Consumption of B-side | how Sichuan hot pot has quickly gone to the world in the past two years

"There's nothing that a hot pot can't solve, and if there is, it's two." This phrase evolved from the Japanese anime "One Punch Man" has long become a mantra for hot pot lovers. In recent years, Sichuan hot pot has often become the first choice for everyone to party and eat out, capturing the taste buds of many consumers across the country.

In May last year, the Chengdu Hotpot Industry Conference Summit Forum released a report that the total consumption of hot pot in the country in 2018 increased by 10.8% year-on-year, and the per capita consumption reached 88 yuan. Data from the China Business Industry Research Institute last year showed that Since 2014, China's hot pot industry has ushered in rapid growth, and the total revenue of the national hot pot industry in 2018 reached 875.7 billion yuan, which is expected to exceed one trillion yuan in 2020.

Behind the vigorous development of the hot pot industry, the competition of major hot pot chain brands is also very fierce. Hotpot giant Haidilao added 200 stores in China in 2018 and accelerated its global expansion. Even in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still news that Haidilao is expected to make its debut at Prestmont Place in San Francisco in early 2021, but the exact opening time has not yet been determined.

The New York Times published an article in August 2019 saying that "there are more and more hot pots in New York" and that hot pot restaurants have "walked out" of Chinatown and begun to appear in other corners of American cities. The Los Angeles Times reported that the chain hot pot restaurant of The Mountain City Hot Girl even moved into the original store of the American fast food chain Burger King in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles, which makes people wonder what the international influence of Sichuan hot pot is.

How did hot pot go from local to global? What are the drivers behind this?

Hot pot as a "tourist cuisine"

James Farrer, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Sophia University who has been a continuous researcher of Asian cuisine, believes that in today's era of "tourism culture", culinary culture is as transcending borders as people, objects and ideas. As a result, some "travelling cuisines" were born, re-rooted in new environments through the process of "delocalization" and "re-localization".

James McDougall, an associate professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Pittsburgh College at Sichuan University, used the rise of hotpot consumption in the United States as an example to study the global expansion of hotpot. McDougall believes that Sichuan hot pot is one of the representatives of "tourism cuisine", although the promotion content emphasizes its connection with the place of origin, but in fact, in the globalization strategy has long been detached from the previous connotation, has become a "recent invention".

For example, the soup base is the essence of hot pot, and the characteristics of the hot pot chain brand maintain the industrial production of soup bases, although there are many types, but the dining experience of diners in all restaurants under the same brand is exactly the same, and there is no heterogeneity between restaurants

At the same time, food bloggers around the world have also made a new interpretation of Sichuan hot pot culture. Some videos on YouTube tend to portray video bloggers as having inexperienced explorers, and Sichuan hot pot is a new flavor they've never tried before. The videos vividly showcase the unique experiences of novices when using dips, trying Chinese foods that are unfamiliar to the West, such as tripe and pork brain, and portray tasting different max and spiciness as symbols of "courage."

Nowadays, in the eyes of international consumers, Sichuan hot pot has become a consumption symbol, not just a food.

The "gentrification" road of hot pot and the "going out" strategy

In the 19th century, Chinese immigrants began to enter Western countries on a large scale, bringing with them the earliest Chinese cuisine, and the Westernized Chinese food now known to Westerners, such as chop suey, came from that period. Because of the low social class in other countries, most of these restaurants are concentrated in the narrow streets and alleys inside Chinatown, and were once dubbed "dirty" and "cheap" stereotypes.

Unlike the Chinese restaurants operated by early immigrants, Chinese Sichuan hot pot restaurants first appeared in the United States around 2000, and from 2018 to 2020, more Sichuan hot pot chain brands settled in the United States, and brands such as Xiaolongkan, Liu Yishou, Dalongyi and Haidilao all expanded their Own North American markets. Moreover, not only in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc. have also become the soil for Sichuan hot pot to open up overseas markets.

McDougall believes that the reason why the Sichuan hot pot industry can embark on different development paths and gain greater influence in recent years is related to the sichuan government's policy goal of standardizing the food industry and creating a standardized and industrialized Sichuan cuisine, and the government's support has helped Sichuan hot pot complete the transformation of "gentrification" and the ability to go abroad and be favored by the international community.

First of all, in 1999, the Sichuan government planned to build a modern enterprise system and train professional chefs to ensure the quality and quality of Sichuan cuisine. In the early years, many hot pot restaurants in Sichuan Province were open-air operations, and after a series of renovations, many similar old hot pot restaurants were forced to close. At the same time, under the background of the Sichuan government's strong support for large enterprises, the hot pot industry continued to industrialize and standardize in the early 21st century, and opened chain stores in the city center of Chengdu, Chongqing and other core areas of hot pot consumption.

The above measures became the beginning of Sichuan hot pot on the road of "gentrification", and the spontaneous formation of relatively low-end hot pot shops was gradually replaced by chain hot pot shops operated by large enterprises, but the hot pot industry at this time had not really opened the international market.

Perhaps a turning point in 2011, Chengdu was awarded the title of "City of Gastronomy" by UNESCO, accumulating capital for the city itself to expand its gastronomic charm and the globalization of the Sichuan brand. As the first city in Asia to receive this title, Chengdu, with the support of the central government, began to vigorously promote Sichuan cuisine and culinary techniques. In 2015, the Ministry of Commerce identified Chengdu as a pilot city for the development and construction of food service industry brands, and the Chengdu Municipal Government launched a Sichuan cuisine promotion activity that emphasizes the use of local raw materials in Sichuan, and launched the "Hot Pot Culture Month" in 2018 to promote the development of the local hot pot industry through a series of cultural tourism programs.

Also in 2018, the Sichuan provincial government began to promote the "going out" of hot pot, developing chain business outside the province and overseas, and bringing products and services to the world. To this end, the government has established the International Hot Pot Association to help the hot pot industry that wants to expand its international business to raise funds, encourage its innovative development and improve its recognition. At the same time, the Chengdu Commission of Commerce has set up overseas promotion offices for Chengdu Sichuan cuisine in San Francisco, Moscow, Los Angeles and Vienna.

A series of supporting measures have provided incentives for large hot pot brands to expand globally, and more hot pot chain brands have begun to consider exploring international markets. Following Haidilao, which successfully launched in Hong Kong in 2018, Xiaolongkan has also opened restaurant chains to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and plans to add 10 stores in the United States in 2021.

However, McDoDougall pointed out that global large-scale promotion is a good thing for hot pot brands, but the large-scale production of products is divorced from the original "unique secret" connotation of each hot pot restaurant, resulting in some more demanding consumers can not understand this "one pot stew" food culture.