The Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in China, and it is also an important node in the catering and retail industry. In this context, a number of leading restaurant companies and new tea beverage companies have taken frequent actions and taken multiple measures to "prepare" for the Spring Festival consumption season.
On February 1, Xiabu Group announced that its mid-to-high-end hot pot brand Xiabu will launch a new menu in nearly 250 restaurants in China, covering the enhancement of all-you-can-eat card membership rights, new product launches, and new small dishes. Among them, about 70% of the dishes in the new menu have launched all-you-can-eat card exclusive prices, which also means that Xiabu Group will further increase the paid membership model in 2024.
In this regard, Xiabu said that at present, the all-you-can-eat card is common to the five major brands of Xiabu Xiabu, Xiabu Xiabu, Xiabu Xiabu, Xiabu Food, Chami Tea, Xiabu Food, etc. Since its launch in May 2023, the paid membership all-you-can-eat card has gradually become an important growth engine in addition to Xiabu Group's basic revenue, and has achieved a paid membership income of 100 million yuan.
In response to the rising Chinese New Year's Eve meal ordering tide during the Spring Festival, Minato will be open for business during the Spring Festival, and at the same time launch the Dragon Year Spring Festival Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner**" The relevant person in charge of Minato said that with the full launch of the new menu, Minato's brand building will further focus on "social attributes", and the next step will be to continuously improve the party-type and scene-based hot pot experience.
Recently, the popularity of the New Year's dinner in Haidilao has gradually risen. **Times E Company reporter learned that more than 600 Haidilao stores and more than 400 delivery sites will continue to operate on Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year's Day during the Spring Festival this year. Starting from the second day of the Lunar New Year, Haidilao will fully resume business across the country. In addition, Haidilao has launched a number of new products and fun activities for the Chinese New Year.
In terms of staffing, Haidilao said that it has started to stabilize jobs and retain workers in advance to ensure high-quality operations during the Spring Festival, and prepare for the festival manpower in advance by increasing recruitment efforts, hiring pre-positioning, and optimizing the employment structure. At the same time, Haidilao will issue subsidies to employees who stick to their posts during the festival, and organize employee dinners, New Year's celebrations, etc.
Hot pot Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is gradually becoming popular, and many special hot pot restaurants are hot for Spring Festival reservations. Hong Kong-listed Pfaff Holdings' restaurant brand Fanjiang Fresh Fish Hot Pot focuses on exquisite casual hot pot for young people and families. "Coinciding with the Year of the Dragon, Panjiang launched the Sturgeon Dragon Fish Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner**, attracting many consumers to check in and dine during the Spring Festival. At present, the booking is very hot, and the round tables and private rooms of the four stores in Beijing are all fully booked for the Spring Festival holiday." The person in charge of the brand told reporters.
With the approach of the Spring Festival consumption season, the head brands of new tea drinks are also constantly moving, and increasing the national tide co-branding has become a feature. On January 31, the joint brand of Heytea and the popular drama "Flowers" was officially launched. Focusing on the co-branded theme of "Truth and Happiness", Heytea launched a co-branded drink with the same name as the series, Fanhua (white lanxiang), as well as specially designed co-branded packaging materials and peripherals, including cup stickers, commemorative ticket stubs, and Huanghe Road stickers.
Recently, Nai Xue's tea and "Patterns of the Forbidden City" launched the "Perfume Da Hong Pao" New Year joint series. Focusing on the popular consumption scenes of the Spring Festival, the Spring Festival co-branded series covers the ready-made tea drinks "Domineering Berry Da Hong Pao" and "Perfume Da Hong Pao Fresh Milk Tea", and also launched a total of 9 new products such as retail tea products "Da Hong Pao Small Box Tea", "Perfect Small Box Tea Gift Box" and "Year of the Dragon Customized Tea Gift Box".
In addition, Western fast food giant McDonald's China also recently announced the launch of the Lunar New Year-themed event, joining hands with Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio to create a New Year-themed film with gilding technology combined with various art forms. From January 27th to February 25th, McDonald's restaurants launched 12 New Year-limited products. At the same time, from January 31, McDonald's China's "Doraemon Red Envelope Machine" specially created for the New Year of the Dragon will also be on sale.
The co-branding of catering and new tea beverage brands is continuous, especially the Guochao co-branding has gradually become a trend, which is related to the intensification of competition in the industry, and major brands need to continue to innovate and improve their competitiveness. In recent years, Guochao culture has gradually emerged in the market, and Guochao co-branding can integrate cultural elements into products, improve brand differentiation and competitiveness, and attract more consumers' attention. Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told a reporter from **Times E Company.
Bubble Mart, which is deeply involved in the national tide IP, told reporters that during the Spring Festival this year, Bubble Mart also launched a variety of products with a festive atmosphere, the most representative of which is the limited trendy play "Dragon Yin Xianrui" series with the theme of the zodiac "Dragon". This is also the third time that Pop Mart has launched a zodiac-limited product. Since the launch of the "Dragon Yin Xianrui" series, nearly one million units have been sold. In addition, from January 13 to February 16, Bubble Mart City Park in Chaoyang Park in Beijing opened the Spring Festival Party, launching the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner at the Molly Banquet Hall, limited desserts for the New Year and limited products for the "Bubble Temple Fair Series".