Light snacks originated from the afternoon tea of ??European aristocrats in the 17th century. At that time, the British aristocrats had very late dinners, so in the afternoon, ladies and ladies would ask the chef to make some small snacks to eat with black tea. It can be used to cushion your stomach before dinner.

▲Picture source: Dianping

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

Later, Americans added donuts, cakes and other foods to the French light snacks, usually sold in cafes.

After the European and American food culture was introduced to Japan, the Japanese, who pay attention to health and efficiency, improved it. The positioning of light meals gradually changed from "afternoon tea" to "simple meals", that is, easy to fill up. , Foods that are simple to make and convenient to eat, such as oden, rice balls, etc., are generally sold in convenience stores.

It can be seen that the original light meals had little to do with health at all and were just a leisure category.

So those so-called "light food" stores may have Japanese seaweed rice rolls, Western-style sandwiches and salads, and Chinese-style dumplings, steamed buns and dim sum.

Even the most common salad sets are actually not low in calories (an average of 660 calories, and a bowl of 100g rice has 119 calories).

▲Picture source: Beauty Observation Review

In China, today’s light meals are not afternoon tea or snacks, but more of a healthy meal concept.

Although it is accompanied by a lot of doubts and negative news about the collapse of well-known brands, we have to admit that light meals are indeed gradually entering the public eye.

▲Picture source: Keep APP

Luckin has launched a light food series, fitness app keep has also begun to launch light food takeaway and meal replacement products (KeepLite), and KFC has opened a " KPRO" light food store. Recently, the "Light Food Consumption Big Data Report" released by Meituan shows the continuous growth of light food takeout orders, which also supports the steady development of the concept of healthy light food.

▲Source: Meituan Light Food Report

If hot pot is compared to the "social software" of the Internet industry, with a large market and steady development; then, light food is similar to catering The market for "payment for knowledge" in the industry is limited and mixed, but it has development potential.

The hot pot industry is basically a red ocean, and the leading brands have a solid foundation. Although the market is huge, there are not many opportunities;

The light food industry is currently homogeneous Seriously, the market size is limited, but it has three advantages:

1. Focus on health

According to the "China Catering Report 2018", affected by the concept of healthy consumption, consumers' tastes are changing From exciting to fresh. The industry calls it "the era of eating seasonings is declining, and the era of eating raw materials is rising", that is, health is gradually becoming a mainstream dietary pursuit.

Therefore, light foods with their own healthy genes give people a feeling of health.

▲Picture source: Dianping

In April this year, Wang Tao, the founder of "Salala Light Food" once said, "Currently, the direct-operated stores in Chengdu have achieved group purchases in Chengdu. No. 2 in online takeout sales. ”

This is an unexpected result, because the tastes in Sichuan and Chongqing have always preferred “spicy and delicious” food with less oil and salt but focusing on fresh and healthy light meals. Being able to achieve this level also reflects changes in consumer taste preferences.

2. Not dependent on chefs

Like hot pot, light meals rely very little on chefs, especially light salads, which do not require a chef at all. Most people just look at the salad recipes. Can learn.

3. High degree of standardization

The production process of many light meals 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 does not require high cooking skills, as long as the quality of the ingredients is controlled.

High-quality ingredients and simple cooking result in a relatively high degree of standardization of light meals.

In summary, although it is not difficult to make light food products, light food is by no means a low-threshold category, because light food may seem “light” but is actually very costly.

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 there is no problem with a vegetable that is not very fresh when used for stir-frying, but if it is placed in a salad shop, it can only be thrown away.

Light meals require a large amount of fresh fruits and vegetables, which have a short shelf life. Once operated improperly, the loss rate will be high.

In addition, salads also have certain requirements for the variety of ingredients. A light food entrepreneur said that my store once received negative reviews from customers saying that there was too little chicken breast in a salad. Customers thought that more meat meant it was a good deal, and that more vegetables meant cutting corners. But in fact, the lettuce in the salad is of a specific variety and can only be shipped from other places, so the unit price is more expensive than the meat.

2. High packaging costs

Precisely because of the high cost of ingredients, light food products are generally priced higher. Even takeaways cost at least 20 or 30 yuan, or even 40 to 50 yuan. Ten are possible.

Products with high prices require good packaging.

▲Picture source: Dianping

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

3. Store rental and decoration costs are high

The consumers of light food are mainly young women, and the proportion of white-collar women is larger. Therefore, light food restaurants are generally opened in popular areas. The rents are relatively high near office buildings in the CBD and CBD.

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 100,000 to 400,000.

Judging from various factors, in fact, the light food category has indeed developed in recent years, but it is still not adapted to the climate in most areas of China. In the first half of 2018, many light food companies with financing records Brands have been shut down, including Lustful Pie Salad, Skinny Salad, Sweetheart Rock Salad and more.

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

The collapse of light food brands is not essentially a problem of light food, but that the market has not yet grown up, there are too many people, and the great success of capital has pushed these brands to death.

In fact, the current market size of light food is not a "wind outlet" at all, nor is it a very wide "track". The light food market looks lively, but there are not many people who actually consume it regularly. Winter is the off-season for consumption, and sales may be halved or even discounted by 30%.

Compared with traditional Chinese food entrepreneurship, the threshold for making light food is very low, which has led to a surge in light food entrepreneurial projects on the market. There are currently too many light food brands, which are not only a mixed bag of good and bad, but also far exceed market demand.

If the light food brand does not want to become a "bubble" of capital speculation, it must be serious about building a brand. Only by making the brand concepts of health, low sugar, and low calories deeply rooted in the hearts of the people can it achieve a high repurchase rate. A light snack brand with high brand power.

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 begun to bear fruit. Light food has gradually entered the lives of young people, and more and more people People's definition of light food is no longer a trend for taking pictures and checking in, but has become a part of their daily diet. It is as common as eating dumplings, maocai and spicy hotpot.

Especially the light meals on takeout platforms have market performance similar to the porridge category, but are positioned to be healthier and more nutritious than porridge.

Light food has three major advantages: fast delivery, health, and a young audience, making takeaway a breakthrough in the current light food category.