Source | Whole Food Online First, a question for those in the frozen food business: do you think frozen dumplings still sell well? Don't answer yet; let's continue. A few days ago, Sanquan Foods released its 2024 financial report, showing a decline in both operating revenue and net profit. Sanquan's main business is frozen rice and flour products, including dumplings, tangyuan, pastries, wontons, zongzi, etc. Regarding the reasons for the performance changes during the reporting period, Sanquan explained: "In 2024, the consumer market remained generally stable, with consumer demand and willingness in a moderate recovery phase. Industry growth slowed and category competition brought certain pressure to the company's performance growth." Recently, Mayingying also released data on the market share and year-on-year growth rates of key categories within the frozen food sector for Q1 2025. Data source: Mayingying Interestingly, in Q1, the three major categories of frozen dumplings, frozen buns, and frozen wontons all experienced negative growth in market share. Data source: Mayingying Correspondingly, sales revenue and sales volume in Q1 2025 also declined. Clearly, the decline in revenue and net profit for Sanquan, one of the leading brands in frozen dumplings, is not just a problem for Sanquan alone, but a problem facing the entire frozen rice and flour industry. It's worth noting that frozen dumplings, tangyuan, and wontons were once the sure-win products for frozen food distributors, and were essential categories for any distributor in the frozen food business. Today, it seems the glory days of frozen rice and flour products have passed. However, the market size of the frozen food industry has never stopped growing. According to QYR data, the Chinese frozen food market reached 183.54 billion yuan in 2023, and is expected to reach 213.09 billion yuan by 2025. So let's draw a conclusion: the frozen food industry is one with good market prospects and high repeat purchases. But as consumer demand shifts, the growth categories in the frozen food industry have changed. Where have they shifted to? They have shifted to hand-grabbed pancakes, sausages, and frozen pizza. First, hand-grabbed pancakes: this staple breakfast category, promoted by major brands, has moved from street stalls to home breakfast consumption scenarios. Today, who doesn't have a bag of hand-grabbed pancakes in their fridge? Next, sausages: in the past two years, demand for frozen sausages has gradually increased, moving from convenience store sausage machines to cinemas, amusement parks, homes, campuses, and other scenarios. Almost anywhere with foot traffic, you're sure to find someone selling sausages. Not long ago, Fengweipai held its fourth anniversary celebration. Founder Nicholas Tse shared his vision for the brand: "I never wanted to build a 10-billion-yuan brand; I want to build a century-old brand. So I hope everyone will witness the countless successful four years ahead." Yes, this brand, founded in 2021, started through online channels and achieved 3 billion yuan in sales in four years, with sausages being the pillar of the brand. And this is just a microcosm of frozen sausages. Since 2022, frozen food distributors have shifted their attention to sausages. Currently, almost all frozen food companies have frozen sausage products, indicating the huge market space for this category. Finally, frozen pizza: this category, once mainly supplied to B-end restaurants, now appears in home consumption scenarios and is deeply loved by consumers, even surpassing prepared dishes to become a top choice for parents. So why do opportunities lie in these three categories? What commonalities do they share? If the rise of frozen rice and flour products was due to the increased penetration of refrigerators in Chinese households, bringing industry dividends, then the rapid growth of hand-grabbed pancakes, sausages, and frozen pizza benefits from the popularity of small appliances like air fryers and ovens. Unlike frozen dumplings and buns, hand-grabbed pancakes, sausages, and pizza can all be cooked using electric griddles, air fryers, or ovens. They have the advantages of short processing time and simple operation. Basically, within 10 minutes, we can produce a finished product, and during the process, consumers don't need to deliberately manage it. Of course, convenient processing is just one advantage of these categories. In fact, these three categories share several other common strengths. First, they meet consumer needs. Sausages can be a main dish or a snack, suitable for breakfast or as a late-night meal. Today, sausage flavors are diverse, meeting the needs of different consumers. Frozen pizza now has a taste that is almost indistinguishable from restaurant-made pizza, but today's consumers can make it at home. Hand-grabbed pancakes need no introduction: waking up just 5 minutes earlier allows you to enjoy a Chinese-style wrap made with hand-grabbed pancakes at home. Second, they expand consumption scenarios. Unlike the relatively limited scenarios for frozen dumplings and buns, sausages, hand-grabbed pancakes, and pizza have many consumption scenarios. Besides home consumption, they can be used in restaurants, outdoors, snack streets, campuses, shopping malls, convenience stores, etc. Expanding consumption scenarios means covering a broader consumer base. Third, brand innovation. Today, hand-grabbed pancakes, sausages, and pizza have very rich product lines and various flavors. This is inseparable from continuous brand innovation, quality improvement, and flavor development, all providing consumers with good products. Finally, price. By retail price, the cheapest is hand-grabbed pancakes, followed by sausages, and the relatively more expensive is frozen pizza. But in the current price system, they still meet the expectations of the general consumer. That is, in these three categories, consumers with different income levels can find suitable products. Unlike a few years ago, today's prices for hand-grabbed pancakes, sausages, and pizza are much lower than at the beginning. This is because multiple brands have entered the market, reducing production costs, coupled with price wars among brands and diversified channel structures, stabilizing prices. For distributors, sausages, hand-grabbed pancakes, and pizza have also become essential products. Although they also face price wars, their profits are higher than frozen dumplings. You see, having been in the distribution business for half your life, you might realize that there are no eternal bestsellers. All high-repeat-purchase products are built on the three pillars of era, consumers, and market. The once-famous frozen rice and flour products are now in decline, replaced by frozen foods that are easy to process, delicious, varied in flavor, and healthy. As the times evolve, distributors' product selection thinking must also look further ahead.