Recently, the topic of advent food has rushed to Weibo hot search, and it has also attracted a number of capital to enter the game. According to relevant data, the total output value of China's snack industry will exceed 3 trillion yuan in 2020, and even if it is calculated by 1% inventory precipitation, the market size of the food industry in the interim period is expected to exceed 30 billion yuan. Why is the food "on fire"? Where does the source of goods come from? A reporter from the Economic Daily recently conducted an investigation into this.
Recently, the advent food "fire" has risen, and the related topics have not decreased in the popularity of the whole network.
On Weibo, the topic of "young people buy advent food to reduce waste" has exceeded 100 million, the video about advent food on Station B has been played nearly 600,000 times, the article "Take you to understand the advent food" is nearly 20,000 hot, and the relevant notes on the advent food on the Little Red Book are more than 2,600... Not only that, the Food Safety Sampling and Monitoring Department of the State Administration of Market Regulation also commissioned authoritative food safety experts to produce a short popular science video "Temporary Food, Can I Buy It?" ", to introduce and interpret the food safety knowledge of the advent period to consumers, and put forward reasonable suggestions. The food in the temporary period "suddenly came like a spring breeze overnight", and at the same time, more capital sniffed the business opportunities and entered the game.
Where does the food supply come from
Advent food is not a new concept. Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng told reporters that as early as the 90s of the last century, China had a temporary food market, when it was mainly based on the sale of imported food in the temporary period, which met the multi-dimensional consumption needs of some consumer groups.
Today, the temporary food has long changed the "like" - the latest research data show that the total output value of China's snack industry in 2020 will exceed 3 trillion yuan, even if calculated by 1% inventory precipitation, the market size of the temporary food industry is expected to exceed 30 billion yuan.
The reporter visited food discount stores in Beijing, such as "Good Sale", "Hi Special Purchase" and "East Luoxi Search", and the products sold in these stores are basically 20% to 40% off the general market price. By comparing the production date and shelf life on the product packaging, the reporter found that the food on the shelf is at least 2 to 3 months away from expiration, and some even reach more than half a year.
At present, there is no unified standard for the definition of temporary food in China. The rules commonly followed in the industry are derived from the "Food Sales Zone System Near the Shelf Life" issued by the former Beijing Municipal Bureau of Industry and Commerce in 2012. The system stipulates that according to the shelf life of food, food included in the category of temporary food is 45 days to 1 day before the expiration of its shelf life.
According to this definition, most of the products sold in stores such as "good sale" are not close to the shelf life, should they be counted as temporary food? Zhong Kai, director of the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, told reporters, "Generally merchants will have an internal control time, can not be casually put on the shelf, but how long in advance can be flexible operation? There is no precise definition of advent food, and if there is a large discount, it can be treated as a temporary food."
The staff of "East Luoxi Search" told reporters that the supermarket system has an unwritten rule, the shelf life of food has passed one-third, it can not enter the circulation of supermarkets, and the rest will be reduced to temporary products and become commodities on the shelves of major food discount stores.
"From the supply side, the supply of temporary food is mainly divided into three types, one is the products removed from the shelves of large supermarkets; the second is the return and replacement of e-commerce platforms; and the third is the products that have really entered the temporary period in the hands of dealers." Tian Yun, a practitioner in the food industry during the period, told reporters, "The supply of food in the period is not stable, mainly according to the sales of the food in the current period. If the product sells well in the current period, the number of goods in the immediate period will be reduced accordingly. ”
Therefore, the advent warehouse has become an important part of the pro-term food supply chain. The staff of "East Luoxi Search" frankly said, "Brand discount stores with warehouses have more advantages to a certain extent." If an individual wants to open a food store, the supply will be more scattered and difficult to find."
Tian Yun said that the temporary warehouse can be used as a middleman to dock some small-scale operators. However, to purchase goods in the temporary warehouse, the supplier must provide relevant certificates such as production licenses and product factory inspection reports to verify its qualifications.
"In the advent food market, the supply is very critical, if the distributor's warehouse is not standardized, such as temperature control and other environmental protection is not in place, some products may not be edible by the time of the pro-period." Zhu Danpeng told reporters.
Why is the competition getting more intense
In the past, food that was close to expiration would be reduced in supermarkets and convenience stores, attracting mostly middle-aged and elderly people. Nowadays, with the change of consumption concepts, young people have begun to pursue a discounted price and delicious consumption experience, and the purchase of advent food has gradually become a new trend.
In the Douban "I Love Advent Food" group, more than 70,000 advent food enthusiasts gathered to share high-quality stores and purchase experiences. Xiao Xu, a "post-90s" from Jiangsu, is one of them. "There is demand, no waste, and the price is right, why not buy advent food?" Xiao Xu told reporters that he is a dairy enthusiast, usually buying discounted yogurt in the supermarket, and will also place orders online at his favorite brand flagship store to buy discounted milk. "The experience of buying advent food is not bad. I have also bought very expensive imported food, high prices will make me have high expectations, but after getting it, I feel that the cost performance is not high. Advent food is cheap, usually the expectation value is low, but it can give people a sense of surprise. Xiao Xu said.
According to the "2020 China Temporary Food Industry Market Analysis and Consumer Research Report" released this year, China's temporary food consumption groups are mainly young and middle-aged, of which 47.8% are aged 26 to 35.
Consumers' enthusiasm for "wool" has not diminished, so that the advent economy has developed from niche needs into a new outlet for entrepreneurship. Temporary food has expanded from the special area of commercial supermarkets to chain discount supermarkets and e-commerce platforms specializing in selling temporary products. At present, the food track has a number of head merchants such as "good sale", "prosperous bazaar", "baby elephant life", "fire sale", "good food period" and so on, and has attracted capital to enter the market.
The reporter combed and found that on March 17 this year, the Tianjin community discount retail store "Food Huibang" has completed tens of millions of yuan of angel round financing, led by the only capital, Zhong Ding Capital followed the investment; on April 12, the discount supermarket "Little Elephant Life" has completed tens of millions of yuan of angel round financing, Joy Capital is the lead investor, Angel Bay Capital follows the investment; "Good Sale" completed 4 financings between 2019 and 2020; "Good Food Period" obtained Alibaba's exclusive 110 million yuan C round financing as early as 2018... In the past three years, the number of registrations of food enterprises in the temporary period has shown an increasing trend.
Access mechanisms need to be improved
With the rapid development of the industry, the quality of food in the sales of the period is also uneven. The reporter searched on major e-commerce platforms and found that there were bad reviews about food quality problems in the evaluations of many food stores in the period.
Chongqing consumer Shi Huan shared with reporters the experience of buying imported snacks in the e-commerce platform, "After buying back for a few more days, I dare not eat, because I can't understand the instructions on the packaging of imported snacks, even if it does not expire, I am worried about eating problems, so I still have to consider clearly before buying."
Zhu Danpeng also reminded consumers that "the access mechanism of the food industry in the interim period still needs to be improved, and consumers must have the ability to self-screen and try to buy products sold through formal channels."
From a nationwide perspective, Beijing took the lead in launching the "I want to open a food store in the temporary period" office guide, which detailed the processing process and application materials required for the opening of the food store in the temporary period. Open a temporary food store, from accepting the application materials to issuing relevant licenses, promised to complete the process within 9 working days.
Zhu Danpeng believes that the future of the temporary food market will develop in the direction of standardization, specialization, branding, capitalization and scale, of which standardization is the main problem that needs to be solved in the current temporary food market.
Source: Economic Daily