Why is the 100 yuan burger per capita no longer favored?

"Oh my God! Habitt Burger is closed!" exclaimed a Xiaohongshu netizen. It turned out that when a blogger went to a habitt burger restaurant in Shanghai to check in, he was surprised to find a "notification letter" with a store closure notice posted on the window door.

The notification letter clearly stated: "Habitt Burger has temporarily notified the venue on April 1, 2024 that it will end its business here due to its own business reasons. After the release of this note, many netizens expressed their regrets.

"I can't believe that a burger restaurant as good as Pineapple Beef Burger would go out of business!"

"Habitt burgers are obviously more cost-effective than brands like Shake Shack and 5guys, how did they get to this point?"

"It's a pity, their burger is the best I've ever had!"

"It's so sudden, I've always loved their burgers. ”

After many confirmations, the current Habitt Burger store in Shanghai has been basically closed. Once upon a time, the brand had four stores in Shanghai and even expanded to Hangzhou. However, at the beginning of this year, there were only four stores left in Shanghai, and in less than three months, they were also closed. At present, Habitt Burger has only the last store left in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in China.

01■

Closed and closed

The "Hermes of the Hamburg world" could not hold on

Born in 1969 in the small town of Santa Barbara, the Habit Burger quickly won the hearts of Americans with its unique taste and excellent service, and won the reputation of "American's Favorite Burger", "Hermes of the Burger World" and "The Healthiest, Greenest and Best Burger".

As of March 20, 2024, the brand has 367 stores in the United States, consolidating its leading position in the U.S. fine burger market.

However, perhaps hitting a bottleneck in the U.S. market, Habitt Burger turned its attention to the domestic market in 2017. On November 9 of the same year, its first store opened in Shanghai Fuxing SOHO, which set off a boom in the "Magic City Burger Circle" for a while.

The key reason why the Habitt Burger is so popular with consumers in Shanghai is its "make and sell" business model. Its product is positioned as a "super-large American direct fire freshly roasted beef burger", and the meat and patties are "freshly cut, ground, pressed, and roasted" to ensure the freshness and juicy of the beef.

In order to allow consumers to intuitively experience the charm of "freshly made", the Habit burger restaurant has a bright file to show the production process of hamburger patties. Therefore, consumers mostly evaluate it as "fresh ingredients", "juicy and tender meatloaf" and "good seasoning".

With this selling point, Habitt Burger quickly took root in Shanghai's major shopping malls, exhibition halls and transportation hubs, and gradually expanded to Hangzhou, Chongqing and other cities.

In the seven years since entering the Chinese market, the Habitt Burger will once topped the Dianping must-eat list in 2023, and is known as a cost-effective exquisite burger. However, the good times were short-lived, and the development of the Habitt Burger in China suffered a serious setback.

On April 2 this year, the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai World Expo Park posted a notice announcing that Habitt Burger would close for business reasons. Not only that, as of April 14, all five Habit stores in Shanghai have closed, and the phones are basically turned off.

According to netizens, the closure process of Habitt Burger was very hasty, and all stores were closed overnight. This news made many netizens regret, believing that his departure was a big loss for Shanghai. In fact, the defeat of the Habitt Burger is also a reflection of the dilemma that the entire fine burger market is facing.

02■

Withdrawing stores, shrinking, slowing down the "Great Escape" of Fine Burgers

Back in the day, when the fine burger brand entered the Chinese market, it was widely welcomed.

In 2009, Luck Star came to China and opened its first store at Raffles City in Shanghai, attracting many young people from Luck City with its special services such as on-site ordering, all-you-can-drink, and food delivery.

According to reports, when the Shanghai store first opened, there was a long queue at the door. Since then, every time a new store is opened, a large number of fans have flocked to it.

In 2017, White Castle opened three branches in Shengli and Raffles City Changning, Shanghai.

In 2019, Shake Shack entered the Chinese market, positioning itself in the mid-to-high-end market, and on the opening day of its first store in Shanghai, it attracted a large number of customers to wait in line, even for up to 7 hours.

Entering the Beijing market in 2020, despite the bad weather that day, people's enthusiasm for queuing has not diminished. Subsequently, Shake Shack opened branches in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and other places, which also sparked a queue boom.

At that time, the queuing time started at least 1.5 hours, and the errand fee for purchasing agents was as high as 100 yuan.

In its glory days, in just a few years, Shake Shack opened more than 60 stores in China.

In 2021, Five Guys entered the Chinese market with its first store on Huaihai Middle Road in Shanghai, and it is said that it ushered in a long queue on the first day of opening. Subsequently, with the traffic effect of Internet celebrity catering, two branches were opened in Shanghai. Why was the fine burger brand so popular at the time?

l In terms of positioning, the main theme is "freshly made and sold, with a fresh taste". The core selling points of the exquisite burger brands in the market are mainly focused on the two aspects of "fresh ingredients" and "freshly made". For example, Shake Shack emphasizes the daily fresh sourcing of vegetables and promises to make to order, Carl's Jr. focuses on a made-to-order service model with all-you-can-drink benefits, and Habit Burger Grill highlights its signature – an oversized American fresh-from-the-burn beef burger that highlights the uniqueness and freshness of its products. These brands have successfully attracted the attention of many consumers through precise positioning and distinctive selling points.

l In terms of ingredients, beef + niche ingredients. Many fine burger brands have developed unique core products with beef at their core. For example, the Grinder Grinder Burger and CHARLIE'S Pink Burger are branded with the foie gras beef burger, Carl's Jr. has a super-large roast beef burger, and the Habit Burger Grill is favored with its pineapple beef burger.

In order to continue to meet consumers' pursuit of "freshness" of ingredients, these brands have further innovated and expanded burger ingredients to include niche ingredients such as pineapple, plant-based meat, truffle-flavored mushrooms, and cheese mushrooms, bringing consumers more unique culinary experiences.

In terms of store design, American retro style or industrial style has almost become the standard configuration of fine burger brands, and semi-open restaurant design is also common in many brands, creating a unique dining atmosphere for consumers. In addition, these brands attach great importance to the posing and packaging of ingredients, which attracts many people to check in, share and plant

Therefore, with the pure American flavor + decoration style, the price of the burger is several times more expensive than the ordinary burger. For example, according to Dianping, the average restaurant price of Shake Shack and CHARLIE'S Pink Burger is about 70-80 yuan, Five Guys is about 100 yuan, and FAT COW is about 135 yuan.

However, as time went on, the once-popular fine burger joints began to "flee" the market.

l Kalexing, in 2020, began to close its Shanghai stores one after another, and in November 2022, the only directly operated store in Shanghai was also closed. According to public data, there are only 2 franchise-stores that are still operating normally.

lFIVE GUYS, which entered the Chinese market in 2021, has been a smash hit and has expanded its stores in large numbers. At present, there are only 5 stores in the country, all of which are in Shanghai.

lSHAKE SHACK, on average, will cause a queue phenomenon when each one is opened, feeding a lot of scalpers. After 2022, the early queuing heat has basically disappeared. ACCORDING TO A REPORT BY JIEMIAN NEWS IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR, SHAKE SHACK WAS OUTSPOKEN ABOUT THE SLOWDOWN IN THE CHINESE MARKET.

lWhite Castle entered the Chinese market in 2017, and in 2021, it issued an announcement of business closure, and the official telephone service was also suspended. In just four years, it withdrew from the Chinese market. As for the specific reason, the official did not disclose.

03■

Hamburg is "disenchanting"

It can be said that the fine burger brands have really not been in a good situation in recent years, either fading out of the Chinese market, or closing a large number of stores, or the growth is not as good as before, and it can basically be said that they have lost their former style. Why is the fine burger in such a situation? There is a trend behind it: the burger is 'disenchanted'.

In short, it means that people no longer have the same strong yearning and expectation for the "American flavor" and "pure decoration" of the burger. On the contrary, people are starting to pay more attention to the value of Chinese burgers rather than just their "American value".

Specifically, the "disenchantment" of the price of hamburgers, the "disenchantment" of taste, the "disenchantment" of decoration, and the "disenchantment" of the burger.

1. The "disenchantment" of hamburger prices: return to the value of the product and no longer pay for high prices.

Shake Shack gets the most complained about online because of its price. How expensive is a Shake Shack? Fine burgers range from $38 to $84, a fries cost $27, and a milkshake costs $42.

Among them, the mushroom castle priced at 63 yuan was "reproduced" by netizens with the same material at a cost of 6.2 yuan, so it set off a "public opinion war" on the Internet.

Many netizens even posted complaints: "Hamburgers are fast food, it's useless to spend so much work, it's better for me to eat Tustin for a week." In fact, the price of burgers is "disenchanted", in addition to exquisite burgers, McDonald's and KFC burgers are also "disenchanted" in price.

For example, McDonald's and KFC, although they did not directly reduce the price of their products, they have also launched their own "poor ghost package", McDonald's has 1+1 with "poor ghost package", and KFC has "poor ghost package Western food version of the week recipe".

The purpose of both McDonald's and KFC is to reduce the price of the entire product through the "set menu", conform to the consumer trend, and "disenchant" the stereotype of high price of burgers.

Therefore, refined burgers should also return to the value of the product, rather than blindly flaunting high prices with "American flavor", after all, under the downward trend of consumption, how many people are willing to consume high-priced burgers for a long time?

2. The "disenchantment" of hamburger flavors: out of the category of beef, the introduction of localized flavors.

The traditional American-style burger, with a beef as the main focus, reflects the deep American love for beef. According to the data, the per capita beef consumption in the United States in 2014 was as high as 35.1 kilograms, much higher than the 5.33 kilograms in China during the same period.

As a result, in Western dining culture, burgers are often filled with beef, while sandwiches are more often filled with chicken. When McDonald's and KFC entered China, they also initially focused on "beef burgers".

However, they soon discovered that the Chinese preferred chicken, so they quickly adjusted their strategy and launched a variety of chicken leg burgers, successfully gaining a foothold in the Chinese market. Subsequently, in order to meet the market demand, the two brands gradually moved away from traditional American tastes and towards localization and diversification.

For example, in 2023, KFC will launch the "Sichuan Spicy Saliva Chicken Leg Burger" and the "Hunan Spicy Stir-fried Beef Chicken Leg Burger" that incorporate Sichuan and Hunan flavors. McDonald's has also followed suit and launched innovative products such as crayfish burgers, shrimp burgers, etc.

With the rise of Chinese burger brands such as Tustin, the "disenchantment" of hamburgers in the Chinese market has become more thorough, and the ingredients have been fully "Chineseized". Tustin's Chinese burgers such as mapo tofu, Peking duck, and fish-flavored shredded pork are deeply loved by consumers.

Many exquisite burger brands in the market have also joined the ranks of "disenchantment" and launched a variety of special burgers. For example, Wuhan's handmade burger brand combines Yunnan ingredients and fresh ingredients to create a variety of "Yunnan-style" burgers.

In addition, burgers such as special sour and regional barbecue flavors are also becoming popular. According to the 2024 Burger Flavor Trend Observation Report, sales of barbecue and sour burgers have grown significantly.

Therefore, in the future, the development of hamburgers will get rid of the dependence on "American" and "beef", and change to diversified ingredients and flavors, which is its ultimate development path.

3. The "disenchantment" of brand (hamburg) decoration: break away from American decoration and turn to the national trendy style.

The American style of Hamburg décor often uses large areas of tiles and irregular tiles to create a unique American style. In addition, the style often uses neon signs, neon signs, and iconic patterns, as well as furniture and decorations with a vintage feel.

However, in recent years, many burger brands have begun to gradually move away from the traditional "American style" in decoration and move closer to the national trendy style.

For example, in terms of color matching, they may use bold red and green contrasting colors with wood colors to show the warmth and vitality of Chinese style, on desktop and wall ornaments, they may use Chinese-style ornaments or porcelain, as well as elements such as comics, calligraphy or Chinese paintings to add cultural atmosphere, and in terms of element embellishment, they may cleverly use national fashion elements in the space, such as national tide lanterns, traditional panes, etc., to enhance the national fashion atmosphere of the space.

4. The "disenchantment" of hamburger embryos: break through the category of bread and evolve to diversification.

Traditional hamburger bread embryos are often bread-based, such as McDonald's Big Mac bread, McFragrant chicken bread, hamburger bread, long cornbread, etc., although the raw materials are different, but the form is in the form of bread to present the appearance of the hamburger.

However, since 2023, the hamburger bread embryo has begun to move away from the traditional bread category and develop in the direction of diversification and enrichment.

According to the 2024 Burger Flavor Trend Observation Report, the number of SKUs claiming new burger bread crumbs will increase by 31% year-on-year in 2023.

At present, the hamburger bread embryo with high frequency in the market includes Chinese-style white buns, rice crackers, and roast cakes, Western-style croissants, bagels, and doughnuts, as well as beef patties, avocados, eggs, and other "protein hamburger bread embryos".

In fact, the underlying factor behind a series of "disenchantment" in Hamburg is the result of the transformation of consumer sentiment after the decline in consumption power and the upgrade to the "fourth consumption era".

However, the catering consumption in mainland China is gradually shifting to the "fourth consumption era", so people's consumption concepts have undergone great changes: consumption tends to be rational, no longer easy to pay for excess premiums, aesthetics tend to be localized, and there is a strong interest in traditional cultural elements, and tastes tend to diversify, expecting more fresh and diversified ingredients and tastes.

Therefore, from this point of view, the "great exit" of the delicate burger is a concentrated embodiment of the "disenchantment" of the burger.

Brief summary:

Even before a fundamental shift in consumer trends, all-American burgers can still attract consumers to pay for them. However, after the epidemic, as consumers' purchasing power declined, consumption concepts became increasingly rational, and consumer demand became diversified.

At this time, it was no longer possible to support the high price of fine burgers with pure American flavor and decoration alone. Therefore, in recent years, the hamburg industry has gradually shown a trend of "disenchantment".

The price disenchantment means that the high price of the fine burger is no longer suitable for the market;

The taste is disenchanted, and beef-based burgers are difficult to attract a wider range of consumer groups;

Decoration disenchantment, American decoration style is difficult to bring freshness to consumers.

In order to ensure the long-term and steady development of exquisite burgers, it is necessary to continue to evolve in the direction of regionalization of taste, Chinese-style decoration, and price-quality-price ratio in the future.

Only by adapting to market demand, continuous innovation and optimization, can we stand out in the fierce market competition. Otherwise, the road to the development of fine burgers will be even more difficult.

-END-作者 | 小贝出品 | 餐饮O2O