Condiment industry actively embraces new trends

At present, the third-quarter report cards of all listed companies have been released, and although the entire condiment industry is not particularly bleak, the overall unsatisfactory is obvious to all

The soy sauce market is full of joys and sorrows

In the domestic condiment market, Haitian Flavor has an absolute dominant position in the soy sauce category, and Zhongju High-tech, Qianhe Flavor and Jiajia Food, which are also listed companies, are also representative companies in the domestic soy sauce field

According to the company's third quarterly report, in the first three quarters of this year, the revenue of single soy sauce category of Haitian Flavor, Zhongju High-tech, and Qianhe Flavor was 10.

So far, among the four major listed companies, the soy sauce category has both increased and decreased.

Industry insiders believe that in the household consumption of the condiment industry, the traditional channel is still the main revenue channel of the company.

As of the first three quarters of this year, the number of distributors of Haitian Flavor, Zhongju High-tech and Qianhe Flavor was 7,403, 1,708 and 1,728 respectively

In the first three quarters of this year, the average operating income (offline channel, distribution channel, distribution model revenue/number of dealers) of Haitian Flavor, Zhongju High-tech and Qianhe Flavor was about 2.

Industry insiders believe that in the domestic soy sauce market segment, the distance between Haitian Flavor and the second and third echelons is further widened, while the second and third echelons represented by Lee Kum Kee, Xinhe, Qianhe, and Jiajia are even lower.

According to data from China Research Network, in 2018 and 2020, Haitian's market share in China's soy sauce market was about 17% and 18%, respectively

Industry analysts believe that from an industrial perspective, whether it is Haitian Flavor, Zhongju High-tech, and Qianhe Flavor, they are all expanding their production capacity.

The foresight behind the price increase

　　The hottest topic of discussion in the condiment industry is nothing more than price increases

　　Recently, Lee Kum Kee and Hengshun Vinegar have followed up

　　Industry insiders believe that, for the condiment industry, most of the time behind the price increase does not come from the pressure of cost and profit

　　There are also views that the bigger factor behind this price increase is the shrinking of the consumer side

　　Attitude change of traditional condiment companies

　　The industry is changing, and companies are speeding up to adapt to new consumption changes, especially on the channel side

　　For example, for emerging channels, the condiment industry no longer blindly "sniffs", but actively began to embrace changes

　　In the first three quarters of this year, Haitian Flavor's online channel achieved revenue of 490 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.
68%; Qianhe Flavor's direct sales model including online channels achieved revenue of 439 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.
75%
.
Both are much higher than the company's overall revenue growth and category revenue growth
.
Behind these figures is the transformation of results brought about by the change in attitudes of traditional condiment companies towards emerging channels
.

　　In addition, category upgrade has always been a popular representative of trend changes, but from the perspective of the market, in the huge domestic condiment market, consumption upgrade and consumption classification coexist, and this differentiation brings about enterprises The strategic inclination to the market is easy to "step on the short side"
.

　　The premiumization trend in condiments isn't fake, but it doesn't apply to all markets
.
On the one hand, in accordance with the "28 Law", 80% of domestic consumers still consume ordinary condiments habitually, which is also the basis of the market size.
Many companies upgrade for the sake of upgrading, ignoring consumption itself, which leads to the strategy "out of focus"
.
On the other hand, high-end does not mean high prices, and the two cannot be directly equated.
What consumers really need is to spend more reasonable prices to buy higher-quality products or services.
This is the essence of consumption upgrades.
The same is true in the field of condiments
.

　　In addition, major industry giants have entered the offline market one after another, which fully demonstrates that the sinking market is the market source that truly widens the gap between enterprises
.
At present, there seems to be no brand in the market that adopts the strategy of "encircling the city from the countryside", but it does not mean that the "rural area" is not important
.

　　(Comprehensive arrangement by Zhou Yan)

"China Food News" (November 04, 2021 Edition 04)

　　(Editor in charge: Zhou Yan)