If you had to pick an essential food for train travel, instant noodles would likely be most people's choice. Many have experienced being tempted by someone else's bowl of braised beef noodles on a train. A recently emerged instant food marvel allows you to make even cup noodle eaters envious on the train. It doesn't even require boiling water—just a bottle of mineral water and a wait of about ten minutes to enjoy a hot pot with both meat and vegetables! This is the self-heating hot pot that has swept across major e-commerce and WeChat business platforms this year, also going viral on social media. Also known as instant hot pot, convenient hot pot, or light hot pot.
- Driven by the Single-Person Economy As the weather turns colder, hot pot restaurants become increasingly bustling. Sitting around a table with family and friends, cooking meat and chatting, is pure bliss. However, eating hot pot is time-consuming and highly social. For those who are busy with work yet love hot pot, going to a hot pot restaurant alone can feel somewhat lonely. Thus, driven by the fast pace of urban life and the expansion of the single population, the demand for "eating hot pot at home alone" gave birth to the self-heating hot pot.
A basic self-heating hot pot includes: a double-layer food container, ingredient packs, a seasoning pack, a heating pack, and chopsticks. To use, first place the seasoning and ingredients in the upper layer, add water to cover the food; then place the heating pack in the lower layer, add cold water to the marked water line, place the upper layer on top, and close the lid. After waiting just fifteen minutes, it's ready to eat.
The weight of a self-heating hot pot ranges from 350g to 450g. Compared to a classic braised beef cup noodle at 106g, one serving of self-heating hot pot should be sufficient for an average person's appetite. Moreover, it includes vermicelli as a staple, along with numerous side dishes like bamboo shoots and potatoes, making it more varied and satisfying than instant noodles.
In fact, the technology used in self-heating hot pots is not complex and has existed for a while. The self-heating rice that appeared earlier on the market works on the same principle, with heating packs primarily containing activated carbon, salt, quicklime, and sodium carbonate. When cold water is added, these substances undergo a chemical reaction, releasing a large amount of heat, reaching temperatures up to 120°C.
So why didn't self-heating rice catch on, but self-heating hot pot did? The reasons are as follows:
1. Hot pot has a broad consumer base. According to data from the China Restaurant Report, in 2016, the domestic catering industry exceeded 3.5 trillion yuan, with hot pot accounting for more than one-fifth of that.
2. The development of the single-person economy gave rise to self-heating hot pot, and they leveraged social media platforms like Weibo to continuously promote it as a mass-market product through photo sharing and reviews.
3. Self-heating rice tends to evoke a sticky, mushy image, while self-heating hot pot is glossy and steaming. Compared to self-heating rice, self-heating hot pot is undoubtedly more appealing and better at stimulating consumers' imagination.
4. Hot pot is a highly standardized industry, making it easier to convert into retail food products.
Additionally, the entry barrier for self-heating hot pot is very low. Many brands do not produce the product themselves but outsource to other companies.
- Multiple Players Enter the Market According to incomplete statistics, there are now over 500 brands specializing in or diversifying into self-heating hot pot, including powerful big brands like Haidilao and numerous small and medium players.
As the saying goes, "Money moves hearts." Major manufacturers are rushing to develop self-heating hot pot, targeting its profit potential. The cost of each self-heating hot pot ranges from 11 to 16 yuan. Lower-cost ones are typically all-vegetable, while higher-cost ones include meat such as sausages, quail eggs, and beef packs.
The more meat, the higher the cost and the higher the selling price, which ranges from 25 to 40 yuan, with profits close to or exceeding 100%!
With such high profits, it's no wonder that even big brands can't resist getting a piece of the action. For instance, on September 27, Liangpin Shop publicly announced that it had invested 10 million yuan to enter the self-heating hot pot market, creating a new brand and selling through WeChat business channels.
Earlier entrants, such as the traditional hot pot chain brand Da Long Yi, have already tasted success. During the Double 11 shopping festival, sales of self-heating hot pot alone reached 16.55 million yuan.
It's foreseeable that more players will flood into the market in the future.
- The Road Ahead Is Long Consumers are eager to try, and businesses are swarming in; self-heating hot pot seems to be booming. But behind this popularity lie issues and hidden dangers that cannot be ignored and need urgent resolution.
01 Potential Hazards The heating pack in self-heating hot pot releases a large amount of heat during the heating process, with steam temperatures reaching up to 200°C and releasing harmful gases. Previously, a news story broke abroad: a Chinese student eating self-heating hot pot triggered a smoke alarm due to the large amount of carbon monoxide released by the heating pack, leading to a fire brigade response. Even earlier, netizens reported that a self-heating hot pot shattered a 1-centimeter-thick glass table during heating, with table corners falling off and nearly hitting feet.
Therefore, when using self-heating hot pot, it is essential to strictly follow the instructions, ensure proper ventilation, and be cautious to avoid burns.
02 Industry Standards Urgently Needed According to the 2016 "Food Production License Classification Catalog" issued by the China Food and Drug Administration, instant food only includes instant noodles and instant rice; self-heating hot pot has not yet been included. As self-heating hot pot continues to sell well, it is closely related to consumer food safety and even life safety.
Given this trend, relevant authorities should accelerate research and issue unified standards for production inspection, qualification requirements for manufacturers, and other related regulations as soon as possible to ensure the industry develops in a standardized and orderly manner.
03 High Degree of Homogenization As mentioned earlier, most self-heating hot pots are produced by OEM companies, with ingredient packs and seasoning packs being nearly identical, resulting in a very high degree of homogenization. This is clearly detrimental to improving consumer experience and the long-term development of the industry.
For powerful big brands, the next step should focus on enhancing product quality and creating differentiated selling points. For small and medium businesses, they can also attract specific audiences by developing novel flavors.
Hot pot is an important part of China's traditional food culture, carrying profound cultural and emotional connotations. Self-heating hot pot, as a new form adapted to the times, further enhances the portability and accessibility of hot pot. Hopefully, in the future, with the joint efforts of government regulation and industry self-discipline, self-heating hot pot can achieve long-term orderly development, bringing consumers more convenience and benefits.
Source: Internet Hotspots (ID: wwwredian) -END-