Text|Red Meal Industry Research Institute.In recent years, the Western food track is experiencing a new round of changes.
On the one hand, a number of Western food brands have encountered development bottlenecks due to lack of innovation. In the past few years, well-known Western food brands such as Vabene, Golden Horn King Chinese and Western Restaurant, Mi's Western Restaurant, and New Element have closed down or closed down one after another. Western food brands that once symbolized "trendy" and "fashionable" such as Green Pavilion, Yuhua Western Restaurant, and Rhine Pavilion have gradually given way to a new generation of Western food brand ......
On the other hand, a number of relatively novel Western food brands are developing rapidly and gradually gaining the favor of consumers. Some Western food chain brands have made a fortune by going to the sinking market;Some Western food brands that focus on new models such as Western food stalls and farm western restaurants have been favored by consumers because of their novel models and strong recognitionBecause of the high cost performance, the "steak + buffet" model is popular again;In addition, the attention of exquisite Western food is also increasing....
In addition, what new trends have emerged in China's Western food track?How should Western food practitioners grasp the new trend?Recently, the Red Meal Industry Research Institute released the "Western Food Development Report 2023". The following will take you to explore the development status and important trends of Western food.
There are nearly 90,000 Western food stores in operation in China, and the market size is expected to reach 75.6 billion yuan in 2023Western food refers to the catering culture and cooking methods originating from Western countries, usually including French, British, Italian, Russian, American and other dishes from different countries. This report focuses on Western-style dinners.
After Western food was introduced to China in the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was improved by local chefs, and derived from Western and Western fusion genres such as soy sauce Western food and Shanghai Western food. Up to now, Western food has been differentiated in China, and a variety of types of Western restaurants have gradually been derived, including comprehensive Western food, Western restaurants focusing on steak, pizza and other large items, Western-style simple meals, fine dining, etc.
In recent years, with the increase in consumers' demand for diversified and personalized catering, the Western food track has shown a certain growth momentum. According to the big data of red meals, the scale of China's Western food market is expected to reach 75.6 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 68%。As of December 2023, the total number of Western food stores in operation across the country is nearly 90,000.
At present, there are many brands with outstanding performance in the Western food track, forming a pattern of coexistence of domestic brands and foreign brands, such as the Italian Western food brand Saliya from Japan has opened more than 400 stores in the mainland, and the local Western food brand Hawker Steak has opened more than 350 storesOther local brands such as Wagas, Haodeheng Steakhouse and Summer Mari have also opened more than 100 stores in more than 10 cities.
Among them, many brands have been certified by authoritative lists in the catering industry, such as Wang Pin Steak and Hawker Steak won the "Top 100 Catering Brands of 2023" list of China Catering Red Eagle Awards, and 8 Otto e Mezzo Bombana has been awarded three Michelin stars for many years since 2011.
On the whole, China's Western food track has developed relatively maturely, and there are emerging brands in various fields.
In order to further tap the development potential of Western food in China's catering market, Western food brands have been actively exploring.
First, accelerate the localization transformation, combine Western food with China's local culture and market characteristics, and make localized transformation of Western food dishes and models.
Second, some Western food brands have begun to explore in the direction of track segmentation. For example, in addition to mainstream French and American cuisine, some restaurants have begun to focus on subdivision to provide consumers with a more authentic food experience.
Among them, many Western food practitioners have anchored the two subdivisions of Spanish cuisine and Mexican cuisine, and have made some achievements. As of December 2023, Crazyones, which focuses on Spanish cuisine, has opened more than 10 stores. Labamba, which specializes in Mexican cuisine, has opened about three stores. In addition, Russian cuisine, Pakistani cuisine, Turkish cuisine and other subdivisions have also received some attention.
In addition, popularization and refinement are also the direction of Western food brands.
In the past, Western food was a relatively high-end catering category in the eyes of Chinese people, and its ingredients, cooking methods, etiquette and culture were very different from Chinese food. With the continuous development of China's economy, the transformation and upgrading of Western food categories have accelerated, and more and more Western food brands have begun to popularize and people-friendly dishes, making Western food gradually get rid of the "cold" image in the past.
At the same time, some Western food brands no longer blindly focus on high-end catering services, but provide consumers with high-quality ingredients, unique cooking methods, customized services and comfortable dining environments, and have embarked on a refined development path.
At present, the exploration of both directions has made certain achievements, and a number of powerful brands have been born.
Popularized Western food: In view of the differentiated positioning of the local market, cost-effective Western food is favored compared with exquisite Western food based on single stores, and the scale of popular Western food is higher. For example, Saliya, Haodeheng Steak Buffet Restaurant, Summer Mari Western Restaurant, Wagas, Hawker Steak, etc. have opened hundreds of stores.
In addition, Butcher Steak Butcher Butcher Restaurant, Lujia Mama Western Kitchen, Bluefrog and so on have also opened nearly 100 stores.
At present, the brand positioning of popular Western food brands is different, such as Saliya's positioning of cost-effective Italian food;Holdhain Steak Buffet Restaurant focuses on steak buffet;Lu's Mother Western Food Kitchen focuses on "Western food loved by Chinese";Summer Mary Western Restaurant is positioned as a national Western restaurant, especially focusing on the parent-child dinner scene.
Specifically, popular and people-friendly Western food brands show the following development characteristics.
1) "High-quality, affordable, high-speed circulation", fast fashion Western food to explore the road of scale.
At present, there is a trend of popular Western food moving closer to fast-fashion restaurants. A group of Western food brands, represented by Summer Mary Western Restaurant and Lujia Mama Western Kitchen, have adopted the operation strategy of "high-quality and affordable prices, explosive single products, and high-speed circulation", and have made a fast-fashion transformation of traditional Western restaurants with many SKUs, heavy services, low turnover rate and high customer unit price in the past to accelerate the process of scale.
In terms of menu structure, this type of Western restaurant abandons the large menu model commonly used in traditional Western restaurants, and usually focuses on signature products such as steak or pizza, accompanied by special dishes such as spaghetti, baked rice, and desserts. In terms of the chain system, this type of western restaurant usually has a strong kitchen and a mature cold chain logistics system.
In terms of management mode, this kind of western restaurant improves the work efficiency of employees by formulating SOP (standard operating procedures), so as to improve the overall operating efficiency of the restaurant. Due to their high operational efficiency, these brands are able to streamline their kitchens and limit their store space to between 80 100 square metres, thereby reducing costs and increasing profitability.
2) "Western food +" is at the right time, and the "steak + buffet" model is popular again.
In recent years, the consumption demand of China's catering consumers has become increasingly cautious. "Addition" of Western dishes and improving quality without raising prices has become the business strategy of many Western food brands. In the popular Western food track, the steak buffet model with the characteristics of "affordable and high-quality" is popular again.
In fact, steakhouse cafeterias are not a new model that has emerged in recent years. In the first decade of the 21st century, there were steak buffet restaurants such as Haodeheng Steak Buffet Restaurant, Jibru Steak Seafood Buffet, and Ventas Steak in China's Western food market. In recent years, steak buffet restaurants have been actively innovating, and the steak buffet model has become popular again.
Specifically, steak buffet restaurants usually focus on "order a steak and enjoy all-you-can-eat a variety of foods such as barbecue and desserts". Among them, many steak buffet restaurants have launched some refreshing buffets, such as Hao Deheng Steak Buffet Restaurant has launched Xinjiang ** chicken, sweet and sour crispy fish, Korean rice cakes, etc. in the buffet, and Jibru Steak Seafood Buffet has launched dishes such as sausages, handmade pizzas, and crayfish.
3) The more it sinks, the more popular it is, and the chain brand makes a fortune in the sinking market.
At present, the layout of most Western food brands is mainly in first- and second-tier cities. In recent years, many Western food chain brands have set their sights on the lower-tier market, opening stores in third-tier cities and below, and penetrating their brand influence into a wider range of people.
For example, well-known chain brands such as Lujia Mama Western Kitchen, Notting Steak, Haodeheng Steak Cafeteria, and Hawker have laid out a large number of stores in the sinking market. According to the big data of red meal, more than half of the stores of the above brands are located in third-tier cities and below.
At the same time, the above-mentioned brands all have a relatively bright market performance in the sinking market, such as many stores of Nordin Steak in Huai'an, Zhenjiang and other regions have repeatedly appeared on the "Dianping Western Food Praise List";Originated in Tai'an, Shandong, Marina's Western Kitchen has sunk to Zaozhuang, Binzhou and other third-tier cities in Shandong and below, with more stores in Shandong, and its brand awareness is gradually increasing.
Exquisite Western food: The development prospect is broad, and the brand accelerates the layout of the market Compared with the pursuit of large-scale and chained popular Western food, exquisite Western food pays more attention to creating its own characteristics and personality, and emphasizes thousands of stores and thousands of faces. In recent years, with the acceleration of the "K-shaped differentiation" of catering consumption in China, consumers are increasingly favoring catering with obvious characteristics and unique experiences, and the attention of exquisite Western food is increasing. On the whole, the following three development characteristics are mainly presented.
1) Overseas brands have achieved a "soft landing", and local brands have led the new "food" fashion.
At present, a number of strong exquisite Western food brands have emerged in China. Specifically, many overseas exquisite Western food brands have successfully established themselves in China after years of development. For example, Da Vittorio Shanghai continued the outstanding performance of its Italian national treasure Western restaurant, Da Vittorio, which was selected for the Michelin list just three months after opening in 2019, and was promoted to two Michelin stars more than a year later.
China's local exquisite Western food brands have also received more attention, such as Bo Innovation, which originated in Hong Kong, Linglong, which originated in Beijing, and other Western food brands have opened up a new situation of Chinese and Western integration in the field of fine dining with the positioning of Chinese and Western fusion.
At the same time, due to the broad prospects for the development of exquisite Western food, many brands are accelerating the layout of the exquisite Western food market. For example, catering groups such as Yongfu and Xinrongji have begun to add Western-style fine restaurantsWestern fine dining brands such as Da Vittorio Shanghai and Ultr**IOLET by Paul Pairet are also accelerating the opening of new stores.
2) Following Japanese French cuisine and New Thai cuisine, Chinese and Western fusion lead the fashion.
Since the 70s of the 20th century, fusion cuisine has become popular in the field of fine Western cuisine, and since then this trend has gradually spread from France to the United States, Japan, Thailand and other regions.
One of the most typical is Japan, where Japanese French cuisine was born after the Meiji Restoration. Since then, Japanese French cuisine has gradually become popular all over the world with its unique charm.
In the field of exquisite Western food in China, in recent years, Chinese and Western fusion have also become popular, and a number of well-known brands focusing on Chinese and Western fusion have been born, such as Ling Long, which started in Beijing, will open a Shanghai store in the first half of 2023, which has been popular with many consumers.
3) The four-hand joint "playfulness" collides with the effect of 1+1 greater than 2.
A four-hand partnership is when two chefs from different cuisines work together to create all the dishes on a single menu. This model aims to achieve the effect of 1+1 greater than 2, and promote communication and cooperation between different brands and different chefs.
Through the four-hand collaboration, brands can invite different chefs to join forces to explore more culinary possibilities and amplify the voices of both brands, providing consumers with the opportunity to taste the dishes of both restaurants at once.
Four-hand collaboration has become a hot topic in the field of fine dining, and many Western food brands have begun to try four-hand collaboration. For example, Melco Style, a member club of Melco Group in Macau, has teamed up with 10 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Mainland Diamond Restaurants to create the "2023 Black Pearl Diamond Restaurant Tour", a powerful dining event.
ConclusionIn the context of the accelerated transformation and upgrading of China's catering industry, batch after batch of Western food brands continue to innovate themselves, but there are still some deficiencies in this track, which deserve the attention of Western food practitioners.
For example, some Western restaurants lack innovation, and the products are relatively similar;Many Western food brands are relatively slow to respond to market changes, which may make it difficult for Western food to keep up with changes in consumer demand in a timely mannerThere are many types of SKUs in traditional western restaurants, which put forward high requirements for the first chain and the kitchen......
In response to the above pain points, the Red Meal Industry Research Institute put forward four suggestions for Western food practitioners: First, focus on the subdivision track and strengthen the dissemination of Western catering culture. Second, explore large single products and small categories to achieve single-point breakthroughs. Third, we will deepen localization and iterate on raw materials, business models and brand communication channels. Fourth, continue to dig deep into the sinking market and formulate brand strategies according to local conditions.