Zebra consumption Shen Tuo
I didn't expect that the inconspicuous konjac would one day become a public snack. Konjac silk, konjac shuang, vegetarian hairy belly and konjac crystal ball, etc., there are many patterns.
This niche ingredient grown in the southwest has been cultivated by Wei Long, the "King of Spicy Noodles", and has been promoted to the existence of the current Internet celebrity.
After Weilong, snack companies such as Yanjin Shop, Jinzai Food, and even Mixue Bingcheng have invested in the fiery konjac battlefield.
"Konjac King" and "China's No. 1 Konjac Stock" are consistent konjac, as a konjac raw material manufacturer, should have stronger market sensitivity. But the company realized it afterwards and failed to seize the outlet of konjac cool. can only rely on the small ingredient "Bobo Crispy" in the new tea drink to win back a game for himself.
Eyeing konjac shuang
Konjac, also known as konjac, mainly grows in the southwest of the mainland and is a niche ingredient. For a long time, the main way to eat it was coarsely processed konjac tofu.
In the 90s of the last century, Chongqing Sanjiu Hot Pot Base Factory launched hot pot konjac products at the same time as the launch of Zhou Junji hot pot base.
Many years later, konjac appeared in snack foods in the form of sachets of snacks, which was also inspired when eating hot pot.
In 2009, Weilong Delicious (09985. When the R&D personnel were eating hot pot in Sichuan, they stumbled upon a konjac tofu that had a smooth taste after being cooked in the hot pot. Can konjac be made into tofu, can it be made into snacks?
It's not easy to make snacks in small packages from slippery konjac chunks. Technically, complex processes such as dehydration, freezing, and steaming are required to get a pack of crispy and elastic konjac shuang.
In July 2014, Weilong Delicious launched konjac products and obtained the pioneer certificate issued by Frost & Sullivan. At that time, in the context of the popularity of spicy strips, konjac shuang's sense of existence was not strong.
The real turning point in the konjac industry occurred in 2020. In that year, the overall market size of konjac in China exceeded 40 billion yuan, with a compound growth rate of about 26% from 2010 to 2020.
In 2020, another major event occurred in the konjac industry, the konjac ready-to-eat food group standard was introduced, and konjac shuang was upgraded from a single product to a category.
The popularity of konjac is rapidly increasing. Enterprises and brands that are eyeing konjac shuang can pull a long list at one time, and the snack brands that can be seen on the market, such as Weilong Delicious, Three Squirrels, BESTORE, Laiyifen Baicaowei, etc., and even the "Snow King" Mixue Bingcheng have launched similar products.
In October 2023, the popularity of konjac snacks has surged again. A few days later, Yanjin Shop launched the "Big Devil King" konjac vegetarian belly, and the Taste King followed closely behind the launch of the "Demon Master" vegetarian hairy belly, which was full of gunpowder flavor in the air.
As the "konjac king" of the consistent konjac (839273. BJ), finally realized that in addition to the main business of konjac powder, it began to produce its own brand of konjac snack products. The konjac snacks that can be consistent with konjac, except for Yichang, where the company is located, are not very well-known in other cities.
Unanimously konjac into the game
In 2007, the same konjac stepped into the field of konjac planting and deep processing. Before the IPO, the company transferred its equity in Hubei Province Konjac Seed Industry, divested the planting business, and focused on the main business of konjac deep processing.
The main product of the deep processing business is konjac powder, and in the early days of the company's establishment, it made a lot of money through the export of konjac powder business. At its peak in 2015, exports accounted for 56.43% of the company's total revenue.
In order to pursue the added value of products, in 2018, Accord Konjac began to expand its layout to the two major fields of food and beauty. Among them, the development of konjac food business is more eye-catching.
The company's konjac food includes konjac snack food, konjac convenience food, konjac dietary fiber, konjac catering prepared food and konjac tea drink ingredients. The revenue of this business increased from 16.988 million yuan in 2018 to 105 million yuan in 2023, accounting for 21.92% of the company's revenue from 5.67%, becoming the second largest business after konjac powder.
In recent years, the popularity of new tea drinks has opened another window for consistent konjac. The company has developed a konjac crystal ball for the market, which is crystal clear and Q-elastic in taste, and it is the "Bobo Crisp" in many tea products.
The Bobo crispiness used by brands such as Shanghai Auntie and Mixue Bingcheng are all from the same konjac. Therefore, the company is in full swing to launch a konjac crystal ball project with an annual output of 80,000 tons.
In 2023, the company's konjac food revenue will increase by 71.96% year-on-year, mainly due to the substantial growth of konjac crystal balls in chain sales channels.
Brother Mole does not go out of the province
Weilong has brought fire to konjac shuang, and in recent years, major brands and companies have begun to "die" on this category. From konjac silk, konjac shuang, to konjac chips and konjac vegetarian tendons, and then to the vegetarian hairy belly that reproduces the real hairy belly, the products are endless. Konjac snacks of various flavors are jokingly called "human cat strips".
Not only Weilong, but also many snack companies have found new growth points through konjac shuang.
In 2023, the revenue of Yanjin Shop's leisure konjac products will be 476 million yuan, an increase of 84.95% over the previous year, and the contribution to the company's revenue has reached 11.57%.
In last year's annual report, Jinzai Food (003000. SZ) revealed that konjac snacks have been a single product of 100 million yuan. In that year, the sales volume of vegetable products, including konjac, was 2,539.26 tons, an increase of 87.91% over the previous year, and the production volume increased by 11,802.28% in the same period.
Weilong's delicious vegetable products (including konjac shuang, little witch and wind-blown kelp) will have a revenue of 2.119 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 43.5% of the company's revenue, and the revenue will increase by 25.16% over the previous year. According to the Securities Times, as early as 2021, the annual revenue of Weilong's konjac shuang single product has exceeded 500 million yuan.
Consistent konjac is not so lucky. In January this year, the company received Northeast Securities, Huachuang Food and other institutions to investigate the company, said that its own brand Mole Ge is mainly sold in the province's circulation channels, e-commerce and tourism channels, and the company has set up an office in Wuhan to expand konjac food's FMCG channels in the province.
This has to do with the company's own positioning. In an institutional research activity in February this year, the company said that the current revenue structure is mainly based on the B-side, and the layout of the C-end is to pay equal attention to its own brand and OEM, and continuously accumulate and upgrade technology and technology through OEM to improve the quality of its own brand.
Born as a raw material manufacturer, it is relatively lagging behind in the construction of brands and FMCG channels, and standing on the konjac snack outlet, I am afraid it will be difficult to eat meat and drink soup in the short term. This has also led to the company's performance has always been difficult to make a big breakthrough.
In 2021, after the company's operating income exceeded 500 million yuan for the first time, it was difficult to increase, and the net profit attributable to the parent company declined for two consecutive years. In 2023, the company will achieve operating income of 479 million yuan and net profit attributable to the parent company of 53 million yuan, an increase of 7.03% and -19.23% year-on-year respectively.
After a lot of hardships, Consistent Konjac finally successfully landed on the Beijing Stock Exchange last year. However, the stock price performance after listing is not satisfactory, and the current total market value is just over 700 million yuan.