Catering, "walk in" is easy, "go up" is difficult.
As a low-threshold entrepreneurial track, tens of thousands of entrepreneurs with the dream of gold nuggets pour into the catering industry every year. But there are also countless reasons to dismiss a restaurateur every year. According to Chenzhi Big Data**, the annual catering opening rate in 2023 will be 355%, and the store closure rate is 309%, the number of restaurants in China will remain between 8 million and 10 million in the next ten years, and the net growth rate of stores has slowed down and the elimination rate is high.
The era of rapid growth for many years is coming to an end, and the intensity of catering competition is unprecedented. In this context, in the past ten years, Hefu Lao Mian, which has expanded more than 500 stores only with the direct sales model, has also put down its figure.
At the recent press conference, Hefu Lao Mian launched the "four arrows" and opened the strategy of "finding friends, going to sea, sinking, and deep layout". Specifically, Hefu Lao Mian will officially open joint ventures, lay out overseas markets, implement first-class stratification and build inclusive health noodle restaurants.
From a series of measures, it is not difficult to see the ambition and pattern of Hefu Lao Mian in the future.
So, in the unprecedented complexity of the catering competition environment, can Hefu Lao Mian achieve its growth strategy? Can its new brand story win market recognition?
1. Rush to the era of thousands of stores and start the globalization strategy
It is not difficult to foresee the accelerated expansion of Hefu Lao Noodles.
On the one hand, under the Matthew effect of the industry, the advantages of the leading brands of catering are prominent, and a new round of capitalization and store expansion is the general trend. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, between 2018 and 2022, the chaining rate of China's catering market increased from 12% to 19%. In the most difficult period of the industry before, the leading enterprises expanded their competitive advantages with capital strength and brand effect.
On the other hand, with the recovery of the market, the performance of the industry ushered in an explosion, which further stimulated the expansion of enterprises. According to the data, in 2023, the national catering revenue will be 5,289 billion yuan, an increase of 204%。As the head enterprise of the noodle track, there are reports that the profitability of Hefu Lao Mian is constantly improving in 2023.
A large enough market and strong brand influence are more attractive to associates and franchisees. Based on this, Hefu Lao Mian began to "find friends", announcing that it was looking for 5,000+ business partners in the next ten years, and planned to land more than 2,000 Hefu Lao Mian across the country in the next three years.
At the same time, Hefu Lao Mian has also set its sights overseas, planning to use Hong Kong as a bridgehead to explore the possibilities of the global market.
Now, the goal of 2000+ stores means that Hefu Lao Mian will expand its business area, open up multi-line markets, and usher in new challenges.
In the face of new models and new markets, Hefu Lao Mian has also undergone self-evolution.
Previously, the brand positioning of Hefu Lao Mian determined that its urban distribution and site selection distribution were highly concentrated in first-tier and second-tier cities and new first-tier cities. At the same time, the location of Hefu Lao Noodle stores is also dominated by shopping mall stores and transportation hub stores with high affordability. Nowadays, Hefu Lao Noodles, which takes the mid-to-high-end catering route, has broadened the first belt and increased the proportion of products from 25 yuan to 30 yuan.
Source: Narrow Door Dining Eye.
A flawless growth strategy that is rare in the world. In China, the consumer market is entering a rational era, consumers pay attention to high cost performance, and the positioning of the high-end of Hefu Lao noodles can be accepted by the multi-line market? Overseas, in the face of cultural differences, the challenge of ** chain and brand influence, in addition to the price adjustment strategy, how will Hefu Lao Mian break the situation?
Second, the quality is upward, the health is inclusive, and the increment and stock are "grasped with both hands"?
In the face of the challenge of multi-line market expansion, Hefu Lao Mian has done two things: one is to improve the quality-price ratio, and the other is to play a "universal health card".
In terms of market strategy, Hefu Lao Mian began to reduce prices to embrace the sinking market, proposing to increase the proportion of products between 25 yuan and 29 yuan, and establish a product matrix covering 25-128 yuan; In terms of products and services, Hefu Lao Mian also announced that it will focus on the three key words of "health, green, and inclusive", which is bound to the characteristics of traditional Chinese health preservation, and maintains the mid-to-high-end positioning, although "high-end" but "not expensive".
So, what do you think of the "high-end is not expensive" strategy?
In fact, this corresponds to the complexity of today's F&B operations. "2024 Chinese Catering***hereinafter referred to as "**mentions, in 2023, at the product level, the tearing feeling of "quality up, **down" has swept almost all practitioners.
Brands are moving towards the general trend. Behind this change is the change of the main consumer force, and the brand hopes to meet the preference of the new generation of consumers for "cost-effective" and "high-innovation" brands. According to the analysis of **, from the perspective of groups of people and generations, young people are undoubtedly the main force of catering consumption.
Source: "2024 Chinese Catering in China***."
Judging from the analysis of the customer group of Hefu Lao Mian, it has seized the main force of current consumption。60% of consumers think of Hefu noodles first when they think of noodle restaurants.
Source: Blue Book of China's Noodle Industry, December 2023, Frost & Sullivan
Hefu Lao Mian launched more products with 20-30 yuan, the essence of which is layeringThat is, based on the rich stratification, so that different consumers can find a comfortable belt, so as to cover more diverse consumers, especially the new generation of consumer groups who pursue the "quality-price ratio".
This initiative will start in 2023, and the proportion of products below 30 yuan in the Hefu Lao Noodle menu will increase, and new products such as snacks and drinks will also be launched, which will make the average price of the brand drop to around 30 yuan, which is more in line with the average price of catering consumption for "new students in society" and "young men and women".
Data**: Narrow Door Dining Eye.
On this basis, Hefu Lao Mian has played the "health card", and on the basis of seizing the stock of users, it has expanded the coverage of people with high pursuit of healthy diet.
As early as ten years ago, Hefu Lao Mian put forward the concept of "health noodles in the study", and after evolution, Hefu became "health noodles in Changshou Township", and launched herbal soup, coarse grain noodles, longevity vegetables, health tea and other "health four treasures".
This move is first of all to meet the in-depth operation of the stock market. Judging from the "Health and Nourishing Global Business Manual and Operation Guidelines", the population of "medicine and food homology" products is mainly in first- and second-tier cities and new first-tier cities, which has a high degree of overlap with the current store layout of Hefu Lao Mian. At the same time, as healthy consumption has become the mainstream, dietary supplements have become more and more accepted by consumers, and this move has also become an effective means to open up more new customers.
*: Moojing Market Intelligence.
From the era of scarce supply to the era of saturated supply, consumers are more "picky". Hefu Lao Mian appropriately stratified consumption, and held high the concept of healthy eating, grasping the complex needs of consumers who love food, beauty and health, thus entering the "fast lane" of development.
It is worth pointing out that behind these expansion strategies, the test is the management and operation system of Hefu Lao Noodles, the ability of the first chain and the brand power. Without a mature management and operation system, the expansion efficiency is not enough, and the quality control and profitability are the "impossible triangle"; Without ten years of brand mental precipitation, it is difficult for the health concept of a noodle restaurant to be accepted by the market.
Therefore, whether it is domestic expansion or sailing, all the ways to solve the problem ultimately come down to the basic formula.
3. Use stupid methods to get out of the new world
Chinese catering has a rich history, rich categories, and diversified business formats to determine its complexity. However, the high-quality development of all catering enterprises is based on product advantages, first-class chain capabilities, brand strength, and mature scientific management and operation systems.
In terms of products and chains, Hefu Lao Mian has established a food raw material production industrial park around food safety and standardization, which has improved the stability of quality and efficiency.
Out of the importance of food safety, in the early days of Hefu Lao Noodles, the founder Li Xuelin told all employees to pass on the spoiled products by eating them personally, and established a culture that the brand attaches importance to food safety.
Since the establishment of the industrial park in Rugao, Jiangsu, Hefu Lao Mian not only has the production capacity of unified supply to support the expansion of thousands of stores, but also built a high-standard "food safety laboratory" and a first-class kitchen of nearly 1,000 square meters, coupled with an automated and standardized production and logistics system, and digital and intelligent management of the Internet of Things, etc., to ensure the quality of food when it is presented to consumers' tables.
In terms of market influence and consumer reputation, the brand image of Hefu Lao Mian that has been precipitated for many years is the key to solving the problem. It took ten years for Hefu Lao Mian to build its own high-end brand image and create a healthy concept of "health noodles in the study". 2.After the 0 upgrade, Hefu Lao Mian focused on the three key words of "health, green, and inclusiveness", conformed to the consumption trend, and was awarded the title certification of "No. 1 Brand of Chinese Noodle Restaurant" and "Pioneer of Chinese Health Noodle Noodles" by Frost & Sullivan.
The "Four Treasures of Health" further builds health care as a memory point for brand characteristic positioning, which is the lasting competitiveness of the old combination of product power and brand power.
In addition, Hefu Lao Mian improves its management and operation capabilities through digital means, realizes the digital and intelligent upgrade of the entire business chain, and also guarantees food quality and expansion efficiency.
Hefu Lao Mian has built an efficient operation and business middle platform, and built a multi-platform collaborative system such as digital ** chain and omni-channel operation. It is reported that Hefu Lao Mian has 2 billion label data and more than 6,000 data contacts, which are directly connected by the headquarters to strengthen the control of the whole process. For example, in Jiangsu Rugao Industrial Park, through the online system, Hefu Lao Mian can monitor all aspects of the production workshop and stores in real time, and will timely feedback and alarm when problems are found.
At present, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the digitalization of production, procurement, operation, management and other processes and links of catering enterprises.
Source: State Information Center's "Report on the Digital Development of China's Catering Industry".
The self-built first-class chain and mature and scientific management system ensure a wider range of operating efficiency and costs, coupled with the brand image to win the trust of consumers and attract associates to join in, and Fu Lao Mian has laid a good foundation for expansion. Including in terms of going overseas, the brand's health culture and digital capabilities, as well as the spillover of first-chain capabilities, have also become the "growth secret" of Hefu Lao Mian.
Conclusion
In general, with the blessing of years of precipitation of basic capabilities, the expansion plan of "finding friends, going to sea, sinking, and deep layout" of Hefu Lao Mian is promising. "2024 Chinese Catering in China" also pointed out that the chaining rate of the catering industry is increasing every year, but compared with other countries, China's catering chaining is still at a low level. In 2022, China's restaurant chain rate will be about one-third of that of the top three Canada, the United States, and Japan, which is lower than most mature markets.
However, the problem of quality control has always been a stubborn problem for chain brands from direct sales to franchises, and can the digital capabilities of Hefu Lao Mian achieve accurate kitchen management on the scale of thousands of stores? In the context of adopting the unified distribution model of the kitchen, how can Hefu Lao Mian ensure the compliance operation of the associate and not change the validity period in the expansion? In addition, can the concept of "health noodles" in Chinese food supplements conquer the minds of overseas consumers?
Ten years of internal strength" is the foundation, how to take advantage of the trend in the future, and the solution of the problem of Fu Lao noodles still needs more new variants, new exploration, to solve the new test from the market.
*: Songuo Finance.