How can prepared dishes win the favor of more consumers?

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In recent years, the prepared vegetable industry has developed rapidly, but the development of the industry has mixed results. Prepared dishes such as crayfish are sought after, but some restaurants have been complained about by consumers. Industry insiders pointed out that the current cold chain technology can not solve the problem of freshness, and there will always be niche demand, and industrialization can not solve personalized needs after all. How to introduce new changes in pre-made dishes with delicious, fresh and other benchmark construction still requires the efforts of new caterers.

"Several dishes in this restaurant are pre-made dishes, which serve very quickly, but they are not delicious, and I will not go back next time." A few days ago, Ms. Wang, a consumer in Chongqing, told reporters that she wanted to eat freshly made dishes when she went to the restaurant, and if it was a pre-made dish, it would be more resistant.

However, Ms. Wang said that she will also buy pre-made dishes such as crayfish from the Internet, which can be eaten by simple heating, which is very convenient.

In this regard, experts pointed out that how to lead new changes to pre-made dishes with benchmark construction such as delicious and fresh still requires the efforts of new caterers.

No doubt, pre-made dishes are really on fire

In recent years, with the upgrading of consumption and the acceleration of people's pace of life, pre-made dishes have become the new favorite of the catering industry, providing a new choice for people who pursue fast-paced work and life while coveting food.

Taking crayfish as an example, Dingtone grocery data shows that in the first week of May, the sales of crayfish-related goods on the platform increased by more than 5% compared with last week, with a total of about 1 tons and more than 300 million crayfish sold.

At the recently held 1nd China (Chengdu-Chongqing) Food Industry Expo, the spicy small yellow fish and Liangping snails exhibited by Chongqing Liangpinghai Laohan Food became a hit and countless fans. As the first seafood prefabricated vegetable industry chain enterprise in western China, the company's pre-sale order sales in January ~ April have exceeded 4 million yuan by increasing investment in the research and development of new products, showing the strong development momentum of the prefabricated vegetable capital in western China.

Prepared dishes have also become the focus of food industry chain companies. Upstream agricultural and animal husbandry enterprises, downstream catering enterprises, as well as midstream food production enterprises, and even quick-frozen food and seasoning enterprises, have all scrambled.

Tianyan inspection data shows that up to now, there are more than 5,9 prefabricated vegetable related enterprises in China. From the perspective of establishment time, 44.8% of the relevant enterprises were established between 1 and 5 years.

Why do restaurants love to use prepared dishes?

The reporter saw from a number of e-commerce platforms that there are many pre-made vegetable products on the market, and the prices of the same type of products are far from the same. The reason lies mainly in the original and ingredient parts. However, the freshness and quality of the ingredients will not be reflected in the ingredient list, and consumers will not know the actual price and quality of the cooking bag.

In fact, there have been constant complaints about pre-made dishes containing a lot of additives and being too oily and salty. In addition, some restaurants use prepared dishes without prior notice, making consumers feel cheated.

Mo Yuanming, a researcher at the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin Cities Economic Circle Collaborative Development Center of Chongqing Technology and Business University, said frankly that the prefabricated vegetable industry is still in the cultivation stage, from technology research and development to equipment production, it is difficult to intensify and integrate, and even the scale effect has shortcomings; The product validity period is short and the orders are scattered, and the transportation time and storage temperature have a greater impact on the taste of the dish; There is also homogenization competition, so that it lacks the characteristic taste soul of Chinese food, and the characteristics need to be broken through.

So, why do restaurants love to use pre-made dishes? "Prepared dishes are large-scale industrial production, with long chain attributes, and have the characteristics of centralized procurement, centralized sales and centralized pricing. For restaurant and corporate producers, complex dishes are easier to replicate effectively. Tang Qiantong, general manager of Chongqing Weihai Supply Chain (Group) Company, told reporters that the use of pre-made dishes can also reduce some labor and other costs.

Long-term development requires both good food and safety

Experts pointed out that with the increase in the frequency of public consumption of prepared vegetables, the existing categories can no longer meet the needs of consumers, and it is urgent to develop dishes other than crayfish, sauerkraut fish, braised pork and other dishes that flood the entire prepared vegetable market.

Li Lihong, founder of Silver Food brand, said that pre-made dishes at the consumer end should focus on "dishes that are difficult for families to complete", "dishes that are simple and convenient to operate at home" and "dishes that cost less than making a single serving by themselves" to help consumers achieve the goal of "cooking chef's dishes at home".

Some businesses are also innovating their dishes. The reporter saw in the Hema fresh store located in Ranjiaba, Chongqing, that there were abalone fish maw chicken, squirrel cinnamon fish, pork belly chicken, chopped pepper fish head, and various pre-made dishes with prices ranging from more than 10 yuan to several hundred yuan, which became a beautiful landscape of the supermarket.

"Because the consumption scenarios required by some foods themselves require the taste of freshly fried and sold, the current cold chain technology cannot solve the problem of freshness; In addition, niche needs will always exist, and industrialization cannot solve personalized needs after all. Che Zhenming, chief scientist of the major special project for the industrialization of Sichuan cuisine, said that it is expected that after 5 to 10 years of development, pre-made dishes are expected to achieve 95% flavor restoration by hand.

Zheng Simin, chairman of Delis, also believes that at present, the prefabricated vegetable track is generally good, but there are also local deficiencies, and there are many pain points in the development of the industry. Although the relevant departments are intensively issuing relevant standards for prepared dishes, there is still a lack of perfect national standards and industry standards, which is not conducive to the long-term benign development of the industry.

Mo Yuanming said that for pre-made vegetable companies, deliciousness determines how high it can go, and safety determines how far it can go. To improve consumers' awareness and recognition of prepared dishes, the guidance and supervision of the prepared vegetable industry should be strengthened, the food safety system should be optimized, and prepared dishes should become healthy and safe dishes loved by consumers.

Li Guo (Source: Workers' Daily)

Li Guo