Of the more than 400,000 hot pot restaurants in the country, Chongqing accounts for 30,000. Indisputably, Chongqing is the largest hot pot market in the country.
However, it is embarrassing that in the country's largest hot pot market, no boss can carry the banner of Chongqing hot pot.
The jianghu status of Chongqing hot pot
Hot pot is Chinese rivers and lakes, there are Chinese places there is hot pot, this is not a joke, in China, in addition to the famous Chongqing hot pot, Sichuan hot pot, each province basically has its own type of hot pot. Such as sauerkraut white meat hot pot in northeast China, sheep scorpion hot pot in Beijing, copper pot in old Beijing, sour soup fish hot pot in Guizhou, porridge bottom hot pot in Guangdong, Chaoshan beef hot pot, and coconut chicken hot pot in Hainan. From the regional point of view, it can be divided into: Sichuan-Chongqing hot pot, Northeast hot pot, Yungui hot pot, Fujian-Taiwan hot pot, Cantonese hot pot and so on.
There are many kinds of hot pot, but the hot pot everywhere has its own characteristics, whether it is from the soup base, ingredients or style, taste, dining habits have exquisite and inherited, the northern hot pot emphasizes extravagance, the southwest hot pot has the spicy of Sichuan and Chongqing and the gentle qingqi of Yungui, and the southern hot pot has its own gentle characteristics, there is a joy and fun.
According to the data, in 2019, the catering revenue increased by 9.4% year-on-year, and the annual revenue reached 4.6 trillion yuan, with a growth rate of more than 10%. The sudden outbreak of covid-19 in 2020 has dealt the brunt of the blow to the catering industry. According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2020, the national catering revenue was 3,952.7 billion yuan, down 4 trillion yuan, but it has become a foregone conclusion to return to 4 trillion yuan in 2021.
Source: Meituan.com
Hot pot is the first subdivision of the catering industry, and in 2018, the country's hot pot industry revenue has exceeded 875.7 billion, and compared with 2014, the growth rate of hot pot category has reached 52%. The hot pot category also accounts for 20.5% of the national catering industry's revenue of 4,271.6 billion yuan, if it is not affected by the epidemic, according to the market growth rate, the size of the hot pot market in 2020 has reached trillion.
According to the statistics of Meituan.com in 2018, there are more than 400,000 hot pot restaurants in the country, and hot pot shops account for more than 4% of the national catering stores, that is to say, 4 out of every 100 restaurants are hot pot shops. Among the 400,000 hot pot restaurants, there are 30,000 hot pot shops in Chongqing, with a market size of more than 30 billion. In terms of store density, the residents of Chongqing area are the most blessed, with an average of 9.4 hot pot restaurants per 10,000 people, equivalent to about 1,000 people having one hot pot shop. It is followed by sichuan, Beijing, Shaanxi and Guizhou with more than 4 hot pot restaurants. Therefore, if you choose a core area from the perspective of the hot pot industry, Chongqing is the heart of the hot pot industry, and the 30,000 hot pot shops distributed in Chongqing are the capillaries of this hot pot capital.
There will be a war between Chongqing hot pot and Haidilao
Chongqing hot pot, worthy of the name! But when it comes to hot pot, there is a company that can't be bypassed - Haidilao! This enterprise, which has become synonymous with hot pot, began to expand before and after the listing of supply chain companies, and from 2018 to 2020, more than 500 stores were opened in three years, of which more than 300 were expanded in 2020, and by January 2021, the number of stores nationwide reached more than 1100.
1100 restaurants, although the expansion of the store area compared to the previous significant reduction, but this volume is already a giant. The hot pot track is a super track, enough to accommodate such a large enterprise as Haidilao, although the expansion of haidilao in the past year or so has reduced the overturning rate and the profit has fallen sharply, but it does not prevent Haidilao from doubling the number of stores in most areas. Haidilao is the boss of Chinese catering, the boss of Asian catering, and may also become the boss of global catering in the future.
But what is puzzling is that in the hot pot industry, a big and dusty Haidilao, the development of chongqing, the hot pot capital, is not smooth.
In Chongqing, the competition between Chongqing hot pot and Haidilao never seems to have begun.
There is a saying circulating in Chongqing that Haidilao can open up all over the world, and even unify the tastes of people around the world, I am afraid that Chongqing must be removed.
In Chongqing, there is often such a topic, that is, when a friend arrives in Chongqing, what will you take him to eat? There are 30,000 answers, but there will be no Haidilao.
Of course, the above is just a joke. However, the truth is that before 2017, Chongqing, which had 30,000 hot pot restaurants, did not have a Haidilao storefront. It was not until 2018 that Haidilao began to expand that the first store in Chongqing began to be established, and as of April 2021, Haidilao opened 22 stores in Chongqing, far lower than the proportion of Haidilao in other cities' hot pot markets.
In fact, most of the old Chongqing people who eat hot pot will not give priority to Haidilao, which is not contradictory. On the one hand, it is critical that Haidilao has not been integrated into the soul depth of Chongqing people, and it is difficult for people to feel the atmosphere of fireworks. From another side, it also shows that Chongqing, as the capital of hot pot, has its own persistence and belief.
In the hearts of many consumers, Chongqing hot pot and Haidilao must have a war.
Although Haidilao does not represent Sichuan hot pot, but Chongqing hot pot represents the mainstream of the hot pot market, if Haidilao can't take Chongqing, it is the world to open 10,000 stores, it can only be regarded as the market boss, but consumers do not necessarily think that it is the mainstream of the hot pot category, because you have not even touched the door of the hot pot capital. Therefore, entering Chongqing, Haidilao is more cautious than entering North America and entering Europe, and once it loses in the Chongqing market, it can only be summarized in one word: it is discredited.
It can be said that with the increase in the number of Haidilao stores in Chongqing, the competition between Chongqing hot pot and Haidilao has begun, and this war is not a battle for market share. Haidilao does not lack a share of a city in Chongqing, which is a battle for the right name, competing for the spiritual identity of Chongqing people for Haidilao and the mainstream position of the hot pot market.
Chongqing six types of hot pot, who will become the mainstream?
Chongqing people's eyes of the gluttonous guests, casually pull out one can know a few hidden in the fireworks full of fireworks and horns of the fly small restaurant, followed by the Chongqing people's pursuit of ingredients, from the belly to the waist slice, and then to the duck intestine, the more scattered ingredients Chongqing people like, eat up and drink, this is Chongqing's hot pot culture.
But then again, are these fly shops the mainstream brand of Chongqing hot pot? Especially under the new wave of consumption, in the case of the continuous improvement of the competitive dimension of catering, should these small shops also be upgraded? Chongqing hot pot to break the circle, in a larger market to establish a reputation, how to decide the boss of this category? The category boss has decided, does it represent the mainstream brand of The Chongqing hot pot market? Because the victory of the market does not represent the victory of category cognition.
Chongqing to decide a boss, the scope is not limited to the existing 30,000 hot pot restaurants in Chongqing, Chongqing hot pot over the years there are many brands in the country to spread out. There are also various types of hot pot brands scattered in the Chongqing market, but there is only one mainstream type in the future, and the mainstream type will decide a category boss and then go to the national market.
The first category is the Internet celebrity hot pot brand. Not only is it an Internet celebrity hot pot brand, but an Internet celebrity brand can be classified into a category from the perspective of catering. The star catering shops represented by spicy three cooking hot pots, traffic is the biggest advantage of these brands, but most of them have a window period, mostly 6 months, which is similar to the carved beef brisket, Huang Taiji, Funiutang and so on under the Internet thinking in 2014. Therefore, these internet celebrity brands want to become mainstream brands recognized by Chongqing people, and the internal strength cultivation cannot be abandoned.
The second category is foreign hot pot brands. For example, Chaoshan hot pot, fresh beef hot pot, including Sichuan Xiaolongkan, Tan duck blood hot pot and other brands. Most of these hot pot brands are franchise-oriented, and there are fewer direct brand sales, and they face great challenges in the control of supply chain, quality and service. The entry of Chaoshan hot pot and Yungui hot pot into Chongqing is itself a niche choice, which can only exist as a complementary and modulated brand in Chongqing, but it is difficult to enter the mainstream values of Chongqing people.
The third category is the local franchise-based hot pot brand. For example, the traditional franchise brand Dezhuang hot pot, as well as the new generation of franchised brands represented by Liu Yishou and Pei Jie, the rapid opening of stores and the number of stores are its significant advantages. They also have their own rhythm in terms of development ideas. Liu Yishou, who has 1,500 stores around the world, opened a global boutique in Chongqing's Liberation Monument in April, with a store environment based on black gold wind texture, four pot bottoms, and upgraded dishes, interpreting the tradition and innovation understood by Liu Yishou hot pot. In order to maintain the brand temperature, the old hot pot announced the suspension of franchise at the 7th anniversary brand conference, and comprehensively carried out direct operation to start a brand defense war.
In general, whether the franchise brand continues to make great progress or transforms in the middle, if it wants to become the mainstream, the key is to control the quality and manage the franchisee.
The fourth category is a strong brand represented by Haidilao. Haidilao has already opened 22 stores in Chongqing and will continue to open stores. Haidilao's opening of a store in Chongqing is a strategic investment, even a bit regardless of input and output, and its strategic intention is to justify its own products in the place of origin of hot pot.
For Chongqing people, Haidilao also has twelve points of sincerity to capture the hearts of Chongqing people, but Chongqing people are more obsessed with the pursuit of taste and fireworks. Haidilao may win the short-term market because of strategic investment, but it is difficult to win the hearts and minds of the people. Even if Haidilao has dominated the market share for a long time, it is difficult for Chongqing people to take Haidilao as a mainstream brand.
The fifth category is the small street shops, fly hot pot shops mainly many hot pot shops that need to be upgraded in situ. Street shops and fly shops are the largest hot pot clusters in Chongqing. Some of these stores have a century-old heritage, insisting on a small shop and not expanding, which is very worthy of the admiration of Chongqing people. It is more just a business, whether it is from the recipe, ingredients, taste can not be standardized, there are also some with a certain sense of age, life atmosphere, fireworks strong taste. Although this part of the storefront can not be said to be the mainstream catering in the future, these small shops still have a large long-tail market share before the new round of upgrading of the catering industry is completely completed.
The sixth category is authentic local Chongqing hot pot that only makes direct chains. There are many such hot pot shop brands in Chongqing, but the volume and scale have always been their pain, and there are only 22 stores in Chongqing hot pot in Chongqing, which has the largest number of directly operated stores. Because the direct chain has put forward extremely high requirements for store scale, quantity, decoration, product innovation, brand operation, market operation, store management, staff service, etc., although in the first half of this year, Zhou Shi brother Chongqing hot pot also began to open a store layout in Shanghai and Shenzhen, but how to develop in the next step is also a great test for them.