Image source: Visual China
Blue Whale News, September 10 (Reporter Zhang Jinglun) Recently, Haidilao has broken into a new category in the catering industry - its fried chicken brand "Xiaohi Love Fried" opened in Taiyuan. In the next two months, Xiaohi Aifang also plans to open stores in Tianjin, Wuxi, Shijiazhuang and other cities.
In the catering market in the past two years, the fried chicken category can be said to have shown strong growth momentum and popularity. Tianyancha APP shows that there are more than 100,000 "fried chicken" related enterprises in China, and the number of new registrations has reached 14,490 in the past year. At the same time, many fried chicken chain brands, such as Granny Relief, Leg Boss, Tiger Head Fried, etc., have announced new investments in the past year.
The comeback of "fried chicken" really wants to become a new outlet for the finished category? Can Haidilao's version of fried chicken run out of the 100 billion track?
Haidilao's version of high-end fried chicken
According to the brand's official information, Xiaohi loves to fry the main "fried chicken with sauce". In addition to garlic soy sauce, sweet and spicy, honey mustard, etc., the star flavor of this brand is snowflake cheese, which is generally similar to Korean fried chicken.
Judging from the official mini program, the product SKU is not complicated, and the product categories include fried chicken, snacks and drinks, with an average consumption of 40 yuan to 50 yuan.
According to the big data of red meals, the main price band of the fried chicken category is concentrated in 11 yuan to 20 yuan, accounting for more than 6 percent. Haidilao's "Xiaohi Fried Chicken" is in the price range of 40 yuan to 60 yuan, accounting for only 3.22%. Popeyes, Rei Cheese, etc. from United States, it is also a "high-end consumption" in fried chicken. Official sources also refer to the brand as the "new favorite of light luxury".
The "high-end fried chicken" has undoubtedly been a trend that has attracted much attention in recent years. A notable case is "Zhengtan Fried Chicken", a county fried chicken brand from Yanji, which only took two or three years to sell fried chicken, a ubiquitous civilian delicacy, into a limited edition Hermès shelf. The price of the large portion is 98 yuan, and the price of the halved small portion is 55 yuan, even so, the business is still hot to the point of long queues.
Why is "high-end fried chicken" becoming a trend now? Or even trigger a giant like Haidilao to get involved?
Zhan Junhao, a well-known strategic positioning expert and founder of Fujian Great Aim Brand Positioning Consulting, said in an interview with Blue Whale News that the trend of "high-end fried chicken" reflects consumers' growing demand for food quality and dining experience. With the improvement of living standards, people are no longer satisfied with basic dietary needs, but pay more attention to the freshness, health and unique dining experience of food.
"Haidilao's foray into the fried chicken market is not only a response to current trends in the F&B market, but also part of its diversification strategy. Haidilao has a strong brand influence and service standards, and entering the fried chicken track means that it can use the existing supply chain advantages, brand effect and customer base to quickly open up the market. In addition, it also reflects the trend of cross-border convergence within the F&B industry, where different types of F&B businesses can capture new business opportunities by introducing diversified product lines to attract a wider range of consumers. Zhan Junhao added.
But on the other hand, Tims Tianhao China announced the sale of the mid-to-high-end fried chicken brand Popeyes, which previously made the Flag of "500 stores in 5 years and more than 1,700 stores in 10 years" for this fried chicken brand, which became empty talk in a blink of an eye, and it also means that the operator of Popeyes in China has changed hands for the third time.
Judging from the results of the 15-month cooperation between Tims Tianhao China and Popeyes, Popeyes' results are barely passing. From the third quarter of 2023, when the Popeyes brand began to generate operating data, through the first quarter of 2024, Popeyes' adjusted store EBITDA margin was 12.2%, 1.10%, and -7.6%, respectively.
Whether premiumization can remain attractive in the long term remains to be further verified by the market.
100 billion fried chicken market, can Xiao Hi love fried out?
Just around the time of the opening of Xiao Hi Ai Fried, the restaurant chain brand of the internationally renowned brand Nabati Group (RicheeseFactory) settled in Shenzhen for the first time, and its official mini program has been launched, and a variety of fried chicken snacks have been launched.
In addition, fast food brands such as Nishi Shaoye, Ajisen Ramen, and DQ Blizzard & Burgers have added new "fried chicken" to their snacks. Now Haidilao is also eyeing the fried chicken track, what business opportunities are revealed behind it?
First of all, the fried chicken market is expanding. According to the data, the size of the fried chicken market exceeded 300 billion yuan in 2021 and is expected to reach 413.4 billion yuan in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of about 10%.
The huge market space has also made fried chicken the object of capital competition. For more than a year, at least 4 fried chicken brands have announced successful financing. In August last year, the leg boss received 4 million yuan in angel round financing; In September last year, Granny Xie announced that she had received 10 million yuan in angel round financing, and Tiger Head Bomb announced that she had received millions of yuan in angel financing; At the beginning of this year, Crispy Chicken Diary received a strategic investment, and the investor was China Commercial Capital.
In fact, it is not easy to stand out in China's "fried chicken world", which is a very popular and fragmented track. Tianyancha data shows that there are 100,000 enterprises related to "fried chicken" in business and survival, which are distinguished by categories, including American, Korean and Chinese fried chicken, in addition to a large number of mom-and-pop shops on the streets.
The Blue Whale News reporter noticed that although the popularity of the fried chicken category continued, the popularity of the track also intensified the competition between brands, and the number of stores increased significantly, and began to carve up a limited market.
For example, in the 21st block of Chaoyang Heshenghui fast food and snacks in Beijing, there are many fried goods stores such as "Yongxiang Fried Chicken", "Manwei Mingsheng Fried Chicken Rack", "Lao Qian Fried Chicken", "Chicken Fillet", "Tong Yuanji Fried Meat", etc., and most of them are uniformly bright yellow and red tone store decoration, and there are few different customer orders and SKUs......
The era of "involution" of fried chicken may even have just begun. In such a market environment, can Xiaohi love fried run out?
Analysts believe that at the moment when the heroes are rising together, although the old fried chicken brand has a first-mover advantage, the young brand may be more energetic and innovative.
Zhan Junhao further said that Xiaohi Ai Fried needs to make a clear and unique differentiation from the brand positioning. First of all, it can strengthen its service characteristics, such as providing customized fried chicken flavor options, or combining hot pot culture to create a unique way to eat fried chicken. Secondly, we pay attention to product quality and food safety, and win the trust of consumers through the selection of high-quality raw materials and transparent production processes. Finally, strengthen brand image building, enhance brand awareness through social media marketing, cross-border cooperation, etc., and create a brand story with emotional resonance, so that consumers can establish a deeper emotional connection with the brand.