Metallurgy / Chemicals / Rubber & Plastics

In recent years, with the rapid development of the catering industry and the birth of a new type of catering industry, the proportion of condiments sold in the catering industry is increasing. IiMedia Consulting recently released the "China Condiment Industry Research Report 2020-2021", which analyzes the condiment industry around the background, development status, typical enterprises, consumer behavior and industry development trends of China's condiment industry.

Broad prospects for development

The changes in China's population structure and family structure have promoted the condiment market from the red sea of single-flavor condiments to the blue sea of compound condiments, which in turn promoted the development of the condiment industry. At the same time, the rise of online shopping malls and new retail industries have also brought innovation to the condiment market.

According to iiMedia Consulting's data, in 2020, the market size of China's condiment industry will reach 395 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%. It is expected that the market size will exceed 400 billion yuan in 2021. With the changes in the population structure of Chinese families and changes in concepts, China's condiment industry will usher in a new round of development, and the market development prospects are still very broad.

From the perspective of market competition, with the continuous expansion of China's condiment market, many outstanding companies have been born. Among them, Haitian Flavor Industry Group is one of the largest professional condiment manufacturers in China. Yihai International, which ranks second in market value, is one of the most competitive brands and holds the largest market share. A leading company in the condiment industry.

Huge room for improvement

From the perspective of the development of sub-industry, companies producing compound seasoning products account for more than 80% of the total number of seasoning companies. At present, China's compound condiment industry is at an early stage. In recent years, due to industrial upgrading and the development of the takeaway food and catering industry, it is gradually entering a stage of rapid growth, and the penetration rate has huge room for improvement.

Industry reports pointed out that the economic development of Europe, America, Japan and South Korea started earlier, and the condiment market has developed more mature for many years. These countries mainly use compound condiments. In 2020, the United States, Japan, and South Korea's compound condiments accounted for 73%, 66% and 59%, respectively, while the penetration rate of China's compound condiments was only 26%.

The eating habits of Japan, South Korea, and China are similar. Comparing China with reference to the penetration rate of Japan and South Korea, it can be predicted that there will be at least double the development space of the compound condiment market in China. With the advancement of urbanization, the pace of consumer life is accelerating, and chain restaurants are paying more and more attention to efficiency, and the demand for compound condiments will maintain rapid growth.

Compound seasoning has the characteristics of convenience and stable taste. In recent years, with the domestic consumption upgrade trend, compound condiments have developed faster than the overall market. Industry report data shows that in 2018, the market size of China's compound condiments exceeded 100 billion yuan, and the market size in the first half of 2019 exceeded 60 billion yuan.

The industry report believes that the demand for compound condiments due to the chain trend of B-end catering and the "nuclear familyization" brought about by the shrinking population of C-end families have led to the phenomenon of "cooking uneconomical". In addition, post-90s and post-00s have a greater demand for compound condiments, which have contributed to the huge market growth. The compound condiment industry is a blue ocean with broad market development prospects.

Consumption upgrade is obvious

Due to the high user awareness and huge scale, the market development space and prospects of the condiment industry in China are very broad. However, as competition in the condiment market intensifies, companies should actively pay attention to consumption upgrades in the industry.

Industry report data shows that in terms of product types, the seasoning products that interviewed users mainly buy are salt, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and cooking wine.

In terms of purchasing channels, over 80% of users tend to buy condiments through supermarket channels, and 43.6% of users surveyed indicated that online channels are also one of their purchasing channels. As the influence of the mobile Internet continues to deepen, online purchase channels are expected to become one of the important distribution channels for condiments.

In terms of buying concerns, over 60% of users said they paid attention to price and brand awareness when purchasing condiments, and 59.7% of users valued the exquisite packaging of condiments products. In addition, with the improvement of people's education level and people's health awareness, more and more consumers are concerned about the health of condiment products, such as the production date, formula and origin when purchasing condiments.

Changeable distribution channels

At present, the distribution model of the condiment industry is mainly based on offline channels. However, with the further expansion of the economic influence of the Internet in the post-epidemic era, online channels are expected to achieve a penetration rate due to the characteristics of accurately reaching target customers and effective use of resources. Greatly improved, and have the opportunity to develop into another major sales channel.

In addition, affected by the epidemic in 2020, the condiment industry will be affected to a certain extent. As a traditional manufacturing industry, condiment companies encountered difficulties in resuming work and safety protection during the epidemic. However, as a necessity for consumers' dietary consumption, the condiment industry has a strong ability to resist risks.

The industry report points out that based on the intelligent and automated layout of the production process of condiment companies in recent years, the production line capacity of condiment companies will continue to rise, and the overall production capacity and product categories of the industry will further expand in the future.