Has your stomach been tamed by the ＂invasion＂ of prefabricated dishes into the restaurant？

Wen | Mirror Xie Yuanyuan

Editor | Liu Di

Braised pork with plum vegetables, beer duck, kung pao chicken, scallops with vermicelli, which only diners can’t think of, can’t be done without prepared dishes. After the popularity of prefabricated dishes, it is almost an extravagant hope to have a "pot-like" meal in a restaurant. The seemingly steaming dishes may just be heated food.

"I used to eat kung pao chicken with similar taste in a cooking restaurant where my family was in 60 yuan and my family was in 30 yuan. It is estimated that the same cooking bag was used." Xiaomin, who loves food, bluntly said that he had encountered a "prepared dish assassin".

There are still many consumers like Xiao Min. According to a survey conducted by Jiangsu Consumer Protection Committee, 62.8% of consumers have encountered the use of prefabricated dishes in restaurants and restaurants. Prefabricated dishes have indeed spread the market with various restaurants.

According to "2022 Annual Report of China Catering Industry" issued by China Hotel Association, at present, more than 85% of the sales channels of prefabricated vegetables in China are concentrated in B-end. Snack fast food restaurants, chain restaurants, restaurants specializing in takeout, group meals, etc. are the main scenarios for the application of prefabricated dishes.

The reason why prefabricated dishes can capture the heart of the catering industry is closely related to its ability to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The cost of a restaurant mainly includes raw materials, rent and manpower. Prefabricated dishes not only reduce the cost of ingredients, but also realize the standardization of dishes, reducing the cost of hiring chefs and the area of kitchen.

Major restaurants regard prefabricated dishes as a magic weapon for profit, but the stomachs of this young people are not easy to tame.

In order to "escape" the prepared dishes, this young people have started to learn and share their experiences on social networking sites. Xiaomin, who calls himself a "foodie", always does his homework before making an appointment with friends. "Lightning protection! These restaurants in Beijing use all prefabricated dishes! " "A few tricks to teach you whether a restaurant uses prefabricated dishes" is what she often reads.

"I can’t accept that I spend several times the price to eat prefabricated dishes in the restaurant. More importantly, I can’t taste the chef’s skills and have no dining experience." Xiaomin is not a case. According to the survey results of Jiangsu Consumer Protection Committee, 53.2% of consumers oppose the use of prefabricated dishes in restaurants and restaurants, saying that they want to eat fresh dishes when they go to restaurants.

In the case that consumers are increasingly unwilling to pay for it, it seems that it is difficult for prefabricated dishes to support the catering industry.

01 ferocious.

Searching for the keyword "pre-cooked dishes" on the 1688 website, there are as many as 50 pages of related products, including various dishes such as "covered rice cooking bag" and "Chinese food frozen cooking bag", which are very complete. These stir-fried dishes marked with cooking bags are cheap, and almost all of them are in 6 yuan, regardless of whether they are meat dishes or vegetarian dishes. Some products are directly marked "Focus on hotel food wholesale" on the page.

Figure /1688 Selling prefabricated dishes, source /188 screenshot

These dishes not only go to the small restaurants that consumers usually eat for take-away, but also many chain restaurants that are beautifully decorated and look very stylish are heavy users of prefabricated dishes.

It is an open secret that chain restaurants use prefabricated dishes in the industry. Prefabricated lion heads appear in the main purchasing list of Chinese fast food Laoxiang chicken, and almost all the main raw material suppliers listed in its prospectus are qualified to sell in prepackaged foods. In addition to hometown chicken, head chain restaurants such as Kungfu and Yoshinoya are big customers of prefabricated vegetable manufacturers.

According to the Report of China Chain Restaurant Industry in 2021, the proportion of prepared meals of Kungfu and Yoshinoya reached 100%, while that of Xibei and Xiaonanguo was over 85%.

Xiaomin is not surprised by this. "On one occasion, I saw the waiter take out a cooking bag from the freezer and heat it for me. Since then, as long as I am not in a hurry, I have tried to avoid this fast-serving chain store, but there is no way to hurry. "

Other types of restaurants can’t be avoided. Plum, who runs a fried food and beverage outlet, bluntly said, "If it’s fast food, it’s more common to use cooking bags, especially those that specialize in take-away. The possibility of using a cooking bag in a store that mainly cooks in the hall is still lower, but there is no guarantee that it is completely absent. "

Behind the "invasion" of prefabricated dishes into restaurants is the common result of fast-paced life and catering desire to reduce costs.

Linlin, who has worked in the catering industry for many years, said that he was very helpless. "Now it is time-consuming. Even if the process is optimized to the extreme, when busy, it will take 30-40 minutes to serve a table of four people, and guests who have already entered the store or are waiting in line are unwilling to wait. It will be much more efficient to use a cooking bag, and a dish will be heated for 5 minutes. Although five-star hotels don’t need to cook bags, if you want to prepare a banquet, you have to prepare some dishes in advance, such as soup, or so many tables are simply too busy. "

Plum’s restaurant is often criticized by customers for its slow serving speed. "We all do it now and eat it now, and the chef has drawn up a longer menu. Because we don’t know which dish the guests will order, we dare not cut and wash the vegetables in advance, especially when there is little passenger flow, for fear that the prepared dishes will not be ordered and eventually rot. Doing it now leads to our slow serving, and guests are often impatient. How to explain it is useless. "

In addition to improving efficiency, the main driving force for the catering industry to introduce prefabricated dishes also includes the demand for reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and some rigid regulations in shopping malls have also played a role in promoting. In this regard, plum is deeply touched.

Although it has been complained by guests, for safety and health reasons, plums have always insisted on frying now. However, as a long-term loss-making practitioner, Mei Zi said that she can understand the practice of her peers. "The rent and labor costs of restaurants are very high. It is difficult to make a profit if you don’t use this prefabricated dish (cooking bag) to increase gross profit."

According to the calculation of sample catering enterprises by China Hotel Industry Association, catering enterprises that use prefabricated dishes can effectively save labor costs and reduce meal delivery time, and the profit rate is expected to increase by 7%.

02 increase profits "big killer"

Mei Zi said, "The expenses of customers in restaurants include not only the cost of ingredients, but also the rent and labor costs. If we only charge for the dishes, then we can’t do it in this business. " These three expenditures are the main costs of the catering industry.

According to China Hotel Association’s 2022 China Catering Industry Annual Report, the raw material cost of a catering enterprise accounts for about 40%, the labor cost is about 20%, and the rent cost is about 10%, which adds up to more than 70%. Moreover, the cost of raw materials and labor is still increasing.

The latest "2023 Annual Report of China Catering Industry" shows that the average labor cost of the surveyed enterprises accounts for 25.6% of the revenue, which is about 4 percentage points higher than the same period of last year. The average purchase cost of raw materials accounted for 46% of operating income, an increase of about 5 percentage points over the same period of last year.

The use of prefabricated vegetables is the most effective way to reduce the cost of raw materials.

"As far as I know, the meat and vegetable packages used in these small restaurants generally won’t exceed those in 10 yuan. Basically, they can be fixed with money from 6 yuan, and then sold at the market price of dozens of pieces. In this way, the gross profit margin can be 50%, and the labor cost and rental cost can be covered by the extruded raw material profit. This is only relative to the cooking restaurant. If it is a restaurant with a low turnover rate such as hot pot and barbecue, it is necessary to increase the gross profit margin to more than 70%, so that it is possible to make a profit, "Mei Zi said.

According to the 2022 Annual Report of China Catering Industry, the time and cost consumed by the take-away merchants after using prefabricated dishes are lower than that of the current frying.

Figure/Merchants use prefabricated dishes to save raw material costs and meal time. Source/2022 China Catering Industry Annual Report

In addition, the use of prefabricated vegetables to save raw material costs can also ease the pressure on restaurant manpower and store rental costs.

According to Mei Zi, in Shanghai, except for a few restaurants such as KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, other restaurants will provide employees with food and shelter. In addition to room and board, the salary paid by the restaurant to the waiter is also considerable.

"Working in an ordinary restaurant, the monthly salary is about 5,500 yuan to 6,500 yuan, and the salary of a high-end restaurant is 7,000 yuan or 8,000 yuan, so that the manager can reach 10,000 yuan."

In addition to waiters, the restaurants that are now fried should also employ chefs with good skills. "A chef with good skills in Shanghai earns about 1-25,000 yuan." Wages, room and board, plus "five insurances and one gold" and other security benefits, restaurants have to pay a lot of labor costs. In order to reduce this expenditure, in recent years, many enterprises have begun to adopt flexible employment methods such as recruiting part-time jobs.

Arnold, a former catering person, also bluntly said that only cooking shops, hot pot restaurants and barbecue shops have higher raw material costs, especially high-end cooking shops. The cost of raw materials for noodle shops and wonton shops only accounts for a small part, and labor and rent are the big spenders. The introduction of prefabricated dishes in these stores is mainly to reduce the number of employees and the kitchen area of restaurants.

In addition, the cooking bag can also make the restaurant realize the standardized supply of dishes. This means that the restaurant does not need to hire a skilled chef at a high price, or even can serve dishes normally without a chef, thus avoiding the risk of losing customers caused by changing chefs. This is also an important reason why chain restaurants rely on cooking packages.

Some explicit rules in shopping malls have also promoted the introduction of prefabricated dishes in restaurants.

The "Fire Safety Management Rules for Large Commercial Complex (Trial)" promulgated in 2019 stipulates that gas shall not be used in catering places that are underground and have a building area of more than 150 square meters or seats of more than 75 seats. Restaurants on other floors are also restricted, including not using open flame to process food in the dining area of the dining place, and using electric heating facilities in the open food processing area.

Under the superposition of internal and external factors, countless restaurants embrace prefabricated dishes, which has a great impact on those restaurants that insist on stir-frying now. Because the speed of meal delivery can’t be improved and the pricing can’t be raised, many loss-making restaurants can only withdraw from the market, and Arnold’s shop is one of them.

03 counterattack of "stir-frying now"

In the environment where cooking bags are popular, Arnold, who insisted on his original intention, has been cleared out of the market. After more than two years of persistence in first-tier cities, his small shop, which is mainly fried now, closed down in October this year.

Recalling this entrepreneurial experience, Arnold bluntly said that it is very important to follow the market rules. Under the circumstances that consumption is degraded and the pace of life is getting faster and faster, it is difficult for the current fried restaurants to persist.

"The raw materials and labor costs of our store are very high. If you want to make money, you can only increase the price of vegetables. But in today’s environment, guests are very sensitive to prices. The mutton pot we priced in 78 yuan was said to be too expensive by the guests, and the dry fried beef river in 28 yuan was also said to be too expensive, not to mention raising the price. But in fact, after deducting various costs, such a price is already a loss. "

The restaurants that are now fried are struggling in losses, but the restaurants that use prefabricated dishes are moving towards profitability. "Although all the cooking bags are used, the pricing is similar to that of our stores. Also serving a table of guests, they not only save labor costs, but also save raw material costs, and the profits will naturally be much higher. "

In Arnold’s view, the catering industry is currently deeply involved, and even if it barely survives, it will face fierce competition. Many restaurants are engaged in price wars in order to attract guests, and Arnold has also participated in them.

"We have done 60 yuan’s arrival in 100 yuan before, but these activities are just to quench thirst, and preferential activities can’t bring sticky customers to the store. When I closed the store, some guests privately said that it would be best to close the store once every six months, so that new stores would come out constantly, and they could always stay in bonus hunter. Perhaps only those restaurants with catering packages can survive better, "Arnold said with emotion.

High gross profit drives some restaurant brands to go out in person. Quanjude’s Sichuan Hotel launched the pre-cooked dish brand "Chuanlaoda", and other brands of the company are also making efforts to lay out the foodization business of pre-cooked dishes and other catering products, and build their own production lines. Xibei, Deshu abalone and Linjia Minnan cuisine have also become one of them, and the promotion channels of Xibei prefabricated dishes even cover their own offline stores.

Catering brands are more and more enthusiastic about prefabricated dishes, but the public’s acceptance of prefabricated dishes seems to be decreasing, especially at the level of in-store consumption.

In the past two years, consumers have increasingly rejected the practice of using prefabricated dishes in restaurants, especially after the controversy over the introduction of prefabricated dishes into the campus. Comments such as "Refuse to eat feed" and "Can the prepared dishes get out of China" are frequently screened on the Internet.

Previously, Yuanji Yunjiao catering brand, which mainly focuses on fresh and instant packages, was "besieged" by a large number of diners after being exposed to the use of frozen meat stuffing.

Figure/Netizen boycotts prefabricated dishes, source/Weibo (left), Xiaohongshu (right)

Supervision over the use of prepared dishes in restaurants is also being strengthened. In the Analysis of Complaints Accepted by the National Consumers Association in the First Half of 2022, the China Consumers Association singled out the problems that the labels of pre-cooked dishes were not detailed, the use of pre-cooked dishes in take-out and in-house meals was not informed, and consumers’ right to know and choose was damaged.

In order to save consumers, a number of "anti-prepared dishes" merchants have appeared in the catering market. These merchants posted notices or put up signs at the door of their stores, claiming that they refused to use prepared dishes. This means that instant frying is becoming a new way for restaurants to build their own competitiveness.

Although prefabricated food restaurants have had an impact on the industry, high-end restaurants made by chefs with fresh ingredients and "time-honored" shops with authentic flavor have always had a fixed customer base and a good market. The former not only sells dishes, but also sells thoughtful and intimate service and superior dining environment; The latter mainly sells "unique" flavor and food culture.

Linlin, who has worked in high-end hotels for many years, said, "At least in the five-star hotels I have worked in, I have never seen anyone using cooking bags. Unless it is fried food, such as fried dough sticks or squid rings, semi-finished products will be made in advance, others will be made now, and vegetables and fruits will be cut and hot now, so serving in five-star hotels will be slower. "

The appearance of prefabricated dishes has solved the problem of long waiting time for meals to a certain extent, especially the appearance of cooking bags. But it is precisely because of the accelerated pace of life that contemporary young people hope to have a "pot-like" snack to comfort themselves when they are tired. Moreover, under the condition that young people pay more and more attention to their health, the cooking bag with heavy oil and salt does not conform to the public’s life concept.

In the future, prefabricated dishes may not be a part of people’s lives, but they cannot be all. If you want to conquer young people’s stomachs, you still can’t do without the fried dishes.

References:

Prefabricated dishes stir the catering industry, source: semi-monthly talk.

Prefabricated Dishes, Occupy China Shopping Mall in an All-round Way, Source: Inspur Studio.

* Linlin, Arnold, Mei Zi and Xiao Min are all pseudonyms.