The hottest Chinese dish in the world is probably Zuo Zongtang chicken, whose sweet and sour taste and oil-soaked protein taste have warmed the stomachs of many sweet-loving Americans.
However, the American Chinese food it represents is inevitably considered inauthentic by the Chinese, not to mention that these American Chinese foods are not produced by Chinese brands.
There are not many Chinese catering brands going abroad, and it is only in recent years that Chinese brands have accelerated to the world.
The overseas expansion represented by leading brands such as Haidilao and Meizhou Dongpo has further promoted the international layout of Chinese food overseas, and with the expansion of many categories such as hot pot, snacks, coffee, new tea, and spicy hot, the overseas pace of Chinese food has become more and more rapid and diversified.
Especially in 2023, as many catering brands start to go overseas, this year is also known as the "first year" of Chinese food going overseas by industry insiders.
According to the data, during 2023, Xiabu Xiabu opened its first overseas store in Singapore in January; In April, Zhu Guangyu Hot Pot also announced that the first batch of overseas products will be tentatively scheduled in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Canada and other places; In May, Zhengxin Chicken Chop also opened its first overseas store in Tokyo, and in 2023, Zhengxin Overseas will enter Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Japan, the United States and other countries and sign contracts to add 34 new stores; In November, Hunan cuisine brand Farming also landed in Singapore.
Looking at the current situation of Chinese food going overseas, although all catering categories have a presence in going overseas, it is still the tea and hot pot brands that go overseas earlier to have an overseas first-mover advantage.
For example, Haidilao, which went overseas in 2012, has expanded its overseas stores to 13 countries by the end of the first quarter of 2024, holding a total of 119 self-operated stores, becoming a leading Chinese food brand in the international market. On May 17 this year, Haidilao's overseas business spin-off company, Tehai International, was also successfully listed on the NASDAQ in the United States, with a closing market value of $13.8 billion on the same day.
As for the overseas expansion of tea brands, as early as 2010, the Shanghai tea brand Happy Lemon opened its first overseas store in the Philippines, and in 2011, CoCo also landed in New York for the first time. After Mixue Bingcheng went overseas in 2018, with its price war and supply chain advantages, its pace of going overseas in 2023 has also covered 10 overseas countries and about 4,000 stores.
Behind this, the franchise development model adopted by it has provided a great boost, so that its brand can expand rapidly overseas at a low cost. In contrast, although the expansion speed of the restaurant brands that mostly adopt the direct sales model is not as fast, they ensure strong service quality and unified regulation and control.
However, behind the Chinese food going overseas in full swing, whether it is the past nearly 30 years or the future development, it can be glimpsed that it will not be easy for Chinese food to go overseas.
From the beginning of serving Chinese tourists, international students to local Chinese, and now to the localization strategy attempt, the different target groups of Chinese food going overseas have more and more problems to overcome.
Although some brands have tried to localize their development in order to avoid "adapting to the local climate", such as Haidilao launching seasonal tea and desserts for the Japanese cherry blossom season, using Japanese pork, and providing baguettes and butter on small tables in British stores, more brands that have not been overseas for a long time still lack in-depth research and understanding of local food customs, and the flavors they launch need more adjustments and attempts to capture the hearts of local people.
However, the point that often makes some Chinese food overseas development "dilemma" also lies in the aspect of localization. For some Chinese foods, if they want to localize, they may lose their original unique flavors, such as snail noodles and stinky tofu.
In addition, some essential condiments such as pepper and chili pepper are classified as medicinal herbs by some countries and are difficult to export, so the taste of some dishes may not be able to achieve the best quality.
Therefore, how to retain its own characteristics and integrate local tastes to improve it is not easy for Chinese food brands to go overseas.
However, as more and more brands go overseas, facing the problems of some unique vegetables and ingredients that are difficult to export, industry insiders have also begun to think about whether they can find a suitable geographical environment overseas for planting or breeding, and further improve the industrial chain and supply chain links overseas.
Based on this, many people believe that in the sprint stage of Chinese food going overseas in 2024, the supply chain and industrial chain will become a new trend. If this is the case, the development model of Mixue Bingcheng, which has built its own supply chain and procurement network covering 35 countries on 6 continents, will definitely have a lot to learn from.
In addition, as shown in the prospectus, although the proportion of its employee costs in revenue from 2021 to 2023 has decreased, it is more than 30%, which shows that the high cost of overseas labor and the lack of international human resources will also be a big challenge for the overseas development of Chinese food in 2024 and even in the future.
However, in the final analysis, compared with the domestic "price war" and "traffic grabbing" and other involution phenomena, in the face of tens of millions of overseas Chinese, more than one million overseas workers, studying abroad and other groups, as well as Southeast Asian countries with similar food culture but with a population of more than 600 million, Chinese food still has a high "cost performance".
As for who will fail in the sprint in 2024, and who will continue to forge ahead and win big, each has its own destiny.
Resources:
Gathering in "Southeast Asia", how can Chinese food break through to sea?
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/saQMXVwelxPVneGuMxZRfQ
Rushing to land in the new blue ocean? Behind the Chinese food brands going overseas, how can they break through?
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DuFhEOY08xGCA39rgbltiA
Stores and supply chains "go global", and 2024 may become a "sprint year" for Chinese food to go overseas
https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1713170917169427.html
How to "conquer" foreigners as Chinese food moves west?
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-HYS1bu0FJ4v4SRF8_E9Ig
Chinese food has set off a new tide of going to sea: the supply chain and the industrial chain have become a new trend
https://ent.cnr.cn/canyin/zhiku/20240410/t20240410_526659030.shtml
Tehai International went public in the United States, and Chinese food brands went overseas to speed up - Entrepreneur Daily-Entrepreneur Daily Electronic Edition https://www.entrepreneurdaily.cn/2024-05-26/4/2430643.html
2023 Tea and Coffee Brand Going Overseas: A "Hand-to-hand Battle" That Really Tests Internal Strength
https://www.tmtpost.com/6835807.html
Picture for the article: Picture Worm Creative
This episode is complete