Source: Restaurant Boss Insider

A loaf of bread costs 35 yuan

High-priced baking makes a comeback

Who would have thought that at a time when high-priced baking brands have died one after another, 2 yuan bread is blooming all over the country, and the consumption trend is shifting more and more towards cost-effectiveness, a force is rising against the wind.

Recently, #Is it unfair for private baking to be criticized# has become a hot search, triggering discussions among many netizens. Under the hot search topic, a 6-inch Basque cake in a private baking in Beijing costs 258 yuan, which is almost the same as some baking chain brands on the market.

However, according to relevant calculations, if the display results of the professional baking applet are used, only 7 ingredients are needed to make an 842g (6 inches or more) Basque cake.

Specifically, for example, 300g of Kerry's original cream cheese costs 31.5 yuan, 80g of Taikoo's premium white sugar costs 1.8 yuan, and 10 ml of Levna costs 0.3 yuan, and the total cost of ingredients is about 47.9 yuan.

The raw materials in these statistics are the most commonly used brands and are in the mid-to-high-end range. Whether compared with the upper or lower ones, the estimated results will not differ too much.

In March this year, relevant media also reported the outrageous private baking in county towns: in the catering market in county towns, the more and more coffees below 9.9 correspond to the less and less breads below 9.9.

Private baking merchants in county towns sell bread through WeChat applet and also launch a pre-sale mechanism.

However, a 200-gram pure milk hand-torn bag costs 22 yuan, and a mouse-sized alkaline water bag costs 15 yuan or more; two bagels for 69 yuan are only the size of a fist, and the fillings in a European bag for 55 yuan are only one-third.

These prices are "sky-high" in county towns. At the same time, some baked products have to wait for a pre-sale period of up to half a month, and some have to be purchased for a full 188 yuan to meet the free shipping standard.

A consumer responded, "The price is sky-high, and the attitude is too bad! This is less than 200 yuan. I said it was expensive, and I was kicked out of the group chat." Later, the consumer had to switch to Sam's Club in the county to buy on his behalf.

But "sky-high price complaints" do not affect the emergence of private baking all over the country. At present, on Xiaohongshu, the number of notes for the keyword #私房烘烧# is more than 460,000, and the number of views is as high as 160 million times.

It must be mentioned that private baking is also one of the famous "most unprovoked groups" on Xiaohongshu. Specifically, whenever netizens complain or question that it is a bit expensive, a wave of people will immediately refute it: the materials are different and the degree of care is different.

However, many netizens are still skeptical about the high price of private baking. In their opinion, although private baking claims to use high-quality raw materials and fine hand-made, its high price has not been fully proven.

I happen to have a friend who does private baking, and she has her own opinion on this issue:

"I have also done baking myself. The raw materials are not cheap and the operation is also troublesome. The scale and equipment for home use cannot reach the level of mass production, so the cost is also difficult to reduce. But I still think that it is not necessary to set the price here. It is difficult to use personal working hours as a reasonable pricing basis. It is impossible to raise the price of your products by always belittling others for not knowing the business."

At present, the discussion of private baking has become extremely controversial on social platforms.

Is it unfair for private baking to be criticized?

Although not every bakery with a "private" sign represents high quality, many consumers nowadays mostly assume that private baking represents pure handmade and healthier. This healthy and environmentally friendly concept has attracted a large number of health-conscious consumers.

Therefore, there have been more and more new entrants into private baking in the past two years. In particular, the initial investment of private baking is relatively low, and there is no need to rent expensive shops or hire a large number of employees. Many young people use private baking as a new source of income.

However, how should we view the fact that private bakery products are sold at prices comparable to or even slightly higher than brand chains?

First, baking is not easy, and most people just want to make quick money.

The baking business is not easy. In the baking industry, more than 100,000 stores have closed down in a year, and the top brands have gone downhill, not to mention some non-chain stores with poor risk resistance. Not only that, in recent years, from dirty buns to bagels, from alkaline bread to Swiss rolls... the life cycle of each popular online baking product is at most one quarter.

A large number of catering entrepreneurs choose private baking to enter this industry. Some private baking stores may indeed be operating attentively and providing high-quality products and services, but there are also many people who have no intention of long-term operation and excellence, but hope to make quick profits through high prices.

This not only leads to the market being flooded with private baking products of varying quality, but also exacerbates the chaos in the private baking market.

Second, pricing strategies and operating models still need more transparency.

Compared with traditional brand chain bakery, private bakery does not need to pay high store rent, decoration costs and employee salaries, etc., saves the cost of store leasing and commercial property management, does not need to invest a lot of money in advertising, marketing and brand maintenance, and greatly reduces the overall operating costs.

To eliminate consumers' doubts about the high price of private bakery, it is necessary to formulate pricing strategies more transparently and reasonably, and at the same time improve product quality and service experience to win consumer trust.

Third, consumers' price anchoring of bakery products is becoming increasingly vague.

The diversity and complexity of the baking market make consumers' expectations of product prices increasingly unclear. From cheap two-yuan bread to high-priced brand chains, to more expensive private bakery, the price range is wide and overlapping, which is affecting consumers' perception and expectations of bakery product prices.

In addition, it is a fact that bakery products are originally high-premium products in the minds of many consumers. In particular, the loss rate of bakery products is very high, and some chain bakery brands sell them at higher prices to make up for the high loss.

How far can private catering go?

In addition to private baking, other private catering is also booming, such as private stewed rice, private rice noodles, private yogurt, private health drinks, etc., all of which have entered the market under the banner of "handmade" and "handmade".

According to a survey by Luoyang Times, 25% of residents' community consumption accounts for 30%-60% of their disposable income. The "last mile" community consumption circle is still a large market cake.

Not only in the community, some scenic spots are also on the rise, and some have even become scenic spot Internet celebrity check-in points.

But can these businesses last long?

In fact, you can refer to the "adult small dining table" that was popular last year. Last year, the "adult small dining table" was all the rage on the short video platform. There is no need for a store, no need to go out to set up a stall, and cooking at home can be done by one person. It seems to have low investment and high returns. The "adult small dining table" has attracted many young people who want to do side jobs.

However, just a few months later, the adult small dining table went bankrupt one after another. There are multiple reasons behind this phenomenon, including unfair prices, unstable taste, unstable customer base, and internal competition.

For private restaurants, it is actually similar.

First, if the price is set too high, due to the lack of brand awareness and market credibility, and the failure to provide the corresponding sense of value, the actual experience of consumers fails to meet expectations, which will cause them to question the rationality of the price.

Second, private restaurants rely on the personal cooking level and experience of the operator, and the quality control is relatively loose. The fluctuation of taste and quality makes it difficult for consumers to form stable loyalty. A meal with excellent taste may attract consumers to come again, but if the experience is not good next time, consumers are likely to not come back.

Furthermore, private restaurants mostly acquire customers through social media and word-of-mouth communication. In the early stage, they may attract a large number of customers because of novelty and good reviews, but this popularity is usually difficult to sustain. After consumers try it, it is difficult to form a long-term and stable customer base without continuous quality and service guarantees.

Finally, as more and more entrepreneurs flock to the private catering market, due to the lack of obvious brand and differentiation advantages, many private catering can only attract customers through price wars and various promotional means, resulting in serious internal competition in the industry. Price wars not only reduce profit margins, but also affect the healthy development of the overall market.