Vaigrette from "behind the scenes" to "in front of the stage"

From consumer self-made to industrial production, from start-up brands to big brands entering the market, in recent years, vinaigrette has become an upstart
in the condiment market.
Although compared with large categories such as soy sauce and vinegar, vinaigrette has a small consumer group and is still a typical niche condiment, but this does not affect its becoming a popular category
.
Industry insiders pointed out that the explosion of vinaigrette has provided an entry point for the rise of start-up brands, and the condiment segment is still promising
.

It's not just "oil" and "vinegar"

Japanese vinaigrette, Italian vinaigrette, Chinese vinaigrette.
.
.
Although it has only caught fire in recent years, vinaigrette is not a "new product", not only has a long history, but also has many varieties
.

According to the data, the vinaigrette first originated in Japan, the product name is "sesame vinegar flavor sauce", mainly used for Japanese cuisine dipping and mixing, dipping is mainly sashimi sang, tempura, etc.
, mixed food is mainly yangchun noodles, ramen and other noodles, as well as cold vegetables
.
The "oil" of Japanese vinaigrette refers to sesame oil and soy sauce, and the "vinegar" of vinaigrette is brewed vinegar, which is characterized by sweet and sour flavor, while giving the ingredients the flavor of sesame seeds
.
Japanese vinaigrette is sugary and fatty, with sesame granules and sesame oil floating on the top layer
of the product.

The development of vinaigrette in China fully reflects the food culture and consumption trend
of healthy and light food.
In addition to inheriting the original flavor of sweet and sour, the Chinese vinaigrette removes sesame oil, so the product lacks the unique flavor of sesame oil; By removing white sugar and replacing it with sweet substances such as sorbitol and erythritol, the product does not have the inherent sweetness of white sugar, and also extends different flavor types
such as salad, kumquat, passion fruit, etc.
In addition, Chinese vinaigrette is thicker and uses crushed sesame seeds, while Japanese vinaigrette uses whole sesame seeds
.

The taste of vinaigrette is mainly determined by vinegar, using different vinegars, the taste is also different, the main vinegar types include white vinegar, red wine vinegar, Italian black vinegar, sherry vinegar, fruit vinegar and so on
.
From the point of view of classification, vinaigrette belongs to the category
of compound seasonings.

Vaigrette stands on the health vent

The full taste of sea salt jade oil citrus vinaigrette, Sichuan rattan pepper vinaigrette, Yunshan ban's green orange vinaigrette, Japanese style Japanese vinaigrette, Bailey's matsutake flavored vinaigrette, dietary fiber vinaigrette.
.
.
In fact, the early vinaigrette products due to the relatively simple ingredients, consumers themselves made a higher proportion, but as more and more condiment brands listed vinaigrette products, the product range is increasingly rich, consumers are more willing to buy industrial vinaigrette products
.

Standing on the wind of health, the market size of the vinaigrette category has grown rapidly in recent years, especially in 2021, the sales of vinaigrette products have exploded
.
Taking Yunshan Banban as an example, data from Jiuqian Consulting shows that its average growth rate in 2021 exceeded 300% year-on-year, and from September to November, it even increased by about
600% year-on-year.
Industry insiders pointed out that driven by factors such as conforming to consumer trends, meeting taste needs, and accurate marketing methods, vinaigrette has moved from "behind the scenes" to "in front of the stage"
.

First of all, with the improvement of quality of life, the number of obese people in China is increasing
.
According to the Scientific Research Report on Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2021), the proportion of overweight or obese adult residents in China has reached 50.
7%, and the problems of overweight and obesity and diet-related chronic diseases are becoming increasingly serious
.
At the same time, superimposed on the impact of the epidemic, in order to maintain their figure, many people have not only worked exercise, but also paid more attention
to diet.
The lower calorie of vinaigrette is in line with the consumption trend of "weight loss and body shaping" and "light food style", and the user group is mainly concentrated in people who have strict requirements for calorie intake, especially young consumer groups
who are more in pursuit of health and convenience.

Secondly, the content dissemination methods of platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu provide more accurate marketing for vinaigrette, realizing a closed loop
from "planting grass" to "pulling grass".
Post-00s consumer Xiao Zhang said that he does not know how to cook, and in order to maintain his figure, most of the sauces he usually buys will choose vinaigrette, "My roommates are similar to me, and we usually eat the most zero-fat light calorie vinaigrette
.
" In the choice of brands, they will refer to the recommendations on social platforms, among which Xiaohongshu and Douyin
pay the most attention.
Xiao Zhang bluntly said that in the circle of classmates, the ability to "grow grass" on social platforms is very strong, "I have seen a collection of zero-calorie zero-fat sauces, and I have also seen the vinaigrette of high-value Chinese style packaging, cute style packaging, and even how Bishop Bo makes his own vinaigrette
.
" ”

As Xiao Zhang said, searching on Xiaohongshu with the keywords "vinaigrette" and "slimming vinaigrette", the number of notes is 70,000+ and 50,000+ respectively, and the topic of "vinaigrette" on the Douyin platform has even reached 1.
14 billion views
.
In a review post with more than 300 likes, more than 10 vinaigrette brands were included, most of which were niche start-up brands
.

Industry insiders pointed out that short videos, graphic sharing, can use softer publicity to promote products; Secondly, due to the precise differentiation of consumer groups, it is easier for products to obtain high sales conversion
through the sharing of bloggers.
In addition, vinaigrette as a condiment can also meet the taste needs of consumers, and it is logical that sales have increased significantly
.

There is a lot to be done in the market segment

The data shows that at present, only two platforms, Jingdong and Tmall, have an average monthly sales of vinaigrette of about
10 million yuan.
Although sales were significantly affected by seasonality, the overall trend was steady and rising
.
Industry insiders pointed out that as a niche compound seasoning product, the development of vinaigrette has brought a lot of inspiration
.
One of the most important points is that for start-up brands, the condiment segment has a lot to offer
.

The data shows that the top vinaigrette brands on online platforms (JD.
com and Tmall) in sales mainly include Baili, Kewpie, Shui Ling Shuiliang, Jinming Hou, Guanli, Hengshun, Bicuiyuan, Zhenweifang, SHARKFIT, Yunshan Ban, etc.
, many of which belong to start-up condiment brands
.

From an objective point of view, the market size of vinaigrette is small, but the growth rate is fast, and the future development prospects are broad, which provides the best entry point
for start-up brands.
At the same time, the average price of vinaigrette is about 15-20 yuan, which is higher than that of large categories such as soy sauce and vinegar, and the price is stable, and the brand can have relatively stable profit margins
.
Start-up brands can achieve breakthroughs
through the deep cultivation of special condiments such as vinaigrette.

It is worth noting that for large brands, the threshold for vinaigrette is not high, and as the market continues to mature, some well-known leading brands have begun to pay attention to this market
segment.
In response to investors' questions, Hengshun Vinegar mentioned that the vinaigrette launched by the company since 2021 has been recognized by consumers and has become an explosive product
among new products.
In 2022, the company has increased the research and development and marketing of such products, and the Hengshun "cherry blossom flavor" vinaigrette launched on Goddess Day has become an Internet celebrity product
.
Searching the JD.
com platform, there are more than 32,000 entries in vinaigrette, including almost all the head condiment brands
.
It is foreseeable that the market competition for vinaigrette will be more fierce
in the future.

Industry insiders remind that although the current vinaigrette field is still dominated by start-up brands, as more and more big brands like Hengshun vinegar industry enter, even if the existing brands enjoy dividends, if they do not establish brand and product barriers as soon as possible, the future may not be able to parry
.

Industry insiders pointed out that the rise of vinaigrette is only a reference direction for condiment brands, for the huge domestic condiment market, there are many subdivisions like vinaigrette, especially with the rise of compound seasonings, creating more diversified application scenarios, producing a variety of condiments to meet the increasingly rich consumption needs
of consumers.
On the condiment track, only by finding the brand that consumers really want can we create the next "vinaigrette"
.

(Gao Jiaodi, comprehensive arrangement)

China Food News(November 17, 2022, Version 04)

(Responsible editor: Gao Jiaodi).