Total No. 3740
作者 | 餐饮老板内参 内参君
The wave of catering franchises is menacing
Some people "directly transfer to join", and some people open 10,000 stores
At the turn of the old and new years, F&B brands have set new goals one after another. Among them, the drama of snatching franchisees is about to be staged!
>>> direct sales to franchise, and intends to expand the franchise business layout
On December 28, 2023, Le Caesar Pizza announced that it will open its franchise in January 2024, launching two models: single-store franchise and regional franchise, so as to extend the store network to new first-tier and second-tier cities, and develop community-based stores. Founded in 2010, Le Caesar has opened nearly 200 directly-operated stores across the country, mainly located in core shopping malls in first-tier cities.
On December 22, Li Xuelin, the founder of Hefu Lao Mian, said that in the future, Hefu Lao Mian will be officially opened to join and enter the business model of "direct + joint operation", and in the next three years, Hefu Lao Mian will seek "5000+ business partners" to carry out joint operation and expand the multi-line market. At present, there are more than 500 Hefu Lao Noodle stores, all of which are directly operated. By 2026, it plans to open more than 2,000 Hefu Lao Noodle stores.
Chen Xianggui, who is also one of the "upstarts" of the noodle restaurant, previously adhered to the direct sales route, and officially launched the partnership system in November last year and opened up the franchise.
>>>品牌开万店，陆续公布加盟“战绩”
Continuing to attack in the franchise business, the hometown chicken is one of them. Not only did he announce the franchise situation on the official Douyin account, but also shouted out "the goal of 10,000 stores, franchise-oriented", although it was an IPO, it seemed that it intended to increase the franchise business. According to public reports, the number of franchised stores and directly operated stores will each account for 50% in the future, and the number of franchised stores in the future may be about 5,000 in combination with the goal of 10,000 stores.
During the New Year's Day, the first store of the Tims Tianhao Coffee Partner Program - Pinghu Nanhetou Jiefeng Store (Tims Go) opened in Pinghu, Jiaxing, and a number of franchise stores will open stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and other places, and the brand will launch the partnership project in September 2023; According to its WeChat official account, as of December 28, Hi Beer partners have more than 130 stores nationwide.
◎The first store of Tims Tianhao Coffee Partner Project - Pinghu Nanhetou Jiefeng Store
In the one-year period of direct sales transfer, Heytea's annual performance seems to have been completed relatively well. By the end of 2023, the number of Heytea stores worldwide has exceeded 3,200, including more than 2,300 business partnership stores, and the store scale has increased by 280% year-on-year. Heytea has grown from 800+ to 3200+ in one year, and through the "direct sales + franchise" model, it has not only increased the scale of Heytea stores, but also opened up the brand market and released brand power, for example, in the 50-89 square meters as the main business partnership store, the highest sales of a single store in a single day exceeded 5300 cups.
Widely spread the net to expand the scale and alleviate the operating pressure
If you can't improve management, you will also fall into the "abyss"
However, some people are running wild all the way by joining, and some people are not very dignified in "exiting".
In mid-2020, the number of Zhengxin Chicken Chops in the country once rushed to 22,030, which was 3 times that of KFC China and 7 times that of McDonald's China at that time, becoming a well-deserved "street fighter". Behind this huge number of stores is the crazy opening to join, it is reported that Zhengxin chicken steak has been open to franchise since 2013.
However, according to a report by Interface News some time ago, the number of Zhengxin chicken steak stores has now dropped to more than 11,000. Li Ke, who runs the Zhengxin chicken steak franchise store in Enshi, Hubei Province, also told Jiemian News that the original seven or eight Zhengxin chicken steaks in his place have closed two stores.
Zhengxin chicken steak has been frequently caught in food safety storms in recent years. On the evening of November 9, 2023, #Zhangjiajie's Zhengxin Chicken Chop franchise has been seized# rushed to the top of the hot search, and on August 18 of the same year, some netizens exposed that Zhengxin Chicken Chop employees stepped on the operating table to cut their toenails.
An industry insider said: "If you look at which store in Zhengxin still has a queue in the country, it would be good if one of the 100 stores was capable." ”
And Cudi Coffee. Some time ago, two letters from Kudi franchisees circulating on social platforms set off a wave of waves, which nakedly reflected the dissatisfaction of Cudi coffee franchisees with the brand's management capabilities, operation capabilities, innovation capabilities, and supply chain capabilities.
At present, the number of Cudi stores is around 6,000, which is a miracle for a coffee brand that has only been established for about a year, however, the problems in "brand operation" are constantly dragging Cudi forward. The supply chain problems that have been delayed again and again have made many stores show a state of "consumers don't have what they want, and what they want is out of stock". In addition to raw materials such as coffee beans, there are also plastic cups, paper bags, cup holders, etc., which are needed for store production.
The most tricky thing is that the franchisee reflects that it is not profitable, and the gross profit of a single cup of drinks is low, so that the number of cups at sunrise in a single day must reach 400 to reach the break-even point. Even Qian Zhiya (founder of Luckin Coffee and now chairman and CEO of Cudi Coffee) wrote in an internal letter to celebrate the anniversary in October: "The explosive growth of stores has brought huge challenges to Cudi Coffee's supply chain system, operation system and technical system. ”
In 2023, the "abyss" of catering franchise will still be indispensable to star catering.
In May, it was revealed that a large number of stores were closed. According to media reports, there are only 8 natural stay stores that do not show "suspension of business", and all of them do not show consumer traces such as user evaluations, and 3 of them are suspected of being closed due to the fact that the service status of the location may change on AutoNavi. Meituan shows that only three stores in Yancheng and Yangzhou are still open.
Founded in 2020, Natural Stay has opened 181 stores in 2021 and 16 stores in 2022.
and "Natural Stay" belongs to the same trader, and the Xianhezhuang lo-mei hot pot that Guangkai joined also has problems. At about the same time, Xianhezhuang Lo Mei Hot Pot was revealed to have closed all its stores in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu, and as of May 30, 2023, there are only 230 stores left in the country, while at its peak there were 788 stores.
In addition, the famous singer Xue Zhiqian's investment in the brand "Shangshangqian", some time ago was also exposed to a large-scale closure, this peak of the hot pot brand with 28 stores, currently only Guangzhou and Shanghai have 2 stores, has been on the verge of closure.
Weak operational capabilities and insufficient brand innovation are the fatal flaws of star catering, and compared with the star effect, the brand's operating status, brand supply chain capabilities and terminal service network construction capabilities should be taken as the most fundamental considerations.
The franchise relationship continues to evolve and change
How is it different from traditional franchise?
A mature and healthy franchise relationship can promote the common growth and progress of both enterprises and franchisees.
Looking at catering franchises, taking tea and coffee as an example, the battle for franchisees is starting. And take a deeper and closer look, there have also been some new changes and advancements in catering franchises.
First, the franchisee model is more subdivided.
For example, Luckin Coffee has launched three franchise models: "franchise with stores", "new partner franchise" and "directional point franchise". As the latest form of franchise, "directional point" means that Luckin will extend more stores to areas that were difficult to enter in the past, such as schools, hospitals, and scenic spots, and on this basis, it is conducive to providing more customized franchise solutions for specific scenarios and groups.
◎Luckin Coffee: Attraction store, hospital store, campus store
KFC, which achieved the achievement of "10,000 stores" some time ago, mentioned for the first time that the proportion of franchised stores in new stores in the future is 15%-20%. KFC has launched four new store models (Standard Store, Future Store, Mini Store and Sinking Market Restaurant). At the same time, there are a variety of functional modules such as ToGo, shoulder to shoulder, coffee cart, small station, etc., which can be flexibly assembled on any new store model according to needs. Multiple store types, adaptable to different franchisees.
Second, lower your profile and deeply cultivate the sinking market and small store model.
When the county catering surrounded Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the head big names had already turned to the sinking market, and the two sides crossed each other. In recent years, a clear trend is that big brands have reduced their store sizes to occupy the sinking market more quickly.
Nai Xue's tea 2022 financial report mentioned that almost all newly opened tea shops are PRO tea shops, and the existing standard tea shops will also be converted into PRO tea shops one after another. Nayuki's Tea Pro store is smaller and reduces the area to about 130-140 square meters by removing the central kitchen, thereby reducing the cost of investment and rent per store.
Half a year after the opening of the franchise in April last year, Lele Tea changed its franchise strategy and announced that it would open the 2.0 era of franchise, launching a more streamlined small store model than the directly operated store, focusing on the concept of small street shops, emphasizing small area and high ping efficiency. In this way, the "lightweight" franchise and lower investment are conducive to enhancing the competitive advantage of Lele tea in the franchise market and laying a model foundation for the sinking route of the future brand. Similarly, the small store model is released as the franchise store type, as well as Tims Tianhao Coffee, and the small store model is Jiefeng store.
The small store model has been admired for many years, and there is no doubt that the light model, small investment, low management difficulty, and fast return are important attraction points for franchisees to enter the game, and it is also a powerful grasp for brands to quickly get out of the scale effect.
Third, rational release, stricter review conditions, professional franchisees and head brands go in both directions.
With the recovery of the catering industry and fierce competition, catering brands need to occupy the market position and influence with scale, not only being submerged in the torrent, but this decision also needs to be rational.
In fact, the hometown chicken will test the waters in 2020 and be relatively more cautious step by step. Laoxiang Chicken initially adopted an internal incubation strategy to join, although the risk was lower, but for Laoxiang Chicken, which urgently needs to open up the market and embrace the capital market, it has not brought expansion speed, as of June 30, 2022, Laoxiang Chicken has only 102 franchise stores nationwide.
Judging from the franchise area opened by Laoxiang Chicken in 2023, this is more like a regional key investment promotion with great market recognition, around the base camp of Anhui, extending outward to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Henan and other prefecture-level cities.
For chain brands with national influence such as KFC, Luckin Coffee, and Heytea, their actions in franchise mode and strategy will greatly affect the brand reputation, not simply pursuing the speed of opening stores, but to operate safely, so they are required to have stricter conditions when screening franchisees and partners. Just like Luckin's directional point franchise model, it is more necessary to have franchisees with strong resources in the local area in order to further develop market segments and expand layout.
For example, in 2023, Heytea interviewed more than 7,700 potential business partners and opened 2,300 business partner stores, but more than 65% of Heytea business partners have opened 2 or more stores, and some partners have even opened more than 10 stores in their respective regions.
Ms. Hu, the first single-store franchise partner of Tims Tianhao Coffee, said, "The review conditions are very strict, and it has gone through more than one month of franchise evaluation and review, including headquarters interviews, qualification audits, and management ability assessments. According to Tims, after strict screening, professional evaluation and interview negotiation, the first batch of high-quality partners who meet the requirements and complete the signing of the contract has 20.
The recovery of catering is picking up, and the dual mode of direct + joint operation is open
Or it will promote the brand to run to 10,000 stores!
The catering industry is accelerating its recovery, and the leading catering brands will come up with brilliant performance data in 2023, and new players and entrepreneurs will continue to enter the industry track to enrich various catering categories. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to November 2023, the national catering revenue was 4,748.5 billion yuan, an increase of 19.4%. Recently, there are also relevant reports predicting that the annual catering revenue in 2023 is expected to exceed 5 trillion.
It is foreseeable that in 2024, more direct brands may turn to franchise, but before achieving scale effect, in fact, it will test the brand's all-round strength in products, operations, management, teams, supply chains, etc. After all, for professional franchisees, they have the resources and strength in the local area, and the corresponding thing is to choose high-quality brands, which is the same.