In recent years, the category of mala Tang in China has developed rapidly, forming a competitive pattern of Yang Guofu Mala Tang and Sean Mala Tang, and it was once difficult for middle-waist brands to break through.
However, with the gradual rise of Sichuan-style mala Tang brand featuring dry mixing and dish-plate, the competitive pattern of mala Tang category is changing.
In 2022, the scale of mala Tang market will be about 130 billion yuan.
Thanks to the category advantages of "rich ingredients and high cost performance", even during the epidemic period, the market scale of Mala Tang is further expanding.
1. The scale of mala Tang market is expected to continue to rise in 2023.
According to red meal big data, the market size of mala Tang in China increased from about 96.8 billion yuan in 2016 to about 130.6 billion yuan in 2019. Affected by the epidemic, the national mala Tang market shrank to 114.2 billion yuan in 2020, but rebounded to 129.1 billion yuan in 2021, with a year-on-year growth rate of 13.0%.
Affected by the epidemic, the growth rate of the national mala Tang market slowed down in 2022, and the market size was about 130 billion yuan. With the optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures, the scale of the national mala Tang market is expected to maintain an upward trend in 2023.
2. Mala Tang takeaway market accounts for over 30%.
The market scale of mala Tang in China has maintained a positive growth during the epidemic period, which has a lot to do with the expansion of the take-away market. Because of its rich ingredients and affordable price, Mala Tang has always been an important part of snack fast food track.
During the epidemic period, due to the limited food in the dining hall, snacks and fast food categories suitable for take-out were relatively less affected, such as mala Tang. According to red meal big data, the scale of the national mala Tang takeaway market has rapidly increased from about 5.5 billion yuan in 2016 to 43.8 billion yuan in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 51.4%, and reached 45 billion yuan in 2022, accounting for about 35% of the overall market size of mala Tang.
At the same time, the topic of Mala Tang in 2022 is also heating up. Tik Tok index shows that from January 2022 to March 2023, the Tik Tok index of Mala Tang is on the rise, which may reflect that consumers are paying more attention to Mala Tang to some extent.
Dry-mixed, plate-by-plate hot spicy dip emerged.
1. The degree of chain is high, and the characteristics of category pyramid are obvious.
Because the category of mala Tang is easy to achieve standardization, its scale effect is obvious. According to the big data of Red Meal, the restaurant chain rate in the national mala Tang market is about 23% in 2021, which is higher than the restaurant chain rate of about 15% in China catering market in the same year. At the same time, in 2023, the average urban occupancy rate of mala Tang category (the average urban occupancy rate of all brands in this category) was 5.8%, which was higher than that of popular categories such as tea (5.5%) and lo mei (4.9%), and it was in the leading position in the catering industry.
To sum up, mala Tang is a category that has a greater chance of running out of the "10,000-store scale" in snack fast food track. This can be seen from the scale of stores of Mala Tang Head Brand. The number of stores of Yang Guofu Mala Tang and Sean Mala Tang both exceeds 5,000.
In addition, the market prospect of chain mala Tang brand is also broad. Nowadays, consumers have a strong demand for a safe and healthy diet, and brand mala Tang stores can just provide better protection in this respect.
Although the chain rate of mala Tang category is high and the market prospect is broad, there are not many mala Tang chain brands with brand appeal in the market at present. Except for Yang Guofu Mala Tang and Sean Mala Tang, there are no more than 1,000 stores in other brands.
The pyramid characteristics of mala Tang category are obvious, and the overall market is scattered. Under the two head brands are waist brands with 200~900 stores and numerous street mala Tang, which together form the "long tail" of the category.
In recent years, some mala Tang waist brands are also expanding, and the speed of opening stores has obviously accelerated. For example, Liu Wenxiang Mala Tang maintained a rapid growth trend during the epidemic period, with more than 400 new stores opened in more than nine months from June 2022 to now, and now the number of stores has reached more than 960, making it the Mala Tang brand with the largest number of stores after Sean and Yang Guofu.
The growth rate of sister Xiao Gu’s spicy-spicy-mixed and spicy-spicy stores is also relatively fast. In 2021 and 2022, more than 300 stores were added respectively, and the number of stores has reached 950 at present. Laojie called Pan Mala Tang a dark horse brand of mala Tang category. It was founded in Chengdu in 2020, with more than 300 new stores opened in 2021 and more than 600 new stores opened in 2022. Red meal big data shows that the brand currently has more than 920 stores.
Even though the number of stores of many brands is growing rapidly, on the whole, there are still few mala Tang brands with more than 500 stores. According to the big data of red meal, in the category of mala Tang in 2022, the proportion of brands with more than 500 stores was only 3.4%.
Over 70% of mala Tang brands have no more than 100 stores, and the proportion of brands with more than 100 stores has increased. It can be seen that the chain process of mala Tang category is accelerating.
The variety of SKUs and rich ingredients are the characteristics of mala Tang, but they are also the factors that limit the development of mala Tang. Too many SKUs make it difficult to centralize the supply chain and realize the scale development of the brand. Take Yang Guofu as an example, it has invested nearly 400 million yuan to set up a factory in Chengdu, Sichuan, and this kind of investment is difficult for small and medium-sized brands. Therefore, the supply chain has become the basic threshold for Mala Tang brand to achieve large-scale chain development.
2. The quality of mala Tang is popular, and brands have started to upgrade.
As a popular category of snacks and fast food, "rich in ingredients, delicious and affordable" was once the general cognition of many consumers for mala Tang. However, in recent years, consumers’ consumption demand for mala Tang has become more diverse.
According to the big data of red meals, among the consumption evaluation words of Mala Tang consumers, the frequency of "taste praise", "service enthusiasm", "fresh ingredients" and "healthy dishes" is higher, followed by "high cost performance" and "affordable". It can be seen that consumers’ attention to Mala Tang has gradually shifted from the price to the level of ingredients and experience, which puts forward higher requirements for the quality and service of ingredients in Mala Tang stores.
In order to meet the diverse needs of consumers, Mala Tang brands have been upgraded one after another, and the upgrade covers many aspects such as ingredients, store environment and brand tonality. For example, Sean Mala Tang opened a 1,500-square-meter Haxi flagship store in Harbin as early as 2021, and introduced seafood ingredients such as lobster and abalone into the store.
Yang Guofu once shouted the slogan of benchmarking Starbucks. In the prospectus, he admitted the need to upgrade and improve the Mala Tang restaurant and reshape the brand image. In addition, dear mala Tang, Mi Jie and other mala Tang brands are also promoting the upgrading of mala Tang quality.
In the future, more Mala Tang brands will choose to upgrade their food quality and store environment. However, it is worth noting that the brand that takes upgrading as a drainage gimmick is doomed to be short-lived. Only brands that provide ingredients and environmental experience that match high prices can be finally recognized by the market.
3. Sichuan-style dry-mixed mala Tang is popular, and dish mala Tang is emerging.
In recent years, Sichuan-style mala Tang, which is characterized by spicy, dry-mixed and dish-packed, has sprung up everywhere. Since the second half of 2021, various brands of "Pan Pan Mala Tang" have sprung up in many places across the country, and the number of stores representing brands has grown rapidly, which has attracted great attention. For example, Laojie called Pan Mala Tang quickly expanded its store in 2021-2022, and the spicy Pan Mala Tang, which was established in Chengdu in 2021, completed the A round of financing of 10 million yuan in March 2022.
At present, many first-line and new-line cities have seen the sight of "dish mala Tang". For example, Jin Zhangye Panpan Mala Tang in Shanghai has opened more than 10 local stores. Chengdu has developed more than 160 stores for cooking small baskets and plates of mala Tang. In addition, there are many brands such as Wen Lixin, Weigan Mala Tang in Beijing, Yan Xiaoman, who is in Chongqing, and Ducan Mala Tang in Chengdu. According to the enterprise survey data, in 2022, the number of new registrations of malatang-related enterprises in the country doubled compared with 2021.
Compared with Northeast Mala Tang, which is more common in the market, the difference of Sichuan Pan Pan Mala Tang is that the meal is dry mixed, the taste is mainly spicy, and the dishes are close to Sichuan hot pot ingredients, such as tribute dishes and crispy meat. Food is served on a large plate, served with hot pot and dry dishes, and usually braised snacks and desserts such as chicken feet, fat intestines and brain flowers are added. The per capita price is 30~50 yuan, which is slightly higher than the common northeast mala Tang restaurant.
Some insiders believe that one of the most important reasons why "Pan Pan Mala Tang" can get out of the circle quickly is that its plate bigger than the face has a high film output rate, which makes it widely spread on social media such as Xiaohongshu. In addition, "Pan Pan Mala Tang" has also stepped on the cusp of upgrading the mala Tang category.
Before this, "Mala Tang" was popular in the market. Although some brands focused on the product form of "Ma Spicy Mix", it was not popular on a large scale. Today’s "dish mala Tang" has been upgraded in all aspects, such as ingredients, taste, product form, dining environment and price, which can be described as an upgraded combination boxing.
Nowadays, under the leadership of dish-dish mala Tang, dry-mixed mala Tang has also entered the fast lane of development. For example, Sister Xiaogu’s store, which occupied this track earlier, is growing rapidly, adding more than 300 stores in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Even the mala Tang head brand wants to catch up with this trend. For example, in July, 2022, Sean Mala Tang introduced super-dish Mala Tang, which was dipped and mixed in two modes, with two flavors: secret Sichuan flavor and strong and spicy compound taste. In August, 2022, Sean Mala Tang introduced a new variety of spicy and spicy mix, and its taste also focused on spicy red oil.
4. Topping, oil splashing, and surrounding the furnace, new species of mala Tang are frequent.
In addition to Sichuan-style hemp ironing, some varieties of mala Tang are gradually emerging, such as Thai mala Tang, stove mala Tang and topping mala Tang.
First, in recent years, Thai Mala Tang featuring Dongyin Gongtang and curry soup has been increasingly welcomed by consumers. Some representative brands have a good momentum of development, such as Super Thai Mala Tang, which opened more than 40 stores in 2022. According to Red Meal Big Data, as of March 2023, the number of its stores has reached more than 70, mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.
At the same time, Yang Guofu also launched a Thai mala Tang brand in 2022, with its first store in Shanghai. According to Yang Guofu, Mola Mola is targeted at young men and women aged 18 ~ 35, and the per capita consumption price range is 35~50 yuan. At present, consumers’ evaluation of the store is mostly positive, and the scene of queuing for meals also happens from time to time in the store.
In the whole category of mala Tang, the taste of soup base is almost concentrated in two camps: spicy and not spicy. It remains to be seen whether Thai mala Tang can set off a wave in the future.
Secondly, with the popularity of "cooking tea around the stove" in the catering industry, the string of mala Tang, which was spread all over the stalls many years ago, began to rise again. After upgrading from the stall to the store, the environment of the store is relatively clean and hygienic. Some merchants also customize the taste of the bottom of the pot for customers, and one customer occupies a pot. Compared with eating hot ingredients directly, the string of mala Tang eaten around the stove has a stronger experience.
Thirdly, as a new species in the field of mala Tang, topping mala Tang has also begun to emerge. At the beginning of the new year in 2023, Tiger Mix, which focuses on "topping mala Tang", announced that it had won the investment of Angel Wheel.
Topped Mala Tang changed the traditional mode of eating vegetables and drinking soup, but provided a variety of toppings for consumers to choose from, and used toppings to match dishes, which enriched the diversity of Mala Tang. At the same time, the mode of separating toppings from dishes is more suitable for take-away scenes. At present, Tiger Mix has opened three stores in Chengdu.
In fact, the topping mala Tang is not the first of tiger mixing. Founded in 2019, Xiaowei topping mala Tang has been firmly established, with a variety of toppings such as signature duck blood tofu and milky fragrant corn. At present, it has opened more than 150 stores. The insiders believe that toppings are more suitable for rice noodles, and toppings with side dishes do not conform to most people’s eating habits. Therefore, whether toppings can go long-term remains to be verified by the market.
Fourthly, oil-spilled mala Tang is also a new force rising in recent years, which represents every taste and customer in Chongqing, and has now developed more than 100 stores in the local area. Every taste and every guest takes "oil spill" as the entrance to occupy the subdivided track, which is essentially an upgrade to Mala Tang. It mainly promotes a variety of oil-splashed mala Tang with different tastes and is eaten with rice. At the same time, its stores also provide a variety of dining forms such as mala Tang, dry mixed mala Tang and so on.
As entrepreneurs continue to try and innovate, there will be more new species of mala Tang in the catering industry. On the one hand, these new species will promote the prosperity of Mala Tang Raceway, on the other hand, it will also intensify the competitive situation of "big melee".
Food innovation makes up for shortcomings, and ocean development finds new ways.
1. Food innovation is one of the directions of evolution.
Throughout the mala Tang stores in the market, the types of dishes are very similar, and there are few differences in taste. Based on the rich dish genes of Mala Tang, it is an innovation for all kinds of raw materials of Mala Tang, or one of the evolutionary directions of Mala Tang categories.
Whether focusing on a certain ingredient and focusing on it, or upgrading the existing dishes and integrating the characteristics of local snacks, it is an innovative attempt for dishes and an important strategy to achieve differentiation.
2. Overseas market has become a new growth point of mala Tang category.
In recent years, mala Tang has also received more attention in overseas markets. In the future, it also has some room for growth in foreign markets. According to the Jost Sullivan report, the international Chinese catering market has begun to recover in 2022, and it is expected to increase from $261.1 billion in 2021 to $409.8 billion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.4%.
Both Sean Mala Tang and Yang Guofu Mala Tang have begun to lay out overseas markets to seek incremental growth. According to the news announced by Sean Mala Tang official WeChat official account, Sean Mala Tang officially laid out overseas markets in 2019. By February 2023, nearly 50 boutique stores had been built in 30 cities in 10 countries around the world.
In 2023, Sean will continue to vigorously explore overseas markets. Yang Guofu also said in an interview that by 2025, there will be 9,000 domestic stores and 1,000 overseas stores.
Generally speaking, the number and scale of stores in Yang Guofu Mala Tang and Sean Mala Tang have almost touched the ceiling of market capacity, and the opportunity for latecomers is not to follow and learn, but to upgrade and innovate. In this catch-up process, brands with strong supply chain management capabilities have a greater chance to take the lead in breaking through.
(Contributed by: Red Meal Brand Research Institute, with pictures provided by enterprises and posted by Yangguang.com)
