Recently, the news that the Chinese burger brand "Tustin" has completed a new round of financing has attracted much attention from the catering industry.
According to the refrigeration industry weekly, in addition to Tustin, many Chinese burger brands such as Limburgburg and Maixiburg have received financing, and Chinese burger restaurants have been in the limelight.
The rise of Chinese burger restaurants has led to the rapid development of Chinese burger blanks. Guangzhou Aokun Food***, Guangzhou Maikeyi Food***, Fuzhou Kedudu Food***, Qingdao Jinchengda Food***, etc., have launched Chinese-style hamburger blanks.
So, why is Chinese burgers so popular?What are the key technologies?How much market capacity is there?What are the prospects for the future?
PK Western Express giant Chinese burger restaurant rises
Recently, it was reported that the Chinese burger brand "Tustin" is about to complete a new round of financing, with a post-investment valuation of about 7 billion yuan. Although the relevant person in charge of Tustin responded to this news is not true, it is not difficult to see that Tustin is in the limelight. According to ** report, since Tustin launched the "Chinese burger" in 2020, it has opened a rapid store expansion model, with more than 2,000 stores opened in 2022 and more than 5,400 stores in only 10 months in 2023. Currently, there are more than 6,000 stores.
With the rapid development of Tustin, brands such as Limburgburg and Maixiburg have also begun to attract the attention of capital. According to Ye Feng, the sales manager of Fuzhou Kedudu Food, in the past two years, at least thousands of new Chinese burger brands have appeared. In addition, some traditional brands also see the potential for the development of Chinese burgers. In April this year, Xibei renamed its "Jia Guolong Air Bun" to "Jia Guolong China Fort" to focus on Chinese-style hamburgers. Western fast-food giant KFC is also feeling the pressure from Chinese burgers. In June this year, KFC launched a new cake burger in Nanchang, Jiujiang and Xinyu in Jiangxi Province, and on November 13, it expanded the cake burger to stores across the country, focusing on cost performance, snacks, cola, and burgers as long as 20$9.
As a representative of the rise of local brands and the wave of PK Western-style catering, Chinese burgers are sweeping the country.
The core key ingredient of Chinese burgers is the hamburger blank
One of the main ingredients of a Chinese-style burger is its "skin" – the hamburger blank. Tustin claims that the biggest selling point of its products is also the "freshly rolled and baked" bread crumb, which tastes tough and tastes better than the bread crust of Western-style burgers.
The rapid development of the Chinese burger catering format represented by Tustin has set off a butterfly effect, and a number of frozen food companies have quickly launched quick-frozen Chinese burger products.
At present, many companies have launched Chinese-style bread blanks in the form of frozen dough, and Fuzhou Kedudu Food *** is one of them. According to Ye Feng, the company's sales manager, Kedudu is one of the earliest companies in the industry to make Chinese-style burgers. Tustin was born in Fujian, based on geographical advantages, Tustin made efforts to develop Chinese burgers, and when they developed rapidly, Dudu realized the potential of Chinese burgers, so they began to develop and produce Chinese burgers.
From being unpopular when it was first launched, to now shipping thousands of pieces a day, Dudu has witnessed the rapid development of Chinese burger catering.
In addition, Guangzhou Mai Keyi Food*** Shenzhen Aifeier Food*** and other Chinese hamburger blanks are also in the form of frozen dough.
Aokun Food, Qingdao Jinchengda Food, etc., which are owned by the frozen baking leader Ligao Food, have launched pre-baked Chinese-style hamburger blanks.
According to Ye Feng, before this year, there were not many Chinese burger blanks in the frozen food industry, but this year, with the recovery of the catering consumer market and the driving effect of the rapid expansion of the Tustin brand, the number of enterprises producing Chinese burger blanks has increased significantly. "There are more than a dozen companies, big and small, doing it. She said.
Different routes: frozen dough vs pre-baked bread blanks
There are currently two types of Chinese-style hamburger blanks in the industry: frozen dough and pre-baked bread blanks. The difference between the two product forms is also destined to target slightly different channels.
According to a Western-style fast food ingredient merchant, Chinese burgers are particularly popular this year. The company's ** has both frozen dough Chinese bread blanks and pre-baked Chinese hamburger blanks. The two products are aimed at different end customers, "If you have professional proofing equipment and baking equipment, you can choose frozen dough products, and if you don't, you can choose pre-baked products." ”
Ye Feng also agrees with this point of view, she said that in the early days, Kedudu made Chinese burger blanks with frozen dough, and this year in response to the needs of some customers, it also launched pre-baked products.
Tustin started from second- and third-tier cities, and most of the companies that imitate Tustin to make Chinese-style burgers also implement the path of surrounding the city from the countryside, and a large number of stores are in the county and township markets. For such stores, they are usually reluctant to invest too much money in equipment upfront. The frozen dough Chinese hamburger blank requires professional proofing equipment and baking equipment, and a good set of equipment requires tens of thousands. Some stores that originally did other categories want to transform into Chinese burger restaurants, and they are reluctant to invest in new equipment. For customers who can't use frozen dough products, the company has launched a pre-baked Chinese-style hamburger blank, which can be used by simply microwaving, which is very convenient. "However, compared to pre-baked bread crumbs, frozen dough crumbs have a better texture and experience.
Chinese-style burgers are in the ascendant, and the future is yet to be tested
Since KFC entered China in 1987, the gears of the fate of China's modern catering industry have begun to turn, and the three-piece set of hamburger, fries and fried chicken has won the favor of a large number of consumers. In 2022, KFC has 9,094 stores in China, and even in the face of the epidemic, the number of stores has maintained positive growth.
So in the face of Western-style burger restaurants represented by KFC, the competitiveness of Chinese-style burger restaurants is in the first placeWhat are the prospects?
In Ye Feng's view, behind the popularity of Chinese-style burgers is the prevalence of national trends, and the national pride and national self-confidence in the bones of young people make them prefer Chinese-style things. For example, national fashion drinks, Hanfu, and Chinese burgers have also benefited.
In terms of product taste, Western-style burgers have a soft taste, while Chinese-style hamburgers have a tougher texture, and they are freshly rolled and baked, which has a better taste and meets the taste of Chinese consumers.
Chu Yanpei, who has been focusing on the study of frozen dough, believes that in fact, the Chinese burger is not a new product, it is an improvement on the basis of the Western-style burger, making it more in line with the taste of Chinese consumers, and it is a combination of Chinese and Western products. This is also the reason why the current enterprises that produce Chinese-style hamburger blanks overlap with the original enterprises that produce Western-style hamburger blanks and bread dough.
There is not much difference between a Chinese burger and a Western-style burger, and there is no particular difference in the front-end production process, which is just an addition to the original production of Western-style burger blanks, frozen pizza and croissants. In terms of sales and other aspects, there are also ready-made channels. As a result, most of the current Chinese burgers are produced by the original Western food manufacturers. Chu Yanpei believes that the combination of Chinese and Western creativity caters to the needs of contemporary young people and is a kind of micro-innovation.
She analyzed that although the current Chinese burger is relatively popular, the future development prospects are not easy to say, "The success of any product is the result of the combination of product, marketing, operation and other factors, rather than a single outstanding. ”
Ye Feng agrees with this view, "Chinese burgers and Western-style burgers target different consumer groups. Chinese burgers are more resilient and chewy, so they are preferred by young people such as college students. Elementary school students and even younger children don't like things that are too chewy, but prefer soft things and may prefer Western-style burgers. ”
Lv Cuiping
Reporter Yao Bingbing wrote