Under the situation of repeated delays in the new crown pneumonia epidemic and increasing global uncertainty, the rapid development of China's pre-made dishes industry has become a new bright spot in driving consumption and economic growth. According to data previously released by the Ministry of Commerce, during the 2022 National Online New Year's Day, the sales of pre-made dishes increased by 45.9% year on year.

Running to the next "trillion-dollar catering market"

What's the inner reason for the rapid rise of pre-cooked dishes? How do you see the development prospects of this industry?

The explosive growth of the pre-made dishes industry is the result of the combined effect of many factors: First, with the development of China's economy, residents' income has increased and residents' consumption has become more diversified, which has laid an economic foundation for the development of prepared dishes. Second, in the context of epidemic prevention and control, people's catering consumption habits and consumption scenarios have undergone tremendous changes. The third is the continuous improvement of the supply chain of the catering industry, and the progress of the logistics distribution system and cold chain technology has solved the problems of procurement, storage, and sales for the development of prepared dishes. Fourth, in recent years, the standardization of China's catering industry has been continuously improved, which is conducive to the large-scale development of the prefabricated food industry. In addition, the favor of the capital market for prepared dishes is also an important reason.

From the perspective of countries that developed the pre-made dishes industry earlier, the pre-made dishes industry in the United States started in the 1940s, and the market size exceeded $45 billion in 2020. Japanese pre-made dishes started in the 1950s. In 2020, the market size in Japan reached $23.85 billion, and the penetration rate exceeded 60%, compared to only 8% in China in the same period. At present, China's pre-made dishes are at the forefront, widely favored by the industry and capital, and the recognition of consumers is constantly improving. It's safe to say that pre-made dishes have a huge upside in China.

Hu Kui: The upgrading of consumer groups and the increased demand for standardized product supply by catering companies have pushed the pre-made dishes industry into a boom. In addition, there are five driving factors: First, the country is pushing for the development of consumption. Local governments have taken a series of measures to promote the development of the pre-made dishes industry, raising the entry threshold and strengthening supervision. The industry is generally developing vigorously. The second is that food companies constantly adapt to market changes, strengthen standardized management, and standardize food production, laying the foundation for the development of the pre-made dishes industry. The third is that under the guidance of market demand, various food companies regard R&D as their core competitiveness, and their products are continuously optimized and upgraded. Fourth, various food enterprises have upgraded their technical equipment, accelerated the process of industrialization, and expanded the development space of the pre-made dishes industry. The fifth is the large-scale development of the food industry, which promotes the opening of the supply chain and the rapid development of the cold chain market.

At present, China's pre-made dishes industry is still in the initial stage of development. In the next stage, with the further intensification of the food industry, the development prospects of the pre-made dishes industry will be broader, and various food companies will give full play to their advantages to further promote the healthy development of the pre-made dishes industry.

Eric Lu: In recent years, due to the impact of the epidemic on people's dining habits and the development of the "lazy economy" and "home economy", pre-made dishes have gradually moved from the B-end to the C-end, becoming the "top stream" in the market. I think the inherent reason for the popularity of pre-made dishes is that they are convenient, quick, healthy, and versatile.

Salion foods is a compound seasoning company with a history of more than 20 years. The popularity of pre-made dishes has also driven our development. We mainly provide pre-made dishes companies with innovative product design concepts and professional flavor solutions and help pre-made dishes companies develop better and updated products to meet consumers' diverse and quality needs. At present, we are actively preparing for R&D and capacity upgrade.

Chen Hongbo: The underlying logic of the development of pre-made dishes is the re-evolution of food processing, and its added value lies in the restoration of taste. From the perspective of the B-end market, standardization and cost reduction and efficiency enhancement are very attractive to catering companies. Taking the takeaway business of most catering companies as an example, under the pressure of efficiency, the meal time is only ten minutes, and pre-made dishes can help greatly improve the efficiency of meal delivery. In addition, according to statistics, rent, ingredients, and labor costs account for nearly 60% of the total cost of a restaurant company. The use of pre-made dishes can not only effectively reduce costs, but also provide a rich combination of dishes and stable tastes. From the perspective of the C-end market, contemporary young people have high demands for health, wellness, and nutritional ratios, while pre-made dishes are convenient, fast, have many varieties, and have a stable taste, which can better meet the needs of contemporary young people, especially busy urban young people. To meet the needs of young people, it provides a "home-quality dining" solution, which not only meets the quality needs of young people, but also enhances their sense of happiness and belonging.

The development of pre-made dishes has broad prospects and is expected to become the next "trillion-dollar catering market". However, it is currently in its infancy, and catering companies are still the main market, and there are few companies that directly face the home market.

Luo Ping: On the one hand, pre-made dishes help consumers simplify the tedious steps of buying, washing, chopping, and cooking, and integrate quality, nutrition and taste, which is in line with the fast-paced lifestyle of young consumers. On the other hand, residents' income has increased, household consumption scenarios have been restructured, the level of industrialization of catering companies has improved, and multiple factors have driven the expansion of the pre-made dishes market.

The epidemic has changed people's eating and living habits. Pre-prepared food companies keep innovating following the trend. Whether it is five-minute meals, microwave dishes, or self-heating instant hot pot rice, pre-prepared dishes are basically as close to fresh raw materials as possible, gaining more development space and opportunities, and the market potential is huge. In terms of the number of enterprises, the number of registered enterprises related to prepared dishes has reached 71,900. In terms of market size, it will be close to 290 billion yuan in 2020, and will reach 345.9 billion yuan in 2021. According to the forecast of iiMedia Research, in the future, pre-made dishes will increase year by year at a growth rate of 20%, and the scale of pre-made dishes in China may increase to 516.5 billion yuan in 2023. The China pre-made dishes Industry Alliance predicts that the pre-made dishes market will reach 1 trillion yuan in the next five years.

Hong Tao: The development of pre-made dishes is not only the result of the impact of the epidemic, but also the inevitable trend of consumption upgrading and the industrialization of agricultural products, and it is also the inevitable trend of the development of the industrial chain, supply chain, value chain, interest chain, technology chain, innovation chain, and ecological chain. Pre-prepared dishes involve all categories such as vegetables and fruits, fish, poultry, meat, eggs, milk, etc., and involve the coordinated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries of dishes, as well as the construction of bases and parks for dishes.

From a national perspective, pre-made dishes involve the construction of trillion-dollar industrial clusters. China's pre-made dishes market not only expands rapidly but also has sufficient market vitality, such as Dingdong Shopping, Jingdong Qixian, Meituan Shopping, Ele. me, Hema, Daily Youxian, Dingdong Shopping, Wei Xiaofan And so have entered the field of pre-made dishes.

Complement brand and standard shortcomings

In the process of rapid development of the prefabricated vegetable industry, what shortcomings do you think still exist?

Hu Kui: There are many participants in the pre-made dishes industry, and the product homogeneity of various enterprises is serious. There are also problems such as shoddy charging and price competition, which affect the healthy development of the industry. At present, there are mainly two shortcomings in the industry: one is the shortcomings of R&D. Food processing enterprises are facing challenges in technical overcoming such as the restoration of the taste of prepared dishes, the convenience of application of dishes, and the consistency of industrial scale standards, which have become the core barriers to competition in the prepared dishes. The second is the short board of supply chain distribution. Pre-made dishes have high requirements for cold chain distribution and face scattered downstream customers and a complex distribution environment. It is currently difficult to achieve seamless connection, which affects the degree of specialization in the whole process.

Eric Lu: The entire pre-made dishes industry is developing rapidly, but there are also shortcomings. For example, at present, there is a lack of unified industry standards and quality specifications. Some pre-made dishes enterprises have a low degree of automation and simple processes, and cannot achieve standardization of production processes. The products are relatively single and have poor quality stability, which restricts the development of the pre-made dishes industry and creates hidden dangers.

The development of the pre-made dishes industry has put forward higher requirements for the R&D and innovation capabilities of compound seasoning companies. It is suggested that compound seasoning companies should improve their research and development level based on their own advantages, strictly control the quality, and help pre-made dishes companies to innovate and better meet the needs of consumers.

Yangliu: The entry threshold for the pre-made dishes industry is relatively low, and the relevant industry standards are not perfect. In the actual operation process, there are still food safety risks, and even the use of inferior ingredients, non-standard production, substandard hygiene, and high salt and high dishes. Fat, unsafe packaging materials, spoiled dishes, etc.

The pre-made dishes industry chain is long, and the shortcomings in the process from "field head" to "table" cannot be ignored. First, there are shortcomings in industry research and standard formulation. At present, the pre-made dishes industry not only lacks national unified standards, but also has ambiguous concepts, confusing applicable norms, and supervision issues that need to be resolved urgently. Second, there are shortcomings in cold chain logistics and distribution. At present, most of enterprises are single production bases, and the capacity of warehousing, logistics, and cold chain transportation restricts the scope of sales areas and affects business expansion. Third, there are shortcomings in cooking technology. The cooking taste of Chinese food is closely related to the freshness of the ingredients and the cooking process. At present, some pre-made dishes cannot perfectly present the taste of live cooking dishes, and more research and development efforts are needed.

Chen Hongbo: Since 2020, the pre-made dishes industry has developed rapidly, but some problems have also been exposed, such as the lack of corresponding evaluation standards and market supervision standards, uneven taste and taste, nutritional health, and food safety issues.

Since the current pre-made dishes are still in a period of rapid prosperity, there are categories but no brands, and consumers are difficult to choose when faced with a dazzling array of dishes. Not only that, according to the observation of the Red Meal Industry Research Institute, many consumers are currently questioning the taste and hygiene of pre-made dishes, which affects the desire and confidence to repurchase and is not conducive to the development of the industry.

Luo Ping: At present, there is no real super brand in the pre-prepared dishes industry, nor has a unified standard been formulated. The industry as a whole is still in the initial stage of development, and the characteristics of "scattering" are obvious. There are four major shortcomings on the production side: First, it is greatly affected by the fluctuation of raw material prices, which affects the profit level of enterprises. Second, the cold chain logistics distribution capacity restricts the development of enterprises. Third, food safety risks still exist. Fourth, there are difficulties and differences in the taste restoration of some dishes, and standardization faces great challenges. There are also shortcomings on the consumer side. For example, consumers' recognition and acceptance of pre-made dishes are not high.

Hong Tao: There are many problems in the development of prefabricated dishes. For example, the concept of prefabricated dishes is not clear, which leads to random speculation and does not pay attention to actual effect and content. In addition, the problems of convergent investment and repeated construction are very serious, affecting the healthy development of the industry.

Consolidate the foundation of industrial development

How to realize the healthy and high-quality development of the pre-made dishes industry? In addition to source control, how can the circulation and consumption fields play a better role?

Hu Kui: First, it is necessary to formulate and refine industry standards, and at the same time, the national food safety agency needs to further improve relevant regulations. Second, enterprises need to strengthen self-discipline, stick to the bottom line of food safety, and enhance the sense of responsibility for people to eat with confidence and to eat well. The third is to strengthen the quality and safety supervision of food production enterprises and strengthen the safety supervision of circulation links. The fourth is to strengthen media supervision, and establish a food safety orientation for prepared

 dishes and an orientation for excellent enterprise advantages in the industry.

Eric Lu: As a compound seasoning company, we can extend the shelf life of prefabricated food by adjusting the seasoning formula and other methods, promote the reduction of salt and sugar through research and development and technological innovation, and provide healthier prefabricated food products. At the same time, from the perspective of the pre-made dishes industry, it is necessary to standardize industry access qualifications and improve venue equipment. From the perspective of the production process, it is necessary to check the freshness of raw materials and to control the dosage of seasonings and other food additives during processing. The production and operation process must comply with food safety procedures and standards to ensure food safety. In the process of product storage and transportation, it is also necessary to strengthen the control of cold chain transportation and strict prevention of packaging damage. It is believed that strict control of quality and details will gradually form a better and more stable development ecology for the development of the pre-made dishes industry.

Hong Tao: At present, the prominent feature of the development of pre-made dishes is the "chain" development, which reflects the efficiency of digital investment, operation, and coordination and integration of resources. The development of pre-made dishes must pay attention to the relevance of every link and detail of the "chain" development, such as seeds, planting, picking, harvesting, sorting, processing, transportation, warehousing, procurement, retail, direct distribution, services, etc. Thereby improving the development efficiency of pre-made dishes. All aspects of each industry need to cooperate with each other to form a better efficiency chain. In the next step, we should gradually move towards the development of a "pull supply chain" centered on market demand.

Chen Hongbo: From the perspective of the healthy development of the industry, relevant standards should be introduced as soon as possible, so that market participants and consumers have standards to follow. At present, many outstanding leading companies have participated in the standard formulation work in their fields one after another.

In addition, pre-made dishes companies should also pay attention to the creation and management of their own brands when they go to the market. On the one hand, they must do a good job in dialogue with consumers to avoid confusion of the brand recognition by companies that are confused; on the other hand, they should pay attention to the channels for product promotion, which is also effective protection and potential energy blessing for the brand.

Yang Liu: First, the government, industry, and enterprises should attach great importance to and pay close attention to the development of the pre-made dishes market to ensure food safety. The second is to increase investment in research and development of prepared dishes. It is necessary to study not only the preferences of consumers, but also food safety and nutritional health, scientific cooking, strict control of the content and ratio of oil, salt, sugar, and various nutrients, and centralized production through the central kitchen; research and development of professional packaging to maintain Science, health, safety, but also avoid excessive packaging. The third is to increase publicity efforts to promote the public to view pre-made dishes scientifically and to support and promote the continuous development and growth of China's pre-made dishes market. Fourth, vigorously improve the cold chain logistics system, continuously improve the construction and operation level of China's cold chain facilities, and meet the high requirements of cold chain logistics and transportation for pre-made dishes.

Luo Ping: Only by establishing rules and regulations and consolidating the foundation for development can the industry develop steadily and far. Whether it is raw material production and procurement, food processing and cooking, logistics and transportation, and market sales, every link must be standardized and orderly. To this end, it is necessary to gather the joint efforts of all parties, from relevant industry associations to lead the drafting of product specifications, to industry self-discipline organizations to establish industry alliances, and then explore and formulate prefabricated food quality evaluation standards in many places, establishing standards, brightening rules, and drawing bottom lines, in order to promote prefabrication The healthy, orderly and sustainable development of the pre-made dishes industry has injected momentum into it so that consumers can buy and eat with confidence, so as to better meet the increasingly diverse food consumption needs of the people.

More e-commerce platforms should take the initiative to act

What role has e-commerce played in the development of prepared dishes? How can e-commerce platforms improve the development quality of the pre-made dishes industry from the consumer side?

Chen Hongbo: The e-commerce platform is an irreplaceable part of the online circulation, and it is also one of the key nodes for pre-made dishes to move from the supply side to the large circulation. On the one hand, as a channel trusted by consumers, e-commerce platforms should ensure basic food safety for consumers, and conduct quality supervision through merchant access qualifications, safety indicators, raw materials, finished products, and the entire retail process. Enterprises entering the platform should be screened; on the other hand, e-commerce platforms should give full play to their own advantages, and provide certain support and empowerment for enterprises, through sales data, traffic, activity IP, omnichannel, market investment, cold chain logistics, etc. Provide support to allow more high-quality enterprises to enter the public eye.

Hu Kui: E-commerce channels have strong promotion ability, and can use big data to further accurately understand user needs, guide consumption habits, and drive production and supply enterprises to upgrade their products, becoming a new growth point for production and supply enterprises to prepare dishes.

E-commerce companies need to grasp the bottom line of food safety, create a product procurement control system that is in line with international standards, and avoid bad competition such as low-price drainage. At present, the domestic pre-made dishes industry is still in the blue ocean stage. After 30 years of deep cultivation in the duck industry, Huaying has also seen opportunities in the domestic prefabricated duck market segment. Huaying pre-made dishes will follow the characteristics of Chinese duck dishes, inherit the experience of exporting the "Three Tongs" standard, seize the opportunity in the field of pre-made duck dishes, increase research and development efforts, strengthen the brand building, and become a forerunner of professional duck pre-made dishes.

Yang Liu: New retail channels such as e-commerce have enriched the consumption scenarios of pre-made dishes and played a positive role in the popularization of pre-prepared food consumption. Recently, some e-commerce platforms are also releasing relevant standards for pre-made dishes. It is recommended that more e-commerce platforms take the initiative to take the social responsibility of providing safe and green catering, always put food safety first, strictly control the supply side, and do a good job on the sales side, so as to better empower the development of the prefabricated food industry.

Luo Ping: Before the entry of goods, the e-commerce platform should conduct a strict review of supplier qualifications, category qualifications, and commodity qualifications to ensure that supplier licenses meet regulatory requirements and avoid inferior goods from entering the market; The page is strictly reviewed, and the category title structure specification is formulated, so that consumers can understand the basic attributes of the product at a glance before purchasing. At the same time, the omnichannel circulation mode of "offline experience + platform sales + live delivery + short video" are combined to form a virtuous circle of interaction between production and sales.

Hong Tao: Pre-made dishes are an important manifestation of digital technology enabling the development of agricultural products and rural revitalization, and an important channel for e-commerce to empower the development of the industry. Through the integration of resources, innovative development, integrated development, and digital development, China's traditional industries will be upgraded to modern industries. The digitization of the industry and the industrialization of digital will promote the accelerated construction of integrated market channels for pre-made dishes. (Source: International Business Daily)

 

 

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