In the highly competitive catering industry, the sub-segment of pre-made dishes has suddenly become popular.
“It really subverts my perception. Hong Kong-style pot cabbage in the south, lion-headed goose in Shantou, charcoal-grilled lamb hind legs in Inner Mongolia in the north, and Wuxi Sichuan-style bacon in the southwest, only you can’t think of it, you can’t buy it, and your hands will be free this year. .” Not long ago, Zhao Xin (pseudonym), a white-collar worker settled in Shanghai, posted such a circle of friends with a little excitement. As a consumer who advocates the “lazy house economy”, Zhao Xin chose to celebrate the New Year on the spot this year. When thinking about the New Year’s Eve dinner, pre-made dishes opened her “new world”。
Ding dong shoppingThe Tianmu Mountain Bianjian Lao Duck Pot, Hema’s Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and Maw Chicken on Meituan Grocery… Recently, “pre-made dishes” have become a high-frequency hot word among young consumers represented by Zhao Xin.A set of markets announced by Hema in December last yearresearchThe data shows that the respondents’ acceptance of pre-made annual dishes has been increasing. 82% of the respondents have a certain understanding of “New Year’s dishes”, and about 65% of users are willing to try to buy.
The popularity of the market has been reflected on many levels. From the perspective of industry development, from ingredient companies, catering companies to platform companies, pre-made dishes have become a field where companies are competing for layout. From the perspective of capital market trends, since January 2022, the stock prices of individual stocks related to prepared dishes have skyrocketed one after another.byGuolian Aquatic ProductsFor example, on January 4, the company’s stock rose by 20.09%. As of January 17, its stock price has risen by 116% compared with the end of 2021.
“This track has just started.” A few days ago,Ding dong shoppingXu Zhijian, senior vice president of product development, said in an interview with reporters. On January 25, Zhu Yue, a partner of CIC Consulting, also pointed out to the reporter of “International Finance News” that at present, the pre-prepared vegetable industry is in a period of “staking the horse” for a large number of enterprises. The capital is hot and the space is wide, which is a blue ocean for competition. In the long run, companies that can achieve high-quality, low-cost, standardized products and meet consumer preferences of C-end consumers will gain an advantage in the competition.
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Platform PK “Spring Festival”
With the Spring Festival approaching, in Hema Xiansheng Shanghai Mayflower Plaza store, pre-made dishes occupy more and more shelf booths. This is a place where Huang Wei (pseudonym) is likely to come after get off work. “I’m exhausted after get off work, and the biggest headache is what to eat. Compared with ordering takeout, it is definitely healthier to cook by yourself. Considering the issue of efficiency, these pre-made dishes have become the best choice.”
Huang Wei sometimes “hangs out” on the grocery shopping software on his mobile phone,Ding dong shoppingThe online “pre-made dishes” channel attracted most of her attention. “You can eat whatever you want, and you can choose the taste. The key point is that the price is also very high compared to the dishes in many catering stores.”
In fact, prefabricated dishes are not new, they are made from agricultural, livestock, poultry and aquatic products, together with various accessories and pre-processed (slicing, stirring, pickling, rolling, molding, seasoning, etc.). finished or semi-finished products. According to the temperature zone, it is divided into normal temperature, refrigerated and frozen products. According to the degree of processing, it is divided into RTC (instant cooking), RTH (instant heat) and RTE (instant eat). Pre-made dishes have the advantages of saving time, saving ingredients, suitable weight, and distinct taste, which perfectly meet the food requirements of people under the “lazy economy” and “home economy”.
Because of the simple and convenient operation, more and more users are currently willing to choose “pre-made dishes” that can be enjoyed simply by heating. Data from Dingdong Shopping showed that in the previous New Year’s Day, food related to pre-made vegetables increased by more than 400% year-on-year. Especially some dishes that are related to New Year’s Eve dinner and have good luck. At that time, the sales of a “blooming rich yellow croaker steamed meat pie” increased by more than 980% from the previous week.
The “International Finance News” reporter noticed that retail platforms including Dingdong Maicai and Meituan Maicai have already entered this track layout before. The data provided by Dingdong Maicai shows that in 2021, the sales of Dingdong Maicai’s full line of pre-made vegetables will increase by 300% year-on-year, and the penetration rate of orders including pre-made vegetables in the overall order has exceeded 40%. In addition, more than 70% of users who purchase pre-made dishes are under the age of 35. Under the generally high-pressure work and living conditions of young people, high-quality pre-made dishes are solving these users’ concerns about low-quality and unhealthy dishes.
According to Ou Houxi, the person in charge of Dingdong Maicai’s prefabricated food, the current national real-time dynamic maintenance SKU number of Dingdong prefabricated food is 1,000 to 1,200, which will be adjusted according to different time points. “We will make adjustments based on seasonal characteristics and consumer preferences. From the perspective of a single city, maintaining 400 to 500 SKUs will become the norm. At present, the category of pre-made dishes is growing very fast and has occupied a leading position in the retail market. .”
The person in charge of the Meituan Maicai prefabricated food project also said a few days ago that its prefabricated food will grow faster in 2021, a four-fold increase compared to 2020.
In the context of growing consumer demand, on the eve of the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, retail platforms are also thinking about “pre-made dishes”.
This time, Dingdong Maicai has launched the “Five Lakes and Four Seas New Year’s Eve Dinner” series, creating more than 50 “Dingdong ace dishes” with characteristics from all over the country, as well as 10 kinds of New Year’s Eve meal packages. Hema’s previous research on the annual food market shows that the 35-year-old young people are currently taking over the dominance of the New Year’s Eve dinner. This part of the consumer group is also more willing to try pre-made New Year’s dishes, but at the same time, their needs for New Year’s dishes are also more specific and complex. Therefore, Hema also “customized” a full set of pre-made New Year dishes this year around these young people who have mastered the dominance of the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Meituan Maicai also joined the competition of pre-made dishes for New Year’s Eve. Previously, Meituan Maicai revealed to the public that it has teamed up with the Dianping must eat list and is continuing to promote in-depth cooperation between high-quality catering companies and instant retail. Consumers can enjoy items such as Meizhou Dongpo, Tao Tao Ju,Guangzhou RestaurantWait for the joint pre-made dishes produced by the restaurant brands of the previous public comment must eat list.
At present, consumers are quite willing to pay for these layouts of the platform. “In the past, everyone thought that the so-called pre-made dishes were equivalent to frozen products, which may not be fresh and delicious, but now the taste is no problem, so frozen products are not rejected, and there are also many fresh products, such as some clean dishes. The most important thing is that the platforms are being promoted, and the dishes are also full of variety and creativity, so they are becoming more and more interesting.” Huang Wei admitted to reporters.
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Capital also comes to “cook”
In the whole ecosystem of pre-made dishes, retail platforms are only part of the participation. Zhu Yue said that according to the type, the main players in the prefabricated vegetable industry can be roughly divided into five categories.Daily FreshIn addition to retail platforms such as Hema Xiansheng, there are also professional prefabricated vegetable companies, ingredient companies, traditional quick-frozen food companies and catering companies.
According to data from the Tianyancha App, there are currently 72,000 pre-prepared vegetable companies in China. Among them, there are both new brands and many well-known brands entering the field of prepared dishes. “2021 Status and Development Prospects of the Prepared Vegetable Industry”research report” shows that chain restaurants include Meizhou Dongpo, Xinghualou, Xinya Cantonese Restaurant, Hunan-Hubeiqing,HaidilaoIn the field of food processing and manufacturing, there are brands such as Sanquan, Chia Tai and Anjing; in the new retail field, there are Hema Xiansheng, Dingdong Maicai, Meituan Maicai,Daily Freshetc.; in addition, there are also some enterprises whose main business is pre-made dishes, such asMichika, Xincong Kitchen, Haodelai, Wellcome Foods, Jiayan Foods, etc.
From the perspective of industry insiders, the growing “player team” of pre-made dishes is indispensable for the help of capital.
Recently, Zhenwei Xiaomeiyuan, a new Chinese-style prefabricated dish brand, announced the completion of its B+ round of financing.Allegedly, this round of financing was made byBaiduVenture capital led the investment, followed by Dingxiang Capital and Zero One Ventures. In October last year, Zhenwei Xiaomeiyuan just received tens of millions of yuan in Series B financing, and the cumulative amount of the two rounds of financing has exceeded 100 million yuan. At the same time, the new project “Bite of Tongue Workshop” founded by former Luckin chairman Lu Zhengyao also announced its official entry into the pre-made dishes track.
“In the past two years, the number of financing for pre-made dishes and food ingredients supply companies has surged. Brands such as Wangjiadu Foods and Three Meals Youliu have all raised funds, and the influx of capital, including IDG capital,BaiduVenture capital and other well-known institutions and enterprises. “In this regard, Zhu Yue pointed out. He believes that the prefabricated vegetable industry is currently in a period of hot capital.
From the perspective of the secondary market, investors seem to be quite optimistic about pre-made dishes. Therefore, this year, the performance of pre-made dishes concept stocks has been very bright.
January 4th is the first trading day in 2022. On that day, the concept stocks of prepared dishes rose sharply against the trend. Since then, there has been continuous news of the daily limit of the stocks related to prepared dishes. Take January 12 as an example, in the afternoon,Guolian Aquatic Products、Fucheng shares、Huifa Food、MichikaWait for many companies to close to the daily limit. in,DelisIt even won seven consecutive boards from January 12 to 20, an increase of 95.19%. also,Guolian Aquatic ProductsThe stock price also gained nearly 20% in several trading days.
Interestingly, Guolian Aquatic also received a “Letter of Concern” from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on January 16. The “Letter of Concern” mentioned that the chairman of Guolian Aquatic Products once said in an interview with the media that the current stock space of my country’s prefabricated vegetable market is about 300 billion yuan. According to an annual compound growth rate of 20%, my country’s prefabricated vegetables will be available in the next 6-7 years. The market can grow to a scale of one trillion yuan, and it is expected to achieve a scale of more than 3 trillion yuan in the long run. In this regard, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange required Guolian Aquatic to explain the source of the above market data.Since then, Guolian Aquatic Products stated in its reply that the board of directors verified with the chairman that the above-mentioned data related to pre-made dishes came from 5 copiesbrokerageresearch report. “Although the company has not obtained the underlying parameters predicted by the above-mentioned securities companies, the relevant statements are objective, true and accurate, and there is no situation where subjective speculations mislead investors.” It said.
Investors’ enthusiasm is also reflected in another aspect – they are throwing questions about the layout of the field of prepared dishes to related companies on the interactive platform.A few days ago, some investorsTwin Towers FoodAsked a question, saying that the latter, as a leading domestic prefabricated vegetable enterprise, how to achieve long-term value growth, stable increase in revenue and profitability, and what are the future domestic and international plans.Twin Towers FoodOn January 25, he replied that some of the company’s products have entered the field of pre-made dishes, and will increase the layout in the future.
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Opportunities and challenges coexist
Why are pre-made dishes so popular recently? To this,Chinese foodindustryanalystZhu Danpeng pointed out that in the context of epidemic prevention and control, with the improvement of standardization and industrialization of catering enterprises and the rise of the “home economy”, the demand for pre-made dishes has continued to expand.
“Prepared dishes are simply pre-processed semi-finished dishes. The pre-made vegetables industry is in its infancy in China. From the perspective of the industry, the sales of pre-made vegetables are divided into To B and To C. Generally speaking, the sales window at the To B side is It is relatively mature, and the reason for the popularity of the pre-made dishes in my country in the past two years is mainly due to the development of the To C side.” Zhu Yue also elaborated on the popularity of pre-made dishes. She also pointed out that the epidemic in 2020 gave birth to the “lazy house economy”, which accelerated the development of the prefabricated vegetable industry and is the biggest promoter of the industry.
“According to Tmall’s data in 2020, the sales of pre-made vegetables increased by 111% year-on-year, and consumers’ enthusiasm for the consumption of pre-made vegetables is high, and this enthusiasm will continue into 2022. During the 2022 New Year’s Day, the sales of pre-made vegetables on Taobao platform increased year-on-year. More than 100%. It can be said that under the long-term trend of consumption upgrading, the rise of new consumer brands may become the main theme of Chinese business in the next few decades. For the prepared vegetable industry, the epidemic has accelerated the development of its industry. , and also tap new consumer demand, looking forward to the future, the normal demand release from consumers will promote the continuous growth of the industry.” Zhu Yue said.
So how wide is the pre-cooked dish track with ever-increasing participants? According to the “2021-2022 China Prepared Vegetable Industry Development Report”, the scale of China’s prepared vegetable market will exceed 300 billion yuan in 2021, and it is expected that by 2025, it will exceed 830 billion yuan.
From another perspective, currently, the market penetration rate of domestic prepared dishes is relatively low. The “China Cuisine Association Five-Year (2021-2025) Work Plan” pointed out that the current penetration rate of domestic pre-made dishes is only 10%-15%, and it is expected to increase to 15%-20% in 30 years. In Japan, the penetration rate of prepared dishes has reached more than 60%.
For this hot track, institutions and even relevant people also pointed out some problems.AnxinsecuritiesThe study pointed out that compared with overseas developed markets, my country’s pre-prepared vegetable industry as a whole is still relatively backward, and still has the characteristics of small sales area, obvious geographical characteristics, many participants, low industry concentration, and few enterprises above designated size. In the “staking” stage.
Zhu Danpeng also believes that at present, the pain points in the field of prefabricated dishes are mainly reflected in two aspects. One is that there is no national standard, which will cause hidden dangers in food safety; the other is that the consumer’s recognition and acceptance of prefabricated dishes may not be high enough.
“In the period when the industry is in the development stage, it is inevitable to encounter the problem of lack of national standards and lack of consumer recognition. However, from the perspective of the large market, the industrialization and standardization of catering has always been a major trend; Pressure is increasing, young consumers are rising, consumption habits are iterating, and the catering and takeaway market will continue to expand. The trend of fast food consumption is another major direction of current development; in addition, driven by the epidemic, many restaurants have already made semi-finished meals. , for consumers to buy, the demand is hot, and to a certain extent, it has cultivated consumer habits.” Zhu Yue told the “International Finance News” reporter that in the long run, the prepared vegetable industry is in line with the current development trend.
Zhu Yue said that the participating companies in the current prefabricated food track have their own competitive advantages. “For catering companies, consumers have a general understanding of the taste of products, which can attract some enthusiasts, such asHaidilao, Xibei and other catering companies make their own signature dishes into prefabricated products for sale, and the sales volume is considerable. For retail platforms, they can directly face consumer groups, display products, and increase exposure. After seeing products, consumers are more likely to have the mentality of being curious and trying to achieve purchases. Traditional quick-frozen food companies have rich experience in production lines; ingredient companies have abundant upstream resources and lower raw material costs; professional pre-prepared food companies have a better understanding of channel demands, and their products are closer to consumer needs.”
Zhu Yue further pointed out that the key to the competition in the future prefabricated food track is to “learn from each other’s strengths to complement one’s weaknesses”. “The future development of the industry also needs to solve various problems such as consumer recognition, product planning, and cold chain transportation. Companies with strong product power, brand power, and the ability to conquer consumers’ taste buds will stand out in the competition.”
(Article source: International Finance News)