The first store in Beijing was settled in Sanlitun, and the morning tea culture entered Beijing

On November 1, the first store of Tao Tao ju, a time-honored Chinese brand with a history of more than 141 years, was officially opened in Beijing. This is the first time that Tao Taoju has entered the North China market after landing in Xiamen, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Yin Jiangbo, chairman of Taoju Catering Management Co., Ltd., said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News that Taotaoju entered Beijing and chose the same "ordinary store" positioning as the first store in Shanghai. Yin Jiangbo is worried about whether Guangzhou's morning tea culture will be "unsatisfactory" in Beijing, but believes that "the market needs to be led, we bring morning tea culture to Beijing, and we also hope that Beijingers can experience and accept such a way of life." ”

Four sections from morning tea to dinner market are open

Tao Tao Ju was founded in the sixth year of Guangxu (1880), kang Youwei personally wrote a plaque for Tao Tao Ju, which means "come here to taste tea, le also tao tao". Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Chen Renyun, Liu Haisu and other literati and inkers were once guests of Tao Taoju, and there were also Lu Xun's family banquet menus, which were known as "the most cultural old tea house".

The Beijing News reporter saw in the first store in Beijing tao tao ju in the west district of Sanlitun That the design of the store reproduced the Xiguan House in Lingnan, integrating classic Lingnan architectural elements such as Manchurian windows, sliding doors, and flower steps.

Yin Jiangbo, chairman of Taoju Catering Management Co., Ltd., told the Beijing News that Tao taoju came to Beijing and maintained the same four-stage business as Guangzhou: "drinking morning tea in the morning, having a lunch market at noon, Hong Kong-style afternoon tea, and then opening a late market". He also admits that this is also "the only place to worry". This concern stems from the very different ways of life in the North and the South. "Guangzhou Tao Tao Ju is a five-stage business, and there is a 'morning market' before the morning market, which starts at 8 o'clock. On weekdays, the elderly will come to drink morning tea after morning exercise, and on weekends, the whole family will come out to eat breakfast and drink tea together, and the queue will be crowded. It is understood that the morning tea period of Tao Taoju's first store in Beijing starts at 10 o'clock every day.

Although there are concerns about whether Guangzhou's morning tea culture will be "unsatisfied with the water and soil" in Beijing, Yin Jiangbo believes that Tao Taoju is the representative of The Guangzhou Tea House, and there are also many Hong Kong-style tea houses and tea restaurants in Beijing, most of which belong to the "new school". "I believe that the market needs to be led, we bring morning tea culture to Beijing, and we hope that Beijingers can experience and accept such a way of life."

The price of the dish is slightly higher in the Guangzhou store

Yin Jiangbo introduced that Cantonese cuisine requires very pure and fresh ingredients, and many dishes require 100% use of Cantonese ingredients. "The first store in Beijing needs to explore which direction consumers prefer, whether it is Cantonese cuisine, roasted pork or dim sum, so it is more diverse than the dishes of many stores in Guangzhou", and then adjusted appropriately according to the needs of consumers.

At the same time, 90% of the technical strength and service team of the back kitchen of the first store in Beijing are selected and trained in Guangzhou, and the material selection requirements, cooking techniques, and service standards are no different from Guangzhou. Among the more than 120 employees, only 4 are recruited in Beijing, and the rest are all old employees of various stores in Guangzhou, working in different places and with relatively high salaries.

Therefore, Yin Jiangbo said, the ingredients and labor costs are superimposed, and the price of dishes in Tao Taoju's first store in Beijing is slightly higher than that of the Guangzhou store, which is basically the same as that of the Shanghai store.

The Beijing News reporter saw on the public comments that the per capita consumption of Tao Taoju Shanghai store ranged from 140 yuan to 160 yuan.

Do not do franchisees

In 2019, after Tao Taoju opened its first store in Shanghai, it opened 4 stores in Shanghai. Together with the new store in Beijing, Tao Taoju currently has a total of 29 stores across the country. For the store expansion plan in Beijing, Yin Jiangbo said that store expansion needs to look at market demand.

Like the first store in Shanghai, entering Beijing, Tao Taoju also chose the positioning of ordinary stores. According to the classification, Tao Tao Ju is currently divided into ordinary, gold medal, high-end business brand Graceland and banquet and other series, as well as some special theme stores. Yin Jiangbo said that every time Tao Taoju enters a city, it will first try and popularize it with "ordinary stores", and then output other series for the different needs of different customer groups.

Direct operation in the country and ready-made stores are the current business models of Tao Tao Ju. Yin Jiangbo confirmed to the Beijing News reporter that Tao Taoju "does not mass produce, does not do franchise stores." "I don't have plans to open as many stores in a few years, Cantonese cuisine is different from other cuisines, and it's different from making fast food and making hot pot." We will do a stable job of one before we go to the next one. ”

Beijing News reporter Wang Ping

Edited by Qin Shengnan Proofreader Wei Zhuo