Just when the Taiwanese host was ridiculing that mainlanders could not afford Fuling juice, another "magic tool for cooking" - Lao Gan Ma also faced market testing. In China, Lao Gan Ma is a household name. Give me a spoonful of Lao Gan Ma and you can have a bowl of rice! The hot steamed buns are broken open and added with Lao Ganma, it is simply delicious...
The founder Tao Huabi even insisted on "no listing, no loans, no financing". It was once a legend, but she was too conservative. But it also caused Lao Ganma to lose many opportunities. According to data from e-commerce companies such as Taobao and JD.com, the sales data of "Laoganma" have been slowing down in recent years. In the first half of this year, they experienced a cliff-like decline, and the situation is far worse than before. As a legend and myth of a generation, we can’t help but ask: What happened to Lao Ganma?
The business experience of Tao Huabi, the founder of Laoganma, is actually very simple: how to make hot sauce at first, and how to make it in the future. However, Lao Gan Ma, who relies on taste and reputation to dominate the world, is frequently questioned about the bad taste. Some locals in Guizhou even broke the news, saying that the raw materials were shoddy and relied on a large amount of MSG to get the flavor.
People say that the taste of Lao Gan Ma has deteriorated. Is this true? Previously, Laoganma’s ingredients had always been Guizhou pepper. According to Business Magazine, prices have risen due to tight supply and demand for local chili peppers in Guizhou. Later, Laoganma began to abandon Guizhou peppers and switched to peppers produced in Luohe City, Henan Province.
A dealer revealed that the price of Guizhou peppers has basically remained at 12 to 13 yuan/catty, while the price of Henan peppers is 7 yuan/catty, which is at least 5 yuan higher per catty, and 1 ton is 10,000 yuan. . Later, they began to slowly reduce the number of Guizhou peppers and continued to increase the amount of peppers from other places, until they were completely eliminated in 2011.
It is estimated that Laoganma needs about 40,000 tons of peppers a year, which means that using Henan peppers can save 400 million yuan every year. As raw materials continue to rise, this may be Laoganma’s secret of not raising prices for many years. At the same time, competition in the market is also extremely fierce. In May 2016, the hot sauce brand "Fanye" founded by veteran singer Lin Yilun mainly targeted the middle class and young Internet groups. Relying on the celebrity effect, the sales of "Fanye" hot sauce Taobao store exceeded one million, with sales exceeding 3 million yuan in 12 hours. Only 3 months after its launch, "Fan Ye" received 83 million yuan in financing, with a valuation reaching 360 million yuan.
In September 2016, Deyun Club actor Yue Yunpeng founded the "HiHi Pipi Yue Yunpengxing Store", which sold 18,600 bottles of hot sauce in just one month after it was launched. Later, actor Huang Lei also joined hands with Xiabu Xiabu to launch his own hot sauce brand. According to data analysis, my country's hot sauce market reached 32 billion yuan in 2018, and continues to grow at a rate of more than 7% every year. Therefore, in addition to Laoganma, there are more than 5,000 hot sauce companies sharing nearly 30 billion yuan. market share. With the entry of capital, the hot sauce industry has gradually moved from decentralization to concentration.