On April 26, 2005, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out when inspecting the production process of snail noodles in Liuzhou, Guangxi: "The development of industries must have characteristics. Snail noodles are the characteristics. They have captured everyone's stomach and become an industry on the tip of the tongue."

Snacks, as a sign of the water and soil of a party, involve the taste buds and memories of a party, and are the richest in the world. Among them, some abide by the tradition and value inheritance, and some have a big brain and innovate along the way, and they continue to grow and develop.

ONE

Category confusion, brand melee

At present, Chinese fast food has become half of China's catering industry. Among Chinese fast food, the proportion of snacks has increased. In the second quarter of 2019, snacks accounted for 45%, which is an important part of Chinese fast food.

Media data show that snacks are consumed 126 times per person per year in Europe, America, Japan and other regions, with an average density of 1 snack bar per 100,000 people, while in China it is 1 store per 1 million people. The snacks and catering market in my country has not yet reached saturation, and now is the time to enter the market.

Many traditional catering brands are limited by their own business models, and in response to the rapid development of snack sub-categories, they will inevitably show that they have no time to take care of it. The snack industry can grow rapidly in this environment.

The social attributes of snacks are increasing day by day. With the continuous injection of capital, more and more local snack chain brands have entered the public's field of vision.

The 2019 China Snack Industry Catering Big Data Research Report shows that among the top 10 snack stores, only Zhengxin Chicken Chop, Juewei Duck Neck and Yang Guofu Mala Tang are brand stores, and the rest are mostly well-known category stores.

China has a vast land and abundant resources. There are obvious differences in taste between regions. Not to mention that there are more good categories to be explored. The categories that have been explored are still in a wide range of categories and no brands. However, most local snack operators do not pay enough attention to brands and do not have brand thinking, resulting in no recognition in the minds of consumers.

TWO

Serious homogeneity, market chaos

Another dilemma facing the snack market is serious homogeneity.

Open Dianping to locate Guilin and search for Guilin rice noodles. There are 1,237 registered stores in the local area. These rice noodle shops are very similar from pictures to environment to menu structure. This may be one of the reasons for the local market in Guilin to rectify.

However, this dilemma of local snacks is not only present in the local area, it is also the same when it comes out. Severe homogenization of local snacks will cause vicious competition and disrupt the market environment; uneven prices and product quality will confuse consumers' audiovisual and even mislead consumers, leading to the loss of the entire category of consumer groups.

The catering elimination rate is as high as 50%. In such a fierce environment, consumers cannot remember your brand deeply, and only death is waiting for your brand.

In order to pursue brand development, the brand expands blindly without knowing the direction of brand development. When the target consumers are not subdivided and the products are close to the same, the brand positioning of the brand is blurred, and some really have no brand positioning. When you see what other brands do in the market, you follow what products you do; when you see how other brands do publicity, you follow how to do publicity.

Failure to clarify its own brand positioning will give consumers a vague impression of brand image and brand perception, which will be forgotten by consumers over time.

THREE

What are the future opportunities for the snack market?

In recent years, the fan culture has prevailed among young consumer groups, and bloggers have even launched two challenges in Hunan and Jiangxi to compete for the "big fan province".

In addition to noodles, Sichuan and Northwest are also "star-making factories" for local specialty snacks. Chongqing small noodles, pork buns, hot and sour noodles are popular all over the country, and there are many well-known brands.

As a vocational college, the Snail Noodle Industry College aims to deliver more professionals to the industry. However, unlike the Crawfish College, most of these talents will choose to start businesses instead of working after entering the market. The competition for snacks is bound to intensify.

The snack industry is entering my country's mass catering market with strong penetration and development power, becoming the backbone of the catering market. Snacks are now an important part of Chinese fast food. According to investigations, they occupy more than 40% of the Chinese fast food market. In the fast-growing Chinese catering industry, the snack industry has a promising future. And it will adapt to the development of modern society with a more tolerant attitude, the taste will be more adapted to the dietary preferences of modern consumers, and the production method will be more convenient to adapt to the fast-paced modern life.

Eating is always an unchanging topic for people. In life, eating is the thing of a lifetime. The development prospects of snacks are brilliant.

FOUR

Transformation of local snacks into new retail

Nowadays, the competition is not only the competition of taste, but the competition of brand and industry chain.

Driven by the waves of new consumption, the stall economy, and the night economy, mobile street food stalls are transforming into chain and franchise stores to enter the mall "Nuggets".

Stinky tofu, Guokui, grilled cold noodles, snail noodles, and duck neck are packaged into Internet celebrity snacks one after another. Wenheyou and A-Gump Guokui, as Internet celebrity snack brands, have opened more than a thousand stores across the country, and used to be representatives of snacks. ——Brown chicken, Shaxian snacks, Lanzhou ramen, Mala Tang, have also begun to move towards chain branding.

Investigation and research found that snack audiences are becoming younger and younger, and “post-90s” and “post-95s” are important consumer groups; regional snacks have distinctive characteristics, which promote the development of diversified snacks; snack brands accelerate the chain, and chicken ingredients are favored by brand merchants; Internet celebrities Brands continue to emerge, and the consumption of Internet celebrity snacks has become a new fashion.

Since the beginning of this year, snail fans have been on the cusp of public opinion, and they have even been favored by CCTV. Nowadays, snail noodles are no longer the traditional model of "bowls in hot pots". Instead, they take advantage of the new retail trend and become the darling of young consumers on the shelves.

It is reported that a certain snail powder enterprise in Liuzhou produces an average of nearly 60,000 bags of snail powder every day.

In fact, not only snail noodles, hot and sour noodles, hot and dry noodles and many other local snacks have also launched new retail products. There are even brands that have strategic cooperation with delivery anchors, and the sales are very impressive.

FIVE

Accelerate the brand upgrade and break the game quickly

In traditional concepts, snacks are more like street stalls, operated by locals, with no processes and standardized images. However, in recent years, the upgrading trend of snacks in terms of environment, products, and experience has become more and more obvious.

More and more snack bars enter the shopping center from street shops, the environment is bright and clean, the decoration is small and exquisite, the low-end image has been changed, and a new consumption experience has been created for consumers. In order to attract young consumers, the product value and service level of snacks are getting higher and higher.

What is the prospect of the snack industry? Brand development is the general trend. Nowadays, most snacks in my country are franchised, especially in some first-tier cities and tourist cities. Whether it is a local old-fashioned snack restaurant or a new snack bar, it is branded as a certain brand. The name, the old restaurant itself is a brand, and the new snack bars are mostly franchise chain forms, but also come out under a certain brand name. The branding development of snacks in my country has begun to take shape. Local specialty snacks have gradually entered the national market through the development of branding. Many local specialty snacks have joined and have now become well-known brands.

The snack market has high demand, high consumption frequency, easy-to-standard products, easy-to-replicate models, and has the genes and potential to become a brand. Therefore, branding is the biggest opportunity for snack development. Only by making a brand, can we take the lead in the industry.

Summarize

In the current situation of the market with categories and no brands, the standardization of traditional snacks is the general trend, but this also brings challenges to the development of the snack market, forcing traditional snacks to embark on a path of differentiation.

The "seeking common ground while reserving differences" in Chinese culture may be the best inspiration for the current development direction of the snack market. Under the competition of the catering market, if traditional snacks want to stand out, they also need to continue to cultivate and dig.