In the baking industry, a “quiet revolution” is being staged. Walking into a convenience store, casually pick up the kosher may be half a year ago on the frozen preservation; milk tea store in the explosion of the Ou Bao, perhaps from thousands of miles away from the centralized factory. Frozen bakery - this once hidden in the back end of the industry chain “invisible player”, is now becoming a super, tea brands scramble for the “meat and potatoes”.

Why is it suddenly on the wind? Is the inevitable consumption upgrade, or the cost pressure forced? Today, we will cut this piece of attractive “cake” to see what business code is hidden inside. If you want to know more, welcome to Bakery exhibition.

“Frozen” out of the hundreds of billions of market baking industry why the collective “cold” thinking?

The outbreak of frozen baking is not accidental, but the result of multiple factors. On the one hand, the traditional baking industry faces high labor and rent costs, and a bakery needs professional masters and expensive equipment, while frozen baking only requires thawing and re-baking, which significantly reduces the operation threshold. On the other hand, Generation Z's demand for “convenience” far exceeds the sentiment of “ready-to-sell”, and frozen products precisely satisfy their consumption habit of “enjoying anytime, anywhere”.

More critically, the maturity of the supply chain has transformed frozen bakery from “just” to “sophisticated”. In the past, frozen bread was often criticized for its dry and hard texture, but nowadays, through liquid nitrogen quick-freezing, yeast dormancy and other technologies, the defrosted products can almost be mistaken for the real thing. When consumers can not tell the difference between “frozen” and “freshly baked”, the rules of the game have been rewritten.

Convenience stores in the “time magic” why frozen kosher is more “flavorful” than freshly baked?

In the freezer of convenience stores, frozen bakery is staging a “time magic”. Traditional bread has a shelf life of only 2-3 days, while frozen dough can be kept for 6-12 months, which means that brands can centralize production and national distribution, completely solving the pain point of “uneven regional supply”. Rosen, the whole family and other convenience store giants are looking at this point, the frozen kosher, Danish pastry as a standard breakfast, not only to ensure stable quality, but also to reduce scrap losses.

But what is the price of this magic? Some consumers are still suspicious of “frozen food”, believing that it is not healthy or fresh enough. In this regard, the brand's response strategy is “not to actively inform”, and even “now baked, now sold” marketing tactics to deal with ambiguity. In the future, as consumer awareness improves, frozen bakery may need to be more transparent communication, otherwise the “crisis of confidence” may become a stumbling block to the development of the industry.

Milk tea store's new weapon: why a cup of milk tea with a piece of “frozen bread”?

Tea drinks brand cross-border bread, has long been no novelty, but frozen baking to make this model truly replicable. Tea drink brands through the centralized factory production of frozen dough, and then distributed to the stores baking, both to save space and ensure quality control. What's smarter is that they bundle the bread with the milk tea, which not only raises the unit price, but also strengthens the “scenario consumption” - after all, when you eat the bread, you will want to drink the milk tea, and when you drink the milk tea, you may want to pair it with the bread.

However, over-reliance on the frozen supply chain may also weaken brand differentiation. The aura of “handmade freshly made” will fade when the taste of soft oyster buns from different tea stores converge. How to balance efficiency and uniqueness? Perhaps in the future there will be a brand to play the “semi-frozen + on-site processing” combination punch, not only to retain the advantages of industrialization, but also to maintain the “freshness” persona.

Who is dividing the cake? Is frozen bakery a wind mouth or a bubble?

Head enterprises have occupied the first-mover advantage, while small and medium-sized brands are facing the plight of high cold chain costs and limited channel resources. What's more serious is that the industry standard has not yet been unified, which may trigger consumers to question the category as a whole in the long run.

In the future, the competition in frozen bakery will not only lie in “technology”, but also in “brand narrative”. Consumers ultimately buy not a piece of frozen dough, but a way of life. Who can tell the story of “technology makes deliciousness more convenient”, who will be able to get the biggest piece of cake in the 100 billion market.

The three future trends of frozen bakingThe ultimate game of efficiency, experience and trust

A new chapter of efficiency: how can frozen bakery open up a “win-win era” in the catering industry? The essence of frozen bakery is the inevitable result of the process of catering industrialization. It makes the model of “centralized factory + terminal reheating” possible, and completely changes the high cost structure of traditional bakery relying on “front store and back factory”. In the future, with the popularization of automated production and intelligent cold chain, the cost of frozen bakery has further down space, and may even give birth to “bakery chain brands” - the ultimate cost-effective and rapid expansion to subvert the industry pattern.

But the extreme efficiency may also bring side effects: when all brands are using the same frozen dough, how to create differentiation? Perhaps the future winner is not simply price, but a combination of “supply chain efficiency + product micro-innovation.

Magic on the tongue: how can technology make frozen baking “fresh”? Consumers' obsession with “fresh and ready-made” will not disappear, but frozen bakery is using technology to approach this ideal infinitely. Liquid nitrogen flash freezing, yeast dormancy, and precision re-baking technology ...... are some of the black technologies that make defrosted bread almost look real. But the question is: how much of a premium are consumers willing to pay for the taste of “close to freshly baked”?

Future breakthroughs may be in the “experience design” - for example, convenience stores with freshly baked aroma + transparent baking room to create a “freshly baked” atmosphere, or tea brands with a “frozen base + on-site embellishments” (such as freshly squeezed cream, freshly cut fruits) to strengthen the sense of craftsmanship. Technology determines the lower limit, experience determines the upper limit.

Transparent Era Frozen Bakery Wins Consumers' Heart with Sincerity: Currently, many brands are secretive about their “frozen” status for fear of breaking consumers' “freshness fantasy”. But how long can this vague strategy last? As information becomes more transparent, a new generation of consumers is likely to be more rational - just like accepting a frozen steak or a frozen durian, the key is not whether it's frozen or not, but whether it's honest and trustworthy.

Successful brands in the future may take the initiative to embrace transparency, such as using “-18℃ freshness lock” as a selling point, or even opening up the supply chain for traceability. When the industry shifts from “hidden” to “open and aboveboard”, frozen bakery can really turn from a wind mouth into the norm.

(source: Global Baking Guide)