Spend money to eat prefabricated dishes in restaurants, who became a big injustice？

Titanium media note:This article comes from WeChat WeChat official account Netease Digital Reading (ID: datablog163), by Su Wanshui, authorized by Titanium Media.

After Luo Min, the originator of campus loan, invited Jerry and Fu Seoul to bring prefabricated dishes, the prefabricated dishes caused a new round of controversy. In mid-September, in the "Oriental Selection" live broadcast room, the founder of Zhigang think tank shouted that "prepared dishes are pig and dog food".

Prefabricated dishes, a term that has a sense of existence in this year’s public opinion field, refer to semi-finished dishes that are prepared in advance and can be eaten simply by heating or frying later.

Precast dishes have been blown to the air, and "kitchen black holes" have found "spring" for cooking, but some people have a slight complaint — — This kind of fast food, which runs counter to the traditional eating habit of focusing on freshness, will eventually make Chinese food lose its soul and change the taste buds of Chinese.

When consumers feel that life is surrounded by something, capital with a keen sense of smell must have swarmed, just like prefabricated dishes.

There is no doubt that in the past two years, the industry of prefabricated vegetables has really caught fire. According to NCBD data, in 2021, the scale of the prefabricated vegetable industry will exceed 300 billion [1], and even some institutions predict that it will be a trillion-dollar track [2].

Among the players in the pre-cooked food track, whether they are cooking home-cooked dishes, focusing on vegetables, focusing on seafood, western food or hot pot and other special dishes, or even doing supply chain, they are all favored by investment institutions.

According to our statistics, from 2021 to the first half of 2022, there were at least 56 investment and financing events of prefabricated vegetables, accounting for 17% of the 334 public financing events in the catering industry during the period [3] [4].

Among them, tens of millions of levels of financing are the mainstay, but there are also billions of dollars in business. For example, in March of this year, Lu Zhengyao, who left Ruixing, participated in the establishment of the Tip of the Tongue Hero, and received 1.6 billion Series B financing [5].

In January of this year, the Tip of the Tongue Hero was officially launched, claiming that it would open 5,000 stores this year. Although there were only over 400 stores in July, people from all walks of life always paid close attention to whether the Tip of the Tongue Hero could become a lucky star in the catering industry [6].

According to the statistics of China Chain Store & Franchise Association, the amount of financing flowing into the prefabricated vegetable industry in the past year and a half can account for 10% of the financing amount of the catering industry [7]. "Prefabricated dishes" can also be compared with "meta-universe" and "carbon neutral", and together with them, it will become the most concerned track for investment institutions in the first half of 2022 [8].

Capital is willing to invest, and provincial policies are also overweight. Under such a good environment, there are more players on the track, and the start-ups, transformations and cross-border competitions are on the same field. By April 2021, Weizhixiang was listed, and the "first stock of prepared vegetables" in A shares successfully ran out.

In the year of 2021, Weizhixiang achieved revenue of 765 million yuan, up 23% year-on-year, and at the same time, 133 million net profit was returned to the mother, up 6% year-on-year [9].

Making prefabricated dishes can really make money. In fact, Weizhixiang, whose market is concentrated in East China, has achieved double growth in revenue and net profit in recent years. In the first half of 2022, the operating income of Weizhixiang reached 378 million yuan, and the net profit returned to the mother increased by 14.58% year-on-year.

Like the tip of the tongue hero, Weizhixiang also focuses on retail channels. In the first half of 2022, there were 1,522 franchise stores and 645 cooperative dealers nationwide [10].

If you often go to the vegetable market, you may be familiar with Weizhixiang, because the retail channels of Weizhixiang are mostly distributed in various vegetable markets and farmers’ markets. It is in the vegetable market that the founders Xia Jing and his wife observed the pain points of office workers’ trouble in washing vegetables and made their fortune [11].

But at the same time, Wei Zhixiang is also trying to walk on two legs, expanding the business of wholesale and direct sales to catering enterprises, and selling half of the dishes to hotels, restaurants, etc. In the first half of 2022, the revenue of wholesale channels accounted for 26.35% [12].

This is because consumers’ buying habits of prefabricated dishes are still in the training stage, but the use of prefabricated dishes in restaurants has already matured.

In recent years, prefabricated dishes have caught fire, and many people have also appeared in their homes. But in fact, prefabricated dishes have already "invaded" chain restaurants.

"28 separation" is the actual situation of this industry — — The ratio of B-end market to C-end market is about 8:2. According to China Chain Store & Franchise Association, at present, more than 85% of the sales channels of prefabricated vegetables are concentrated in B-end [7].

In other words, most of the prepared dishes flow to the central kitchen of the restaurant, and after being processed by the central kitchen, the prepared dishes in the form of semi-finished products continue to be delivered to various stores and finally delivered to the diners’ tables.

In 2020, 68.3% of the chain catering brands with more than 10 stores are already using the central kitchen [13].

In the survey of China Chain Store & Franchise Association, the proportion of prepared food in some head Chinese fast food companies can be close to 100%, such as Kungfu, while the proportion of prepared meals in Xibei Youmian Village and Xiaonanguo has reached more than 85% [7].

Moreover, compared with in-house food, take-away food is the growth soil of prefabricated dishes, and meals can be served simply by stir-frying, so merchants can not worry about overtime. The braised pork rice or pickled fish you ordered for lunch is probably a heated frozen fast food.

Pre-cooked dishes, a standardized product, are a perfect match with chain restaurants that pursue scale and take-away industries that pursue timeliness. The chain rate of restaurants in China is increasing, and the proportion of online take-out industry in the catering industry will reach 21.4% in 2021.

It can be predicted that as chain restaurants and takeout become more and more common, diners will be more likely to eat prefabricated dishes.

Why are prefabricated dishes so popular with chain restaurants? The reason is that prefabricated dishes can help them achieve "reducing costs and increasing efficiency".

Through the central kitchen, we can ensure the uniformity of products and reduce the risk of quality control, and the speed of eating will be accelerated, and we can entertain more guests in fixed business hours, and the revenue will naturally increase.

On the other hand, using prefabricated dishes, the kitchen in the back of the store heats it up and simply stirs it, which eliminates the need for chefs to operate, and the required manpower is also reduced, which greatly saves labor costs.

According to the calculation of China Chain Store & Franchise Association, the labor cost of restaurants will be reduced from 22% to 10% before and after using prefabricated dishes. Although the cost of raw materials will increase to some extent, the overall profit will still increase.

If it is a takeaway, the kitchen area can be further reduced and the rent cost can be lowered.

High rent and high labor are two big problems in the catering industry, both of which are solved by prefabricated dishes.

No wonder jian li, the founder of Xin Spicy Road and the chairman of Xinliangji, published bold opinions on his short video account that "in the next 10 years, 90% of chefs will be killed by prepared dishes" and "in the next 10 years, 90% of restaurants must use prepared dishes" [14].

Under the domination of assembly line production, the role of Chinese chefs has indeed been greatly reduced. If the taste is good, the power will be vested in the preparers of prefabricated dishes, and only a small number of chefs can get this "honor", while a large number of ordinary cooks know how to turn on and off the fire.

China Newsweek once reported that a 45-year-old skilled chef lost his job because his owner chose a new location in a shopping mall that restricted the use of open flames. "It may only take two minutes to heat up the prefabricated material package in 5 yuan and sell it in 25 yuan. From this point of view, the boss really doesn’t need to raise me again "[15].

Catering enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency, but consumers are not willing — — Isn’t it the original intention of us to go to the restaurant all the way to eat the fresh and hot dishes cooked by the chef, even if there are occasional flaws?

The taste of the prepared dishes is mostly the same, and diners eat too much, and they slowly taste the clues.

In the first half of this year, "the use of prefabricated dishes in take-out and in-house meals without telling customers" became a widely complained problem, and the China Consumers Association criticized it by name, pointing out that it damaged consumers’ right to know and choose [16].

In August this year, CCTV’s Tianxia Finance reported that over 80% of chain restaurants in Guangzhou use prefabricated dishes [17], while in Shanghai, the users of prefabricated dishes even include Michelin restaurants [18].

After hearing this, a group of gourmets were thunderstruck, and related topics on social media were filled with their anger and disappointment.

The hottest controversy is that "prefabricated dishes unify the taste of restaurants". As prefabricated dishes continue to "invade" restaurants, different restaurants taste the same and have no pot gas.

Some people accuse restaurants of eating too ugly, and consumers pay the price of fried food. As a result, they get cheap fast food on the heating line, which is obviously unacceptable to consumers.

Indeed, if you go out for a meal, you can’t eat fresh ingredients and the chef’s unique skills. Anyone feels that he is a "big injustice". To suffer such a crime, it is better to order takeout or make instant noodles by himself.

When it comes to family use scenarios, solitary people who have "one person to eat" are too lazy to cook or young couples who "support their feet" want to eat some new tricks, and they may not be able to make cheap, delicious and relatively healthy meals with the help of prefabricated dishes.

They are not cheap — — Over 70% of consumers will choose to buy pre-cooked dishes above 21 yuan, and more than 14% will spend more than 40 yuan.

And they may not be so healthy — — A 258-gram prefabricated dish contains more than 2600 mg of sodium, which is too high [19].

Of course, these security risks may be solved with the improvement of industry norms, and the categories and tastes of high, medium and low-end markets will be richer and the prices will be more reasonable.

The emergence of prefabricated vegetables is the product of market demand, and the pace of life in modern society is fast. It is really convenient for many "workers" who don’t have enough time to wash vegetables, chop meat and marinate for seasoning.

However, it has always been lamented that when one day, the family kitchen is deeply invaded and the catering industry is heading for assembly line production in an all-round way, private and fresh delicacies will decline, and the "mother’s taste" will be nowhere to be found. The non-standardized and attractive Chinese food has also been eroded by industrial civilization.

No one hopes that the next "eat drink man woman" will not have the eighteen martial arts of steaming, frying, boiling, stewing and stewing, which are pleasing to the eye of Lao Zhu, but only the fancy way of tearing the packaging bag of prefabricated vegetables; Or the next "Gourmet" doesn’t have golden wisps of Buddha clothes, roasted geese in Gankun, and ecstasy rice, but only pre-made barbecued pork rice with heating time in place.

References:

• [1] Dining Collection. (2021). 2021— 2022 China Prefabricated Vegetable Industry Development Report.
• [2] Ai Media Consulting. (2022). Research Report on the Development Trend of China Prefabricated Vegetable Industry in 2022.
• [3] Dining Collection. (2022). 2021— Investment and Financing Report of China Catering Industry in 2022.
• [4] Dining Collection. (2022). Panoramic development report of China catering industry in 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022 from https://www.foodaily.com/articles/28152..
• [5] Gao Huichao. (2022). Trillion prefabricated dishes ③ | Prefabricated dishes usher in a high-light moment, and in the future, enterprises will pay more attention to "basic skills. Retrieved15 September 2022 from http://www.21jingji.com/article/20220915/Herald/A0114D2B4959E192B4E38"
• [6] Liang Pan. (2022). The first store closed, the franchisee was exposed to losses, and the tip of the tongue hero failed to cut into the prefabricated dishes? . Red Meal Industry Research Institute. Retrieved 15 September 2022 from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2Jc_ZIBAr7Y2VxFGIHpaSA.
• [7] China Chain Store & Franchise Association. (2022). 2022 China Chain Restaurant Industry Report.
• [8] China Investment Research Institute. (2022). VC/PE report for the first half of 2022.
• [9] Taste knows fragrance. (2022). 2021 Annual Report.
• [10] Open source securities. (2022). Weizhixiang: The epidemic situation is slightly disturbed and the multi-channel layout has great potential — — — Company information update report.
• [11] Zhang Qi. (2022). In-depth analysis of "the first stock of prefabricated vegetables": starting from selling vegetables, the annual revenue has exceeded 700 million yuan. Red Food Industry Research Institute. Retrieved 3 October 2022 from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_sPZzyOM0ZiSA5wJUDFhQg..
• [12] Taste knows fragrance. (2022). Announcement of main operating data for the first half of 2022.
• [13] China Hotel Association. (2021). China catering industry annual report.
• [14] jian li. (2022). Within 10 years, catering prefabrication is bound to be a trend. Tik Tok. Retrieved 3 October 2022 from https://v.douyin.com/6wpr6yc/..
• [15] Hu Kefei. (2022). Chefs disappear in the kitchen. China Newsweek. Retrieved 15 September 2022 from http://www.inewsweek.cn/viewpoint/2022-01-10/14884.shtml..
• [16] China Consumers Association. (2022). Analysis of complaints received by the National Consumers Association in the first half of 2022. China Quality News Network. Retrieved15 September 2022 from https://www.cqn.com.cn/ms/content/2022-08/03/content _ 8847697.htm.
• [17] CCTV. (2022). Guangzhou, Guangdong: The proportion of prefabricated dishes used in chain restaurants is over 80%. Retrieved 15 September 2022 from http://tv.cctv.com/2022/08/05/Videjn1unhd39K281WKNK6J220805.shtml. 。
• [18] Shanghai Legal News. (2022). Looking for "pot gas" in the restaurant, even the Michelin restaurant is full of prefabricated dishes? Retrieved 15 September 2022 from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s? __biz=MzA5MzUwOTYzNQ==&mid=2649783388&idx=4&sn=6880b45d382ef1f20b7f354a2df03f3b.
• [19] CCTV. (2022). Yunnan: Precast dishes go to the table, and doctors warn against excessive sodium. Retrieved 15 September 2022 from https://tv.cctv.com/2022/09/05/Videllwoofjcigwiy 3UV7H5n220905.shtml. 。