Light food originated from afternoon tea of European aristocrats in the 7th century. At that time, the dinner time of British aristocrats was very late, so in the afternoon, ladies and gentlemen would ask the chef to make some snacks to accompany with black tea, so as to pad their stomachs before dinner.

▲ Source: Public Comment

Later, the French simplified afternoon tea, and delicate snacks became sandwich-like food made of sliced bread and jam, served with black tea or coffee.

After that, Americans added doughnuts, cakes and other foods on the basis of light food in France, which were generally sold in cafes.

After the food culture of Europe and America was introduced to Japan, Japanese people who pay attention to health and efficiency improved it, and the positioning of light food gradually changed from "afternoon tea" to "simple meal", that is, foods that are easy to eat, simple to make and convenient to eat, such as Guandong cooking and rice balls, which are generally sold in convenience stores.

It can be seen that the initial light food has nothing to do with health at all, but is just a leisure category.

So those so-called "light food" shops may have Japanese-style seaweed rice rolls, western-style sandwiches and salads, and Chinese-style jiaozi, steamed stuffed buns and snacks.

even the common salad set meal is not low in calories (661 calories on average, and 119 calories for a bowl of 111g rice).

▲ Source: Aesthetic Evaluation

In China, today's light food is not afternoon tea or snacks, and it prefers the concept of healthy meals.

Although there are many doubts and negative news about the closure of famous brands, we have to admit that light food is indeed gradually entering the public's field of vision.

▲ Source: Keep APP

Ruixing launched a light food series, fitness app keep also started to launch a light food take-out and meal replacement product (KeepLite), and KFC even opened a "KPRO" light food store. Recently, the "Big Data Report on Light Food Consumption" released by Meituan shows that the number of light food take-out orders keeps increasing, which further proves the steady development of the concept of healthy light food.

▲ Source: Meituan Light Food Report

If the hot pot is compared to the "social software" of the Internet industry, the market is large and develops steadily; Then, light food is similar to the "knowledge payment" in the catering circle, with limited market and mixed fish and dragons, but it has development potential.

The hot pot industry is basically a part of the Red Sea, and the foundation of the head brand is very solid. Although the market is large, there are not many opportunities.

At present, the light food industry has serious homogenization and limited market scale, but it has three advantages:

1. Focus on health

According to China Catering Report 2118, influenced by the concept of healthy consumption, consumers' tastes are changing from stimulating to fresh. The industry calls it "the era of eating spices is declining, and the era of eating raw materials is rising", that is, health is gradually becoming the mainstream diet pursuit.

Therefore, light foods with healthy genes themselves give people a healthy feeling.

▲ Source: Public Comment

In April this year, Wang Tao, the founder of "shalala Light Food", once said, "At present, the direct store in Chengdu has achieved the second place in the take-away sales of Chengdu Group Buying Network."

This is an unexpected result, because the tastes in Sichuan and Chongqing have always preferred "spicy and delicious", which can be achieved by focusing on fresh and healthy light food with less oil and salt, and it also reflects the changes in consumers' taste preferences.

2. Don't rely on the chef

Like hot pot, light food is extremely dependent on the chef, especially light salad, which doesn't need a chef at all. Most people can learn it by looking at the salad menu.

3. The degree of standardization is high

The production process of many light foods is very simple, because it does not involve the "cooking" of traditional catering, so it is easy to standardize.

Xiao Miao, the founder of Shaye Light Food, said that the common salad set meal does not require high cooking skills, as long as the quality of ingredients is well controlled.

High-quality ingredients, coupled with simple cooking, lead to a relatively high degree of standardization of light food.

to sum up, although it is not difficult to make light food products, light food is by no means a low-threshold category, because light food seems to be "light" and actually costs a lot.

1. The cost of raw materials is high

The less cooking is needed, the more fresh ingredients are needed. The owner of a light food restaurant said that it is no problem to use a vegetable that is not very fresh for cooking, but it can only be thrown away in a salad shop.

light food needs a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the shelf life is short. Once it is improperly operated, the loss rate will be high.

in addition, salads also have certain requirements for the variety of ingredients. A light-eating entrepreneur said that my store was once criticized by customers, saying that there was too little chicken breast in a salad, and customers thought that more meat was a good deal, while more vegetables were just cutting corners. But in fact, the lettuce in the salad is a specific variety and can only be transported from other places, so the unit price is more expensive than meat.

2. The packaging cost is high

It is precisely because of the high cost of ingredients that the pricing of light food products is generally high, even if it is a takeaway, the price is at least twenty or thirty, even forty or fifty.

products with high prices need better packaging.

▲ Source: Public Comment

Generally, light food take-away products use kraft paper lunch boxes, which are 2-3 times more expensive than ordinary lunch boxes, and disposable tableware used is 1-2 times more expensive than ordinary tableware.

3. The store rent and decoration cost are high

Young women are the main consumers of light food, and the proportion of white-collar women is larger, so light food restaurants are generally opened near popular business districts and CBD office buildings, and the rent is higher.

at the same time, in order to create a "green and healthy" brand image, the decoration of light food restaurants is generally very exquisite.

to sum up, the capital investment of a light food restaurant ranges from 1,111 to 411,111.

In view of various factors, light food has indeed developed in recent years, but it is still unacceptable in most areas of China. In the first half of 2118, many light food brands with financing records closed down one after another, including lascivious salads, thin salads and sweetheart rock salads.

▲ This picture is provided by Shenzhen Hua Space Design Consultant Co., Ltd., a professional catering interior design company.

the collapse of light food brands is not a matter of light food in essence, but the market has not yet grown up, and there are too many porridge. The exultation of capital has pushed these brands to death.

in fact, the current market scale of light food is not a "tuyere" at all, nor is it a very wide "track". The light food market looks very lively, but there are not many people who actually consume it regularly. In winter, it is the off-season, and it is possible to halve the sales volume or even make a 31% discount.

compared with traditional Chinese food entrepreneurship, the threshold of light food production is very low, which leads to the surge of light food entrepreneurship projects in the market. At present, there are too many light food brands, which are not only mixed, but also far beyond the market demand.

if light food brands don't want to be a "bubble" of capital speculation, they should settle down and become brands. Only by putting the brand concepts of health, low sugar and low calorie into the hearts of the people can they become light food brands with high repurchase rate and strong brand strength.

Although it has only been a few years since the concept of light food sprouted, and the market is still in the cultivation stage, the cultivation effect has achieved initial results, and light food has gradually entered the lives of young people. More and more people's definition of light food is no longer the trend of taking photos, but has become a part of daily diet, just like eating jiaozi, maocai and Mala Tang.

especially the light food on the take-away platform, the market performance is similar to porridge, but it is more healthy and nutritious than porridge.

The three advantages of light tableware, such as fast eating, health and young audience, make take-out a breakthrough in light food.