Once upon a time, crayfish was the darling of the restaurant world, and people flocked to it as a symbol of fashion and socialization. However, now this "Internet celebrity" ingredient has been questioned, many restaurants are cold, and shrimp farmers are losing money to make money. What the hell happened to crayfish? Let's find out.
What was once a glorious past is now eclipsed. Walking into Wuhan's Wansongyuan business district, there are many well-known crayfish brand stores here, but the occupancy rate is uneven. Some of the shops are deserted, and some are still in business, but they are far worse than before. A crayfish boss lamented that during last year's "May Day" Golden Week, the queue for the store of beautiful steamed shrimp was as long as 12 hours, while there was only 4-5 hours of queuing time in the same period this year. The situation at crayfish restaurants in other parts of the country is even more bleak, with many having "closed".
The collapse in crayfish prices is one of the main reasons. Supply far exceeds demand, making the shipment price of shrimp farmers fall all the way to the price of cabbage at 3 yuan per catty. Not only that, but the desire of young consumers to buy crayfish is also weakening. They claim that crayfish are "too expensive to eat" and prefer to make them at home or seek processing services for a more cost-effective consumer experience.
In fact, the business model of crayfish restaurants is inherently inadequate. On the one hand, crayfish is distinctly seasonal, with a peak season of only three months, in stark contrast to a year's rent and labor costs for restaurants. On the other hand, crayfish shrimp meat is prone to spoilage, which can easily cause loss. The combination of many factors makes this business model less resilient to risks.
Looking back on the development of crayfish, it has developed from a scarce delicacy to a "currency" of social fashion, and then a check-in place for Internet celebrities. However, if all Internet celebrity products want to prosper for a long time, sooner or later they will have to return to the path of popularization. When the popularity of crayfish subsides, it will also step down from the altar of "Internet celebrity" and become an ordinary delicacy on the table again.
So where is the future of the crayfish catering industry heading? One way is to increase the concentration of the industry, and the head brand will do the boutique route, and continue to grow in scale by using years of word-of-mouth and customer resources to open large-scale experience stores. Another way out is for crayfish to return to the basic food standard, as a home-cooked delicacy, and the supply chain to return to the cost-effective track.
Throughout the development of the industry, any "Internet celebrity" product cannot escape the fate of "street rats". Crayfish is no exception, it is transforming from a "fashion symbol" to an "ordinary ingredient". When this process is complete, it may regain the popularity of the masses and become an eternal delicacy on the tongue.