As the saying goes, "Food is the most important thing for the people", the importance of diet to the public naturally needs no elaboration. However, with the accelerated pace of life, more and more young people do not have the time and energy to cook dishes, which is one of the important reasons why the food delivery industry continues to thrive. Nevertheless, with the continuous improvement of consumers' health awareness, they also put forward higher requirements for diet. Against this background, prefabricated dishes that are easy to operate and easy to make are gradually popular among consumers.
Nowadays, cross-border has become the basic operation of the giants, and the prospect of prefabricated dishes is also optimistic about the prospects of all players, and they have launched an active layout. For example, Gree Electric announced in September 2022 that it plans to enter the prefabricated vegetable industry across borders; not long ago, Guirenniao established a prefabricated vegetable company to enter the field of prefabricated vegetables and so on. As players from all walks of life compete to enter the game, the prefabricated dish industry is becoming more and more lively.
Prefabricated dishes "explosive"
If you want to say what is the hottest industry in recent years, prefabricated dishes must be on the list. According to data from iiMedia Consulting, in 2022, the market size of prefabricated vegetables will be 419.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21%. Behind the rapid growth of prepared dishes, it is related to many factors.
From the perspective of demand, the continuous growth of consumers' demand for prepared vegetables has promoted the development of the prepared vegetables industry. I mentioned the importance of diet to people in the previous article, but due to objective factors, people, especially young people, do not have enough time to cook. After all, it takes time from the purchase of ingredients to the cleaning and processing of ingredients to the final cooking process. Not only that, as the frequency of consumers’ cooking decreases, the improvement of their cooking skills is also relatively limited, while prefabricated dishes can satisfy consumers’ appetites while saving food processing time, so it has become a popular choice for many consumers. new options for .
In addition, during the epidemic period, the number of dine-in meals decreased, and the demand for prepared dishes increased. After this period of cultivation, the acceptance of C-end consumers for prepared dishes has increased. At the same time, for B-end catering companies, the use of prepared dishes can effectively reduce costs and increase efficiency, so their demand for prepared dishes is also increasing. Thanks to the simultaneous outbreak of the B-end market and the C-end market, the demand for prepared dishes continues to rise, and the development of the industry is accelerating.
From a technical point of view, the continuous iterative upgrading of technology has laid a solid foundation for the rapid development of prefabricated dishes. In fact, prefabricated dishes are not a new product, but due to various factors such as technology and weak consumer acceptance, prefabricated dishes have not become popular. With the continuous development, improvement and application of technologies such as cold chain logistics, vacuum slow cooking, and freshness preservation, the product quality, taste and flavor of prefabricated dishes have also improved compared with before, and their potential has gradually been released.
From the perspective of supply, the increasing number of participants in the prepared vegetable industry has enriched consumers' choices. Previously, a large part of the reason why the development of prefabricated dishes was tepid was because of the limited variety of products and the limited space for consumers to choose. In recent years, players from all walks of life have continued to enter the game, and industry competition has heated up. Players are also working hard around products to enhance their own competitiveness. As the number of prepared vegetable SKUs continues to expand, the space for consumers to choose continues to expand, which also drives the development of the prepared vegetable industry.
Professional players play steadily
As the prepared dish industry becomes more and more popular, more and more players are pouring into it, trying to take a piece of the cake. Different from other industry players who rushed to deploy after the prefabricated dishes became popular, a group of players had already taken root here before the prefabricated dish industry became popular. Despite the increasingly fierce competition, professional prepared vegetable companies represented by Weizhixiang and Haodelai also have sufficient confidence and competitiveness.
Firstly, professional prefabricated vegetable enterprises have strong research and development capabilities in prefabricated vegetable products and more abundant products. Thanks to years of deep cultivation in the field of prepared vegetables, professional prepared vegetables companies have accumulated rich experience in product research and development, not only have strong product research and development capabilities, but also formed a rich product matrix. For example, Weizhixiang has 8 major product lines, with more than 300 kinds of existing products; Haodelai has also developed a series of products such as cooking, frying, soup, and stew. The rich product types can also meet the different dietary preferences and habits of different consumers.
Second, the channel advantages of professional prepared vegetable enterprises are obvious. After years of deep cultivation and development, professional prefabricated vegetable enterprises have established quite complete sales channels. For example, Weizhixiang has accelerated the expansion of sales channels by opening up the franchise model. According to the data, as of the first half of 2022, Weizhixiang has 1,522 franchise stores and 645 cooperative dealers, and has built a chain of farmers' markets. Join the ecosystem. While improving offline channels, Wei Zhixiang has also established an e-commerce team to actively develop online channels. While opening stores and entering KA supermarkets, Good Lai also deployed online channels by opening flagship stores and entering fresh food e-commerce. The layout of online and offline channels also provides assistance for the subsequent development of professional prepared vegetable manufacturers.
Thirdly, professional prefabricated vegetable enterprises have established a relatively complete cold chain logistics system. For pre-made dishes, cold chain logistics is a very important part. If there is a problem in the cold chain logistics link, it is easy to cause the dishes to deteriorate, and the consumer experience cannot be guaranteed. In order to ensure the freshness of the dishes, some professional prefabricated vegetable companies are working hard around the cold chain logistics. For example, Weizhixiang has built a dedicated logistics distribution system with cold chain transport vehicles as the main body, which can ensure the safety and freshness of prefabricated vegetables; Haodelai has an advanced logistics storage network, and through the introduction of advanced logistics technology, The whole process of vehicle trajectory tracking and temperature monitoring has been realized, and next-day delivery has been realized in most parts of the country.
There is no doubt that strong dish research and development capabilities, complete sales channels, and the construction of a cold chain logistics system will become powerful weapons for professional prepared dish companies such as Weizhixiang and Good Lai to cope with challenges and compete with other players. However, regional channel advantages also limit the development of professional prepared vegetable enterprises to a certain extent. If professional prepared vegetable enterprises want to go out and become national brands, they still need to continuously improve their own strength.
Fresh food e-commerce speeds up
Among the many players in the field of prefabricated dishes, fresh food e-commerce companies should be the most active and the most concerned by the outside world. For example, Dingdong Maicai entered the field of prepared dishes in early 2021; Chen Huifang, general manager of Hema's prepared dishes department, also revealed at the 2023 China Chain Catering Summit that the company has newly established a prepared dishes department this year. Behind the accelerated entry of fresh food e-commerce companies into the field of prepared vegetables is related to many factors.
First, the gross profit of fresh products is low, while the gross profit of prefabricated dishes is relatively high. The layout of prefabricated dishes by fresh food e-commerce companies can increase profit margins. Different from other products, fresh products have the characteristics of short shelf life, perishability, and high performance costs. Therefore, the gross profit of fresh products is low. In addition, the construction of supply chain and logistics system needs to be continuously improved. Long-term investment in e-commerce platforms also increases the difficulty of profitability for fresh food e-commerce to a certain extent.
The gross profit of prefabricated vegetables is higher than that of fresh products, which has high added value. Fresh food e-commerce platforms’ efforts to prefabricate vegetables will help improve their profitability. Therefore, the prefabricated vegetable business has become the focus of fresh food e-commerce companies. Taking Dingdong Maicai’s pre-cooked vegetable product “Boxing Shrimp” as an example, the pre-coupon gross profit margin of “Boxing Shrimp” is 33.8%, which is higher than the overall pre-coupon gross profit margin of Dingdong Maicai, while the order including “Boxing Shrimp” The unit price per customer was 73.9% higher than the average order, reaching 98.9 yuan.
Secondly, the fresh food e-commerce platform can accurately understand the needs of consumers, which is helpful for them to carry out the research and development of prepared vegetables. Nowadays, consumers are increasingly accepting of prepared vegetable products, and the C-end consumer market has begun to increase in volume. The fresh food e-commerce platform is originally oriented to C-end consumers. Through the accumulated orders and data, it can understand consumer preferences, gain insight into consumer taste preferences, and use this as a basis for product development and production, and finally create products that meet the needs of consumers. Prefabricated dishes that consumers like.
Thirdly, resources such as supply chains and logistics distribution systems built by fresh food e-commerce companies can be reused in the field of prefabricated vegetables. Previously, fresh food e-commerce companies have used methods such as developing the front warehouse model, improving the supply chain system, and strengthening cold chain logistics to improve the problems of fragile fresh products, difficult freshness preservation, and high loss. The accumulation of fresh food e-commerce in supply chain, cold chain logistics and distribution will also become an important help for the development of its prepared vegetable business.
However, although fresh food e-commerce companies entering the field of prepared vegetables have many advantages, they also need to face many challenges. For example, in terms of customer resource acquisition, although fresh food e-commerce companies are "like a fish in water" in the C-end market, the B-end market of prefabricated vegetables also contains huge potential, which cannot be ignored. However, players in the field of prefabricated dishes have long been deeply involved in this field, and have established a deep relationship with B-end customers. Moreover, these large customers are stable and will not frequently change partners. Fresh food e-commerce platforms want to expand the B-end market. easy.
Home appliance giants come in droves
As fresh food e-commerce companies are scrambling to enter the market, many home appliance giants are also targeting the field of prepared dishes. For example, Galanz launched the first microwave oven for prepared dishes; the Timco brand under the Cobos Group launched the Shiwan intelligent cooking machine and the accompanying Shiwan clean dishes; Gree established a prepared dish equipment manufacturing company. Behind the home appliance giants scrambling to lay out the field of prefabricated dishes, it is not without reason.
On the one hand, the home appliance industry has encountered growth bottlenecks, and home appliance giants urgently need to find new growth points. In recent years, the growth rate of the home appliance industry has slowed down, and the home appliance industry has gradually entered the stock market stage from the incremental market, and the main business of home appliance giants is under pressure. According to data from the National Household Appliance Industry Information Center, the domestic retail sales of household appliances in 2022 will be 730.72 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.5%. In order to break through the growth problem, home appliance giants have begun to seek diversified development, and the prepared vegetable industry has shown huge development potential, so it is logical for home appliance giants to deploy here.
On the other hand, the popularity of prefabricated dishes is expected to drive the growth of demand for special equipment for prefabricated dishes, and home appliance companies can use this as an opportunity to develop new products. Due to the differences between prefabricated dishes and traditional cooking, traditional cooking equipment may not be suitable for prefabricated dishes, and cannot fully restore the original flavor of prefabricated dishes. With the rapid development of prefabricated dishes, the demand for both prefabricated vegetable equipment suitable for the B-end and prefabricated vegetable kitchen appliances for the C-end will increase. Household appliance companies can also follow this shareholder trend by deploying prefabricated dishes, and cultivate a new growth curve while meeting consumer demand.
In addition, the profound technology and manufacturing experience of home appliance companies will provide assistance to the development of their prefabricated vegetables business. Thanks to years of deep cultivation in the home appliance industry, home appliance giants have accumulated rich experience in many aspects such as technology accumulation and equipment manufacturing. However, there are similarities between home appliance product manufacturing and prefabricated vegetable equipment manufacturing. Experience contributes to the research and development and production of its prefabricated dish equipment.
In the face of the hot prefabricated vegetable market, home appliance giants are actively deploying, but the cake of prefabricated vegetables is not easy to divide. For example, with the successive deployment of home appliance companies, their competition will also continue to the field of prepared dishes. For another example, consumers still need to cultivate their habits of using prefabricated kitchen appliances. It can be seen that the home appliance giants that lay out prefabricated dishes still have many problems to overcome.
As far as the current situation is concerned, the popularity of prepared dishes has remained high. Whether it is the influx of players, the continuous increase in market size, or the surge in orders for prepared dishes, this is well reflected. However, opportunities and challenges coexist. It is undeniable that the current consumers' attitudes towards prefabricated dishes are quite divided. With the entry of various players, industry competition will intensify. All in all, players in the field of prepared dishes still have a tough battle to fight.