On July 1st, the new regulations for waste classification in Shanghai began to be implemented. Many residents chose to purchase Food Waste Disposers (FWD) to reduce the trouble of garbage sorting. In the press conference held recently, the Director of the Shanghai Municipal Greening and City Management Bureau clearly stated that “the family is not recommended to use FWD to dispose household food waste”. Even if the official does not currently support the use of FWD, the deepening of China's waste sorting management will inevitably promote the penetration of FWD in China.
Dilemma of disposing household food waste
After the classification of garbage, hazardous waste, recyclable waste and residual waste (except shells, pig bones, etc.) are not easy to be corrupted, and there is no urgent need for dumping. It is not difficult for residents to dump them only in the prescribed time. Even residents who are unsure of their working hours or affected by the “996” work system can handle these long-term preserved dumps at rest. However, the household food waste is easy to spoil and is easy to breed bacteria. When the temperature is high, it is easy to attract mosquitoes. Therefore, household food waste must be disposed of as soon as possible.
At present, Shanghai adopts a method of regularly dumping garbage. This method is similar to the countries that have been implementing waste management for a long time, like Japan. And this may also be a common measure for rest cities to follow. This method of handling garbage is conducive to urban sanitation management, especially to timely dispose of household food waste dumped by residents, and avoid the accumulation of large amount of household food waste for a long time. But this does bring some inconvenience to residents' lives. In the past, household food waste can be disposed of at any time, but now it needs to be hoarded for hours or even overnight at home. For residents who cannot dump garbage at the specified time due to work reasons, the situation is even more difficult.
FWD is popular for waste sorting management
FWD directly solves the tough problems mentioned above. In addition to several types which are difficult to smash, such as carapace and pig bones, a large amount of easily spoiled garbage can be shattered and flowed into the sewer pipe immediately after preparation or meal. Household food waste is no longer piled up, there is no smell and no bacteria to breed, and dumping garbage is not a daily homework. From the surge in sales of the FWD, it is known to all that residents agree with this solution.
In May, the sales volume of FWD on each platform was 7,830 units, which surged to 23,076 units in June, and sales volume increased by 194.7%. In the past 618 Promotion, the sales of Jingdong's FWD ushered in a geometric multiple, with in half-hour，the sales revenue reached 3.5 times that of last year; Suning's sale of FWD has increased by 612.85% year-on-year.
According to the plan, the 46 main cities will basically complete the garbage sorting system by the end of 2020. Shanghai residents bought 12% of the FWD, and the residents of rest cities will become potential users of it. The FWD is undoubtedly the most popular product at present.
Two leading brands: In Sink Erator and Becbas
At present, the Chinese market for FWD is dominated by In Sink Erator and Chinese local company Becbas. There are 9 models of In Sink Erator in the Chinese market and the retail prices range from 1699 to 5999 yuan. And the product models of In Sink Erator are concentrated in the mid-high-end market.
The FWD sold by Becbas have 13 models, and the retail prices range from 1199 yuan to 6280 yuan, and the price span is larger than that of In Sink Erator. Among these 13 models, 5 models are below 2000 yuan, and accounting for more than 38% of all models of the Becbas.
Becbas invested more on low-end market
Founded by the inventor of the FWD, In Sink Erator has a history of more than 100 years and its users are all over the world. It has more brand effect and word of mouth effect than Becbas. Founded in 1997, the brand accumulation of Becbas is not as good as ln Sink Erator, but it has a local advantage as a Chinese domestic brand. The close rivalry of these two brands is also reflected in sales.
The sales on the most popular platform are similar
However, in different price ranges, ln Sink Erator and Becbas's market share is not similar. In the low-end market below 3000 yuan, Becbas's sales on the same platform are more than twice that of In Sink Erator. In the mid-to-high-end market over 3000 yuan, In Sink Erator has an absolute advantage, and Becbas's sales is only 11% of In Sink Erator.
In Sink Erator benefited from its long history in mid-high market
Low-end FWD can meet the needs of most Chinese residents
Although FWD has entered the Chinese market for more than 10 years, the penetration rate is not high. At present, waste sorting management is in the ascendant. The consumption demand of most Chinese residents is only related to simplifying the waste sorting process, and the performance requirements of the FWD are not high. In this case, the low-end entry products that meet the minimum requirements are the most sold. In addition, the 3000-4000 price model were sold many for being close to the highest configuration.
More Chinese citizens chose cheap food waste disposers
100 billion-level Chinese market
At present, the penetration rate of China's FWD is less than 0.5%, which is far behind that of the United States’ 50%. Although China's existing urban sewer design can only withstand about 10% Chinese families to use FWD, the market for FWD is still very broad considering about China's population base.
The number of families in China is currently about 450 million. It is predicted that the number will exceed 500 million in 2040, and will begin to decrease after reaching a peak (504 million) in 2045, and will remain at 500 million by 2050. Even if China's sewer system is difficult to improve in the near future, with the penetration rate of FWD reaches 10%, which means that 45 million Chinese families are equipped with FWD, then the market size will exceed 100 billion yuan.
Food waste disposers market is still huge in China
Ordinary FWD cannot be quickly popularized
Before the popularization of FWD, it is necessary to complete the reconstruction of rain and sewage mixing point and upgrade sewage plant, both of which take time. When the reconstruction of rain and sewage mixing point has not been completed, the kitchen waste is broken and discharged directly into the nature, polluting the river and environment.
Shanghai is expected to complete reconstruction of rain and sewage mixing point by 2020. At present, more than 13,000 mixing points have been identified, and there are still more than 6,000 remain the same.
In addition to the reconstruction of rain and sewage mixing point, the renovation of the sewage plant will take time. As the permeability in the garbage pulverizer rises, the solid matter that enters the sewage pipe increases. Sewage plants need to update equipment and change the original treatment, and these upgrades also take time.
Reconstruction of rain and sewage mixing point is undone
In addition, the pulverized kitchen waste may form a blockage in the pipeline, and the grease attached to the kitchen waste may aggravate the blockage. According to the model information given by the manufacturer, the abrasive particles of the low-end products are larger, which is more likely to cause blockage.
Considering about the eating habits of Chinese residents, most of the dishes are cooked by means of hot frying. The oil is closely combined with the ingredients, and more grease is attached to the garbage that needs to be treated after the meal. When the grease is combined with the ground kitchen waste in the sewer pipe, it is easy to form a knot, and the probability of blockage in the pipe will be higher when the temperature is lower.
Entry lever FWD of In Sink Erator has larger particle
China's blue sea in FWD industry
The FWD market in China is large, but producing similar products is not enough to compete with brands like In Sink Erator. Even the Leading Chinese company Becbas was rebuffed in the competition for the middle-high-end market. Its market share of the middle-high-end market accounts only 11% of In Sink Erator.
Becbas is not competitive in mid-high-end market
Among the reasons why the Chinese government does not support the residents to install FWD now, the blue sea of the FWD Chinese market is hidden.
At present, the use of FWD in China is a non-filtering device and there is no supporting biological treatment system in the sewer pipe of the community, that is, the single use of FWD. Unlike the official Chinese unsupported attitude, Tokyo prohibits the use of such monomers. In the regulations of the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan, it is clearly stated that the use of monomer can cause blockage of pipes, cause foul odor, and cause obstacles in sewage treatment.
There are only two cases where the FWD can be used in Tokyo. The body is equipped with a filtering device, or a biological treatment system is installed in the sewer pipe of the community.
Different from the reconstruction of the sewer pipe, the modification of FWD is controllable by the enterprise. For newly entered enterprises, producing FWD with filtration and powder drying functions will be beneficial in the opening of the market. After filtration, the solid particles of the kitchen waste remain in the body and can be taken out by the user after drying. This would solve the problem of potential pipeline blockage and does not burden the urban sewage treatment.
More importantly, FWD with filter device is not restricted by the urban sewage treatment capacity. Now China can only afford 45 million households to use FWD, but FWD with filter device can be used for all families in China.
Before the upgrading of China's urban construction, that is, the upgrading of residential sewers, the completion of rain-contamination and the upgrading of sewage treatment plants, ordinary FWD can only have a market of 45 million families. If the company is able to produce FWD with filtration equipment in large scale, then it solves the problem from the source, and will have the opportunity to surpass the leading enterprises.
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