You can enjoy a hot hot pot without plugging in or using a fire.
As a convenient and fast food, self-heating hot pot has been sought after by many consumers. Behind this is the gradual rise of "lazy people" and the stay-at-home economy in the fast-paced life, which once made self-heating hot pot a new food. tuyere.
However, Red Star Capital Bureau has noticed that the popularity of the self-heating hot pot industry has continued to cool down in recent years. Not only has the growth rate of the industry begun to slow down significantly, but the performance of leading companies has also shown difficulties.
There are various signs that self-heating hot pot is gradually falling out of favor. What is the reason behind this?
Afraid of price?
The price of self-heating hot pot (meat) is mostly around 30 yuan/box, which is enough to order a portion of Maocai or Malatang. It is also a convenient and convenient "lazy person's diet". Takeaway may be more attractive to many young people than self-heating hot pot.
Cold to taste?
Self-heating hot pot needs to go through many links such as production, packaging, and transportation. Food additives and other related substances will be added during production, which will affect the taste of the food to a certain extent. In addition, self-heating hot pot cannot prepare ingredients on site like traditional hot pot restaurants, so the freshness of the ingredients will also be affected.
Colder than safe?
The heating of self-heating hot pot relies on a self-heating bag. The self-heating bag mainly contains chemical substances such as roasted diatomaceous earth, iron powder, and aluminum powder. When these substances react with water, they will quickly produce high temperature and a large amount of gas. Improper operation, such as a damaged self-heating package or blocked vents, may result in gas leakage and risk of explosion.
1 A smash hit capital bet
Self-heating hot pot comes from the evolution of military self-heating rations. In 2015, self-heating hot pot began to appear in the WeChat Moments and was sold to consumers. Around 2018, self-heating pot fire became an Internet celebrity delicacy due to multiple promotions such as celebrity endorsements, variety show advertisements, and live broadcasts.
With the rise of self-heating hot pot, more and more companies are getting involved.
According to incomplete statistics, there are hundreds of self-heating hot pot brands on the market. It mainly includes traditional hotpot companies such as Haidilao, Xiaolongkan, etc.; emerging brands such as Zihaiguo, Mo Xiaoxian, etc.; and snack snack companies such as Bestore, Three Squirrels, Baicaowei, etc.
According to Toubao data, millions of copies of self-heating hot pot were sold on Tmall during Double 11 in 2017; and on Double 11 in 2018, sales of self-heating hot pot across the entire network exceeded 4.5 million, a year-on-year increase from 2017 More than 2 times.
In addition, on the Double Twelve Day in 2019, Zihai Hot Pot removed all products from its Tmall flagship store because all product inventories were sold out, which shows the enthusiasm of consumers for self-heating hot pot at that time.
Who is buying self-heating hot pot? According to data from Tmall, the consumer groups of self-heating hot pot are concentrated in the post-00s and post-95s generations, of which 18-24 year olds account for 47.5%, and college students and white-collar workers who have just entered the workplace account for nearly 50%.
The "lazy economy" and "one-person economy" allow capital to "smell" the opportunities.
From the perspective of the entire financing environment, self-heating convenience food financing reached its peak in 2020. Within a week in mid-May 2020, three self-heating hot pot brands received a total of more than 100 million yuan in financing.
Among them, Shizuren received Series A financing from Zhonghui Capital; Zihaiguo announced the completion of Series B financing of more than 100 million yuan; Mo Xiaoxian completed Series A financing of tens of millions of yuan, invested by Jinding Capital. In October 2020, Zihiguo received another US$50 million in Series C financing.
2 Corporate performance gradually stalls
However, just when many players are preparing to go big, the industry is gradually entering a "slow pace."
According to data from the China Food Industry Association, China's self-heating hot pot market will be 10.37 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 18.51%. Compared with the high growth rate before 2020, revenue growth has slowed down significantly.
The operating conditions of enterprises have also begun to show signs of weakness.
For example, the leading brand Zihai Pot. Data shows that Zihai Pot’s operating income in 2019, 2020, and 2021 was nearly 800 million yuan, 958 million, and 992 million yuan respectively. In 2022, its operating income was 820 million yuan, a decline of nearly 20%. %.
In terms of net profit, the disclosed financial data shows that Zihaiguo suffered losses for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021, with losses of 152 million yuan and 318 million yuan respectively. In 2022, it turned a loss into a profit, with a net profit of 19.9385 million yuan.
However, a large part of the reason why Zihaihuo will be profitable in 2022 is that the company's brand promotion fees and operation promotion fees decreased by 216 million yuan in total compared with the same period last year. In other words, the profit of self-heating pot is "saved" to a certain extent.
Looking at Yihai International (01579.HK), the company behind the self-heating hot pot Haidilao, the financial report shows that from 2020 to 2022 and the first half of 2023, the revenue of convenience and fast food products will be 1.54 billion, 1.73 billion, 1.87 billion, and 573 million respectively. billion; business growth will slow down significantly in 2022, and in the first half of 2023, revenue will show negative growth, a year-on-year decrease of 36.12%.
In addition, judging from the data released by the e-commerce platform, comparing the data of major self-heating hot pots on the Douyin platform during the Double 11 in 2022 and the Double 11 in 2023, it was found that the growth rate of brands whose products are mainly self-heating hot pot products is almost are all declining.
For example, the sales volume of the Yuxin brand during the Double 11 period in 2022 is estimated to reach 250,000 units. During the Double 11 period in 2023, only 25,000 units will be sold, a year-on-year decrease of 90%, and the sales of self-heating pots will decrease by 50% year-on-year.
In addition, some companies have even given up on the self-heating hot pot business.
For example, Uni-President Enterprise China (00220.HK) removed the "Cooking Time" self-heating hotpot from its shelves in 2022. It is understood that this product was launched by Uni-President Enterprise China in January 2018. The small hot pot is positioned as a high-end product and was priced at 45 yuan/370g at the time of launch.
Another example is Weilong Delicious (09985.HK), which launched the self-heating hot pot brand "Back Pot Man" in 2017 and launched the "Zilai Ri" spicy strip hot pot product in 2018. However, currently on the e-commerce platform, related products are also no longer available.
3. Consumption enthusiasm faces test
Why are consumers less enthusiastic about self-heating hot pot?
The first is the price issue.
According to a 2021 iiMedia Consulting questionnaire on "Reasons for Consumers Not Buying Self-Heating Hot Pots", consumers believed that high prices were the main reason, accounting for 51.6%.
At present, the price of self-heating hot pot (meat) on the market is mostly about 30 yuan/box. Although this price is not enough to have a hot pot meal, it is enough to order a portion of Maocai or Malatang.
Therefore, it is also a convenient and convenient "lazy person's diet". Takeaway may be more attractive to many young people than self-heating hot pot.
Second is the issue of taste.
As a finished product for sale, self-heating hot pot needs to go through multiple links such as production, packaging, and transportation. Therefore, food additives and other related substances will be added to the production of self-heating hot pot, which will affect the taste of the food to a certain extent.
In addition, self-heating hot pot cannot prepare ingredients on site like traditional hot pot restaurants, so the freshness of the ingredients will also be affected, which will also affect the taste of the food.
Therefore, "not delicious" and "unhealthy" have become another reason why consumers gradually no longer choose self-heating hot pot.
Finally, there is operational risk.
The heating of self-heating hot pot relies on a self-heating bag. The self-heating bag mainly contains chemical substances such as roasted diatomaceous earth, iron powder, and aluminum powder. When these substances react with water, they will quickly produce high temperature and a large amount of gas.
Therefore, if improperly operated, such as the self-heating package is damaged or the exhaust hole is blocked, there may be a risk of gas leakage and explosion.
On February 18, 2022, the listed company Tianwei Food (603317.SH) revealed on the interactive platform that the company launched self-heating hot pot products in early 2018. Because hot pot ingredients are all produced outsourced, there are certain food safety risks. After sufficient market research and evaluation, the product strategy was adjusted at the end of 2018 and the production and sales of this product were stopped.
In short, due to various reasons such as not being so delicious, not cost-effective, and risky to operate, the self-heating hot pot products made by Internet celebrities have failed to withstand the test of the market.
4 Where to go in the “Ultimate Battlefield”
Under the dual test of industry pressure and market competition, self-heating hotpot players chose to actively save themselves.
For example, Yihai International has made adjustments to related production capacity expansion. Originally, the second phase of Yihai International's Bazhou project in Hebei Province was to start construction in June 2022 and was expected to be put into production in the third quarter of 2023. The planned production capacity is 82,000 tons of convenient and fast food products to cover the North China and Northeast markets.
However, the management mentioned in the 2023 performance report: "Due to changes in relevant market demand, the planned production capacity of convenient instant products has been adjusted to 28,000 tons." This is equivalent to cutting off 66% of production capacity.
For example, in addition to its original brands, Zihaiguo Company has also launched different brands in many fields such as new instant noodles, innovative rice noodles, compound seasonings, frozen products, etc., in an attempt to enrich its product matrix.
Then in March 2023, there was news that the parent company of Zihaiguo would be acquired by Lotus Health (600186.SH).
However, on the evening of August 27, 2023, Lotus Health announced that it would terminate the acquisition of no less than 20% of the equity of Hangzhou Golden Antelope Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., the parent company of "Zihaiguo".
In addition to self-heating hot pot, Mo Xiaoxian has also expanded its self-heating rice, cup hot and sour noodles and other convenient fast food categories. At the same time, Mo Xiaoxian's related products are targeting the sinking market. Enterprises hope to find new opportunities in the vast sinking market through cost-effective products.
In addition, according to multiple media reports, Mo Xiaoxian’s founder Wang Zhengqi once revealed that expanding into overseas markets will be Mo Xiaoxian’s next step.
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Liu Mi