---
title: "Plunging 75%! The 'First Stock of Pre-made Dishes' Crashes!"
description: "The 'pre-made dishes' sector is collapsing. This year, the A-share 'first stock of pre-made dishes' has faced a double whammy of declining performance and falling stock price. Weizhixiang's financial report revealed a 43.37% year-on-year drop in net profit for the first half, and its stock price hit a low of 16.38 yuan per share on September 18. From its peak, the cumulative decline exceeds 75%, with market value evaporating over 10.8 billion yuan, leaving only 2.793 billion yuan. As the pre-made dishes trend cools, other giants in the sector are also struggling."
author: "侃见财经"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2024-10-12"
language: "en"
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---

# Plunging 75%! The 'First Stock of Pre-made Dishes' Crashes!

> The 'pre-made dishes' sector is collapsing. This year, the A-share 'first stock of pre-made dishes' has faced a double whammy of declining performance and falling stock price. Weizhixiang's financial report revealed a 43.37% year-on-year drop in net profit for the first half, and its stock price hit a low of 16.38 yuan per share on September 18. From its peak, the cumulative decline exceeds 75%, with market value evaporating over 10.8 billion yuan, leaving only 2.793 billion yuan. As the pre-made dishes trend cools, other giants in the sector are also struggling.

Kan Jian Finance: The 'pre-made dishes' sector is collapsing. This year, the A-share 'first stock of pre-made dishes' has had a tough time, with both performance and stock price suffering. Weizhixiang's financial report suddenly revealed a 43.37% year-on-year drop in net profit for the first half, and its stock price continued to decline, hitting a low of 16.38 yuan per share on September 18. As of the latest close, it has fallen over 75% from its listing peak, with market value evaporating over 10.8 billion yuan, leaving only 2.793 billion yuan. The pre-made dishes trend has suddenly cooled, and other giants in the sector are also struggling. Competition in the B-end market is intensifying, with leading companies like Qianwei Central Kitchen frequently mentioning the issue of 'intensified competition in the B-end market.'

As consumer-end market growth slows and enterprise-end competition intensifies, the pre-made dishes track faces unprecedented challenges.

**Plunging 75%**

Even 'pre-made dishes' can't hold up. This year, the A-share 'first stock of pre-made dishes' has had a tough time, with both performance and stock price suffering. Recently, Weizhixiang, known as the 'first stock of pre-made dishes,' released its latest financial report, showing that in the first half of this year, Weizhixiang achieved revenue of approximately 327 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 21.53%; net profit was approximately 42.2891 million yuan, a significant year-on-year drop of 43.37%. In the financial report, Weizhixiang explained that the revenue decline was mainly due to the impact of the market environment.

**In terms of store count, Weizhixiang's franchise stores decreased from 1,823 at the beginning of the reporting period to 1,778, with 82 new franchise stores added and 127 closed during the reporting period.** From the financial report, Weizhixiang's franchise business is not doing well. Reviewing historical financial data, it's not hard to see that Weizhixiang's franchise store count has been rapidly expanding over the past few years. From 2018 to 2022, the number of franchise stores surged from 440 to 1,695. Financial data shows that in 2023, Weizhixiang's franchise store model contributed revenue of 428 million yuan, accounting for 54.35% of main business revenue, a slight increase of 0.65% compared to 2022. In the first half of 2024, franchise store revenue was 176 million yuan, a significant year-on-year decline of 20.6%. Moreover, more franchise stores closed than opened in the first half—82 new openings and 127 closures, bringing the total to 1,778 by the end of June 2024.

**The most direct reason franchisees close stores is that they can't make money.** At the performance communication meeting for the first half of 2024, Weizhixiang stated that the change in franchise store numbers in Q2 was partly due to the macro environment reducing store profitability, and some owners with poor operations saw no hope and chose to close. As the operating situation becomes increasingly severe, the capital market is also voting with its feet, and Weizhixiang's stock price continues to decline, hitting a low of 16.38 yuan per share on September 18, a new low since listing. As of the latest close, it has fallen over 75% from its listing peak. According to public data, Weizhixiang was founded in 2008 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2021, mainly engaged in the R&D, production, and sales of semi-finished dishes. According to the financial report, Weizhixiang's sales model is mainly distribution, with a small amount of direct sales, all on a buyout basis. The company's sales channels are mainly divided into retail and wholesale channels, with retail channels further divided into distribution store channels and franchise store channels based on company management policies, brand authorization, and customer conditions.

**The three years of the pandemic combined with the 'lazy economy' brought pre-made dishes to the forefront, and Weizhixiang successfully listed on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming the 'first stock of pre-made dishes.'**

**The Trend Suddenly Cools**

'Pre-made dishes' originated in the United States, referring to convenient dishes prepared in advance using industrial assembly lines, then hygienically and scientifically packaged, and ready to eat after simple cooking. Many research institutions have optimistically predicted: **If calculated at a 20% compound annual growth rate, in the next 6-7 years, China's pre-made dishes industry will form a trillion-yuan market, ultimately reaching 3 trillion yuan.** This prospect has attracted many players to enter. Qichacha data shows that there are currently 8,544 pre-made dish-related enterprises in China. Since 2021, the number of pre-made dish enterprises has increased significantly, with new registrations in Q1 2024 being more than 15 times that of the same period last year. According to Hongcan Industry Research Institute statistics, the pre-made dishes field had over 30 financing projects in both 2021 and 2022, with amounts ranging from millions to hundreds of millions, including brands like Zhenwei Xiaomeiyuan, Huahua Shijie, and Yinshi.

**But in the eyes of ordinary consumers, 'pre-made dishes' have always been filled with negative emotions and associations.** Therefore, Weizhixiang seems to deliberately avoid using the term 'pre-made dishes' in its store and product names, instead using 'semi-finished dishes.' In recent years, the pre-made dishes trend has suddenly cooled, and other giants in the sector are also struggling. Among them, Anjing Food's Q2 net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 2.51% year-on-year and 16.89% quarter-on-quarter; Chunxue Food's revenue in the first half of 2024 was 1.164 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 15.47%; Qianwei Central Kitchen's pre-made dishes business growth has also slowed significantly...

As the bubble bursts, is the pre-made dishes track completely doomed? Currently, C-end consumers' attitudes towards pre-made dishes are mainly negative. When talking about 'pre-made dishes,' most consumers say 'unhealthy,' 'not nutritious,' 'leftovers'... C-end consumers have low recognition and acceptance of pre-made dishes, even turning pale at the mention. According to China Business Data Network, the current 'pre-made dishes' market in China is mainly sold to B-end restaurants, with C-end accounting for only 15%. Because 'pre-made dishes' have advantages such as easy storage, transportation, and reduced labor, more and more catering brands are choosing pre-made dishes as raw materials. Currently, competition in the B-end market for 'pre-made dishes' is also intensifying, with leading companies like Qianwei Central Kitchen frequently mentioning the issue of 'intensified competition in the B-end market.' Qianwei Central Kitchen even warned of risks: 'With the entry of large frozen food enterprises, future B-end market competition may become more intense, posing challenges to the company's development.' Slowing growth in the consumer-end market and intensifying competition in the enterprise-end market have become new characteristics of the 'pre-made dishes' industry.

**Conclusion**

The pre-made dishes trend has had its ups and downs. Some entrepreneurs who entered may have tasted success, but many have lost everything. Industry media monitoring data shows that in 2022 and 2023, China built 31 pre-made dish industrial parks in the east, 22 in the central region, and 21 in the west. A market observer said that after entering 2024, enthusiasm for building pre-made dish industrial parks has plummeted, and now no one wants to build them. If already operational pre-made dish industrial parks do not achieve major breakthroughs and innovations, many may become ruins in the future.

**As consumer-end market growth slows and enterprise-end competition intensifies, the pre-made dishes track faces unprecedented challenges.** It is foreseeable that in China's catering market, 'pre-made dishes' still have a long way to go.


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