"With reference to Japan's 60% penetration rate, China's prepared vegetable industry is expected to achieve a scale of more than 3 trillion yuan."
"Chinese New Year's Eve rice semi-finished set, 14 Taoist banquets 398 yuan" "Spring Festival reunion dinner private room pre-made dishes, 12 Taoist banquets 298 yuan" "Gongbao chicken diced, grunt meat, laotan sauerkraut fish, vegetarian assortment... Chinese New Year's Eve rice semi-finished 8 dishes 248 yuan".
On December 29, the Beijing News shell financial reporter searched for keywords such as "semi-finished Chinese New Year's Eve rice" and "Spring Festival prefabricated dishes" on major e-commerce platforms, and found that the sales of semi-finished prefabricated dishes were hot, and a "15-dish 668 yuan family portrait semi-finished package" evaluation reached 20,000+, with a praise rating of 97%.
Previously, under the stimulation of the "home economy", prefabricated dishes have stood on the limelight. "Consumption upgrading and the pace of life are accelerating, takeaway and group meal businesses are rising, and the rapid development of the cold chain transportation industry is superimposed, and the prefabricated vegetable industry is ushering in both supply and demand." Some insiders said.
Data show that China's prepared vegetable industry has begun to take shape, the market size is about 210 billion yuan, by 2025 the industry scale is expected to grow to about 600 billion yuan. More enterprises believe that "with the gradual maturity of China's prepared vegetable industry, with reference to Japan's 60% penetration rate, the scale of China's prepared vegetable industry is expected to achieve more than 3 trillion yuan." ”
1 table of good dishes in 15 minutes? Under the "home economy", prefabricated dishes face the pain points of the catering industry
"After thawing, put some of your favorite vegetables, stir-fry, pour in the seasoning packages prepared by the merchants, and fry a few times, a rather delicious onion steak will come out of the pot, fresh and delicious!" A netizen shared his experience with prepared dishes.
The so-called prepared dish refers to the dish that has been washed, cut, matched and processed, and then packaged and preserved in a series of ways such as freezing or vacuum, and consumers only need to eat it by simply cooking or directly opening it after purchase. Some reports say that it is "the most convenient to eat" and "the most convenient to eat".
In the post-epidemic era, people's lifestyles and consumption habits have quietly changed. Compared with instant noodles and instant dumplings, the prepared dishes are richer and taste good. Compared with the next restaurant, the pre-made dishes are convenient and cheap, and preparing four dishes and a soup in 15 minutes is not a dream, and the price is not expensive.
In the catering industry, boosted by the "home economy", the prefabricated vegetable industry has ushered in the outlet. From the perspective of meal supply, the catering industry generally faces the problem of "four highs and one low": high ingredients, high labor, high rent, high energy consumption, and low profits; from the perspective of demand, the pace of consumption upgrading life is accelerated, and the demand for faster + better meals is highlighted; pre-made dishes can solve the pain of efficiency and cost in the catering industry, and also provide consumers with convenient meals.
The Beijing News shell financial reporter saw in a flagship store of a prefabricated dish brand Zhenwei Xiaomeiyuan that its products include old Shanghai shallot oil cake, classic lotus leaf chicken, childhood crispy handmade chicken fillet, crayfish microwave frozen noodles and so on.
Taking its soup sauerkraut fish as an example, the product is priced at 39 yuan for 500g, and the operation steps of the consumer are: "Take out the sauerkraut fish from the freezing layer, thaw it at room temperature, pour 500 grams of water into the pot; add the sour soup bun after the water boils, add the black fish fillet after boiling, cover the pot lid; add the sauerkraut bun and potato flour after the fish fillet boils; boil and put on the plate." ”
Consumer Xiaomei (pseudonym) said: "I have bought it for the second time, it is delicious, no worse than the outside store, and you can eat it with some ingredients at home." Some consumers shared that "you can add some vegetable balls to cook together and eat the whole family together", and some consumers feel that "the amount of potato flour is a little less" and "fish can be a little more"...
Gao Haiping, an analyst at Gao Gang Consulting, told reporters: "Many people work from home, and semi-finished products and prefabricated dishes provide convenience for these people. Pre-made dishes are generally cheaper than those eaten in catering channels, and for a person, the cost performance is a great temptation. ”
According to Wu Siying of Anxin Securities, "Compared with the early prepared dish industry, the current processing degree of China's prepared dishes is higher, the variety is more abundant, and some large-scale enterprises have begun to enter the market, and have built mature sales channels, and introduced e-commerce platforms to sell prepared dishes online." ”
Ali Meituan's new battlefield, experts said that pre-made dishes and takeaway "complement each other"
Anxin Securities Research Report shows that China's prepared vegetable industry has begun to take shape, the market size is about 210 billion yuan, by 2025 the industry scale is expected to grow to about 600 billion yuan.
The outlet has appeared, and the capital has heard it.
Since 2020, the field of prefabricated vegetables has been favored by capital, and many enterprises have obtained financing, including Investment Institutions in the prefabricated vegetable industry, including Qingsong Fund, Zero1 Venture Capital, Donghe Capital, Yuanjing Capital, Innovation Factory, Xingtuo Capital, Zero2IPO Asset Management, Yusheng Capital, etc.
According to the data of enterprise investigation, since 2013, a total of 71 investment and financing incidents have occurred in the prefabricated vegetable track, and the total amount of disclosed financing has exceeded 1 billion yuan, involving 42 projects. From the perspective of financing time, 2015-2016 is the peak period of financing, there are 14 and 17 financing events respectively, 2020-2021 is another peak period of financing, there are 12 financings in the prefabricated vegetable track in 2020, and there are 11 financings so far in 2021.
Liu Zehui, founding partner of Xingtuo Capital, believes that with the prevalence of the "lazy house economy" and the improvement of cold chain logistics, the prefabricated vegetable industry may usher in an outbreak of demand at the C-end. At present, the overall pattern is scattered, and enterprises with product research and development and channel expansion capabilities will have more advantages.
Fengrui Capital predicted in 2020 that prefabricated dishes are likely to become a new battlefield for Ali and Meituan. "Because it balances taste, time, and efficiency, users can say goodbye to the complicated process of cooking — eliminating the need for washing, cutting, seasoning, etc., and simply processing to eat meals."
"As for whose market the prefabricated dishes will squeeze out in the long run, this has to go back to the three main scenarios we solve three meals a day plus supper: cooking at home, dine-in restaurants, and takeaway to home." Fengrui Capital said: "Assuming that the prefabricated dish category becomes a dark horse that starts and develops very quickly, increasing the total amount and frequency of users cooking at home, in the stock competition of eating, it will squeeze out part of the business of takeaway and catering stores." ”
Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in the Chinese food industry, believes that "pre-made dishes and takeaways will form a development pattern of mutual cooperation and mutual complementarity in the future." ”
Cooking bun is also a kind of pre-made dish, and Jian Minjun, an executive of the cooking bag brand, told Shell Financial Reporter: "Pre-made dishes and takeaway are complementary to each other, and there is no relationship of defeat. ”
Wu Siying also agrees with the view that the two complement each other, she explained to Shell Financial Reporter: "The outbreak of the takeaway industry has promoted the growth of demand for prepared dishes to a certain extent, and the development and improvement of the prepared vegetable industry has also helped the takeaway industry to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of cooking." ”
A number of listed companies actively layout, some enterprises last year prefabricated vegetables revenue of more than 700 million yuan
In A-shares, a number of listed companies have laid out in the field of prefabricated dishes, such as Sanquan Food, Guolian Aquatic Products, New Hope, Arowana, Anjing Food, Longda Meat, Haixin Food, Weizhixiang, Tianbang Shares, etc.
Shell financial reporter saw in the Choice financial terminal that the above prefabricated vegetable concept index has data since November 4 this year, and currently contains 14 stocks.
On December 24, the abbreviation of Longda Meat's securities was changed to Longda Cuisine, which was behind the company's strategic upgrading and clarified the overall development strategy of "one body and two wings" with food as the main body and breeding and slaughtering as the support.
Prior to this, Longda Meat and the Hainan Yangpu Economic Development Zone Management Committee signed a "Project Investment Agreement", with a total investment of 426 million yuan, the project name is imported meat deep processing and condiment production project, the main products include frozen prepared food, pre-made semi-finished dishes, pre-made dishes, condiments, etc.
Longda Meat told investors on November 24: "Now the company's main development direction is the food sector, and it has made a strategic layout of food prepared dishes and meat processing. ”
In the 2020 annual report, Longda Meat mentioned: "With the gradual maturity of China's prepared vegetable industry, with reference to Japan's 60% penetration rate, China's prepared vegetable industry is expected to achieve a scale of more than 3 trillion yuan." ”
Guolian aquatic products have been laid out in the field of prefabricated dishes for many years, and the income of guolian aquatic products prefabricated dishes in 2020 is about 730 million yuan.
In an announcement disclosed in September 2021, Guolian Aquatic Products mentioned: consumption upgrading and the acceleration of the pace of life, the rise of takeaway and institutional catering business, the rapid development of the superimposed cold chain transportation industry, and the pre-made vegetable industry ushered in both supply and demand. From the perspective of eating out, home prefabrication, 100% DIY and other major dining methods, pre-made dishes complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, and belong to the cost-effective choice of "the most convenient and convenient and delicious in delicious food", the new crown epidemic in 2020 allows consumers to have further awareness of prepared dishes, and the pre-made vegetable market is expected to continue to grow rapidly after the epidemic.
On November 10, 2021, some investors asked Guolian Aquatic Products: "The company has entered the track of prefabricated vegetables very early, and now other manufacturers in the market have entered the game, will it intensify the competition in the industry?"
In this regard, Guolian Aquatic Products replied: "The pre-made dish is not yet at the time of spelling costs. The prefabricated vegetable track has its particularity, as long as the forerunner achieves the best cost, high degree of production automation, and perfect channel layout, other companies will be difficult to keep up. For example, the current catering channels pay more attention to the integration of procurement, quality control, channels and research and development, and it is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to catch up with the forerunners. ”
What pain points does the prepared vegetable industry face? How to break through?
Wu Siying pointed out: Compared with overseas developed markets, China's prepared vegetable industry as a whole is still relatively backward, there are still small sales areas, obvious regional characteristics, many participants, low industry concentration, less enterprises above designated size, etc., and many enterprises are still in the stage of "horse racing".
"In this process, we believe that prefabricated vegetable companies need to first deepen the B-end market, and then gradually move towards the C-end after forming a scale effect, accumulating sufficient production advantages and certain brand advantages." Only by building a strong supply chain system can we hope to help enterprises stand out from many competitions and fully enjoy the dividends of industry outbreaks. Wu Siying said.
Zhu Danpeng said that the core of regional prefabricated dishes to go national is to build a national supply chain and a strong cold chain system. The pain points of the current prefabricated vegetable industry market are mainly reflected in two aspects, on the one hand, there is no national standard; on the other hand, the recognition and acceptance of prefabricated dishes by the consumer end may not be high, and some consumers will think that the nutrition of prefabricated vegetables has been lost or the ingredients are not fresh, which will cause hidden dangers in food safety. In the future, how to match and meet the core needs of the consumer side will be an urgent issue and problem for the entire prepared vegetable industry.
"In recent years, the prefabricated vegetable industry has a tendency to flock to the hot pot, too many enterprises to the self-service hot pot this product, and the different styles, higher technical content and more complex major cuisines of stir-frying investment is not much; this industry needs a special industry self-regulatory organization, agree on rules, to avoid some enterprises in order to excessively pursue low cost and good taste and use inappropriate ingredients, the use of inappropriate technology." Gao Haiping said.
So, will the prevalence of prepared dishes have an impact on the chef industry?
Jian Minjun believes: "There will definitely be an impact, and there will be almost no chef in takeaway." Only medium and large hotels will have chefs. ”
"Personally, I think the prevalence of pre-made dishes will have a certain impact on the chef industry, because part of the reason for its emergence is to solve the high dependence of the restaurant industry on chefs." Wu Siying said.
"Pre-made dishes are one of the best categories to go chefs. Therefore, with the rise of the central factory and the prevalence of pre-made dishes, de-chefization will become an inevitable trend in the development of the catering industry. Zhu Danpeng told reporters: "However, there is no need to worry about chefs will be unemployed in batches, for restaurant companies, chefs are one of the most core assets, although the central kitchen is de-chef, but chefs can also do other things, such as side dishes, research and development of new dishes and so on." Moreover, the ecology of the catering industry cannot be pre-made dishes, many business meals need chefs, and the application scenarios of chefs will not disappear. ”
The person in charge of Hefu Noodles told Shell Financial Reporter: We believe that the role of "chef" in the future will evolve and diversify. For example, the product development engineer of Hefu is not responsible for the dishes of one store, but is responsible for the research and development and quality control of dishes in hundreds of stores across the country.
Beijing News shell financial reporter Yan Xia Editor Xu Chao Proofreader Guo Li