conflicting flavors.
(Image: YikeDa Tomato & Dark Plum Sparkling Water | Source: Xiaohongshu @大眾表妹)
These pain points are precisely where upstream supply-chain technology delivers solutions.
TELLCAN SCIENCE provides targeted formulations for tomato-based beverages:
- Compound color fixative (TKH01): Stabilizes lycopene and prevents oxidative darkening, maintaining vivid color from production to shelf.
- Compound sweeteners (TKAPM-A50, TKAPM-100): Balances tomato’s natural acidity and dark plum’s mild astringency with zero sucrose, delivering natural, gentle sweetness.
- Compound emulsifying & thickening agents (TKG308-3, TK3012): Stabilizes the suspension system of sparkling water and prevents sedimentation or separation of flavor compounds.
- Tailored food flavors: Cherry tomato flavor (TKF20839) and tomato flavor (TKF21637) enhance authentic tomato notes; dark plum flavors (TKF20833, TKF22657) build layered smoky sweetness, perfectly integrating both flavors in the fizz.
Explore our product range: https://www.tellcan-tec.com/products/
Key Takeaways
- Scenario extension drives mature brand growth YikeDa’s move from fresh tomatoes to tomato drinks is not cross-border innovation, but scenario expansion around a single core ingredient.
- Consumer insight fuels innovationThe brand expanded its line only after detecting rising social media demand and searches for tomato beverages.
- Technology turns concepts into viable products
Zero sucrose, natural color, harmonious flavor, and stable texture—these invisible yet perceptible experiences depend on professional supply-chain support.
Closing Thought
YikeDa’s story is about deepening a single category to its full potential.
From fresh tomatoes to tomato water and tomato & dark plum sparkling water, it has never strayed from its core: the tomato.
Each product extension answers one question: How else can consumers enjoy tomatoes beyond eating them as fruit?
Every answer requires translating perceptual concepts such as deliciousness, visual appeal and great taste into actionable manufacturing technologies.
Brands capture demand and create emotion; technical partners like TELLCAN SCIENCE turn that emotion into stable, great-tasting products that endure shelf life.
After all, consumers may try a product once for attractive packaging—but they buy again and again for the real taste in every sip.
Explore our product range: https://www.tellcan-tec.com/products/