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Goubuli Buns, a legendary time-honored brand, whose history can be traced back to the last century, is all the rage, ranking among the "three uniques" of Tianjin snacks, and its popularity is comparable to Tianjin's famous 18th Street Twist and Ear Eye Fried Cake!
The reputation of Goubuli Buns is not only well known to women and children in the city of Tianjin, but also well-known throughout the country, becoming the pride of Tianjin, the capital of food.
The glorious history of this century-old brand can be traced back to the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, after the Empress Dowager Cixi tasted a cage of Goubuli buns, she was full of praise and personally gave her the reputation of "delicacies from the mountains and seas, birds and beasts, all of which are not as fragrant as Goubuli buns, and eating them can prolong life".
What's even more amazing is that the Empress Dowager Cixi even sent commissioners to purchase it many times, which shows how much she loves this delicacy.
Since then, the fame of Goubuli Buns has spread all over the country, and branches have sprung up all over the country. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, it had become the iconic cuisine of Tianjin.
With the establishment of the modern enterprise system, Goubuli Restaurant Group came into being. The improvement of the company's mechanism has made the product line of Goubuli buns more diversified, and has launched six series of sauce meat buns, vegetarian stuffed buns, seafood buns, etc., with a variety of as many as 98 subdivided types, which can be called dazzling.
With the freshly baked business philosophy, the annual sales of Goubuli buns were once as high as 300 million yuan, which can be described as infinite.
However, just when this time-honored brand seems to have advanced into the infinite and vast world of career development, the curve of the turning point is secretly brewing. There are an overwhelming number of negative reviews on the Internet, criticizing the high price and poor service quality.
A netizen angrily exposed the "fraudulent consumption" of Goubuli steamed buns on social media – the price of an ordinary basket of steamed buns is as high as 120 yuan, the price of fried shrimp is more than 100 yuan, and even the most common boiled peanuts in salt water need to pay a high price of 58 yuan.
At the same time, the outdated environmental facilities and indifferent service attitude of the Goubuli bun store have aroused people's doubts. The cold and sloppy service attitude all over the ground makes people wonder if there was a so-called "century-old cultural food atmosphere" here.
What makes people sigh is that the negative news that has been exposed one after another has plunged this time-honored brand into a serious credibility crisis after a hundred years of vicissitudes! Goubuli Baozi, an iconic brand of traditional cuisine that was once brilliantly brilliant, is now mired in the abyss of brand reputation, and people can't help but feel sorry for it! So, how did it slip from the top of glory to the predicament of today's struggle? Next, let's review the rise and fall of Goubuli Baozi!
To explore the origin of the rise and fall of Goubuli buns, we have to go back in time to the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty.
At that time, a hot-blooded young noble friend from Wuqing, Hebei Province, with the dream of soaring into the sky, with a fiery heart, came to the most prosperous and noisy area of Tianjin City alone to seek a way to survive.
Regarding the name Gao Guiyou, his father can be described as well-intentioned. Due to the poverty of the family, Gao Guiyou's father was only happy to have a child in his forties. In order to pray for the child to grow up healthy and strong, he gave his son a seemingly unremarkable nickname "Dog". In the northern region, such names are not uncommon, and they convey the deep blessings of parents for their children's liveliness, cheerfulness, health and happiness.
A noble friend who was in his youth, just taking the first step in his life journey, was fortunate to meet the teacher who gave him selfless help. Gao Guiyou worked as an apprentice in a prestigious steamed bun shop on the banks of the canal in Tianjin, and quickly won the favor of his master Lao Liu with his outstanding talent and diligent and studious spirit.
This unique recipe for steamed buns is a solid foundation for your future entrepreneurial path. It is filled with moderately fat pork belly to ensure a rich but not greasy taste, and it is made with freshly boiled bone broth and spices such as green onion and ginger, five-spice powder, sesame oil and so on.
As for the production of the bun skin, it is also made with the same meticulous precision, using high-quality flour that has been filtered many times, combined with superb hand-twisting skills, to create a soft and elastic crust with a soft mouthfeel.
Respect the teacher and noble friends, give high praise, and teach all the unique skills. Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Gao Guiyou has mastered the master's skills, and he feels that the time is ripe, and he is determined to step out of the protection of his master and start his brilliant career.
So, with tenacity and perseverance, he founded his own "Dejuhao" bun shop.
While following his master's wishes, Gao Guiyou was not satisfied with sticking to tradition, and he had the courage to break through and push the craft of making steamed buns to new heights, which quickly won widespread praise. The steamed buns he made by himself had excellent taste and fair prices, which made "Dejuhao" shine in the Tianjin market at that time and the business was prosperous.
With the endless stream of diners, Gao Guiyou, a former apprentice, has now become a busy "helper", often overwhelmed. His nickname "Gouzi", coupled with the exquisite skills of Baozi, gradually became affectionately known as "Goubuli Baozi".
Since then, the unique name of "Goubuli Buns" has been deeply engraved in the taste buds of the people of Tianjin.
The legendary story of Gaoguiyou's handmade buns is the foundation of the century-old Goubuli brand. We have stood at the starting point, let us all look forward to see how it continues in the long river of time.
With his unique skills and diligent and hard-working attitude, Gao Guiyou's "Goubuli Bun" quickly became a household name in Tianjin. Its reputation spread far and wide, and even spread into the Forbidden City.
According to folklore, once Yuan Shikai specially offered "Goubuli Buns" as a tribute to the Empress Dowager Cixi of the current dynasty.
In the face of the laughter and laughter of the Manchu Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Cixi was full of praise for Goubuli Baozi, which shows the depth of her love for this delicacy. Interestingly, later Cixi sent commissioners to Tianjin many times to purchase, and she never got tired of it.
From this anecdote, it is not difficult to see that Goubuli Baozi has long spread its reputation throughout the country with the strong support of the Empress Dowager Cixi. Leaving the birthplace of Tianjin, its fame is still ubiquitous and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Time spanned to the Republic of China, when Goubuli Baozi branches sprung up like mushrooms after a rain in various provinces and cities in China. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the three special snacks of Tianjin, such as Goubuli buns, twist flowers from 18th Street and fried cakes with ears and eyes, were known as the "three unique" delicacies of Tianjin snacks and were famous.
Despite the changes of the times and the continuous changes in society, the reputation of Goubuli buns has always been passed on, and its influence is far-reaching and eye-catching. Entering the era of modern enterprises, the new Goubuli Catering Group came into being, which has carried out a comprehensive upgrade and transformation of the brand of Goubuli Buns, and launched six series of sauce meat buns, vegetarian stuffed buns, seafood buns, etc., with as many as 98 subdivided categories, and a dazzling variety of products.
The diversified development of product lines and sales channels has made the annual sales of Goubuli Baozi soar to an astonishing 300 million yuan! However, who would have predicted that in this glorious gilded age, the core of the brand of Goubuli Bun would gradually begin to crack.
Just as Goubuli's bun career was at its peak, a turning point in fate was quietly brewing in the dark. First of all, the long-standing hand-made skills of Goubuli buns began to be lost day by day. The unique skill mastered by Gao Guiyou back then, after a hundred years of passing down from generation to generation, has now been gradually forgotten in contemporary society.
Today's Goubuli buns, both in taste and appearance, are no different from ordinary street buns. This once-highly respected unique skill has disappeared in the baptism of time. At the same time, the price of Goubuli buns has also begun to rise wildly. A cage of the most ordinary Goubuli buns can be sold for a sky-high price of 120 yuan! Compared with the 2-3 yuan of ordinary buns on the street, this is undoubtedly dozens of times higher.
What's even more outrageous is that even the simplest serving of boiled peanuts in salted water in the store costs up to 58 yuan. Obviously, this kind of expensive pricing that the dog ignores is completely unreasonable.
In September 2020, a customer posted an article on social media denouncing Goubuli for "fraudulent consumption". He said that as soon as he stepped into the store, the waiter forcibly recommended all kinds of "signature" dishes to him, and in the end, an ordinary breakfast cost him as much as 400 yuan.
What is even more astonishing is that the waiters are unwilling to come up with a menu to provide services, and the quality of service is really worrying! For the majority of tourists, the reason why they come from thousands of miles is purely to taste this once flourishing "century-old brand." It is naturally extremely frustrating and disappointing to pay such a high price, only to get only poor service and bland taste.
Even, this kind of scene can be seen everywhere in the Goubuli restaurant. The mess left by the previous batch of diners is everywhere, and it is extremely disgusting. The waiter's attitude is also perfunctory and indifferent, and he can't feel the so-called "century-old cultural atmosphere" of the merchant at all.
With the accumulation of many factors such as high prices, poor service, lost craftsmanship and outdated environment, this once glorious and time-honored brand is gradually declining.
In this regard, people's dissatisfaction has also emerged like a tide, and Goubuli Bun seems to have completely lost its former glory.
The pressure of public opinion on Goubuli Bun is intensifying, and the constant negative reviews on the Internet have plunged the time-honored brand into a serious credibility crisis.
In the face of such a strong wave of doubts, Goubuli Group had to come forward to clarify and give a reasonable explanation. They admit that the company has indeed encountered some operational problems, but they are still trying to adjust and innovate, hoping to rebuild its glory.
However, the reality seems to be even more grim than they themselves reveal. In addition to the overwhelming criticism on the Internet, the situation of Goubuli Baozi in the real world is also becoming more and more difficult. Its stores have been closed one after another, and a large number of stores have had to be listed to announce "suspension of business for rectification".
Some media even boldly speculated that Goubuli Restaurant Group may have come to the brink of bankruptcy.
Looking back on the past, the reason why Goubuli buns were able to gain a firm foothold in the land of Tianjin is largely due to its deep roots in local culture. However, its business model and strategic layout have long been far away from the development direction of the local market in Tianjin, the birthplace of Tianjin.
It turns out that this has changed from focusing on craftsmanship to maximizing profits, from being close to the life of Tianjin to aiming at the transformation process of tourists' money bags, which is becoming an important driving force for the decline of the brand spirit of Goubuli Baozi!
Lack of progress, sitting back and enjoying its success, and seeking profit have become the fuse of this century-old store's trouble. Nowadays, Goubuli buns are already struggling, and the former century-old glory is like a dream bubble.
Back then, Goubuli buns were a unique gem in the world, winning the taste and praise of the Empress Dowager Cixi. Its unique skills have a long history and excellent taste, and it was once popular all over the country, with annual sales of up to 300 million yuan.
Today, however, the once-time-honored brand is in the drums of its reputation.
Looking back on the rise and fall of Goubuli Baozi, it is not difficult to find that its predicament is largely due to the mistakes of its business philosophy and development strategy.
The only way out for any time-honored brand to maintain its youthful vitality like Quanjude Roast Duck and Tongrentang is to keep pace with consumer needs and continue to innovate.
However, the business model and strategic layout of Goubuli Baozi have gradually deviated from the development track of the local market.
From the original emphasis on craftsmanship inheritance and quality control, to the pursuit of profit maximization in the short term, from the need to closely connect with the lives of Tianjin citizens, to target the wallets of tourists.
Relying excessively on the golden signboard and past glory of the "century-old brand", and blindly focusing on the product line positioning and consumer groups, the brand connotation is increasingly eroding.
Flaunting a glorious history while ignoring the real needs of the current generation of consumers, and stagnation has led to the gradual aging and decline of brands. This series of problems is the root cause of the decay of Goubuli buns.
Today's predicament of a century-old dog ignoring buns has left us with endless room for reflection. Whether it will be able to regain its strength, and how it will be restored to its former glory? We are looking forward to it.