"Rationality" is undoubtedly the key word of consumer trends in 2023.
On the one hand, the white-hot competition of major brands and the chaotic battle brought about by the rapid iteration of new and old players, on the other hand, consumers return to cost performance and vote with their feet to watch calmly. How to flexibly respond to changes in consumption trends, avoid falling into the dilemma of "bad money driving out good money", and how to grasp the initiative of its own development in the rhythm of economic cycle switching, is becoming an important topic in the industry. On December 22, Hefu Lao Mein, a leading Chinese catering brand, held a brand strategy and new product launch conference with the theme of "evolution", responding to changes with "evolution" and giving a reference for the sustainable development of the industry.
Frost & Sullivan released the "Blue Book of China's Noodle Industry" on the spot, in-depth interpretation of the huge opportunities in the trillion-dollar market size of the noodle track under the new normal of economic operation, and awarded the titles of "No. 1 Brand of Chinese Noodle Restaurant" and "Pioneer of Chinese Health Noodles" to Hefu Lao Mein.
Facing the new trend of rational consumption, Li Xuelin does Hefu 2The keynote speech of 0 strategic upgrade broke the theme of "evolution" with "health, green, and inclusiveness", and showed its innovative strength and brand sincerity from multiple dimensions such as brand concept, first-class stratification, open partnership, and strategic going overseas. In order to continue to deepen the field of health preservation, Hefu Lao Mian signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Nanjing Tongrentang Health to jointly explore new possibilities in the field of "medicine and food homology", and also reached a strategic cooperation with Rugao Agricultural Bureau to realize the direct procurement of longevity vegetables. In addition, the press conference opened the public welfare strategy of "Hefu Dream Building Project" and the public welfare donation ceremony of Huangjiaying Junior High School to support the construction of education in poverty-stricken areas and practice corporate social responsibility.
Sun Deli, deputy mayor of Rugao City: From Rugao to the world, praise for the "Hefu model".
Hefu Lao Mian is a well-known restaurant chain brand from our Rugao to the whole country, and it is one of the most representative enterprises in Rugao. "Healthy noodles in the study" is becoming a well-known delicious symbol, and Hefu Lao noodles are also expected to serve as a carrier of Chinese food culture and go to every street in the world.
For more than ten years, Hefu has applied retail thinking to the traditional catering industry, taking the standardization of Chinese food and the first-class chain system as an important breakthrough in brand independent innovation and an important starting point for the sustainable development of the brand, and focusing on product research and development, food safety and quality control, digital application and other aspects of the system layout, leading the development of Chinese catering brands, and also providing a set of "Hefu model" for the development of the catering industry.
As a star enterprise in Rugao, Hefu has driven the high-quality development of local industries in various sectors such as food processing, logistics cold chain, and information technology, and has cultivated and introduced a large number of professionals. Especially in the construction of the key core chain system, Hefu takes root in Rugao food culture, digs deep into local characteristic resources such as black tatami vegetables, and relies on nearly 100,000 square meters of Hefu Modern Food Industrial Park to promote the integrated development of local agriculture and service industries, and has made great contributions to the construction and development of his hometown, which is worthy of praise.
For a long time, Rugao has actively encouraged and vigorously supported the growth and development of enterprises like Hefu that understand the mission and responsibility, and will also pay close attention to the demands of enterprises at different stages of development, and give full play to the service attributes and roles of functional departments. In the future, it is hoped that Hefu will encourage innovation and excellence, strengthen the industrial layout and production and research technology, deepen the construction of the catering digital platform, continue to improve the standardization system of Chinese food, provide more sources of living water for the large-scale and refined operation of catering brands, and continue to inject new momentum and vitality into the high-quality development of the food industry.
Zhang Gejian, Partner and Managing Director of Frost & Sullivan Greater China: Hefu Lao Mian is firmly the No. 1 brand of Chinese noodle restaurants
China's economic development is undergoing a period of structural change, evolving from a period of rapid growth and growth-based dividends to a period of high-quality development and stable growth. Drawing on the experience of developed countries such as the United States and Japan, we find that in this change, although the catering industry will be affected, it will generally recover faster in the recovery stage, showing strong resilience and market resilience, and will also give birth to globally renowned brands such as KFC, McDonald's, and Saliya.
Now, our country's consumption is gradually recovering, and the consumer demand for catering in the terminal market is rapid, and the catering revenue from January to November increased by nearly two percent year-on-year. Among them, the pursuit of "cost-effective" and "quality-price ratio" has become a new trend of consumption, and in addition to the food itself, consumers' requirements for dining environment, experience, and function are also rising, such as the younger generation is paying more and more attention to health and wellness, and a consumption trend has been formed.
The change of consumption trend has triggered the fierce competition in the industry and accelerated the "involution" of catering enterprises, that is, to find a new balance between quality and quality. From the analysis of the competitive landscape, the "* melee" will often accelerate the "Matthew effect" of the industry, and the head advantage of large brands and large enterprises will begin to be highlighted. Standardization, digitalization, ecology, and chaining are the keys to modern catering enterprises to control total costs, scale benefits, and build moats.
Among the many subdivisions, noodles are what we focus on. The noodle restaurant has the characteristics of standardization and chaining, has strong attributes of large single products, and has a huge mass base at home and abroad, and is one of the most likely to run out of the Big Mac track. We have calculated the annual noodle consumption in the country in 2023, with a market size of nearly one trillion yuan, of which noodle restaurants contribute less than 30%. In the long run, the noodle track has a wide room for improvement and is very attractive.
Among the noodle brands, Hefu Lao Mian is the pioneer of Chinese-style health noodles, and its performance in all aspects is very eye-catching. According to statistics, as of September 2023, in the domestic noodle market, Hefu Lao Mian is the first in direct revenue, and the growth rate of direct revenue and the number of directly operated stores are leading the industry, ranking first in Chinese noodle restaurants.
The noodle track has a trillion scale and has enough soil to grow giants, so there are great opportunities for brands with a high degree of scale and standardization. Hefu has achieved the first place in Chinese noodle restaurants, and has first-mover advantages in the first chain, digital intelligence, and operation system, and the store model is very mature. In the future, whether it is a direct operation or an associate operation, this systematic ability can quickly empower the brand and efficiently blossom in the domestic market. Such advantageous conditions are scarce in the entire industry.
Li Xuelin, founder of Hefu Lao Mian: Use "stupid kung fu" to achieve "big dreams".
Standing at the starting point of Hefu again, it is the current self, and meeting the past self is a reunion after a long absence.
How did we do in the last decade?In the next ten years, how to carry out health care to the end, how to evolve yourself?
In the past two years, from disdain for health preservation, to attention to health preservation, and then to love health preservation, we have seen that the health blood of young people is awakening. Listening to the voices of young people and breaking the generation gap of health care is our sincerity in responding to the trend and the times. We officially launched the "Four Treasures of Health" with a comprehensive upgrade in quality - herbal soup, coarse grain noodles, longevity dishes, and health tea. At the same time, through the first stratification, the product matrix within 30 yuan will be expanded, bringing "quality and cost performance" to consumers, and achieving "high-end and inexpensive".
We hope that health care can belong to most people, and "delicious and tonic" does not have to be linked to high costs;I hope that no matter how the environment changes, everyone can enjoy a quality life. No matter how tired life is, consumers can maintain their health, heart and mind in Hefu. Full of energy, set off again.
Many people ask me, now that the cost of raw materials is rising, labor costs are rising, to ensure that the quality remains unchanged, and even to improve the quality, how can we still achieve this range. I want to say that after so many years, Hefu has made so many "stupid efforts" in the first chain, scientific research, and digital intelligence, and finally has the ability to make quality and cost performance, which is Hefu's confidence. As a restaurant chain enterprise, the back-end must be heavy, and the front-end can be more 'light', so as to better achieve scale.
We are one of the few brands in the industry that has laid out digitalization in the early stage, and has invested nearly 100 million yuan in digital intelligence construction, with 2 billion label data, more than 6,000 data touchpoints, and direct connection from the headquarters. The digital intelligence system has fallen into all aspects of the first-class chain and store operation, which can realize digital, intelligent, and refined management, respond flexibly and agilely, and also strengthen our data decision-making capabilities.
In addition, we are also building our own "green" competitiveness, promoting the transformation and upgrading of green energy-saving technologies, reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency, and the energy consumption of stores has recently achieved small results, reducing by 40%. I believe that futuristic catering brands will continue to achieve new self-innovation and promote the progress and breakthrough of the industry under the traction of technological development.
In terms of product research and development, many international celebrity chefs, state banquet chefs, and folk craftsmen have developed new products together with our professional team. We not only know what is delicious, but we also know why it is delicious, and we know how to make it more accessible to more people. In terms of food safety, we are the principle of zero tolerance, and will do it with higher requirements than national standards, and have invested nearly 10 million yuan to establish our own food safety laboratory.
Today, Hefu has footprints in more than 80 cities across the country, with more than 500 directly-operated stores and more than 20 million members. In the next ten years, Hefu will start the group strategy of "finding friends, going to sea, sinking, and deep layout". We want to open up the partner program and join hands with 5000+ strategic partners to develop multi-line marketsWe want to go to sea, take Hong Kong as a bridgehead, go abroad, go to Japan, Singapore and other countries to meet consumers around the world;We're going to sink down, down to 2000+ county-level units;We want to deepen the layout and encrypt the store network of the city.
Hefu is always trend-oriented and does not set goals for oneself in the comfort zone. The dream of this bowl of Chinese noodles is the original intention and mission of Hefu. We will continue to evolve until every street in the world has a Chinese flavor.
Evolution: Rooted downwards, grown upwards, leafy
Responding to change with "evolution" is to break through the upper limit inward and jump out of the comfort zone for Hefu Lao Mein.
Behind thousands of recipe adjustments and ingredient selection, the innovation and iteration of the 217 version of the menu, and the high-standard food safety testing of 2,000 batches per month are Hefu's ten-year pursuit of quality, as well as its "self-driving force" for continuous self-breakthroughs.
There is a clear understanding of going to sea, and there are also bold attempts, and the ecology is open to 5000+ partners, but it is necessary to choose from a hundred miles.
First, to the future, to scale and speed and high quality, is Hefu's persistence and confidence in China's taste, but also its rhythm and determination to expand against the trend.
When a group of people are all starting to be high-profile, staying humble is a luxury. Li Xuelin mentioned at the press conference that only those who are in awe can take root downward and grow upwards in order to flourish.