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Editor/Letter Lee
From the "darling" of capital to the rapid cooling, the rice noodle pastry track has experienced a double day in 2021.
From January to July 2021, the bullets of capital "flew wildly" on the rice noodle dim sum track, and a number of enterprises harvested capital injections, such as Fulao Noodles, Meet Small Noodles, Wuye Mixed Noodles, Lanzhou Ramen New Brands Chen Xianggui, Zhang Lala, Ma Jiyong, Baking Brands Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau, Hutou Bureau Standard Chartered Cake Shop, etc. have all obtained large financing, and some brands have even completed two financings within a month.
Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital, IDG Capital, GGV Jiyuan Capital and other well-known investment institutions have joined the battle to seize the rice noodle snack track. According to the late LastPost report, Sequoia China also submitted an investment intention letter with a valuation of 1 billion yuan to Ma Jiyong, and invested in Hutou Bureau twice in 4 months.
But the frenzy of capital did not last forever. The business model of departmental chain brands has been questioned by the market, such as the Momo Dim Sum Bureau and Hutou Bureau on the dim sum track, their products are not very different, the positioning is similar, and it is difficult to form high barriers.
In the final analysis, the calmness of capital is due to the inflated valuation of similar enterprises. According to the valuation of 2 billion yuan of the B round of financing completed by the Mo mo dim sum bureau in June last year, its single store valuation exceeded 100 million yuan, and the Yuanzu shares that had been listed for 5 years at that time, the single store valuation was only 5.99 million yuan, and the mo mo dim sum bureau similar to other dim sum companies why did it support such a high valuation?
However, the return of capital to rationality is not because there is no market. The people take food as the sky, and the business of rice noodles and dim sum is "just needed". Needless to say, there will be a few head brands, but the phenomenon of multiple financings and continuous valuation increases as concentrated in the first half of last year may not appear again.
In 2022, the rice noodle food track will still get the attention of capital, but only brands with the characteristics of head players will have the opportunity to become the target of capital.
1. In the first half of 2021, capital frantically bet on rice noodle dim sum
In the first half of 2021, capital invested almost all over the relatively high-quality rice noodle dim sum enterprises.
Last July, it can be described as an exclusive capital feast for various types of noodle catering brands. At that time, the "big brother among the upstarts" in the ramen industry and Fulao noodles announced the completion of the E round of financing of nearly 800 million yuan, the leading investment institution was CMC Capital, and the old shareholders Tencent Investment, Longhu Capital and the new shareholders were followed by capital, and the valuation of Hefu Fish noodles at this time was about 7 billion yuan.
In the same month, the Chinese fast food brand Met Xiaomian received a strategic investment of more than 100 million yuan, led by Country Garden Venture Capital, followed by the old shareholder Xijiade. After this round of financing, the valuation of The Encounter Small Face, which was established in 2014, reached nearly 3 billion yuan.
Encounter small-sided financing situation, the source of the sky eye check
At this time, only 3 months have passed since the small round of financing. In March 2021, Meet Xiaomian has just completed a round of strategic financing, amounting to tens of millions of yuan, and the investment institutions are Country Garden Venture Capital, Baifu Holdings and Xijiade. At that time, the valuation of the small side was only about 1 billion yuan.
The noodle restaurant chain brand Wuye Noodles also completed a round of financing in July, with the investors being Hillhouse Venture Capital and Zhiyuan Capital, which was less than a month after the round of financing of Wuye Noodles. In June, Wuye Noodles completed the financing of 300 million yuan in the A round, which was known as the largest A round of financing in the catering industry at that time, and the investors were CDH Investment and B Capital.
Lanzhou beef noodle brand Chen Xianggui also completed a round of financing of more than 100 million yuan in July, led by Zhengxingu Capital, followed by Yunjiu Capital, and the old shareholder source code capital and angel investor Song Huanping also followed the investment. After this round of financing, Chen Xianggui's valuation is close to 1 billion yuan.
Before July 2021, noodle catering brands such as Ramen Noodles, Jin Noodle Tang, Chen Xianggui, Zhang Lala, Ma Jiyong, and Baman also received multiple rounds of financing, which can be described as the "fragrant food" of capital.
In addition to the successive financing of noodle chain brands, many dim sum brands are also the objects of capital popularity.
In March 2021, baking brand Hutou Bureau Standard Chartered Cake Completed an angel round of financing, and the investors were Sequoia China and Challenger Venture Capital. Four months later, on July 14, Hutou Bureau Standard Chartered Bakery announced the completion of nearly $50 million in Series A financing, jointly led by GGV Jiyuan Capital and Tiger Global Fund, and followed by veteran shareholder Sequoia China, IDG and angel investor Song Huanping. At this time, the valuation of The single store of Hutou Bureau Standard Chartered Cake Was as high as 375 million yuan, and the gap between the two rounds of financing was less than half a year.
In June 2021, Changsha's new bakery chain brand Momo Dim Sum Bureau also received a Series A financing from Today Capital. After this round of financing, the valuation of Mo mo dim sum bureau reached 2 billion yuan, and the valuation of a single store exceeded 100 million yuan.
The financing situation of the Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau, the source of the picture is checked by the sky eye
This is the second investment received by Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau in half a year. In April 2021, Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau completed the Pre-A round of financing, the specific amount was not disclosed, and was jointly participated by Qingliu Capital, Yuanjing Capital, Yuanlai Capital, Richu Capital and Yuanqi Capital.
In April 2021, Xuanma, the first in the egg yolk puff pastry category, completed a B round of equity financing of more than 100 million yuan, and the investors were the old shareholders Jinding Capital, Qinglan Investment, and the new investor Maixing Investment.
Long-established dim sum enterprises have also been "targeted" by capital. According to AI Finance and Economics, Dong Wenda, secretary of Master Bao's board of directors, has said that Master Bao received an investment letter of intent valued at 10 billion yuan in the first half of 2021, and at this time, Master Bao's stores are less than 100, which means that the average valuation of Master Bao's stores has exceeded 100 million yuan. However, Master Bao said that he would not consider financing for the time being.
It can be seen that in the first half of the year, a number of capitals participated in the investment of the rice noodle snack track, in addition to Sequoia China, Hillhouse Capital, IDG, GGV Jiyuan Capital, CDH Investment, CMC Capital and other well-known investment institutions, there are also challenger venture capital, Qingliu Capital, Yuanjing Capital Today Capital, Tiger Global Fund, Shunwei Capital, Challenger Venture Capital, Dangerous Peak Evergreen and other capitals have entered the game.
There is no shortage of investment institutions that have invested in a number of companies. According to public information, in the first half of 2021, Sequoia China and Challenger Venture Capital both invested in Hutou Bureau and Ma Jiyong, of which Sequoia China participated in the angel round and Pre-A round of financing of Hutou Bureau; IDG invested in Baman Hunan Rice Noodles, Hutou Bureau and Daddy Candy, which mainly focuses on handmade toast; Tomato Capital invested in Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau and Baman Hunan Rice Noodles.
Some investment institutions have firmly bet on one company and participated in more than one round of financing, such as Country Garden Venture Capital, which participated in two strategic financings that met small faces.
In the first half of 2021, capital's enthusiasm for rice noodles was high, but in the second half of the year, capital became calmer about the rice noodles track.
2, in the second half of 2021, capital has become rational
The capital feast of rice noodles and dim sum did not continue into the second half of 2021.
After August 2021, the number of rice noodle dim sum enterprises that have harvested financing has decreased, although there are also related enterprises that have obtained financing, but the heat has cooled down somewhat. The movement of capital is the most telling, obviously, the business model of rice noodle dim sum has not yet fully worked.
Taking the noodle catering brands Chen Xianggui, Ma Jiyong and Zhang Lala as an example, in terms of market positioning, the stores of these brands are mainly opened in shopping malls with large traffic, near office buildings, etc., and the target customers are young white-collar workers and family customers, and the unit price is between 30-50 yuan. Compared with the 10-20 yuan of traditional Lanzhou ramen stores, these brands do not have a price advantage.
So the same Is the same Lanzhou beef noodles, "Chen Xianggui" worth such a high premium?
Chen Xianggui store, image source Chen Xianggui official Weibo
From the product point of view, these three brands are the main Lanzhou beef noodles, and the traditional Lanzhou beef noodles are the same as the noodles + beef + other ingredients, the taste is not too innovative, no matter how the brand marketing "differentiation", product homogenization is an indisputable fact.
According to the late Late Post report, Chen Xianggui, Zhang Lala, Ma Jiyong's monthly turnover can reach 500,000-600,000 yuan, and the ping effect is 5,000 yuan. Caixin's report shows that the average turnover of Hefu Lao noodle single store is 550,000 yuan / month, the ping effect is 4800 yuan / month, the human effect is 55,000 yuan / month, and the customer unit price is 45 yuan. It can be said that the revenue of "Chen Xianggui" has reached a high level in the industry.
But this does not mean that "Chen Xianggui" is already making money. According to winshang network reports, Chen Xianggui, Ma Jiyong and Zhang Lakai's proportion of stores in shopping malls is as high as 76%, 84% and 81% respectively, which means that the store rents that "Chen Xianggui" have to bear are higher than ordinary ramen shops.
The "China Shop Rent Index Research Report for the First Half of 2021" released by the China Index Academy, the average daily rent of Shanghai Xintiandi in the first half of 2021 is 24.8 yuan / flat / day, equivalent to 744 yuan / square per month, according to a noodle shop of 50 square meters, then a noodle shop opened in Xintiandi will rent about 37,000 per month.
Labor costs are also not low. According to the consumption of the new push official, Chen Xianggui Shanghai Xiexin Starlight Plaza store employs 14 people, according to Chen Xianggui in the BOSS direct recruitment of ordinary staff salary of 5,000-8,000 yuan, a store's monthly labor cost of more than 70,000 yuan. In this way, the monthly rent and labor costs alone have exceeded 100,000 yuan.
And this does not calculate the costs and expenses of ingredients, equipment, decoration, utilities, marketing expenses and other aspects.
In fact, most of the "Chen Xianggui" are still in a state of loss. According to the "Caijing" magazine report, a store in Zhanglala, Shanghai, lost at least 60,000 yuan per month, and Zhang Lala's ramen master revealed that Zhang Lala "lost more money in the store and made less money", and he also said that "listening to Chen Xianggui and Ma Jiyong's master, they are the same - they have made a huge momentum, and the overall loss is a loss." ”
Are the "Chen Xianggui" who have been at a loss worthy of high valuation?
In April last year, Sequoia China gave Ma Jiyong an investment letter of intent valued at more than 1 billion yuan, when Ma Jiyong had about 15 stores, or an average valuation of 66.67 million yuan per store. What is this concept?
The "first ramen stock", Ajisen China (Ajisen Ramen), had a market value of 9 billion yuan when it was listed, and there were about 150 stores at that time, equivalent to a single store market value of about 60 million yuan. That is to say, the valuation of MajiYong single store, which has not been established for less than 3 years and has not yet been listed, is even higher than the market value of the single store when Ajisen ramen was listed.
The situation is similar for confectionery companies. Take the Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau as an example, it turns the store into a small but sophisticated factory, the oven of the store during the day is mainly responsible for baking mochi and cheese crisp, and at night it makes egg yolk crisp and wife cake, relying on the "front shop and back factory" model to achieve more efficient production.
In order to speed up the production speed of store products, Wang Yuxiao, founder of Mo mo dim sum bureau, said that in the future, there are plans to put half of the products in the factory to complete the production, but in this way, mo mo dim sum is still "daily fresh baking" and "hand baking"?
At the dim sum track, the use of frozen baked products seems to have become an "open secret". When consumers find that the "daily freshly baked" snacks in their hands are actually highly industrialized frozen semi-finished products, are they still willing to visit the store to punch in?
In terms of valuation, the Mo Mo dim sum bureau is also "unreasonable". When Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau completed the B round of financing, the valuation was already as high as 2 billion yuan, and the valuation of a single store exceeded 100 million yuan.
Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau store, picture source Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau official Weibo
As of June 2021, Yuanzu Shares, which has similar genes and has been listed for 5 years, has 699 stores, with a market value of about 4.188 billion yuan and a single store valuation of about 5.99 million. Counting down, the valuation of a single store in the Mo mo dim sum bureau is more than 16 times that of Yuanzu shares.
Perhaps for "Chen Xianggui" and "Mo Mo Dim Sum Bureau", the current profit is not the most important purpose, get financing to quickly expand the store, and expand the market coverage is their pursuit at this stage, only in this way can they continue to finance and continue to live.
But can everything really go so smoothly?
The update and iteration speed of the industry is very fast, from the perspective of the baking track, the "first share of baking" Christine has lost 8 consecutive years, and the number of stores in 2020 has decreased by 99. In June 2021, Shanghai baking brand Yizhiduo was exposed to be closed overnight, and the number of closed stores reached more than 70; the buoyancy forest, a baking chain brand that had been "working hard" in Hangzhou for 21 years, had to go to the step of closing stores and closing factories.
Looking at these front waves that were slapped down on the beach, capital has calmed down a lot.
3. In 2022, where will the rice noodle pastry track go?
It is true that the market potential of the mainland catering industry is still very large.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the mainland's annual catering revenue in 2021 reached 4.69 trillion yuan, up 18.6% year-on-year, recovering to the level of 2019. According to the "2021 China Chain Catering Industry Report" jointly released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) and China Renaissance Capital, it is expected that the scale of the mainland catering market will reach 6.6 trillion yuan in 2024.
In the huge catering market in the mainland, there are still more traditional husband and wife shops, and there are not many large-scale chain catering brands. According to the report of the Huajing Industry Research Institute, the current chain rate of the mainland catering industry is only 10.9%, while that of the United States is as high as 54.5%, which shows that there is still a lot of room for growth of rice noodle dim sum enterprises in the future.
Coupled with the rapid development of catering industrialization and the improvement of storage and preservation technology, everything is ready to create a national rice noodle and dim sum chain brand, and now it depends on which brand can win from the fierce market competition, and this year is destined to be a more tragic year.
Since entering 2022, noodle players such as Xiaomian, Ma Jiyong, Chen Xianggui, and Zhang Lala have slowed down their expansion.
The chain noodle shop "Fun Small Noodles", founded by Lu Zhengyao, the former chairman of Luckin, is even more miserable, and it has not even reached the step of financing. According to Lu Zhengyao's vision, "Fun Noodles" is also to take the road of "opening a store - the market is hot - financing - listing", as a result, after opening a number of stores, it encountered financing failures, and after opening a store 3 months later, it was hastily renamed "Fun Bayu" and transformed into a Sichuan-Chongqing snack category.
Fun Bayu related dishes, picture source Fun Bayu Go official Weibo
Obviously, it is not so easy for Internet celebrity brands to achieve nationwide expansion, especially these Internet celebrity brands have relied on popular shopping malls and office buildings, and the rents in these places are high, which means that The cost of Internet celebrity brands is very high, even if the products dilute profits with large-scale production, but they want to achieve high efficiency, high pricing has almost become the only choice.
However, for most consumers, high pricing should be based on the product itself "has real materials", so that consumers feel "worth it", rather than relying solely on marketing and packaging.
The former Taoyuan Village is a living example, the first store opened next to LV, earning enough eyeballs, but the product is just the usual visible fritters, buns, burnt cakes, etc., and the pricing of these products is amazingly high, fritters 6 yuan a piece, burnt cake 25 yuan a, bun 13 yuan a piece, but also require two to sell.
After marketing and packaging, can consumers accept high pricing for the same product? Taoyuan Village was once extremely popular, but now it is in the predicament of large-scale store closures.
In addition, the Z generation is seriously curious, they are indeed more likely to try new things than the post-80s and post-90s, but their consumption also has a characteristic, only loyal to themselves, loyalty to the brand is not high. On this basis, Internet celebrity brands should show their real strength to attract young people.
In 2022, the rice noodle snack track returns to rationality, but in view of the vast market, it is expected that the track will still become the object of capital betting, but the focus of players in the industry this year should not only seek financing, but also build good products and self-hematopoiesis.