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The hot pot category with the best standardization of Chinese food is an indisputable "good business".
The road from "net red" to "long red" is still being tested.
Under the wave of category integration and industrial upgrading, what are the new trends in the development of the hot pot industry?
"The 14th International Hotpot Industry Expo (Chongqing Hotpot Festival) is newly upgraded and will be held in Chongqing in November, with a planned exhibition area of 100,000 square meters, bringing together 1500+ hotpot industry chain enterprises and 30,000+ kinds of exhibits." Reporter A few days ago, I learned from the Chongqing Hotpot Festival Organizing Committee that the event strives to fully open up the upper, middle and lower reaches of the hotpot industry chain, as well as derived peripherals and cross-borders, from upstream ingredients, midstream seasonings to downstream brands.
According to Tianyancha data, there are 420,000 "hot pot" related enterprises in my country, and more than 60% of them have been established in the past five years.
As of 2022, there have been more than 33,000 newly registered companies.
The hot pot category with the best standardization of Chinese food is an indisputable "good business" under the blessing of de-cooking, low supply chain difficulty, wide audience and strong addiction.
According to the research report of Guotai Junan, the compound annual growth rate of the hot pot market has been 9.5% in the past five years, and the total revenue of the hot pot market will reach 850.1 billion yuan in 2025.
However, behind the hustle and bustle of the hot pot track, 1 out of every 5 companies has experienced abnormal operations, especially the two listed hot pot giants.
Up to now, Haidilao has closed more than 300 stores, and Xiabuxiabu has also closed about 230 stores.
New hot pot forces rise in chaos
In recent years, the development of Chongqing hot pot has been booming, the charm has gradually been opened, and the world has begun to appreciate the power brought by such food. As a result, a new era of hot pot world has opened, and Chongqing hot pot has entered the world stage and become a Chinese hot pot. One of the representatives of cuisine.
During the interview, the reporter learned that Chongqing hotpot brands are constantly innovating: Brother Laoguan opened the second brand Xiaoguan Guanda Chongqing; Huige Hotpot created Xiaohuige Hotpot, aiming at "sinking"; Dalongyi launched the second brand Xiaolong Yi, Chen Pan Pan Mala Tang...
According to the survey data, Sichuan-Chongqing hotpot is the most popular hotpot category (58.7%), and Maodu (54.9%) and shrimp slip (52.2%) are the most popular hotpot items.
When consumers choose a hot pot restaurant, the primary concern is the taste (74.7%) and hygiene (65.3%).
In fact, in the hot pot field with strong competition, consumers do not blindly believe in brands, and product quality and user reputation are king.
In the final analysis, it is the experience problem that causes consumers to "vote with their feet".
Many former top brands are facing the dilemma of aging brands, homogenization of dishes, and declining brand influence.
As far as experience is concerned, under the extensive expansion, Haidilao's private room monitoring disputes, hairy belly shrinkage incidents, beef grains, and other negative aspects emerged one after another; Xiabuxiabu lacked necessary food innovation in the expansion of the store, and lost a small hot pot. The "cost-effectiveness" of food is a trump card, and naturally it has also fallen from an internet celebrity to a "passer-by".
Of course, Haidilao and Xiabu do not represent all forms of the entire hot pot track.
Although the track is involuted and homogenization is becoming more and more serious, there are opportunities in the crisis, and some new hot pot forces are also emerging in the chaos.
It can be said that it presents an ecological group portrait of ice and fire.
Compared with the contraction of the first camp, the new forces are still highly sought after by capital and hot money is surging.
In August 2021, the Chongqing hot pot brand "Senior Brother Zhou" received an A round of investment of over 100 million yuan; in June of the same year, "Banu Maodu Hot Pot" completed a new round of financing of over 500 million yuan; in January 2022, Chongqing Hot Pot Direct The camp brand "Sister Pei" announced the completion of a 100 million yuan round of financing; in June 2022, the fresh braised beef hotpot brand "Niu Shuangshuang" completed an angel round of financing of nearly 10 million yuan...
Data shows that in 2021, the annual investment and financing amount of China's hot pot industry will reach 670 million yuan, reaching the highest value over the years.
The road from "net red" to "long red"
At present, the hot pot industry has entered a "high-dimensional" war to make the dining experience as complex as possible to attract consumers.
The reporter saw in Chongqing: Minato launched "hot pot + milk tea", milk tea became a "signature" for a time, and then launched a drink experiment; thank you pot, which will be unveiled at the end of 2021, is a combination of hot pot, barbecue, milk tea, and wine. ...
In the view of the restaurant alliance research, the new forces that are extremely introverted are all trying to form phenomenal star brands and show greater development possibilities in their own way.
Big waves wash away the sand, the tide ebbs and flows, while category innovation is in line with synergy, it also faces the challenges of mobilizing space, product quality standards, and service expectations.
The road from "net red" to "long red" is still being tested.
"At present, the homogenization of the hot pot industry is serious. It is the top priority for catering companies to open up the situation and realize product differentiation. By changing the direction of product research and development, new functions of products can be developed." Chongqing Technology and Business University Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle Mo Yuanming, a researcher at the Collaborative Development Center, said that hot pot practitioners urgently need to change their thinking and find their own breakthrough strategy.
In marketing and product design, pay more attention to the "Generation Z" group and better grasp the main consumer groups.
Of course, the most fascinating thing about the restaurant industry is the constant change itself.
Regardless of the circumstances or challenges, practicing hard internal skills is the only solution for the old and new forces to break the situation and create the situation.
"Once I integrate the current store, I will expand, because this is my mission. I will charge if it is stable, if it is unstable, I will stabilize, and when it is stable, I will charge again." Zhang Yong, founder of Haidilao, said that expansion Haidilao has never regretted it.
At present, Chongqing Xiaolongkan, Banu, Nan Hotpot and other new forces are building their own supply chains.
Xiaolongkan established Manwei Longchu with a product line of more than 300 SKUs; Banu spent 150 million yuan to build a base material R&D and processing base in Chongqing; Nan Hotpot also set up a supply chain center to manage upstream supply resources in a unified manner , has been able to achieve a full range of supply.
Black swans fly by and fly away. The fundamental test of anti-fragile capability lies in whether it can capture the ever-changing hearts of consumers.
Under the wave of category integration and industrial upgrading, a new war is slowly brewing.
The whole industry chain of hot pot ingredients is broken
On September 8, the unveiling ceremony of Chongqing Hotpot Ingredients Industrial Park and the first Chongqing Hotpot Ingredients Industry Development Summit were held in Hechuan.
The industrial park is planned to cover an area of 10 square kilometers. It will build a Chongqing hot pot ingredients raw material base and a cold chain logistics base, build a comprehensive service system focusing on brands, standards, systems, and safety, and form a hot pot ingredients industry cluster, striving to be realized by 2030. The output value of the whole industry chain is 100 billion yuan.
The reporter learned in the interview that Hechuan District has also launched a total of 33 policy measures in 10 aspects to promote the development of the whole industry chain of hot pot ingredients.
Among them, from the aspects of R&D platform, industrial development fund, land price, rent subsidy, warehousing and cold chain logistics, import and export support, etc., 18 breakthrough policies and measures have been innovatively formulated to maximize support for enterprise development, maximize profits and preferential enterprises, and attract enterprises. High-quality projects in the whole industry chain of hot pot ingredients are settled.
The person in charge of the Hechuan District Commerce Bureau told reporters that the district has formed a whole industry chain of hot pot ingredients from the cultivation of hot pot raw materials to food processing, distribution transactions, product research and development, inspection and testing, and consumer experience. National" features.
According to statistics, there are currently more than 100 main production and processing enterprises of hot pot ingredients in Hechuan District, with a total output value of 4.89 billion yuan.
Sichuan Wusheng, which is adjacent to Chongqing, issued the "Work Plan for the Construction of Wusheng Hotpot Industrial Park" on September 15.
"Hotpot Industrial Park" met the public for the first time in the form of government official documents.
At the same time, this is the only specialized industrial park named after "hot pot" in China.
According to statistics, Wusheng Hotpot Industrial Park has introduced 73 agricultural product processing enterprises and 46 enterprises above designated size.
Among them, there are 40 hot pot food enterprises and 20 enterprises above designated size.
In this regard, Li Jie, president of Chongqing Qinma Hotpot, believes that the vast majority of Chinese people like to eat hotpot. The hotpot industry is an important part of the catering industry. The hotpot industry accounts for a large proportion of catering revenue and has a huge market size.
In addition, the hot pot industry chain is long, running through the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, covering all aspects of production, processing and consumption. The upstream can build raw material production bases, the midstream can process hotpot base materials and hotpot ingredients, and the downstream can create transaction distribution and personnel training. , cultural and creative integration and other platforms, laying the foundation for the formation of industrial clusters.
Li Guo