Recently, Sanquan Foods launched a new product of "raw dumplings" with a shelf life of 120 days, laying out the short-term dumpling market. Another quick-frozen noodle rice dragon head Si Nian Food has launched a short-term dumpling with a shelf life of only 3 days, and previously opened 9 "fresh dumplings and fresh eat" stores in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and entered the subdivision track of fresh dumplings.
The industry believes that consumers are willing to pay for "fresh", the epidemic has led to an increase in the demand for "cooking at home", and the fresh dumpling stores can meet the two major demands of freshness and convenience, and have good development potential, so they attract all kinds of capital to compete for layout. Yuan Jiyun dumplings, which was launched in the South China market, has laid out more than 2,000 stores across the country; the professional fresh dumpling brand "Uncle Xiong", founded in 2020, has received A round of financing led by Meituan Dragon Ball; Xijiade launched the "Jizhen" sub-brand in 2021, focusing on fresh dumpling take-out business; Miss Food, which has the advantages of a quick-frozen supply chain, is also ready to rapidly expand its fresh dumpling stores with the help of capital.
Behind the rise of fresh dumplings in the competition for "freshness", there is the self-innovation of traditional quick-frozen dumpling enterprises and dumpling catering enterprises under the "inner roll" of the industry.
Fresh dumplings become popular tracks
Near noon, bai jin ji dumpling wonton shop located in a market in Beijing's Dongcheng District got busy, a box of meat stuffing (8 pairs), vegetarian stuffed dumplings (7 two), priced at 12 yuan -25 yuan, if customers have demand, you can also cook to take away. Unlike the general dumpling restaurant, the main dumplings here are sold freshly, and there is no dine-in area. According to the clerk, dumpling shop has been open for 5 years, and can sell more than 200 boxes of dumplings per day on average, roughly calculating that daily sales are about 4,000 yuan.
Bai Jinji now makes dumplings. Beijing News chief reporter Guo Tie / photo
Opposite this dumpling shop, a newly opened "Uncle Bear" also specializes in fresh dumplings sold freshly. The two shops are less than 50 feet apart.
The competition between Bai Kum Kee and Uncle Xiong is a microcosm of today's fresh dumpling industry, behind which is the competition for the "fresh" track by quick-frozen dumpling companies, dumpling catering companies and professional fresh dumpling brands.
Uncle Xiong opened in a market in Dongcheng District, Beijing, freshly makes dumplings. Beijing News chief reporter Guo Tie / photo
In 2013, Foshan Yuan Lianghong Catering Management Co., Ltd.'s brand "Yuan Ji Yun Dumplings" entered the fresh noodle products market and registered the "Yuan Lianghong" trademark in the same year. According to the investment information disclosed by the company, as of 2021, Yuan Jiyun's brand chain stores will reach 2,000, radiating 108 cities, and the store types are mainly divided into two types: "fresh" and "raw and cooked", and its "fresh" stores are the sales model of fresh dumplings.
In the view of Li Feng (pseudonym), the head of a quick-frozen dumpling company, Yuan Ji's expansion rate is "very strong", which also verifies the market prospects of fresh dumplings to a certain extent.
In 2020, professional dumpling brands such as Uncle Xiong and Wu Huoshi were born, and they quickly ran across the country with the franchise model. In 2021, the chain dumpling catering brand Xijiade launched the "Jizhen" brand, focusing on the fresh dumpling take-out stall model, with the goal of opening 10,000 stores.
For the market segment of fresh dumplings, quick-frozen food companies are also eager to try. At the end of 2021, Miss Food opened the first "fresh dumplings and fresh food" store in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and entered the fresh dumpling track. According to The introduction of Miss Food, the current sales performance of 9 "fresh dumplings and fresh eating" direct stores is in line with expectations, and the focus in 2022 is to create a product system, operation system and supply chain system for this project, laying the foundation for later development.
Miss the "Fresh Dumplings Fresh Eat" store. Photo/Miss Food
Major brands are racing
According to Li Feng's understanding, the current market entrants in the dumpling market are mainly divided into four categories: the first type is yuan jiyun dumplings, Cantonese dumplings and other brands that entered the market earlier and originated in south China. The South China market has the most mature development of the dumpling format, high consumer acceptance, and the largest number of stores; the second type is the rising star of professional dumpling brands such as Uncle Xiong and Wu Huoshi; the third type is the brand of Xijiade "Jizhen" and other brands that are transformed from traditional dumpling catering, focusing on fresh takeaway consumption scene business; the fourth type is some individual industrial and commercial households, who are rooted in the vegetable market or community, "this kind of group is also very large, and even some have existed for more than 20 years."
According to the statistics of enterprise investigation, there are more than 48,000 dumpling-related enterprises in the mainland. From 2012 to 2017, the number of related enterprise registrations increased year by year, reaching a peak in 2017, with more than 10,000 new dumpling-related enterprises, an increase of 24.37% year-on-year. From 2018 to 2021, 9718 related enterprises, 9572, 6566 and 6638 related enterprises were added respectively. From the perspective of geographical distribution, there are more than 18,000 dumpling-related enterprises in Shandong Province, ranking first in the country, followed by Jiangsu Province and Henan Province.
The intervention of capital has also promoted the rapid growth of the fresh dumpling industry. In August 2021, Uncle Xiong's dumplings were now wrapped in a round of financing, led by Meituan Dragon Ball and followed by Tomato Capital. According to the information on the official website, the Uncle Xiong brand has been established for less than 3 years and has opened more than 180 stores in 46 cities. The Beijing News reporter recently learned from uncle Xiong's investment department as a franchisee that the number of its national stores has now exceeded 600.
According to the investment department of Uncle Xiong, at present, its one-time franchise fee is 29,800 yuan, and the daily sales of stores in Beijing can reach 4,000 to 5,000 yuan, and the cycle of opening stores to return to the cost can be basically controlled at about 6 months. According to the franchise profit analysis estimated by Yuan Jiyunyun's official WeChat public account, the franchise fee of its A1 type pure fresh store first-class and special-grade cities is 50,000 yuan / 3 years, the daily turnover of the actual harvest is about 4,000 yuan, the monthly net profit is about 21,500 yuan, and the return cycle is 8 months. Both brands emphasize their own supply chain system, and the main raw materials such as dough and filling are all distributed by the company.
An industry insider told the Beijing News reporter that at present, Yuan Ji, Uncle Xiong and Xi Jiade are the 3 largest brands in the field of fresh dumplings. Among them, Yuan Ji and Uncle Xiong have a similar operating model, relying on chain franchises to expand rapidly, and the two brands can now be described as "short-term contact" in South China. At the same time as the launch of the sub-brand "Jizhen", Xijiade's catering stores have also opened up a fresh takeaway business, and mainly adopt a direct operation model.
Uncle Xiong's official website said, "The domestic dumpling market is currently dominated by frozen dumpling brands and delicatessen dumpling shops, and fresh dumplings have not yet appeared in the first-line brands except uncle Xiong, and the market potential is huge." Yuan Jiyun dumplings listed in detail in the investment information that its different types of stores were benchmarking brands, such as A1 type pure fresh stores benchmarking No. 1 earth pigs, ancestral names tofu, Cantonese dumplings, etc.; B1 type "raw and cooked" mini stores benchmarking Qian Dama, Bao Dao, Babi, Shanlin Dahong, Jingbazhen, etc.; B4 type shopping mall stores targeting Xijiade, Hefu Fish noodles, etc., and the scope of competition has jumped out of the dumpling market.
As a new entrant, Miss Food's "Fresh Dumplings and Fresh Eat" project plans to expand to East China in the second half of 2022 and open stores in other cities across the country in 2023, and its strength in product research and development, supply chain, cold chain, team, brand awareness and capital should not be underestimated. According to Miss Food, the "Fresh Dumplings and Fresh Eat" project is jointly invested by Jiayu Capital and "has prepared enough funds for rapid expansion".
Wen Zhihong, a partner at Hejun Consulting, believes that the entry of various capitals will accelerate the development of the subdivision track of fresh dumplings. At present, the fresh dumpling industry has just started, the brands are in the stage of staking the race, although the competition is not fierce, but consumers will be more recognized by the branding and chaining of the branded dumpling brand, and the workshop-style individual industrial and commercial households may be more affected.
Short-term insurance is a new way out for frozen dumplings?
"The rise of the subdivision of fresh dumplings is related to consumption upgrades." Li Feng believes that "fresh" is the main tone of the food and even catering industry, consumers are willing to pay for fresh and convenient products, and this process does not require too much consumer education. Affected by the epidemic, the demand for "cooking at home" has increased significantly, and the development of business formats around the life circle within one kilometer of consumers will become a major trend, and many fresh dumpling stores or stalls will be opened in the community or vegetable market. Dumplings and ravioli products themselves have the characteristics of wide recognition, high consumption frequency, strong holiday meaning, convenient and delicious "one meal", etc., and have good market development potential.
Another problem that cannot be ignored is that factors such as the impact of the epidemic have led to low-price competition for quick-frozen foods and the "internal volume" of the industry, prompting practitioners to continuously explore new performance growth points. Compared with the surge in demand for quick-frozen food brought about by home epidemic prevention in 2020, the performance growth rate of several quick-frozen listed companies in 2021 began to decline. In the first half of 2021, the net profit of Sanquan Foods fell by 38.55%; the net profit of Haixin Food and Huifa Food fell by 156.4% and 1060.09% respectively.
In this context, the leading enterprises of quick-frozen have carried out diversified investment layout. In the first half of 2021, Anjing Food formulated the product strategy of "staple food power, main dish listing", and the pre-made dish "Mr. Frozen" category and shrimp slippage have increased significantly; Sanquan Foods invested in the hot pot ingredient specialty store "Pot Circle" and chain convenience store 7-11 Henan operation rights, and launched its own self-heating rice and Western food series products.
Short-term dumplings are one of the pioneering. Recently, Sanquan Foods launched a new product of the fresh food series "Raw Dumplings" with a shelf life of 120 days, hoping to get a share of the short-term dumpling market. In addition to entering the subdivision track of fresh dumplings, Miss Food has also recently launched short-term dumplings with a shelf life of only 3 days, and has now tested the water and sold them in the fresh chain channel Qian Dama. Yuan Jiyun Dumpling, which focuses on catering channels, also launched a 21-day short-term wonton product in the online flagship store in January this year.
The relevant person in charge of Miss Food believes that the emergence of fresh dumplings is bound to affect the consumption choices of some quick-frozen dumpling users, and it will affect the consumer population of high-end products, and the upgrading iteration of quick-frozen dumpling products is also to rely on this part of consumers. "We have entered the future track of our self-'revolution, and fresh dumplings will be a very important part of the company's strategy for the next three to five years." The success of short-term insurance products depends on the company's supply chain capabilities.
Guo Tie, chief reporter of the Beijing News
Edited by Li Yan Proofreader Wang Xin
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