In China's more than 4 trillion yuan catering market, the number of snack fast food stores accounted for 44.3% in 2020, becoming the largest and fastest growing format in the catering track.
Snack categories are low-priced, low-cost, delicious and inexpensive to relieve hunger, but also can quickly achieve scale. In the snack track of the chicken category, there is the "Attack on Titan" of zhengxin chicken steak with more than 20,000+ stores, followed by a follower.
In China's largest category of chicken, there will always be unexpected product segmentation innovations. Lu Jinji hand-torn chicken is one of them, opening the first store in Wuhan Hema in 2019.
The brand takes hand-torn chicken as its fist product, expands its stores to more than 200 stores in 3 years, and has become the national chain KA of Hema Supermarket.
How did Lu kum Kee do it? How is the explosives model used in the catering industry? How to play subdivided categories and channels?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" >01 How did the Lü Kum Kee hand-torn chicken category emerge? </h1>
There is a Chinese saying that "no chicken is no feast".
For thousands of years, the chicken has represented the blessing of auspiciousness, joy and beauty. And Chinese eat chicken, eat it from head to toe, from the outside to the inside, except for chicken feathers, there is nothing that cannot be eaten.
If you really want to talk about the "history of eating chicken" in Chinese, it can be said that the history is long, archaeologists since the discovery of chicken bones in the ancient site of Cishan in Hebei Province, China, after research, they will advance the history of eating chicken in the world to 8,000 years ago, perhaps Hebei is the earliest origin of domestic chickens.
In China's total meat consumption, chicken is second only to pork. China ate more than 14.27 million tons of chicken last year, with an average of 10 kilograms of chicken per person, which shows how much the people like to eat chicken.
So why can big brands grow in the chicken category? Counting China's catering brands, chicken category big guys account for almost half of the country.
Therefore, the brands of "making chickens" have risen, and the brands of "making chickens" are all "making chickens". Big categories grow big brands.
It can be seen that to do a good job in a category, in addition to looking at the market is not big, the track is not wide, but also depends on the stability and instability of the supply chain. After all, the water is big and the fish is big, and the soil fertilizer can be deeply rooted.
Most people start a business thinking of polishing products and models from 0, there is a kind of entrepreneurship that does not start from 0, standing on the shoulders of others' success to optimize and upgrade, and catering is indeed suitable for this.
Innovation is the new combination of old elements, and it is difficult for catering to do subversive innovation, but micro-innovation is half a step ahead.
In 2016, Lv Kum Kee began to look for a supply chain that can be cooperated, and after tasting the raw materials of many suppliers in China, he determined the leading domestic breeding enterprise with guaranteed quality and stable supply - Wen's Group.
After solving the supply chain, in 2018, it began to open street shops in Wuhan, but the single operating cost of the product is high, and it is difficult to break through and make a large profit like most street stores.
Coinciding with the 2019 Hema fresh supermarket to Wuhan to attract investment, the operating model completely subverts the traditional stores, the same chicken products, although sales have declined, but in Hema no rent costs, water and electricity sharing, small floats can achieve business, several stores that test the water have also achieved profitability.
At present, Lv Kum Kee's mature supply chain whole chicken arrives at the store, and the scene only needs to tear the chicken by hand and add spices to eat in three minutes.
The revenue of 3 square floats can reach an average of 50,000 per month, and the highest Shanghai Jinqiao store can reach a turnover of 180,000. This rent-for-sale is more than any shopping mall likes.
Simple operation, fewer employees, light mode, and the three most important store characteristics have enabled Lu Kum Kee to quickly open 60 stores in Hema in 2019.
Lv Kum Kee's consumption positioning: catering consumption is the mainstay, supplemented by leisure retail, per capita consumption is 40 yuan, and the sales volume of instant meals is stable.
Lu kum Kee's crowd is widely adaptable, almost all ages and all guests are 25-60 years old, especially like "one person food", as well as family meals packed with one dish.
Lu Kum Kee sells more than 2 million copies of hand-torn chickens a year, a typical single product hit style. Especially in the fiercely competitive Shanghai catering market, Lv Kum Kee hand-torn chicken has long been at the top of the list in snack sales.
At present, Lv Kum Kee has opened more than 200 stores, of which more than 90% of hema stores are out-and-out "box district stores", and hema is a very fast and nanny-style store opening channel for single-product stores.
According to statistics, the revenue of Hema stores alone has exceeded 40 million in the first half of this year from 33 million in 2019 to more than 60 million in 2020. Lv Kum Kee's sales of more than 100 million are just around the corner.
It can be guessed that in the future, the consumption scene of hand-torn chicken will expand from supermarkets to vegetable markets, community fresh stores on shelves or counters, and buy a hand-torn chicken like buying vegetables to go home, becoming a way of life in the city.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" >02 Difference between hand-torn chicken snacks and chicken staples</h1>
As a subdivision of chicken, what are the similarities and differences between hand-torn chicken snacks and large categories of fried chicken?
First, in terms of products, hand-torn chicken is a marinated whole chicken, which can be used as a main dish and as a snack, while most chicken brands are staple food main dishes.
Among the Wandian chicken brands, Zhengxin chicken steak is a snack attribute, and Wallace now focuses on the whole chicken burger, and has embarked on the altar through 20 years of hard work.
Lv Kum Kee focuses on three product lines: gold medal hand torn chicken, imperial hand torn chicken, and Hong Kong-style nourishing steamed chicken.
To meet the needs of different tastes, Lv Kum Kee hand-torn chicken has developed 5 flavors: rattan pepper flavor, original taste, Sichuan flavor, spicy taste, cumin flavor, and has also been recognized by consumers across the country
· Quality is guaranteed
There is a place - Guangzhou, the criterion for judging good chicken: chicken flavor! "Skin is crisp, meat is smooth, chicken has distinct fibers, umami and rich meat is sweet and tough" is the basic principle of a good chicken. This is The standard of Lü Kum Kee.
Every inch of chicken is tender and fragrant. With a unique process of secret brine, the chicken is soaked in the smooth and silky flavor, the fat is moderate, and the juice is delicious.
· Raw materials are traceable
Wen's, a world-class breeding enterprise, adopts additive-free high-quality sanhuang walking chicken, which is chilled and transported to the central factory within 24 hours after slaughter, and is cooked in accordance with the traditional Hong Kong-style secret recipe through strict processing, restoring the unique tender and smooth flavor of the chicken itself.
· Cook now
It is cooked on the spot, according to the traditional Hong Kong-style secret recipe, strict processing, and refined cooking. The finished chicken is stored with -40C ° frozen lock fresh technology, and the whole cold chain is distributed to stores nationwide.
Different from the traditional street chicken shop, Lv Kum Kee has always regarded "user thinking" as a gripper to reach users, always standing in the user's point of view, what the user needs, the brand will do.
With the improvement of new infrastructure of chain catering such as digitalization and supply chain, the process of China's catering chain is accelerating, and in line with the market environment under consumption upgrading, the category outlet of hand-torn chicken is coming!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" >03 Can a dish win the whole country? </h1>
Brine is a good category for north-south all-you-can-eat, and there have been 4 listed giants on this track, as well as a regional king in the corner.
As a member of the subdivision of the brine track, Lu Kum Kee hand-torn chicken undoubtedly also has the gene of Wandian.
The 7 common genes of wandian chain: consumer universality, heavy taste addiction, extreme cost performance, full supply of products, minimalist operation of stores, low investment in store construction, and flexible site selection.
Lv Jinji first turned the form of traditional large stores and multiple dishes into a brand of "single product scene" in small shop stalls, and then went to the whole country through the model of "small stores + large chains + full supply".
Add to the brand presentation on the packaging, and turn it into a fashion design and funny copywriting that young people are happy to accept.
Lu Kum Kee has turned the traditional dine-in products into a meal snack, which is a subtraction of products that simplify complexity.
This one-dish explosive strategy of hand-torn chicken, at least in the early stage, is very suitable for the catering industry.
From the perspective of operation, focusing is more conducive to the improvement of efficiency, in procurement, research and development, cooking, publicity, marketing can achieve single-mindedness, it is easy to become a category of "experts";
From the customer's point of view, what used to be "where to eat" has now become "where to eat and where to eat", and customers need to have clear and directed consumption hints.
As a result, the explosive model into the store came into being, around a main ingredient or a special explosive dish, the extension of peripheral products, the formation of "point with noodles" catering business model.
However, the advantage of a dish explosion strategy is extremely simple, easy to copy, the broadest spectrum of flexible site selection to open a store; the disadvantage is also due to the extreme simplicity leading to low repurchase.
The popular trend of the catering industry, from "large and complete" to "small and fine", but no matter how small or fine, Chinese people are still accustomed to lively socialization and richness.
Last year, Wen's Group set up factories and warehousing departments in central China to develop and produce new products while also ensuring the supply source of Lv Kum Kee.
Moreover, although the store is small but iterative, Lu kum Kee has now evolved to the fourth generation of floats, and the small floats can carry all the sales and operations of the store.
The core of the "Wandian Chain" is the troika of "brand, supply chain and digitalization".
Controlling from the source of raw materials and reducing procurement costs through the scale of stores, in the end, consumers cannot refuse the cost performance of the store, and the store cannot refuse the good quality and low price of the supply chain.
Then, through a series of strategies such as online and offline operation, product optimization combination, and takeaway scene adjustment, it is used to empower franchisees and achieve a breakthrough of 300 stores in three years.
In addition, Lu kum Kee has attached great importance to team building since its inception. From investment promotion, site selection and development, engineering construction to product research and development, supply chain, store operation, etc., there are a sound and growing talent echelon to ensure the integration of knowledge and action empowered by stores.
brief summary:
"Big brands, small stores, chains" is a common phenomenon after the reshuffle of catering competition, and various types of "specialty stores" are leading the market.
Upgrade from one dish to one brand. But the operator considers "rich diversity", which is the root of Chinese food. The following dimensions are important considerations when considering:
Is the temperature matching cool or hot?
Is the richness of the flavor type, sweet and sour, salty and spicy all involved?
Is it reasonable to change the taste, soft, hard and crispy?
Is there a different way to present the color design?
...
There is no shortage of good products in China, but there is a lack of creative packaging and then conveniently reaching consumers.
Hand-torn chicken is to repackage this subdivision of products, repackag and reconstruct channels, and provide consumers with extreme cost performance, but whether Lv Kum Kee can realize the dream of "100 cities and 100 stores" is still left to the market and time!
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