The large-scale development of frozen baking has attracted market attention

Our reporter Bao Xiaotie

Recently, Enxi Village, a large-scale and automated production enterprise of frozen baking, has received a Series B financing of hundreds of millions of yuan

Multiple consumption scenarios, great market potential

The so-called frozen baked goods are cakes or breads baked in a central factory that preserve the texture and taste by quick freezing, are stored and transported directly to the consumer market through cold chain facilities, and are thawed or simply baked through B-end bakeries and C-end consumers.

In life, it is not difficult to see frozen baked goods.

At present, the frozen baking industry is in a period of outbreak of downstream demand, rapid expansion and integration of upstream production capacity

Freeze baking is rapidly infiltrating as the supply chain in the baking sector faces revolutionary changes

Industry analysts believe that frozen baking has reached a penetration rate of more than 70% in Europe and the United States, Japan and South Korea have reached a penetration rate of more than 50%, and China is currently only about 10%.

First, the penetration rate of downstream stores and the proportion of single store usage increased

Secondly, the growth of the bakery category in large supermarkets has also accelerated the downstream application of frozen baking

It is worth noting that in recent years, the trend of "+baking" has become popular, and consumption scenarios have become more and more diverse, and frozen baked goods are indispensable in different consumption scenarios

Therefore, the emergence of frozen baked goods has made the sales channels of freshly baked bakery develop into a parallel situation of supermarkets, catering, bakeries, beverage stores, convenience stores, and e-commerce, which has enriched the sales channels of the bakery industry

The cold chain continues to improve the product advantages

Frozen bakery products are popular because with the improvement of production technology and the improvement of cold chain logistics, the advantages and characteristics of frozen bakery products in both freshness and economies of scale have become more prominent

In the past, China's baked goods were mainly divided into two categories: freshly baked and pre-packaged, and pre-packaged products produced by central factories were the main ones

Frozen baking is the storage of finished or semi-finished baked goods in a frozen manner

On the one hand, frozen bakery products can be mass-produced in the central factory, and the domestic cold chain infrastructure is also becoming more complete, which meets the storage and logistics requirements of frozen bakery products, and the product quality is guaranteed for 6-9 months at -18°C.

On the other hand, frozen baking technology has matured in China, and the taste and texture of thawed pastries and bread are almost the same as freshly baked

With the continuous improvement of technology, the freshness and taste of frozen baked goods after thawing and processing have been close to those of ready-made products

According to industry insiders, it is expected that in the near future, in the field of Chinese bakery products, more frozen bakery products will be developed to provide more Chinese consumers with their favorite choices and further expand the market space of the frozen bakery industry
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"China Food News" (May 23, 2022 Edition 05)