With the Spring Festival approaching, the prepared dishes, which are known for their convenience, have won the favor of many consumers and attracted much attention in the secondary market.
A number of prefabricated concept stocks continued to rise in January 2022, and Guolian Aquatic Products and Delis successively appeared "3 consecutive boards" and "7 consecutive boards", and the heat gradually fell back until late January. At the same time, the "first share of prefabricated vegetables" Weizhixiang turned out, the aquatic prefabricated dishes were delicious to submit prospectus materials, and a number of prefabricated vegetable brands received hundreds of millions of yuan in financing, and even Lu Zhengyao, former chairman of Luckin, also had to enter the incubation project.
Suddenly, agriculture, quick-frozen, catering, retail and professional prefabricated vegetable companies have all set their sights on prefabricated dishes, these five major industries are competing for trillions of prefabricated vegetable tracks, who will be the biggest winner?
Prefabricated cuisine concept stock goes "red"
In January 2022, the pre-made dish was on fire.
According to Oriental Wealth data, from January 1 to January 17, the A-share prefabricated concept stock index rose by 178.96%. On the news side, on January 11, Delis disclosed the record of investor relations activities, saying that the company is expected to reach about 1.2 billion yuan in 2022, which is three times the revenue of 400 million yuan in 2021. On the same day, Guolian Aquatic Products announced that it signed a framework cooperation agreement with Hema Fresh to cooperate in the development and marketing of aquatic pre-made dishes.
Since January 12, Delix has gained 7 consecutive up-stop boards, the stock price has risen from 6.65 yuan to 12.98 yuan, and Guolian Aquatic Products has harvested 3 up-and-down boards, and the stock price has risen by 89% in 4 trading days. In addition, among the 32 prefabricated vegetable concept stocks, Haixin Food, Fucheng Shares, Huifa Food and other stocks have also seen continuous rises and stops. The Beijing News reporter calculated that in the five trading days from January 12 to January 17, the prefabricated vegetable concept stock rose by 147.54%.
The prefabricated vegetable concept stocks that have gone all the way have also attracted the attention of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. On January 16 and January 19, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange issued letters of concern to Guolian Aquatic Products and Delis, asking the company to explain the business related to prepared dishes.
In this regard, Guolian Aquatic Products responded that in 2021, by adjusting the product structure, the proportion of prepared dishes will be increased, but the company's fundamentals have not changed significantly, and the proportion of prefabricated vegetable operating income to the overall operating income is still small. In 2019 and 2020, Guolian Aquatic Prefabricated Vegetables achieved operating income of 730 million yuan and 634 million yuan, accounting for 13.69% and 16.24%. In the first three quarters of 2021, Guolian Aquatic Prefabricated Vegetables achieved operating income of 577 million yuan, accounting for 17.49%.
Delis said that in recent years, the company has taken prefabricated dishes as the main direction of strategic development, laid out nationwide layout, with pork prefabricated dishes and beef pre-made dishes and other products as the main products, deeply cultivated sales channels such as catering chains, supermarkets, community group buying, etc., and cooperated with head-scale enterprises such as Lixiangguo, Hangzhou Weitai, guangdong Hengxing Aquatic Products to carry out joint product research and development. In 2019 and 2020, Delis prefabricated dishes achieved operating income of 271 million yuan and 368 million yuan. In the first three quarters of 2021, Delis achieved an operating income of 270 million yuan for prepared dishes.
At the same time as the letters of concern arrived one after another, the popularity of the prefabricated concept stock gradually declined in late January. However, relevant brokers are still optimistic about the future of prepared dishes. Shanxi Securities analysts and Fangfang said in the research report that near the Spring Festival, the initiative of many local governments to promote the demand for prepared dishes has been generated, and the mainland prepared vegetable industry is expected to become the next trillion catering market in the next 3-5 years. "The industrialization of Chinese food and the demand for standardized production have driven the expansion of the B-end market of prefabricated dishes, and the increase in takeaway penetration and changes in family structure have led to an increase in the sales of C-end prefabricated dishes."
Hot money in the market is pouring in
Some food practitioners told the Beijing News reporter that the hotly fried pre-made dishes at the moment did not appear in the past two years. Pre-made dishes are also known as semi-finished dishes, around 2000, there are enterprises in the mainland to produce related products, mainly for B-end customers, there are side dishes and spice packages. In recent years, for C-end sales, the concept of "prepared dishes" has begun to be mentioned repeatedly.
Guohai Securities Research Report pointed out that from the vigorous development of the takeaway industry in 2014 to the epidemic in 2020, the consumer demand of the family end has been promoted, and the prepared vegetable industry has expanded from a very few categories such as quick-frozen rice noodles to a variety of dishes, forming a tree-shaped development path that extends from B-end to C-end consumers and gradually sinks from first-tier cities. At present, the scale of the prefabricated vegetable industry exceeds 200 billion yuan, and the related enterprises exceed 70,000, and a large number of market participants have poured into the past 5 years.
Zhang Guoqiang, senior vice president of the e-commerce department of the Beijing headquarters of Chia Tai Group's agricultural and animal husbandry food enterprises in China, analyzed to the Beijing News reporter that prefabricated dishes have suddenly attracted much attention recently, "it seems to be accidental, but it is actually inevitable", on the one hand, the main body of production is ready to enter the track in the early stage, on the other hand, the background of epidemic prevention and control has promoted the accelerated growth of demand for prefabricated dishes.
Zhang Yun, product director of Tyson China, also believes that the epidemic has played a great role in boosting the fire of prepared dishes, "When you can't eat out, the importance of prepared dishes is revealed." At the same time, pre-made dishes are meat-based dishes, suitable for the dinner scene, and have convenience, complementing takeaways to meet the dietary needs of current consumers."
When prefabricated dishes became the new blue ocean, capital hot money poured in. Enterprise investigation data shows that in the 2021 prefabricated vegetable track, 9 prefabricated vegetable enterprises such as Zhenwei Xiaomeiyuan, Monkey Ye Catering, Calf Casey, and Mai Zi Ma have obtained financing, with an amount ranging from one million yuan to 100 million yuan. In April 2021, Weizhixiang landed on A shares, becoming the "first stock of prefabricated dishes" in the domestic market. In November 2021, Delicious Lai submitted prospectus materials to rush the IPO track of aquatic prefabricated dishes.
At the beginning of 2022, the demand for prepared dishes has risen sharply. In mid-January, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Promoting Consumption in the Near Future", which mentioned that services such as multi-category packages, independent meals, online reservation of Chinese New Year's Eve rice ingredients are encouraged, and semi-finished products and "clean dishes are listed".
While the demand side is opening, hot money in the capital market continues to pour in. In January 2022, the Chinese food prefabricated cuisine chain brand "Silver Food" completed a multi-million yuan angel round of financing exclusively invested by Jianfeng Evergreen, and Zhenwei Xiaomeiyuan announced the completion of a 100 million yuan B+ round of financing led by Baidu Venture Capital. The Tip technology group founded by Lu Zhengyao, the former chairman of Luckin, is also incubating the new project of prefabricated dishes, "Tip of the Tongue Workshop".
Quick-frozen enterprises quickly cut into the pre-made vegetable track
Under the wind outlet, upstream and downstream enterprises related to prefabricated dishes have picked up spoons and come to share the soup. In January 2022, a reporter from the Beijing News inquired about the e-commerce platform and visited the Beijing market and found that there are roughly five types of entrants in the current prefabricated vegetable track - agricultural food enterprises such as Guolian Aquatic Products, Delis, Chia Tai, Tyson, longda cuisine, etc.; quick-frozen enterprises such as Anjing Food, Sanquan Food, and Qianwei Central Kitchen; catering enterprises such as Haidilao, Xibei, Guangzhou Restaurant, and Jindingxuan; retail enterprises such as Hema Fresh, Daily Excellent Fresh, Dingdong Grocery Shopping, and Yonghui Supermarket; and enterprises specializing in prefabricated dishes such as Weizhixiang and Haodexi.
Shanxi Securities Research Report pointed out that compared with the layman's cross-border, professional prefabricated vegetable companies have strong product development capabilities, and often have representative large items, such as denim bones with flavor and fragrant bones, and plum vegetable buckle meat from Cong Kitchen. At the same time, the Beijing News reporter noted that the outside world entrants mainly do prefabricated dishes related to the original field, while brands that specialize in pre-made dishes have more possibilities in the choice of dishes. Weizhixiang also pointed out in the prospectus materials that in addition to the main products such as meat and poultry and aquatic products, there are also vegetables and gift box products, which can provide consumers with diversified choices.
However, the preservation of freshness in the transportation link of professional prefabricated vegetable enterprises is often concerned by consumers. The Beijing News reporter found on Tmall, Jingdong and other platforms that in the purchase reviews of some prefabricated dish brands, there will often be feedback such as "ice packs" and "hope to strengthen the cold chain". At this time, the advantages of prefabricated dishes in the quick-frozen industry are highlighted.
A person in charge of a quick-frozen food enterprise told the Beijing News reporter that the advantage of the quick-frozen enterprise is the cold chain and processing, and it is familiar with which dishes should be frozen to what extent, and the dish restoration is good. In 2022, Sanquan Foods, the head brand of frozen food, launched the Italian meat sauce cooking package to lay out the field of prepared dishes. Yasui Foods also launched the "Tiger Wings" pre-made dishes New Year gift box, and its Mr. Frozen Products also has a variety of pre-made menu items. The quick-frozen brand Lixiangguo also launched the golden soup Buddha jumping wall gift box, potted vegetable gift box and 10-course New Year dish gift box before Chinese New Year's Eve the Spring Festival.
Mr. Frozen Products Prefabricated Vegetable Products. Photo / Beijing News reporter Guo Tie
Li Xiangguo introduced to the Beijing News reporter, "Pre-made dishes generally have four types of ready-made food, instant hot food, instant cooking food and ready-to-match food, and common dishes such as quick-frozen dumplings, quick-frozen wontons, and small crispy meat are the mainstream categories of pre-made dishes in a broad sense, and the brand has long been cut into." "For the current concept of pre-made cuisine, its competitiveness lies in the product strength of real materials on the one hand, and on the other hand, in the mature cold chain transportation system.
Although the concept of prefabricated dishes in the capital market has been hyped, some quick-frozen companies still hold a wait-and-see attitude. A person in charge of a quick-frozen food company told the Beijing News reporter that the current prefabricated vegetable capital is a bit overheated, and the stock price marked "prefabricated dish" has risen, but the cow that is now blown out should be cashed in with future performance, "Many people encourage us to lean on prefabricated dishes, but we are more cautious." Production and manufacturing need cycles, many companies in the industry is not yet mature on the equipment, there is a certain risk, do not have an upstart mentality. ”
Agricultural enterprises enter the market with the advantages of raw materials
Chia Tai of the C-end market of prefabricated dishes in 2021 also believes that the layout needs to be steady and steady. Zhang Guoqiang said that Chia Tai has long-term pre-made dishes for the B-end, and in February 2021, it officially launched the C-end prefabricated dish brand "Chia Chef Yi". If you want consumers to repurchase for a long time, you need the leading enterprises in the industry not to treat prefabricated dishes as a temporary heat and a temporary outlet, but as a long-term business to operate. If the product quality and experience are not good, the consumer will not have a repurchase, he will not only be dissatisfied with the brand he bought at that time, but also dissatisfied with the entire category and the entire prepared vegetable industry, affecting the development of the entire industry, "At present, we are still quite confident in the development trend of the prefabricated vegetable industry." ”
Chia Tai launched a pre-made vegetable product. Photo / Beijing News reporter Wang Sijiao
In addition to Chia Tai, leading agricultural enterprises such as Guolian Aquatic Products and Fucheng Shares have launched prefabricated vegetable products for the market. In December 2021, "Longda Meat" renamed "Longda Cuisine" to enter the food field, and announced that it intends to invest in the construction of imported meat deep processing and condiment production projects in Yangpu Economic Development Zone, Hainan Province, producing frozen prepared food, pre-made semi-finished dishes, pre-made delicacies, condiments, etc. Longda Meat told the Beijing News reporter at the time that the company's food sector will also focus on the prefabricated vegetable track. At the same time, breeding and slaughtering will be regarded as an important support for the food business, thereby ensuring the cost control of raw materials.
In early 2022, Tyson launched a new series of pre-made dishes, "Slow Cooked Chicken Soup", which it said could solve the problem of simmering for several hours and was suitable for families or singles. Zhang Yun, product director of Tyson China, said, "Tyson's new products are constantly adjusting and observing, and we hope to fully embrace the pre-made cuisine system, and the two ends of BC will exert force at the same time." ”
Zhu Zengyong, a researcher at the Beijing Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told the Beijing News reporter on January 21 that the advantage of meat enterprises entering the prefabricated dish is that the supply of raw materials can be guaranteed regardless of the price of pigs. In addition, the production of large enterprises will follow a unified quality standard, so that the quality and quantity of products are guaranteed. However, the industry has a threshold, and meat companies entering the field of prefabricated dishes also need to face a complex regional marketing network, not with funds, but also need to explore the corresponding talents, independent technology and capital reserves. For aquaculture enterprises, it should still be steadily laid out, and when the upstream aquaculture has developed to the top level of the industry and the stability of production and operation is relatively high, it should gradually enter the downstream link.
As an agricultural leader with a complete industrial chain, the process of Chia Tai's prefabricated vegetables entering the C-end is relatively smooth, and the products have entered supermarkets such as Chia Tai's Bu Bee Lotus and other supermarkets offline, and are also sold in mainstream e-commerce channels such as Tmall, JD.com, Dingdong, and Daily Excellent Fresh. While ensuring the quality of raw materials with upstream advantages, Zhang Guoqiang believes that it is also necessary to develop products with excellent tastes for household consumption, and the prospect of making difficult and time-consuming dishes will be broader at present.
Catering main course retail
In addition to food companies, the prefabricated vegetable track has also attracted many restaurant chains and new retail enterprises to enter.
The Beijing News reporter noted that in the process of retail and catering into the pre-made dish, often choose to cooperate with local well-known brands to quickly adapt to the market. For example, daily excellent fresh mainly promotes the purple light garden with sauce stewing characteristics in North China, Guangzhou restaurant with cooking characteristics in South China, and Xinya and TongqingLou in East China. Jin Ding Xuan and Cheng Fu Yan have jointly launched the Jin Fu cuisine series and the stove meat stew with Tianfu. Wumart has also cooperated with catering companies such as Meizhou Dongpo to prepare dishes.
At the same time, the retail side is also trying to upgrade the supply chain and create its own prefabricated dish brand matrix. Yonghui Supermarket told the Beijing News reporter that the first batch of more than 10 products of Yonghui's prefabricated dish brand "Hui Ma To Home" were listed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, using customized and standardized dish production processes to ensure the quality and safety of dishes through standardized SOP operations. Daily Excellent Fresh recently launched its own brand of boutique pre-made dishes "Daily Signature Dish", which focuses on ingredient hot pot, the first batch of online flavored sheep scorpions, domineering beef bone pots, etc., which were selected as the top 3 sales in the pre-made dishes category. Dingdong Buy Vegetables also launched a number of private brands for different scenarios such as "Dingdong Damanguan" and "Cai Changqing", and achieved national sales of more than 100 million prefabricated dishes last year.
However, if the catering and retail ends want to fully break into the prefabricated dish track, they still need to break through some barriers. Wang Hong, executive deputy secretary general of the China Chain Store and Franchise Association, once told the Beijing News that food safety supervision, supply chain distribution, and the impact of different cooking methods on taste are all problems faced by related industries entering the field of prepared dishes.
Lai Yang, a member of the Expert Committee of the China Federation of Commerce, analyzed to the Beijing News reporter that the development of prepared dishes is still in its infancy, consumers' understanding and purchase probability of prefabricated dishes is still limited, supermarkets and fresh e-commerce have channel promotion advantages, through the display and sale of prefabricated vegetable products, it helps to enhance people's awareness and acceptance of prefabricated dishes and enhance consumer desire. However, despite the procurement advantage, supermarkets, fresh e-commerce in food processing and other aspects of the experience accumulation is also limited, in the dish research and development innovation, taste and other aspects of no natural advantages, "pre-made dishes will become supermarkets, fresh e-commerce growth points, but it is difficult to become the core growth point." ”
As for whether the various competitors in the track will bring a sense of crisis to the professional prefabricated dish brands, Wei Zhixiang once replied to investors that the prefabricated vegetable industry has just begun to catch fire, and there are new competitors cutting into the track, which is a normal phenomenon in the industry. At present, the industry market prospect is broad, each competitor has its own development route, there is a specific product structure, customer base, sales channels and operating models, there is no fierce conflict with each other.
In the view of Wang Dongming, a chain consultant in the catering industry, with the emergence of the epidemic and the change of lifestyle and consumption concept, the market acceptance is getting higher and higher. With the blessing of capital, the cost of prepared dishes has been reduced, while increasing the scope and degree of popularity of prepared dishes, the competition in the track has become more and more intense, and the taste, price and market share of pre-made dishes will be the key to increasing the barriers to competition for brands.
Beijing News reporter Wang Sijiong Guo Tie Qin Shengnan Yu Guigui
Edited by Zhu Fenglan Proofreader Zhao Lin
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