10 yuan for two meals, young people love "leftover blind boxes"

Everyone is familiar with "blind boxes", but have you heard of "leftover blind boxes"? Of course, the leftovers here are not the leftovers of the guests, but generally the food with a short shelf life. Recently, the "leftover blind boxes" are very popular and are deeply loved by young people. In this article, the author analyzes the reasons why young people fall in love with "leftover blind boxes" and delves into the essence of "leftover blind boxes". Let's take a look.

In a restaurant on the basement floor of CapitaLand Mall in Wangjing, after 9 o'clock every night, five sealed bags will be neatly placed on the table in the corner. The original price of the food inside ranges from 100 to 110 yuan, but after 9 o'clock, they are uniformly priced at 39.9 yuan, and will be sold out within an hour. They are given a fashionable name - leftover blind box.

The leftovers in the "leftovers blind box" are not the leftovers of the guests, but the food that has not left the kitchen, or simple meals such as baked cakes, coffee, sushi, etc.

These foods generally have a short shelf life of two to three days, or even the next day at the latest. The concept of "leftover blind boxes" is similar to the popular near-expiry foods in the past two years, but the former has a shorter shelf life and can only be sold in a short period of time before the restaurant closes every night, and can only be ordered online.

For the price-sensitive young people in the "leftovers world", 8 to 10 o'clock is the time of war for food.

On Douyin, you can see some people using "leftover blind boxes" for three meals a day. The blind boxes are low-priced, large in quantity, and enough to fill you up. If you're lucky, you can even win a surprise, such as a 7.9 yuan steamed dumpling set meal, 11.9 yuan for Mo Mo dim sum or Yuanmai Mountain, 19.9 yuan for a sushi gift pack... Almost all products are sold at one-third of the original price before the store closes.

According to the merchant, "The contents of each blind box are different. If they are the same, the customers will think we are fooling them." Some customers with many people in their families will buy multiple blind boxes at one time. The merchant said that if they are duplicate blind boxes, these customers will be able to tell them at a glance.

Hefan Finance observed several shops and found that most of the people picking up meals were young people, and their user profiles overlapped with those of working people entering and leaving office buildings.

Similar to the early dissemination chain of the "blind box" concept, the dissemination chain of the "leftover blind box" is concentrated on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, which also determines who will become the seed users of this concept.

The "leftovers blind box" platform also started expanding from first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The merchants that have settled in the platform are mainly concentrated in major business districts, mainly selling baked goods, supplemented by simple meals and healthy meals, and they are basically chain brands.

Both network location and geographical area determine the users of the "leftovers blind box". It is not as embarrassing as the word "leftovers" itself. It is more fashionable and has more social attributes under the secondary dissemination of users.

On social platforms such as Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin, "leftover blind boxes" have become a new topic concept for many UP hosts. Using single-digit money to buy food at more than three times the original price has attracted a large number of curious fans.

The earliest concept of "leftover blind box" originated overseas. UP hosts used an app called Too Good TO Go to place orders and buy goods at major chain restaurants at super low prices. The 14-episode overseas "leftover blind box" series of videos made by B station UP host "HOLA Xiaoce Lao" had an average video viewing volume of more than 3 million. In the comment section, the voices hoping to introduce this model were almost "explosive".

"Leftover Blind Box" is environmentally friendly and saves money, making it a perfect consumption option.

01

With the support of three labels: environmental protection and low carbon, blind box economy, and expiring food, the "leftover blind box" seems to be an attractive concept.

Overseas students and overseas Chinese have become the earliest concept promoters of the "leftover blind box". China has introduced similar models since 2021. The Magic Bag of Xishi is the earliest platform, mainly operating in mini programs, and has now entered Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hefei and other cities. Other similar products of the "leftover blind box" include Shanghai's Fun Bag, PAKE-AGE, Chengdu's Rice Grain Box, etc. However, except for the Magic Bag of Xishi, most of the other platforms have not left the city where the company is headquartered.

Such startups have hardly raised funds and have little marketing investment, so bloggers’ check-ins and reviews on social platforms have become the main marketing method for “leftover blind boxes.” Due to the needs of some UP hosts’ program effects, some high-price-difference, high-quality foods are selectively placed in the videos, which has also captured the hearts of many young people.

"Beijing finally has 'leftover blind boxes'." Zhuo Fan, who returned from studying in the United States, has used the overseas version of the "leftover blind box" a long time ago. After the domestic platform merchants settled near his company, he placed an order as soon as possible. "The whole pick-up process is similar to that of foreign apps. Make reservations in advance and pick up the food in the evening with the pick-up number. Everything is packed."

In the months since he bought the "leftovers blind box", Zhuo Fan has included the leftovers in his daily menu. According to the different shelf life of cakes and sushi, he divided them into breakfast and lunch the next day after placing the order. "My next order only costs about 10 yuan, which can solve two meals. These things are not only cheap, but also taste the same as those sold at the counter."

In the community of the “Leftover Blind Box” platform, someone wrote a short essay of more than 1,000 words, telling how after he lost his job and became impotent, when he was the poorest, the “Leftover Blind Box” became his main source of food. “Just when I was the poorest, Xishi unexpectedly jumped into my field of vision. Big data is so considerate. Big data felt the word ‘poor’ that I didn’t say, and gave me practical support and help.”

The operation of the "leftover blind box" in each store is not exactly the same. The clerk will decide the contents of the blind box based on the store's sales that night, and sometimes give customers who come to pick up the blind box the opportunity to choose their meals - customers can choose from what is left in the store. Of course, this is a special case. Most stores sell in packaged blind boxes. A store clerk said: "Not long ago, a customer came to pick up his meal and ordered another meal. He wanted to freely choose the meal in the second blind box. I said that our store does not have such a rule, and he complained to us."

Whether in the after-sales feedback of the blind box platform or the sharing content on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, the feedback on the products and services of the "leftover blind box" is basically "value" and "satisfaction". At present, the probability of complaints is still low. When some people began to study the business model of the "leftover blind box", they were persuaded by users to give up - they were worried that this relatively niche blind box format would be too popular and cause a lot of product problems.

02

Before the “leftovers blind box” became popular in China, whenever Douyin bloggers introduced the “leftovers blind box”, most of their opening remarks were “In order to save food, people in xx made the leftovers into blind boxes”, which shows that the “leftovers blind box” itself is both curious and inherently economical.

Too Good To Go describes on its official website that one-third of our food is wasted every year. This shocking statistic, which accumulates over time, will give Too Good To Go a unique advantage in ESG low-carbon assessments in the future, and will also make them favored by overseas investment institutions.

Image source: Too Good To Go official website

For consumers, every time they consume a "leftover blind box", there is a reason to save money and protect the environment, which has allowed Too Good To Go to accumulate 12.6 million users and more than 25,000 partners worldwide.

Compared with Too Good To Go, the originator of the leftovers blind box model, several domestic platforms are still in a very early stage. Take the Food Magic Bag as an example. After positioning itself in Beijing’s Wangjing business district, there are only about 10 merchant brands that can place orders within 10 kilometers. This is still in areas where merchants on the platform are relatively dense. In more non-business district areas, it is common that there are no orders within 5 kilometers.

The Food Magic Bag is already the platform with the largest coverage area in China. Other platforms are limited to Shanghai and Chengdu, and are currently small and beautiful. Therefore, for many users, they cannot place an order whenever they want.

In addition, domestic platforms have not yet effectively solved the problem of how to avoid pitfalls. On Too Good To Go, store ratings can help you make decisions to a great extent. In the 5-point rating system, 4.5 points has become a relatively standard score line for avoiding pitfalls due to the accumulation of sufficient sample rating data.

However, the number of ratings on domestic platforms is currently limited. If you want to test the quality of a certain "leftover blind box", you can only serve as a guinea pig yourself.

A store manager told Hefan Finance, "In fact, the platform has no way to evaluate the quality of the products we put in the blind boxes. What to put in the boxes on the day and what quality standards to put in are completely decided by a waiter in the store who is responsible for bagging."

In other words, at least in some shops, the surprises in every "leftover blind box" are purely personal decisions, and even the shop managers and brand owners are not involved.

In addition, according to the store manager, the "leftover blind box" is not a good business for the store. "In the past, we did buy one get one free or half-price activities before closing. This kind of activity actually has higher profits and can attract more passers-by."

Many stores that sell fresh food have long had their own way of dealing with leftovers, first offering discounts and promotions, and then distributing the rest to store employees or neighboring stores in the mall. "All the original prices we marked are real, but we really can't make money. The company asked us to do it, so we did it. I bought the packaging bags for these blind boxes myself at the wholesale market. Although it doesn't make money, it is indeed a very environmentally friendly thing."

According to the store clerk, the current blind box sales in the store are still relatively stable, without too much fluctuation, about five bags a day. "At first I packed ten bags, but found that this would leave customers who came to the store before closing time with nothing to buy, so later we fixed it to five bags."

On the overseas Too Good To Go platform, the number of "leftover blind boxes" sold by stores in many regions is about five. In the business districts or wealthy areas of New York and Los Angeles in the United States, because there are more dense platform stores, some Douyin UP masters can grab a large number of cost-effective leftovers between 8 and 11 o'clock. The concept of "leftover blind boxes" is still in a relatively early stage in China, and there is a lack of basic awareness both among brand partners and users.

03

Like many innovative platform businesses, the "leftover blind box" needs a scale effect to realize its commercial value. Judging from the current partners of the blind box platform, they are mainly chain brands, and there are very few individual merchants. A store clerk said that the platform charges a commission of 8 yuan for a blind box priced at 39.9 yuan per bag, which is about one-fifth of the product price. Based on the price of 10 to 40 yuan for a blind box, this low-price feature requires access to a large number of chain brands to achieve the most basic geographical coverage and revenue issues. For example, Starbucks and other catering giants have already cooperated with To Good To Go abroad, but domestic platforms have not yet been connected.

There are still some unresolved risks in China as to whether the "leftover blind box" can be scaled up, or even whether venture capital and local life giants will enter, especially the uncertainty of whether food can be blind-boxed.

In the "Guidelines for Regulating Blind Box Business Activities (Trial) (Draft for Comments)" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation on August 16, 2022, there is an important item that medicines, medical devices, special cosmetics, toxic and harmful items, flammable and explosive items, live animals, food, etc., which have strict requirements on usage conditions, storage and transportation, inspection and quarantine, supervision and management, etc., shall not be sold in the form of blind boxes.

Food is prominently listed.

The store clerk also told Hefan Finance that the platform is not currently regulating the quality of food in the “leftover blind boxes”.

Inquiries on BOSS Zhipin and Qichacha found that several "leftover blind box" companies are basically small-scale teams. The teams of Xishi Magic Bag and Mili Box are both less than 100 people, and even only about 50 people. With such a small number of people, it is almost impossible to supervise the food quality of cooperative stores in more than a dozen cities.

To exaggerate, the quality of the leftovers in the blind box depends on the personal character of the service staff and even his mood that day.

According to the "Insider Guide for Restaurant Owners", how to use near-expiry food is a taboo topic for restaurant people and is in a gray area. There are some manufacturers who collude with distributors or terminal catering companies to return near-expiry food ingredients and modify the shelf life, which is illegal.

In the "leftover blind box" where quality control supervision is almost zero, consumers have no way of knowing about the involvement of this set of gray operations.

"Blind boxes are a very small part of our daily work. No one will supervise me, but I don't want any customer to be disappointed by the blind boxes I packed." A store clerk showed her carefully selected exquisite packaging bags, as well as different foods in each bag. She said, "I remind every customer that these things must be eaten by tomorrow noon at the latest. Before that, I guarantee that they will be fine and delicious."

Not every shop assistant is so responsible for his or her own shop, but just like when we dine in all restaurants, no restaurant can completely avoid the mysteries of the kitchen. When eating out, the most insightful self-reflection is the famous saying of Liu Yong, a well-known Indian wild food blogger - clean and hygienic.

Author: Yin Lei

Source: WeChat public account "Hefan Finance (ID: daxiongfan)"