Hefu Lao Mein, which has run out of 500 stores in ten years, has also broken out of the Hong Kong listing plan, planning to raise 1-200 million US dollars to compete for the "first share of noodle restaurant", and will also enter Hong Kong Causeway Bay to open the first store in Hong Kong.
In the past, taking advantage of the east wind of consumption upgrading, "high-end" Internet celebrity noodle restaurants such as Hefu, Chen Xianggui, and Wuye Mixed Noodles were once "celebrities" in the capital market, and even in 2021, Hefu Lao Mian also set a financing record in the catering industry with nearly 800 million yuan in Series E financing. But in the blink of an eye in 2022, the crazy catering industry was pressed to pause, Internet celebrity noodle restaurants suffered a large-scale closure, and Chen Xianggui opened up to join, which tore off the fig leaf of the dilemma of "high-end noodles" of more than 30 yuan.
Passion fades and returns to rationality, will listing be the final destination of Hefu?
Hefu Lao Noodles is positioned as "health noodles in the study", and being able to eat a bowl of noodles in Hefu has become a symbol of quality life, even if it is sold at a unit price of 45 yuan, the middle class is still flocking to it.
Li Xuelin often tells a story to new employees. In 2013, when the first store in Shanghai had just opened, he found a batch of expired and spoiled beef tongue, ate it in front of all the employees, and then vomited. This behavior deterred employees, "Don't do what you can't do with your own conscience." This is very similar to the early brand image of Hefu, with the ingenuity of "one bowl of noodles in ten years" to create a slow life of "herbal soup, a bowl of health" for customers.
Based on this, Hefu Lao Mian successfully won 6 rounds of financing and obtained funds as high as 164.5 billion yuan, with a valuation of 7 billion yuan in 2021, is booming in the capital market.
But its wealth situation is not as rosy as expected. According to Juewei Duck Neck, an early investor in Hefu Lao Noodles, from 2020 to 2022, its parent company "Jiangsu Hefu Catering" achieved revenue of 110.7 billion yuan, 173.2 billion and 14$5.6 billion; The net profit attributable to the parent company was -20.6 billion yuan, -21.1 billion and -29.9 billion yuan. In other words, the cumulative loss of Fulao noodles in the past three years has reached 700 million yuan. The debt ratio also increased from 61 in 202169% to 75 in 20221%。As for the reason, Juewei Food said that on the one hand, it is because Hefu Lao Mian is in the expansion period, and the marketing expenses are also increasing; On the one hand, due to the large environmental impact, the cost of logistics and raw materials is also increasing significantly.
And Li Xuelin's "ambition" is that in the next 10 years, the number of Hefu Lao Mian stores will reach 20,000, and he also put forward a twelve-character summary: "Find friends, sink down, go to sea, and deep layout", to put it simply, financing, big price reduction, opening to the county, and aiming at overseas markets.
Obviously, reality can't support dreams, which can understand why Hefu is eager to go public.
The left hand continues to lose, the right hand continues to expand, and the struggle and difficulty of the house, is there a chance for 20,000 stores?
As early as 2018, Li Xuelin once put down his arrogance that he would reach the scale of 1,000 stores after 2023, what is the fact?
According to the statistics of Zhaimen, Hefu Lao Mian, which is in the expansion period, has more than 500 directly-operated stores at the end of 2023, and from 2021 to 2023, the increase numbers will be 114, 72 and 159 respectively. For the current volume of Hefu Lao Noodles, it is far from 20,000 stores.
Figure: Narrow Gate Statistics.
After 2021, in order to adapt to the cost-effective market demand, Internet celebrity noodle restaurants began to quietly reduce prices, and Hefu was no exception, starting to reduce prices and sink, and even violently promote the direct sales model.
What is the price reduction method? According to reports, Hefu has successively launched new special snacks and some new products priced at 25-29 yuan, and the menu is less than 30 yuan, accounting for more than 50%. Speaking of price reduction, in fact, it is the return of forty or fifty noodles to twenty or thirty, and the founder Li Xuelin is also a "hard steel" character, saying that Hefu Lao noodles will not make "low-end noodles", which is boring.
It seems that more than 20 yuan a bowl of noodles is the bottom line of Hefu!
After lowering the noble head, in 2023, the operation of Hefu Lao Mian has indeed improved, and the data shows that the first half of the year turned losses into profits, with an overall revenue of 84.6 billion, with a net profit of 13.85 million, a little "saved" himself.
In order to accelerate its expansion, Hefu, which has long adhered to first-line shopping malls, also aimed at the sinking market and entered Shijiazhuang, Huizhou, Lishui, Zibo and other cities.
On December 22, 2023, Li Xuelin said, "The company plans to adopt a 'direct + associate' business model, and the associated stores will be operated in a 'quasi-direct, fully managed, and co-risk' model, with a relatively small single store area, and priority will be given to second-tier cities and below to open applications." In the next three years, Hefu Lao Mian will seek "5000+ business partners" to carry out joint ventures and expand multi-line markets.
From "direct operation" to "direct operation + joint operation", this is a huge transition.
If the joint operation is indeed an important "accelerator" for the development of verified stores, it is not difficult to simply pursue the number of stores and open stores on a large scale across the country, but the difficulty is to adhere to the high-end route and high-end quality. The complexity of F&B operations also illustrates the risks of massive expansion.
In 2023, Hefu Lao Mian will be caught in the turmoil of "pre-made dishes" and "cooking packages".
An internal employee of Hefu Lao Mian broke the news, saying, "There is no ramen master and chef in the store of Hefu Lao Mein, the noodles are from the factory, the toppings are basically prefabricated, and they only need to be heated, and the soup is mixed with water in the cooking bag." ”
In addition, ** dug out a company called Sichuan Meiweiyuan, this company is a partner of Hefu Lao noodle soup, Meiweiyuan's "big bone soup" base, you can buy a bucket at **42 yuan, adjustable 200 catties of soup.
Hefulao did not respond positively to this.
Of course, prefabricated dishes are not the "original sin", it is a bit contrary to the body of Hefu Lao noodles, which has always claimed to be "health noodles in the study", but now it is an adjustment**, and it is a prefabricated dish that has been exploded, which is contrary to the brand positioning.
In addition, on the black cat complaint platform, there are 124 complaints about the quality of Hefu Lao noodles, involving foreign objects such as hair, insects, and glass slag, as well as gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhea after eating Hefu Lao noodles.
On August 8, 2023, a netizen complained that on the evening of August 7, he spent 29 yuan on the 4th floor of Yangzhou Hanjiang Wanda and Fulao noodles, and his stomach was uncomfortable at night after eating, and he had diarrhea on the morning of August 8. On December 15, 2023, a netizen complained that he got gastroenteritis after eating a bowl of noodles in Hefu Lao Noodles, vomiting and diarrhea. In March 2022, 5 people ate dinner at Zhongguancun and Fulao Mein, 4 people fell ill, and 1 of them was sent to the hospital for examination and was diagnosed with food poisoning.
Food safety issues have always been a "taboo" in the catering industry, and if the "nourishing heart noodles" of Hefu Lao Mian can not be nourished, there will be important quality problems, and brand positioning, product pricing will appear to be "inconsistent", perhaps this is the "real proposition" that Hefu Lao Mian cannot resist the test of the market.
Hefu Lao Mian also plans to go to sea.
Li Xuelin said, "At present, the company has been discussing cooperation with Southeast Asia, and after the Southeast Asian model is verified, it will consider expanding to Australia, the United States, Europe, etc. in the future." ”
Different countries and regions, whether it is food culture or consumption habits, there are great differences, and the laws and regulations of different regions will also have a certain impact on the brand landing.
If you want to continue to write the "legendary" story of new Chinese catering through listing, Hefu Lao Mian has to come up with a new "story".
Reference: Finance and Economics Mowgli "Before Hefu Lao Mian goes on the market, can you first explain the matter of "prefabricated dishes"? 》
Aotou Finance's ""Can't Wait" Hefu Lao Mian: It has been losing money for three consecutive years, and it has adhered to the "breaking defense" and opening up for ten years
Leopard Change "Loss of 700 million in 3 years, how far is Hefu Lao Mian from "China McDonald's"? 》
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