Small home appliances see big growth in sales

Consumers check out rice cookers at a smart household appliance expo in changzhou, jiangsu province, in august 2018. Focus on personal health and food safety boosts demand for high - quality goods from tech - savvy buyers.
Liu Chen, 31, an employee from a financial magazine in Beijing, prefers using a soybean milk machine or juice extractor to make soybean milk or fruit juice every morning since the outbreak of the COVID - 19 pandemic. She used to dine out with friends during the weekends. But nowadays, Liu would stay at home and prepare breakfast and dinner by herself, such as stewing a bowl of chicken soup with the electric cooker and baking food.
"I bought juice extractors, a yogurt machine and electric ovens that are easy to operate, and spend much time studying cooking these days," Liu said, adding she could make yogurt, bread, cookies, egg tart and even fried chicken wings with the help of these kitchen appliances.
Liu is just one of the fans of mini home appliances in China as the outbreak has boosted the consumption of small household appliances. Air fryers, electric ovens, blenders and steam mops enjoyed increasing popularity among Chinese consumers and saw robust growth in sales during the epidemic period, said a report released by the China Center for Information Industry Development of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
In addition, products with sterilization and disinfection functions increased significantly, such as disinfection cabinets, water purification equipment and dish washers.
Joyoung, one of China's leading home appliance manufacturers and soybean milk machine makers, said small household appliances have been gaining traction in China since the outbreak of COVID - 19, as tens of millions of Chinese were confined indoors due to restrictions on large gatherings and travel.
The company has launched a string of stylish and exquisite kitchen appliances such as sandwich makers, portable juice extractors, noodle makers and mini electric ovens in a bid to cater to the tastes of young Chinese consumers who have an increasing demand for the quality, function and appearance of products.
For instance, it collaborated with Line Friends, a global character brand featuring memorable characters which are originally created as stickers for a mobile messenger application Line, covering the categories of noodle makers, electric kettles, milk pans and soybean milk machines.
"Chinese consumers are increasingly cooking at home and like small home appliances with multiple functions and attractive appearances," said Si Zhenming, brand director of Joyoung. "Compared with European countries and the United States, the penetration rate of household and kitchen appliances in China is relatively low, and this segment has huge growth potential in the future," si said.