As the Lantern Festival approaches, tangyuan and Yuanxiao products enter the peak sales season. Different from previous years’ enthusiasm for decoration, posters, discounts and personnel promotion, the promotion atmosphere of quick-frozen dumplings this year is relatively cold. The reporter of Beijing News recently saw in some supermarkets in Beijing that the refrigerators of several brands of quick-frozen dumplings were not decorated for festivals and were not equipped with promotion personnel. The scope of product discounts and promotion efforts were weaker than those in previous years.
Combined with the rising cost of raw materials in the past two years and the intensive price adjustment of quick-frozen enterprises at the end of last year, some quick-frozen food enterprises frankly said that there is a certain cost pressure on Tangyuan products this year, but it is basically borne by the enterprises themselves, and the terminal price has not changed significantly.
In terms of products, this year, the variety of novel flavor dumplings has been reduced, the publicity has been significantly weakened, and the selling point of products has been transferred from stuffing to pastry. The industry expects that the sales of big yellow rice dumplings will “explode” this year, and the products such as colored dough, Fu character dough and little tiger shaped dough will also increase significantly.
the promotion of supermarkets has weakened
Beijing News reporter noted that as early as before the Spring Festival, Yonghui Superstores Co.Ltd(601933) and some stores of Huaguan supermarket have opened Lantern Festival product promotion booths, and baking and pastry brands such as weiduomei and Baiji New Year cake have also sold dumplings and Lantern Festival products as early as the first month.
The relevant person in charge of Beijing Daoxiang Village told the Beijing news that this year, the Lantern Festival and Tangyuan in Beijing Daoxiang Village continued the tradition and were listed in Lidong. “The preservation conditions of Yuanxiao are relatively high, so Yuanxiao powder can only be ground out one day in advance, and it can’t be prepared too long in advance.”
In terms of missing food, the scheduling of goods preparation and promotion activities for this year’s Lantern Festival is the same as that in previous years. The preparation time of Tangyuan dealers in the peak season is mostly concentrated from September to October of the previous year, and the promotion activities continue from November of the previous year to the Lantern Festival.
Although the Lantern Festival and glutinous rice balls have entered the peak production and marketing season, compared with 2021, the number of stacking decoration and promotion personnel of quick-frozen glutinous rice balls in commercial supermarket channels has decreased this year. On February 8, at a Yonghui Superstores Co.Ltd(601933) restaurant in Beijing, the quick-frozen dumpling products of Sanquan, missing, Wanchai wharf, Daqiao road and other brands were placed in the vertical freezer, but there were no promotion tips, decoration and relevant promotion personnel. In shuntianfu supermarket, you can see the group purchase preferential policy of Sanquan frozen pasta and the promotion price of Sanquan hardbound big yellow rice Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) dumplings, but you can’t see the promotion personnel and promotion decoration.
Insiders speculated that the “cooling” of the promotion of quick-frozen dumplings this year may be related to the rising cost pressure. At the end of 2021, Fu Jian Anjoy Foods Co.Ltd(603345) , Haixin Foods Co.Ltd(002702) , Sanquan Food Co.Ltd(002216) , Zhengzhou Qianweiyangchu Food Co.Ltd(001215) constant speed freezing leading enterprises intensively adjusted their selling prices, and the range of price adjustment ranged from 3% to 10%. Behind the price adjustment is the continuous rise in the cost of raw materials such as edible oil, condiments, rice, vegetables and food additives.
Miss food responded, “Affected by the price fluctuation of raw materials this year, tangyuan products have indeed encountered certain cost pressure, but after comprehensively considering the factors such as consumption space, diversified channels and competition, dealers have increased the profitability of products in terms of market policies and terminal promotion, and the overall cost of products is still controlled within the scope of the enterprise, ensuring the stability of terminal price. ”
The reporter of the Beijing News noted that although the promotion activities of the quick-frozen dumpling market this year are not as “popular” as in previous years, the sales price is stable as a whole. The selling price of most products is concentrated at 8 yuan / bag – 15 yuan / bag, and some products have promotion activities such as “reducing 5 yuan at the end of 35 yuan” and “buying one for free”. The price of Lantern Festival products is about 19.8 yuan per kilogram, and the price of sugar alcohol products is more than 20 yuan / kilogram.
the innovation of dumpling pastry is accelerated
From the Lantern Festival market in previous years, the innovation of stuffing and taste is one of the product selling points that enterprises focus on. This year, there are still a variety of fillings for Tangyuan and Yuanxiao products. In addition to four classic flavors of refined black hemp, sweet scented hawthorn, traditional five kernel and cream cocoa, the Lantern Festival in Daoxiang village, Beijing has also restored coconut Lantern Festival, and launched 10 kinds of dumpling products such as rose bean paste, Luzhou fragrant peanut and Jinsha milk yellow. Sanquan, missing, Wanchai wharf and other brands of quick-frozen dumplings, Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) , bean paste, nuts and hawthorn still play the “leading role”, and chocolate, milk yellow and other flavors are also more common.
However, there are not many new flavors of Tangyuan and Yuanxiao products and related products this year. On February 8, a reporter from the Beijing News searched Taobao for “Tangyuan Yuanxiao”. Among the top 10 products in terms of sales volume, the key words with ” Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) ” occupied four seats. In the box horse fresh app, the top three in sales are Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) dumplings, and there are few novel flavor products. During last year’s Lantern Festival, HEMA Xiansheng once recommended black sugar Bobo, Zhizhi peach, durian thousand layers, sauerkraut fried sesame and other novel flavors of dumplings.
A person in charge of a quick-frozen food enterprise told the Beijing news that in recent years, the filling and taste of quick-frozen dumplings have been “almost developed”. The best sales are still traditional flavors such as Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) and bean paste. This year, many quick-frozen enterprises have transferred their innovation points from filling to pastry.
Beijing News reporter visited the online and offline markets and found that many quick-frozen enterprises made articles on the dumpling noodles this year. In addition to the popular big yellow rice dumplings in recent years, the products of Wanchai wharf, such as “Purple air coming from the East”, “taro seeing sincerity”, “colorful pearl fragrant glutinous” dumplings, missing “small dumplings”, and Sanquan black glutinous rice Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) classic dumplings, all use colored dough. In addition, “Zhongzhijie” launched “double golden grain dumplings” with quinoa and big yellow rice; Sanquanfu dumplings are printed with the words “Gong”, “Xi”, “Ji”, “Xiang” and “Fu” on the surface; In order to combine the theme of the year of the tiger, “snow overlord” big yellow rice cartoon dumplings will also be made into the shape of tiger head.
Miss food expects that this year is likely to be an “explosion” year for the sales of big yellow rice dumplings, and related products are loved by consumers of all ages. In this regard, miss has increased the promotion of big yellow rice dumplings, given a certain tilt in the number and placement of products, and increased the exposure of products in the terminal. In Taobao platform, 7 of the top 10 products are big yellow rice dumplings, which can be seen from its popularity.
sugar alcohol products should be consumed in an appropriate amount
From the perspective of offline channel sales, sugar alcohol Lantern Festival and sugar alcohol dumplings without sucrose have become important categories in the Lantern Festival market. Sanquan Food Co.Ltd(002216) launched xylitol Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) Ningbo flavor dumplings, Miss launched “sugar free” dumplings and “low sugar” rhubarb rice dumplings, and Miqi launched “sugar free” Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co.Ltd(000716) dumplings. In addition, Beijing Daoxiang village and Goubuli have launched sugar alcohol dumplings. Xylitol Yuanxiao is sold in some stores of Beijing Yonghui, shuntianfu and Huaguan supermarket, and the price is 10% – 20% higher than that of ordinary yuanxiao.
For those who “quit sugar” and “control sugar”, can sugar mellow dumplings be enjoyed? Healthy Shaanxi has issued a reminder during the Lantern Festival last year that infants, dyslipidemia, diabetes, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, gastric ulcer, children and the elderly, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and those who have recovered from the disease are advised to eat less or not to eat glutinous rice balls.
The so-called “sugar free” requirement refers to that the sugar content per 100g or 100ml of solid or liquid food is no more than 0.5g. “Sugar” here generally refers to sucrose, glucose, maltose, fructose, etc., but does not include sugar alcohol (xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol) and other substitutes. In other words, as long as the food does not contain or contains a small amount of simple sugar and sweet sugar, it can be called sugar free food. However, the main component of glutinous rice in the outer skin of Tangyuan is amylopectin, which is easy to interact with amylase and accelerate the release of glucose molecules. Therefore, tangyuan with “real sugar free” does not exist.
