In 2023, the operating income of the snack brand Jinzai will exceed 2 billion yuan, completing the phased goal of "three-year doubling" since its listing.
In 2023, Jinzai's total operating income will be 2.065 billion yuan, an increase of 41.26% year-on-year, and the net profit attributable to the parent company will be 210 million yuan, an increase of 68.17% year-on-year. Among the enterprises in the A-share snack food sector, the performance growth rate of Jinzai Food ranks in the first echelon.
Selling better and earning more has become Jinzai's year-end summary in 2023.
The upward momentum is also continuing. In the financial report for the first quarter of 2024, Jinzai's net profit increased by 80.00%-100.00% year-on-year, and the performance growth rate once again led the A-share snack food sector.
Jinzai deep-sea anchovy, photo source: Jinzai
In the three years since its listing, Jinzai's "large packaging + bulk labeling" strategy has not only optimized the revenue structure, but also boosted sales. In the first half of 2023, the sales revenue of large packaging products increased by 70% year-on-year, while bulk products achieved sales revenue growth of more than 220%.
In addition to Jinzai's small dried fish that has ranked first in the category for 7 consecutive years, the fast-growing quail eggs have also made Jinzai see the potential of the next billion-level single product. [1]
Among the "three carriages" of brand fish, beans and poultry, "poultry" has become the fastest "wagon". This allowed Jinzai, which was once known as the "first stock of fish snacks", to find a new growth point in addition to fish. In the 2024 Jinzai Food Partner Summit, Jinzai once again put forward the new development goal of "building another Jinzai in three years".
Jinzi quail egg brand Xiaodanyuan, picture source: Jinzai
Since its listing in 2020, how has Jinzai continued to achieve high growth in revenue and net profit in the healthy snack category?
1. Ranked first in the category for 7 consecutive years, and Jinjug fish snacks maintained high growth
As the "No. 1 fish snack", dried small fish is a well-deserved star item of Jinzai.
In 2023, Jinzai Food's fish products will contribute 1.291 billion yuan (about 1.3 billion yuan) in revenue, a year-on-year increase of 25.87%, accounting for 62.52%. Since 2017, the company's leisure fish products have ranked first in the field of leisure fish products for 7 consecutive years, and have maintained a double-digit growth rate for three consecutive years. [1]
The story of this billion-level single product began in 2010.
Jinzai deep-sea fish;Image source: Jinzai Tmall flagship store
At that time, Zhou Jinsong, the founder of Jinzai, who had been working hard for more than ten years, brought resources and teams back to his hometown Yueyang to start a new business. Zhou Jinsong was inspired by the roasted fish in his hometown in Yueyang, and started the production of Jinzi small fish. Unlike most of the local fish factories, Jinzai did not choose the abundant local lake fish resources, but chose anchovies from Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam as raw materials. [2]
Anchovy is slightly flattened, with a rounded abdomen and no scales. Although it is small, it is highly nutritious, not only the meat is delicious and chewy, but also rich in protein. In an FDA recommendation for the consumption of fish for women who are going to be or are pregnant and breastfeeding, and children aged 1~11 years old, anchovy is considered the "best choice" in the diet, along with salmon, tuna, and other foods. [3]
It is understood that the edible part of anchovy contains 18-20.1g of protein, 5.0g of fat and 2.0-2.5g of minerals per 100 grams, and the content of minerals and VA and VE is much higher than that of the same amount of lake fish. [2] At the same time, deep-sea anchovy is also rich in two important omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids: DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). Studies have shown that deep-sea anchovies are rich in 17.5% EPA and 10.5% DHA, both of which are essential for brain development and maintenance. [4]
Comparison of fish food ingredients, Image source: White Paper on Healthy Trends and Snack Choices for Casual Snacks
Jinzai, which uses deep-sea anchovy as raw materials, sells 2 billion packs of its deep-sea small fish a year, ranking first in the category for 7 consecutive years. [1]
The process of Jinzai from 0 to 1 is also the process of China's leisure snack market from 1 to 10. According to iiMedia Consulting information, in 2010, when Jinzai was established, the market size of China's leisure snack industry was 410 billion yuan, and in 2022, this figure will become 1,165.4 billion yuan, and it is expected that the market size of China's leisure food industry will reach 1,237.8 billion yuan in 2027. [5]
The leisure snack market has maintained growth, and Jinzai, which has been leading the leisure fish products track for many years, has also put forward the development goal of "creating a Jinzai in three years". Just like brands such as Weilong and Qiaqia that define a category, after becoming the first in their field, Jinzai began to expand to other categories and look for new 1 billion yuan single products. [6]
Picture of the scene of the Jinzai Food Cooperation Summit, picture source: Jinzai
Second, create another Jinzi and create the next 1 billion yuan single product
Jinzai has been adhering to the strategy of large single products for many years, and the financial report will mention "insisting on quality first to create large single products", and deep-sea small fish is a large single product with an annual income of about 1.3 billion yuan.
In addition to dried small fish, Jinzai also has a "billion-level" potential single product Jinzi small egg round quail eggs, two "200 million-level" strength single products dried bean curd and jerky, and a "100 million yuan" single product konjac. In 2023, the revenue of Jinzi poultry products will increase by 147.56% year-on-year, leading other categories and becoming the second category after fish products.
The sales of Jinzai's quail eggs exceeded 300 million yuan in the first full year of listing, and a survey completed by Sullivan in March 2024 showed that Jinzai has become the "No. 1 quail egg product sales volume" brand. It is worth mentioning that the category of quail eggs is still growing rapidly, and Everbright Securities found: "At present, the market size of quail eggs in the C-end is about 20~3 billion yuan, which is still a lot of room for improvement compared with the terminal scale of more than 10 billion yuan in other snack food subcategories." ”[7]
Today's quail egg mixes are often sold in packs;
The fast-growing new track also has new competitors coming soon.
Yanjin Shop's 2023 semi-annual report shows that its egg snack revenue reached 95 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 582.38%, and the sales of the brand Douyin also rose from one million to 10 million after the white-label snack Bibizan quail eggs sold out on Douyin [8]. With the increase in opponents, it is becoming more and more important for brands to find differentiated selling points.
Quail eggs from small eggs, picture source: 2024 Jinzai new products
Jinzai's differentiation is health, first launched selenium-rich quail eggs, and then launched antibiotic-free quail eggs. Through the process of low temperature and slow marination, Jinzai has launched quail eggs with soft and glutinous hearts, and the industry's first quail eggs are in contrast to the more marinated quail eggs on the market. [6]
The quail eggs carry the expectation of Jinzai to find the next billion yuan item.
According to a survey completed by Sullivan in March 2024, Jinzai has become the "No. 1 selling brand of quail egg products";
The deep-sea small fish, which has contributed nearly 1.3 billion yuan in revenue, has also launched a new deep-sea anchovy with small fish differences through the upgrading of healthy technology, with the intention of impacting the "2 billion" large single product.
Another new product is Pingjiang dried sauce with 0 added preservatives, by focusing on the short channel of fresh food, Jinzai wants to create more powerful products. The White Paper on Healthy Trends and Snack Choices for Leisure Snacks also shows that the overall intake of soybeans and their products is still insufficient for mainland residents, and residents should pay attention to the supplement of soybean foods. This gives new opportunities for snacks that focus on healthy soy products.
Zhou Xianxian Pingjiang Dried Sauce, Image source: 2024 Jinzai New Products
Jinzai's fish, beans, and poultry three carriages have all launched new products, and the second growth curve of Jinzai's fish snacks has been relatively clear, while other categories are also gradually developing, finding a sense of existence in the category through healthy selling points.
But no matter what kind of category, Jinzai has launched new products based on the positioning of "delicious and healthy snacks". The brand R&D focuses on the research and development of high-quality protein and the healthy snack of "sugar reduction, salt reduction and oil reduction", and the raw materials are also deep-sea wild anchovy, antibiotic-free quail eggs, non-GMO soybeans, low-fat and high-protein duck breast and other healthy ingredients. [6]
The three major categories of fish, poultry and beans are all growing;Image source: Screenshot of Jinzai's 2023 financial report
Third, the two-wheel drive of brand channels, Jinzai has found a solution to growth
Jinzai's road to healthy snacks is not all smooth sailing.
In 2021, a year after its listing, Jinzai also fell into the question of "increasing revenue but not increasing profits", and some institutions were worried about the stability of Jinzai's walking on one leg of "small dried fish". [9] While the latter has been solved by the rapid growth of the triple digits of quail eggs, the former is a more complex problem.
Jinzai deep-sea fish, picture source: Jinzai Food official website
In 2021, Jinzai's products are mostly bulk weighing and small packaging, which not only has a low customer unit price, but also has relatively scattered channels, and is usually sold in mom-and-pop stores and grocery stores. The advantages of the factory can ensure the quality of products, but the weak brand power cannot bring product premiums, and the problem of "increasing income but not increasing profits" basically comes from this. [9]
In order to find new customers and new increments on the original basis, in the second half of 2021, Jinzai began to implement the strategy of "large packaging + bulk labeling". [10] Large-package products can not only increase the unit price of customers and increase the gross profit margin of snacks, but also reach mainstream channels and people, thereby enhancing brand influence and channel customer groups.
Large-scale Jinzai products;Image source: Jinzai
After making this change, the growth of Jinzai's offline channels accelerated, and in 2023, Jinzai's offline revenue will be 1.649 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43%, accounting for 79.85%.
The management of Jinzai Food said in the investor exchange that the revenue of "large packaging + bulk packaging" products accounted for more than 50%, mainly concentrated in KA and some snack franchise channels. Among them, large-scale packaging products account for about 31%, and bulk products account for about 20%. [10]
After following the strategy of large packaging + bulk weighing, Jinzai's brand power has been improved again. This strategy not only allowed Jinzai to find new ways to increase channel increments and increase customer unit value, but also made more consumers familiar with the brand of Jinzai.
Jinzai currently has 6 major category matrices;
Jinzai's brand positioning is "delicious and healthy snacks", the former has already played a role in the current sales, and the latter's "healthy" positioning may bring more long-term growth opportunities for Jinzai.
Deng Delong, the global president of the consulting company Trout, said that most consumers buy Jinzai because it is just delicious, which just shows the potential of Jinzai: "Now it has sold 2 billion yuan just by relying on deliciousness, if people realize its health benefits, how much should the sales be?"
The White Paper on Healthy Snack Trends and Snack Choices also said: "Healthy snacks have become a mainstream trend pursued by producers and consumers, and the industry has put forward new requirements for the component functionality, overall nutrient density, freshness of raw materials, and processing methods of snacks. ”
Jinzai Food Cooperation Summit announced its corporate mission: "to make delicious and healthy snack food, improve people's quality of life";
At the Jinzai Food Cooperation Summit, Zhou Jinsong, the founder of Jinzai, also emphasized the brand's insistence on health: "We only insist on making healthy food, and make healthy food with the best ingredients and the best equipment to our customers, so that our customers can eat healthier, smarter, and stay young and beautiful." At that time, our three-year doubling will definitely be realized as soon as possible. ”[11]
Finding the right product positioning, Jinzai has also become more active in channel development and brand marketing. Not only won the first place in the sales of seafood snacks on the Tmall platform and Douyin platform, but also the total exposure of advertising was nearly 2 billion times. In 2023, Jinzai will carry out nearly 40,000 brand and promotion activities throughout the year, an increase of 100% compared with 2022. [12]
In order to connect with the younger generation of consumers, Jinzai also sponsored the popular variety show "Let's Farm the Land", combining the brand image with the content of the variety show, so that more young consumers can be familiar with the Jinzai brand. [12]
Jinzai sponsored "Let's Farm the Land";
Relying on the small dried fish to "swim" on the A-shares, to create a three-digit growth of quail egg products, and then win the first category, Jinzai's 6 categories of "one super and many strong" product matrix has gradually formed; relying on the "large packaging + bulk name" strategy, Jinzai has optimized the revenue structure, found a new channel entrance, enhanced the brand influence, and the brand potential energy will be gradually released.
In the future, the brand positioning of "delicious and healthy snacks" may be able to help the long-term development of Jinzai.
Reference Sources:
[1] "Completing the "Three-year Doubling" Goal, Jinzai Food's Annual Report Transmits Three Signals", Public Securities Journal,
[2] "1 Yuan Small Fish, Dry 10 Billion", Mu Jiujiu, Deep Krypton New Consumption,
[3] Advice About Eating Fish (October 2021)，FDA
[4] "Eat More Fish, Make Your IQ Explode?Reveal the Nutritional Value of Deep-sea Anchovy",
[5] "iiMedia Consulting: The Market Size of China's Snack Food Industry May Reach 1,237.8 Billion in 2027",
[6] "Jinzai Food's net profit in the first quarter is expected to increase by 80%-100%, and the leader of healthy snacks starts the grand plan of "three-year doubling" again", Public Securities News,
[7] "Everbright Securities Yanjin Shop Investment Value Analysis Report",
[8] "Daily sales of 250,000+, how does Bibizan sell quickly by relying on talent marketing?", July 10, 2023, Cicada Circle,
[9] "Jinzai: Sales Champion, King of Declining Profits", Nashi
[10] "Small dried fish sells "big" and more expensive, and Jinzai Food's net profit in 23 years has increased by more than 60% year-on-year", Zhang Hanwen, financial report, 2024 Wall Street news
[11] "[Three-year Doubling and Reengineering Set Sail] Jinzai Food Chairman's Speech Partner Summit", Jinzai Food Group Official WeChat,
[12] "Trillions of Leisure Snacks Track Accelerates and Rushes, Jinzai's Explosive Apocalypse", Chief Brand Engineer
This article is the original of FBIF Food and Beverage Innovation, author: Sage, editor: Bobo, please contact for authorization for reprinting.