Quick-frozen dumplings have become "commonplace", how to find new incremental space?

Recently, the fried stuffed dumplings launched by Xinxiang Beier Fresh Food Co.
, Ltd.
have attracted great attention in the industry, which has also made the quick-frozen dumpling industry with weak growth re-attracted the attention of the
industry.

According to Cold Food Weekly, in addition to Beier Fresh Food, many brands such as Sanquan Foods, Synear Food, and Hebei Sanke Food have also been innovating
quick-frozen dumplings through many aspects.

Lv Cuiping/Wen

The slowdown in the growth rate of the quick-frozen dumpling industry has become an industry consensus

"The sales of quick-frozen dumplings are very flat now, and even if the sales increase before the winter solstice, it will not be particularly much
.
" Manager Zhang of the dealer said
so.

Yu Ping, general manager of Harbin Bingjie Trading Co.
, Ltd.
, also has the same feeling: "Quick-frozen dumplings have become a daily consumer product, and sales have been relatively flat in recent years
.
”

The lack of growth has become the consensus of
the quick-frozen dumpling industry.
This can also be seen from the data disclosed by Sanquan Foods
, a leading enterprise in the quick-frozen food industry.

According to Sanquan Foods' annual report from 2012 to 2019, from 2012 to 2017, the sales of Sanquan Foods' quick-frozen dumplings have been in an increasing trend, but since 2018, the data has shown a downward trend
for two consecutive years.
In addition, starting from 2020, Sanquan Foods will combine the three categories of quick-frozen dumplings with quick-frozen rice balls and zongzi, and no longer separately count the revenue
of quick-frozen dumplings.
As the leader of the quick-frozen food industry, the growth of sales of quick-frozen dumplings also represents the development trend
of the entire quick-frozen dumpling industry to a certain extent.

However, it should be noted that although the growth rate of quick-frozen dumplings has slowed down, in terms of overall market capacity, quick-frozen dumplings are still a huge stock market
.

According to NCBD (Food Treasure Code) data, the size of China's dumpling market in 2021 will be 112 billion yuan, of which quick-frozen dumplings account for about 46.
4%, according to this data, the market size of quick-frozen dumplings exceeds 50 billion yuan
.

According to Sanquan Foods' 2019 annual report, the revenue of dumplings was 1.
848 billion yuan, accounting for only about 3% of the industry, which means that in the limited stock market, the brand concentration of the quick-frozen dumpling industry is still very low
.

Therefore, many companies are still innovating for quick-frozen dumplings, through personalized and differentiated services, Nugget quick-frozen dumplings track
.

Products, channels, shelf life, quick-frozen dumpling innovation has been on the way

According to the different innovation directions, Frozen Weekly has taken stock of the innovation paths
of quick-frozen dumplings in various enterprises in recent years.

1.
Product innovation

The first round of product innovation is represented
by Sanquan and Synear.
Sanquan launched the champion dumplings, and Synear launched the concept of high-end dumplings by selecting better ingredients
.

The second round of innovation represents the addition of Wan Chai Terminal
.
In 2012, Sanquan wrapped its dishes into dumplings and launched innovative flavored dumplings such as kimchi, black pepper beef, and chicken curry.
In 2013, Wan Chai Pier launched Yunnan pure series of dumplings, focusing on Yunnan mushroom flavor; In 2014, Synear launched the Bull Demon King dumpling, making dumplings
fashionable.

In the third round of innovation, large and small enterprises made concerted efforts, and small and medium-sized enterprises performed well
.
Synear launched the gold medal shrimp series in 2017; Wan Chai Pier launched the "Mountain and Sea Delicacies" series in 2018 and plant-based meat dumplings in 2020; In 2019, Sanquan launched a series of super seafood dumplings
such as private chef Super Crayfish.

Hebei Zhongxiang, a representative of small and medium-sized enterprises, launched dumplings with special ingredients such as locust flowers and dandelions, focusing on differentiated competition; Beierxian launched fried stuffed dumplings, giving new vitality to quick-frozen dumplings through process innovation
.

In addition, the innovation of dumpling skin is also in progress, and many enterprises such as Sanquan, Synear and Wan Chai have launched colorful dumplings with skin to make dumplings not only delicious but also beautiful
.

2.
Channel innovation

In recent years, in addition to traditional channels such as supermarkets, some companies have also seized some new channels
.
It is understood that in 2016, Hebei Sanke Food began to cooperate with distributors around the world to explore the mode
of quick-freezing and takeaway grafting.

According to Chen Yanzhi, marketing director of Sanke Food, there are two modes of opening a takeaway store, one is pure takeaway without dine-in, and the other is dine-in and takeaway
.
In order to achieve a win-win situation between sales performance and brand effect, takeaway stores directly listed "Sanke handmade shrimp dumplings"
.
Sanke Handmade Shrimp Dumpling Shop has established cooperative relations with many takeaway platforms such as Ele.
me and Meituan, and has opened nearly 300 stores
in many prefecture-level cities in Shandong, as well as Shijiazhuang, Tianjin, Jiaozuo, Changchun and other regions.

Henan Bangjie Food chose another channel to expand sales, opening dumpling self-selection stores
in schools, office building food courts and other places.
In Bunger's view, the flow of people in these places is relatively stable, and they are all just-needed people, which is a very good channel
.
In order to improve the quality of service, Bangjie also provides free drinks, fruits, sugar and garlic, etc.
, which are well received
by customers.
It is understood that Bunger has opened more than 150 stores in schools, and the number of stores in office buildings and food courts has also reached 35.

3.
Shelf life innovation

Industry insiders know that the fresher the date of frozen dumplings, the better
the taste.
But usually, the shelf life of quick-frozen dumplings is 12 months, which greatly reduces
the freshness of quick-frozen dumplings.
In recent years, in order to make quick-frozen dumplings more "fresh", many companies are trying to introduce products
with a shorter shelf life.
Sanquan "raw dumplings" belong to this type of product
.
Compared with traditional products with a shelf life of 1 year, Sanquan's "raw dumplings" have a shelf life of only 120 days
.

According to industry insiders, Synear Food is also exploring short-term protection products, launching short-term dumplings with a shelf life of only 3 days, which have been tested and sold
in fresh chain channels Aunt Qian.
Yuan Ji Yunqiao, which focuses on catering channels, also launched a 21-day short-term warranty product
in its online flagship store in January this year.

Compared with taste innovation, a good product is more valuable

It is not difficult to see that companies are innovating in various ways to squeeze more shares
in the red sea of quick-frozen dumplings.
In the eyes of the industry, the company's innovation in quick-frozen dumplings is worthy of recognition, but it still faces great difficulties
.

Wang Jie, marketing director of Beier Fresh Food, believes that the reason why quick-frozen dumplings were popular when they were born was because, in the minds of consumers at that time, quick-frozen dumplings were a "good thing", and they would eat dumplings
every year for the holidays or when they wanted to improve their lives.
However, with the improvement of people's living standards and the great abundance of materials, the number of alternative products of staple foods, such as finger cakes, pies, pizzas, etc.
, has greatly reduced the consumption of quick-frozen dumplings
.
Moreover, people are now pursuing a rich and varied diet, and the consumption of staple foods is also decreasing
.

Manager Zhang, a distributor, also agrees with this statement, according to his observation, in recent years, many innovative products in the quick-frozen dumpling industry often have the phenomenon of fire for a while: "When it was first launched, it was driven by marketing and consumer psychology, it would be hot for a while, but soon sales fell flat
.
" In terms of final sales, traditional flavors still sell the best
.
Therefore, he suggested that the innovation of quick-frozen dumplings should also consider market acceptance
.

Yu Ping, general manager of Harbin Bingjie Trading Co.
, Ltd.
, also agrees, suggesting that when developing new products, companies must consider the differences in consumer tastes in various places, "Taking Harbin as an example, the special flavored dumplings produced by local enterprises sell better
than conventional flavors.
" ”

In addition, Yu Ping believes that consumers are currently more cautious about spending money, hoping that the products they buy can be worth the money, and companies must meet this demand in order to maintain sales
.

For quick-frozen dumplings with short-term insurance, Yu Ping believes that the risk is relatively large: "The short-term insurance category has very high requirements for product turnover speed and the operation efficiency of the enterprise supply chain, which is a very big test
.
Unless the company has a specific channel for customized production, it is very difficult
to do short-term warranty.
”

China Food News (October 20, 2022, Edition 05).

(Editor: Lu Fanling)