Top News·Dahe News reporter Hou Bingyu
In the early morning of November 11, Ms. Li, a citizen of Zhengzhou, was like other consumers, buying and buying in front of mobile phones.
However, unlike other female consumers, what she buys is not cosmetics, clothing, etc., but a bunch of "pre-made dishes."
What is a "prefabricated dish"?
In fact, it refers to pre-processed finished or semi-finished products, which is what we often call "lazy cooking bag".
Different from ordinary dishes, the characteristic of pre-made dishes is that they can be eaten by simply heating, which is very convenient.
During this year's Tmall Double 11, the sales of pre-prepared dishes, including semi-finished dishes and instant dishes, were booming, and the turnover increased by about 2 times year-on-year.
Many netizens laughed and said: "The confidence to get into the kitchen for the first time is probably from the pre-made dishes."
Small pre-prepared dishes set off a "big" wave of consumption
On the evening of November 10th, the 76ers Henan Braised Noodles Company was busy. Many staff were busy pre-packing the orders that had been paid for the deposit, so that they could be dispatched as soon as possible on the 11th.
"In addition to the previous family-style instant noodles on Double 11 this year, we also launched a combination package with locomotive soda, which is more popular." Shi Peilong, the head of the 76ers Henan noodles, told reporters.
In addition, the 76ers Henan Braised Noodles launched "One Mouth to Pao Mo", beef and spicy soup and other pre-prepared dishes are also very popular with consumers, and the customer repurchase rate after entering the market reaches 50%.
For Henan Gourixin Catering Company, another Henan company that makes hot and spicy soup pre-made dishes, Double 11 this year has also been fruitful.
"Prefabricated dishes are very popular now. There is no need to defrost when eating. You can boil the frozen product directly in clear water. You can also put vermicelli, fungus, etc. according to your own taste, which is very convenient for consumers." Cheng Yonghui told reporters, During Double 11, Cheng Yonghui led Gou Rixin to participate in the World Food Delivery Industry Conference. More than 5,000 food and beverage companies from all over the country requested cooperation. It is conservatively estimated that they will reach a cooperation of no less than 20 million.
Pre-made dishes will put the "chef in crisis"? actually not
From the perspective of consumers, the pre-prepared dish industry can enjoy delicious catering only through simple cooking, which meets customers' requirements for time-saving, health, and cost-effectiveness.
This is closely related to the "lazy economy" that has been frequently mentioned recently.
According to Song Xiangqing, a well-known economist and vice-chairman of the China Business Economics Association, the appearance of terms and products such as "lazy economy" and "prefabricated dishes", to a certain extent, means human progress and social development.
"Like a pre-made dish, it uses new technology and new materials to invent new products and services to satisfy people's market behavior in pursuit of high-quality life. In the final analysis, human intelligence and diligence have improved people's living spaces and ways, reflecting the society. Progress.” Song Xiangqing said.
So, will the emergence of pre-made dishes really “lead the catering revolution” or put “the chef community into a crisis” as the rumors say?
Industry insiders told reporters that this is not the case.
"In the production of industrial dishes, the first step is the chef to develop, and then mass production." Insiders told reporters, not to mention that the current pre-made dishes are only in their infancy, and further efforts are needed in terms of taste. In terms of psychological acceptance, the traditional catering model cannot be replaced by industrialized pre-made dishes.
The potential of pre-made vegetables is huge, and the market size is expected to reach 516.5 billion yuan in 2023
On November 15th, in Zhengzhou Hema Xiansheng, many young consumers were buying army hot pot and kimchi soup cooking packs.
The reporter found that the cooking bag only needs to be heated in a microwave oven on high heat for 5 minutes, or poured into a pot and heated for about 30 seconds.
In addition, pre-made dishes such as semi-finished hot pot and bone soup are also being bought.
What is the potential of prepared dishes?
According to data from iiMedia Consulting, the scale of China’s prepared vegetable industry in 2021 is estimated to be 345.9 billion yuan, an increase of 18.1% year-on-year. 516.5 billion yuan.
What kind of consumers like to buy pre-made dishes?
The data shows that among the consumers of prepared dishes, 45.7% are in first-tier cities, 19.8% are in second-tier cities, and 16.4% are in third-tier cities.
Among them, consumers aged 22-40 accounted for 81.3%, of which consumers aged 31-40 accounted for 46.4%.
According to the data from Tianyan Check, in 2011, there were 1796 registrations of companies engaged in pre-made vegetables related businesses, the number of companies in 2015 exceeded 4,000 for the first time, and the number of companies in 2018 exceeded 8,000 for the first time. In 2020, the number of registrations reached the highest level in ten years, and a total of new registrations were registered throughout the year. 12,500, a year-on-year increase of 9%.
At present, the registered capital of enterprises related to prefabricated vegetables is mainly concentrated within 1 million.
Among them, Shandong Province has the largest number of prefabricated vegetable enterprises at 9,246, followed by Henan, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Anhui.
IiMedia Consulting analysts believe that 80% of consumers have formed the habit of buying pre-made dishes every week. Consumers’ demand for pre-made dishes increases, and the market will further expand.
Many companies have also aimed at this blue ocean and have deployed prefabricated vegetable markets one after another.
According to public information, Shengnong Development, China's largest white feather chicken manufacturer, as a KFC supplier, said that the prospects for prefabricated vegetables are broad and will be the company's next focus.
Yasui Foods, known as "the first stock of quick-frozen food", also cut into the "race track" of pre-made dishes.
The company has developed its food products business since 2018, and its revenue growth rate in 2019 and 2020 will be 38.14% and 23.26%, respectively. In the first half of 2021, the food product business growth rate will be as high as 107.94%.
Weizhixiang, which is known as the "first share" of prefabricated dishes, has more than 200 product varieties, and its fund-raising projects have broken through the bottleneck of production capacity.
The development of prepared dishes still faces these challenges
The prefabricated vegetable market has entered a period of rapid development. While the market demand is high, it is also facing considerable challenges.
According to iiMedia Consulting, there are three main challenges to the prepared vegetable industry.
One is market coverage.
China's north-south cross-region is large, with many cuisines and complex types. The pre-made vegetable companies have obvious regional labels, and it is difficult for companies to cover the national market.
The second is to keep the dishes fresh.
Pre-prepared dishes need to maintain the freshness of the dishes, which is extremely demanding for cold chain transportation.
The sales scope can only radiate the area around the central kitchen set up by the enterprise, restricting the further development of the pre-made vegetable enterprise.
The third is the restoration of taste.
The taste of Chinese food is closely related to the cooking process. The factory produces the various conditioning packages of the products before processing them for customers. Once the cooking process is reached, the taste can only be controlled by personal cooking skills.
"In the future, if prefabricated vegetable companies want to continue to develop, they must achieve a combination of standardization, safety, and personalization by improving the safety production capacity of the central kitchen, a complete cold chain logistics system and other guarantee mechanisms, in order to usher in a broader market. "Industry analysts told reporters this way.