Farm stays used to be arguably one of the most popular ways to relax.
As soon as the weekend arrives, countless middle-aged men will drive in groups to suburban farmhouses, so it is also known as the "shelter" of countless middle-aged men.
However, data shows that in recent years, more than 84,000 farmhouses have closed down across the country.
How did the farmhouse fall off the altar?
«——【The Rise of Farmhouses】——»
Farmhouses first began to appear in some rural areas of the mainland in the mid-90s of the last century. At that time, along with the tide of reform and opening up, the urbanization process of the mainland accelerated, and a large number of rural people began to pour into the cities to work hard.
At the same time, some people of insight began to reflect on the pros and cons of modern civilization, and had a strong yearning for returning to nature and pastoral life.
Chengdu, as an important town in western China, and Sichuan as a major agricultural and tourism province, naturally became the earliest hot spot for farmhouses.
The unique geographical environment and long-standing food culture make Sichuan an ideal place for city dwellers to experience rural and rural life.
The first batch of farmhouses were concentrated in Pixian, Wenjiang and other areas around Chengdu. It's conveniently located close to the city centre, but it retains a typical rural and idyllic idyllic setting for middle-aged people who just want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a while.
At first, some wealthy villagers saw this business opportunity and temporarily converted their old houses or vacant lots into rudimentary restaurants and lodging places to welcome tourists from the city.
Most of these farmhouses are small family workshops, with simple decoration, but comfortable and comfortable, with a strong local atmosphere.
What's even more appealing is that most of the farmhouse dishes are handmade, and the ingredients are the freshest local produce, ensuring the authentic taste.
As soon as the weekend arrives, a large number of middle-aged men who are working hard in Chengdu will drive in groups. They sit in groups of three or five, under the shed or in the garden of the farmhouse, drinking a few glasses of local rice wine, feasting on the delicacies of the countryside, and enjoying the tranquility and tranquility of the countryside.
For a time, the surrounding area of Chengdu set off a boom in farmhouses. Many villagers have followed suit and converted their vacant lots or houses into farmhouses.
Some farmhouses have even hired professional chefs to improve and upgrade the original home-cooked farmhouse dishes to make the dishes taste more authentic.
At the beginning of the 21st century, with the continuous development of the national economy, the living standards of the Chinese people are gradually improving. Gradually, not only low- and middle-income people, but also the middle class are flocking to this kind of back-to-basic, back-to-nature leisure method.
As a result, in some economically developed areas, more and more farmhouses began to rise.
For example, in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and other places, there was also a boom in farmhouses at that time. Farmhouses in these areas not only retain the most traditional farmhouse cuisine, but also innovate and offer visitors a variety of farming experiences.
In addition to enjoying the rural idyllic scenery in the park, visitors can also experience the fun of agricultural work such as picking, sowing, and harvesting, and get close to the living beauty of nature.
«——[Reason for decay: cutting corners]——»
The reason why the farmhouse was initially popular among city dwellers was the fact that it could offer authentic country meals and a relaxing rural setting.
Visitors can pick fresh ingredients in the fields and cook them by their own hands, giving them a sense of home.
However, with the deepening of commercialization, many farmhouses began to covet profits and began to cut corners.
For example, the vegetables on the table are not home-grown, but bought from the wholesale market; Meals are no longer cooked by hand, but are made with a lot of ready-made semi-finished products.
In this way, the people-friendly style that was originally the most attractive to tourists has gradually drifted away, and customers can no longer feel the true rural flavor.
During peak season, a large farmhouse alone can accommodate hundreds of people. Due to the huge consumption of ingredients, most farmhouses can only purchase a large number of raw materials such as vegetables and meat outside to meet the huge catering demand.
However, driven by the pursuit of economic gain, some poorly run farmhouses began to covet small profits in the source of ingredients, so they used some ingredients from unknown sources.
For example, vegetables may have been sprayed with excessive pesticides, meat may have been injected with hormones, and so on.
Such negative news snowballed around the city, casting a shadow over the entire farmhouse industry. People are beginning to question the credibility of these supposedly "healthy and green" farmhouses, and there are many doubts about their publicity.
«——【Reason for decay: soaring prices】——»
With the passage of time and the expansion of scale, many original simple farmhouses have gradually decoupled from farmhouses and become commercial catering enterprises.
They began to prioritize profits, to maximize profits, and to abandon the original warm, welcoming, home-away business philosophy. As a result, prices have continued to rise, and in some places farmhouses have overtaken regular restaurants in the city.
On the other hand, those small farmhouses that are really run by the villagers themselves, because they adhere to the traditional handmade production, the ingredients are natural and pollution-free, and the prices are often much more affordable, which is favored by tourists in the city.
However, due to the lack of professional operational knowledge and publicity and promotion channels, their business cannot become bigger and stronger, and their scale has been limited. As a result, what should have been affordable farmhouses was soon monopolized by a few large chain farmhouses that operated commercially.
«——[Reason for decay: poor service and bad environment]——»
Mainland farmhouses started late, and there was a lack of mature business models to learn from in the early stage of development. Therefore, when opening up the market, most farmhouses are taking the insider's copy model, lacking innovation and characteristics, and more stupidly following the trend.
In the beginning, this model can also temporarily meet the needs of tourists, but over time, tourists will develop aesthetic fatigue, and the farmhouse will lose its freshness and appeal.
In addition to the problem of homogenization, the service experience is also a major bane of the decadence of the farmhouse. Due to the uneven quality of employees, it is difficult to guarantee the service level.
Many of the smaller farmhouses are mostly run by villagers or farmers on their own. They generally lack professional business management knowledge, and even the most basic quality control and service specifications are not in place.
In addition, most of the executives are older, conservative, and do not have the awareness to keep pace with the times. All of these are destined to the decline of traditional farmhouses, so that they are gradually replaced by new farmhouses and other more fashionable leisure methods.
In some of the farmhouses, the hygiene is horrible, with greasy and moldy dishes, stained tabletops, and even debris and rat droppings on the floor.
This will undoubtedly cause tourists to have many doubts and worries about the hygiene and safety of the ingredients served, which will directly affect their dining experience.
Some of the waiters at the farmhouse are even blunt, perfunctory to the customer's request, and even prevarication everywhere, making tourists feel very neglected and unvalued.
What's more, in order to save trouble, some waiters even turn a deaf ear to complaints and dissatisfaction with customers. This kind of poor service attitude is tantamount to actively stimulating the anger of customers, and then stimulating their negative reviews and word-of-mouth spread.
«——【The Road to Farmhouse Turnover·】——»
Looking at the many reasons for the decline of traditional farmhouses, the damage to the user experience is undoubtedly the fuse. If the farmhouse industry wants to regain its vitality, focusing on improving the user experience is the only way forward.
Farmhouses must regain their people-friendly nature and keep prices affordable. Objectively speaking, the high cost of consumption will kill the vitality of the farmhouse. Therefore, we must adhere to the route of parity, maintain a people-friendly and affordable pricing strategy, and let more ordinary people have the ability to come to consume and experience.
In addition, the quality of the experience must be improved across the board. In this era of fierce competition, it is not enough to attract customers with low prices, the key is whether it can leave customers with an immersive and comfortable feeling.
For example, in terms of catering, farmhouses must strictly control the quality of ingredients and insist on freshness and health. Many tourists come here in large part because they want to taste the authentic flavors of the countryside.
In terms of cooking techniques, it is also necessary to pay attention to authentic processes and retain local customs. Nowadays, in order to save labor, many farmhouses often outsource their dishes to catering companies, which makes the dishes lose their due rural flavor.
Many veteran customers have reported that the menu of the farmhouse is no different from the restaurants outside, and they do not experience the charm of the so-called "local flavor" at all.
Therefore, the most important thing is to hire some experienced grandmothers and mothers-in-law to take charge of the spoon, adhere to the traditional farmhouse cooking technology, and restore the original authentic taste of rural dishes.
After all, many tourists come not only for a light meal, but also to experience the rustic atmosphere of rural life and experience the peace and ease of rural life.
In terms of service, we should also attach great importance to service quality. The hardware of the entire farmhouse must be clean and tidy, whether it is the restaurant, guest rooms or public areas, it must be cleaned frequently to create a fresh and comfortable environment.
In addition, the service attitude and professional quality of the service personnel are equally important. Not only do they have to maintain a friendly and welcoming attitude, but they also have to be professionally trained and have a certain understanding of the history and culture of the countryside so that they can be familiar with explaining the cultural customs of the countryside to tourists.
It can be said that for the farmhouse, "eating" is only the entrance, but "enjoyment" is the core and key. Only by starting from multiple details and optimizing the quality of experience in an all-round way can the farmhouse attract a new generation of young consumers and make them pay for it.
In fact, within the scope of the country, there have been useful attempts and explorations made by farmhouses in some areas. For example, Hongcun in Wenchang, Hainan, Songcun in Wenxian, Henan, and some farmhouse villages in Jiangxi are all successful examples.
Through the introduction of market-oriented operation ideas and professional management teams, these places have made the farmhouse business format constantly innovate and keep pace with the times.
They have established a brand marketing and Internet operation system, which makes the farmhouse different from the previous rigid single model, but meets the preferences of modern consumers.
At the same time, these successful farmhouse villages focus on innovation and quality control, adhering to the traditional characteristics of ingredients and cooking techniques.
For example, in the selection of ingredients, they purchase high-quality local agricultural products at any cost, and eliminate all ingredients from unknown sources; In terms of cooking skills, some experienced farm wives are hired to take charge of the role, insisting on authentic processes and cooking methods.
Because of this, visitors to these areas can not only enjoy a high-quality living environment and considerate service, but more importantly, they can taste the pure and authentic rural flavor and feel the strong local flavor, which is undoubtedly the biggest highlight and selling point of these successful farmhouse villages.
«——【·Conclusion·】——»
Overall, although modern farmhouses have gone through a period of pain, it comes down to a demand-oriented problem. As long as we can really pay attention to the user experience, adhere to the cultural inheritance, based on agricultural characteristics, and reform and innovation with the times, I believe that the farmhouse will have a chance to rejuvenate.
However, restoring the weather of the past will not happen overnight, and will require the joint efforts of the entire industry. Only in this way can the "shelter" of these former middle-aged men set sail again in the ocean of rural tourism and become a new force on the road of rural revitalization.
Resources:
Red Meal Network - More than 80,000 have closed down, and the farmhouse is going to be "cool"?
Professional catering network - more than 84,000 bankruptcies! Farmhouses are "disappearing"?
Shangguan News -- "Nearly 80,000 farmhouses have closed down nationwide"? The reporter saw in Shanghai that the initial farmhouses were upgraded to new homestays