"Konjac bibimbap, quack delicious". In the past two years, a very novel meal pairing, konjac bibimbap, has become a new favorite of many netizens. Not only is it delicious, but it also forms a perfect balance with white rice, and is known as the "artifact of rice".
Image source: Xiaohongshu @ Weilong Konjac Shuang
Weilong Delicious (9985.HK) HK) announced its 2024 interim results report, which shows that the revenue of vegetable products represented by konjac shuang has surpassed seasoned noodle products, which we are familiar with as "spicy strips", for the first time, becoming the largest source of revenue. This means that Weilong has changed from a "spicy brother" to a "konjac brother".
Konjac Shuang products have won the love of consumers because of their fresh, spicy and refreshing taste and low-calorie characteristics, and are delicious and top-notch, and are called "human cat strips" by everyone. As we all know, konjac itself is a low-calorie food and is regarded as a weight loss product by most consumers. However, when konjac is added with various seasonings and transformed into a konjac snack, can it still maintain its function of helping weight loss?
The growth rate of spicy strips slowed down, and Weilong became a "konjac brother"
On August 15, Weilong Delicious released its performance report for the first half of 2024. According to the report, the group achieved revenue of about 2.939 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 26.3%; The net profit was about 621 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.9%.
Among them, Weilong seasoned noodle products, vegetable products, soy products and other products achieved revenue of about 1.354 billion yuan, 1.461 billion yuan and 124 million yuan respectively, accounting for about 46.1%, 49.7% and 4.2% of the total revenue, all of which achieved a certain increase over the same period last year. Among them, vegetable products performed well, with a year-on-year increase of 56.6% in revenue. The revenue of seasoned noodle products was 1.354 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%, and the proportion decreased to 46.1%.
According to the category of Weilong's products, seasoned noodle products mainly include large gluten, small gluten, spicy sticks, small spicy sticks, kiss mouth roast, spicy and spicy and crispy fire; Vegetable products mainly include konjac shuang, wind-eaten kelp and little witch; Soy products and other products, mainly including spicy bean skin, soft-boiled eggs, etc.
It can be seen from the semi-annual report that Weilong, which started with spicy noodles, is slowing down the growth rate of its spicy noodles business. In the past, spicy noodles have always been the pillar of Weilong's revenue, but in the past three years, the proportion of Weilong's seasoned noodle products in revenue has decreased year by year, and vegetable products have increased year by year. In the first half of this year, the revenue of vegetable products surpassed that of spicy strips for the first time, becoming the largest source of revenue. During the period, Weilong actively promoted the innovation of konjac products, and successively launched the Little Witch Spicy Barbecue Flavored Konjac Vegetarian Tendon, and the Little Witch Hot and Sour Hot Pot Flavored Konjac Vegetarian Tripe.
In addition, at the end of June this year, Weilong's subsidiary spent RMB28 million to acquire a 100% stake in BANSHANG TECHNOLOGY, a company based in Indonesia, mainly engaged in the processing of konjac raw materials. Weilong said that the acquisition is conducive to the group's layout of major raw materials and meets the needs of the group's long-term strategic planning.
The relevant person in charge of Weilong once told the media, "In previous years, the revenue of vegetable products mainly came from konjac shuang, because it will be more popular with the market." "The identity of the first brother of the spicy strip has gradually changed to the first brother of konjac.
Enterprises have entered the konjac track, what is the "magic" power?
Nowadays, health has become the dominant trend in the snack market. With the growing consumer demand for healthy snacks, the konjac industry in mainland China is also expanding.
Konjac, scientifically known as konjac (jǔ ruò), is mainly produced in China, Japan and Indonesia.
According to a research report released by Kaiyuan Securities in February 2023, China is the country with the highest konjac production in the world, supplying 63% of the world's konjac. According to the data of the China Konjac Association, the scale of the domestic konjac market will exceed 40 billion yuan in 2020, with a compound growth rate of about 26% from 2010 to 2020. At present, konjac is also widely used in beauty products, health care, industrial manufacturing and other fields.
According to the data of enterprise check, there are 13,100 konjac-related enterprises in China, and 136 konjac-related enterprises have been registered in the first eight months of this year. At the same time, konjac products are also selling well in the market. The reporter of "Consumer Reports" learned that brands such as Yanjin Shop, Three Squirrels, Baicaowei, and Jinzai have actively carried out market layout in the konjac snack track, and the competition in the konjac leisure products track has become more and more fierce.
According to Yanjin Shop's 2024 semi-annual report, in the first half of this year, the company's leisure konjac products achieved revenue of 310 million yuan, an increase of 38.90% compared with the same period last year, accounting for 12.61% of revenue, which is the highest income spicy braised snacks in Yanjin Shop.
According to the semi-annual report of Jinzai Food, in the first half of this year, Jinzai Food's vegetable products achieved revenue of 38.1215 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.61%. According to Jinzai Food, in the first half of this year, the company's production of vegetable products increased by 75.59% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in sales of konjac products.
Some analysts believe that with the layout of konjac-related foods by many leading enterprises, there is still a lot of room for expansion in the scale of the konjac market.
In order to further understand the company's views on konjac products, consumer insights, market competition and other issues, the reporter of "Consumer Reports" sent interview letters to Weilong, Yanjin Shop, Jinzai Food and other companies, but as of the date of publication, no reply has been received.
Be wary of the "invisible salt" in konjac shuang
In the cognition of most consumers, konjac shuang is regarded as a weight loss snack because of its caloric characteristics, delicious and off the scale, and is even called "human cat strips". On social platforms, many netizens list konjac as an ideal snack choice during weight loss due to its low calorie and high dietary fiber. However, most of the konjac snacks on the market add a lot of red oil and additives in order to improve the taste, are these konjac snacks really suitable for weight loss?
Taking Weilong Konjac Shuang product as an example, the product uses "low calories", "body control's private collection to relieve greasy deliciousness" and "delicious and not afraid of fat" as a publicity gimmick to attract consumers to place orders and buy. The reporter observed that most brands of konjac snacks are usually advertised as a healthy choice of "low calorie" and "high dietary fiber", and even use the image of "fitness people" on the product page, implying that these snacks are suitable for consumption during weight loss.
However, a Consumer Reports reporter's investigation found that not all brands of konjac snacks clearly display the full nutrition facts list on the product detail page. This lack of information can lead consumers to overlook other ingredients in the product, such as fat and sodium, when purchasing. These ingredients are equally important for consumers who pursue a healthy diet, as they directly affect the overall health value of the food, and consumers are advised to actively seek out and carefully read the nutritional facts of the product, rather than relying solely on the description in the advertisement.
The reporter of "Consumer Reports" randomly selected 5 popular konjac products on the market for comparison, namely Weilong Konjac Shuang (spicy flavor), Yanjin Shop Konjac Silk (spicy flavor), Three Squirrel Konjac Silk (spicy flavor), Wang Xiaolu crispy konjac shreds (barbecue flavor) and Jinzai Hi Konjac (red oil spicy flavor), and the nutritional content list of some products can only be obtained by consulting customer service. By reviewing the product packaging information, the reporter found that the overall energy difference of the 5 konjac products was not obvious, of which the lowest energy was the spicy taste of the three squirrel konjac silk, and the highest energy was Weilong konjac shuang (spicy flavor).
In terms of fat content, Weilong Konjac Shuang (spicy flavor) has a relatively high fat content of 9.6g/100g. According to the "National Food Safety Standard General Principles for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods", the fat content of solid foods should not exceed 3g/100g in order to be called "low-fat" foods. It can be seen that the above 5 konjac snacks are not "low-fat" foods.
It is worth mentioning that the sodium content in konjac snacks cannot be ignored. Salt is the mother of all flavors, and its main ingredient is sodium chloride, and in order to enhance the taste of konjac snacks, merchants usually add a certain amount of edible salt and other seasonings.
The World Health Organization recommends that healthy adults consume no more than 2,000 mg of sodium per day (equivalent to about 5 g of salt). According to the Report on Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2020), the average daily cooking salt in mainland China is 9.3 grams, much higher than the recommended amount. Excessive sodium intake can increase blood pressure, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
It is reported that 1g of sodium is equivalent to 2.54 grams of salt, and the sodium content ≤ 120mg/100g, which is a low-sodium food; The sodium content ≥ 600mg/100g, which is a high-sodium food. After analyzing the ingredient list of these 5 konjac snacks, it was found that their sodium content exceeded 1000mg/100g, which means that they all belong to the category of "high sodium" foods.
Overall, while salt itself does not cause weight gain, too much salt can cause sodium retention, leading to edema, increased body weight and volume, and lower the body's basal metabolism. Therefore, it is also important to control sodium intake during weight loss.
On social platforms, many netizens have posted their konjac bibimbap recipes and dining experiences, praising it for being super delicious. These shares tend to get a lot of likes and interactions. In the comment area, more and more netizens began to try this kind of bibimbap, making konjac bibimbap gradually become a new dietary trend.
However, in the pursuit of deliciousness, we should also be aware of the importance of health. Although konjac bibimbap is delicious, it is also necessary to pay attention to the overall nutritional balance and calorie control. Konjac itself is a low-calorie, high-fiber food that can help increase feelings of fullness, but adding too much fat, high-sodium seasoning, or other high-calorie toppings to bibimbap may negate the health benefits of konjac.
When choosing konjac snacks, consumers should pay attention to the content of fat and sodium, as well as the sugar or other additives that may be added to the food, in addition to calories and dietary fiber, to ensure that the selected food meets both taste and health standards.