Sauerkraut fish is the top stream, why does it also sell 35 yuan fast food

New Weekly

2024-06-27 22:03New Weekly official account

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01Taier Sauerkraut Fish has opened "satellite stores" dedicated to takeaway in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Xiamen, and launched single and double set meals at a lower price than dine-in stores, with prices of about 35-50 yuan.

02 At the same time, the Taier sauerkraut fish store in Xiamen MixC was quietly closed, and the traditional store was less than 10 minutes away from the newly opened takeaway restaurant, and the monthly sales performance was close to 902,000 yuan.

03With the change of the situation in the catering industry, Taier Sauerkraut Fish had to try to step down from the high platform built by itself and open up takeaway, live broadcast and other businesses.

04However, the price reduction promotion strategy of Taier sauerkraut fish has aroused doubts among consumers, believing that its portion has decreased and its service has deteriorated.

05In order to cope with the challenges, Taier Sauerkraut Fish plans to break the direct sales model, gradually open up the franchise business, and actively expand in overseas markets.

Technical support is provided by Tencent Hybrid Model

Author | Ah Meat

Edit | Anfield

Title Picture | Visual China

The figure of Taier sauerkraut fish was lowered again.

A month ago, Taier Sauerkraut Fish (hereinafter referred to as "Taier") announced the opening of "satellite stores" dedicated to takeaway in four cities: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Xiamen. Like Haidilao's previous "satellite stores", the overall area of these newly opened stores in Taier is smaller, equivalent to takeaway stalls, no dine-in, and the launch of single and double packages with a lower unit price than customers, the price is about 35-50 yuan, compared with the average price of nearly 100 yuan per capita in dine-in stores, it is almost "halved".

Almost at the same time, the Taier sauerkraut fish store in Xiamen MixC quietly closed, this traditional store is less than 10 minutes away from the newly opened takeaway restaurant, and last year there was a monthly sales performance of nearly 902,000 yuan, with an average monthly profit of about 146,000 yuan.

There are 6 single set meals at the Taier Sauerkraut Fish Takeaway Restaurant in Huachenghui in Guangzhou, while there are only 2 in the nearby big stores. (Photo/Taier Sauerkraut Fish Mini Program)

Domestic catering is accelerating into the era of cost performance. And almost every action of Taier in the past few years is also related to price reduction.

In October last year, Taier made its live broadcast debut on the live broadcast platform, and launched many products with high discounts, and the sales exceeded 100 million yuan in less than 6 hours after the broadcast. Although he was involved in a platform dispute before he had time to celebrate, this proud debut result still gave a good start to the cost-effective road of "Sauerkraut Fish Brother".

is different from the cheerful and arrogant tone of the past, Tai Er is indeed a lot more pragmatic today.

From the unique store rules such as "waiting for two hours, no reception for more than four people", "no table sharing, no extra seats, no takeaway", to the gradual relaxation of dine-in restrictions, open takeaway, and open live broadcast, Taier's "main task" over the years is to break the flags that have been set up one by one.

In the past, in every Taier store, there were "store rules" written in black on a white background. (Photo/Little Red Book)

Since 2020, Taier's contribution to the revenue of the parent company Jiumaojiu Group has always remained above 70%. According to the group's 2023 financial report, Taier contributed 74.8% of the group's revenue.

It can be said that every change of Taier involves the lifeblood of the parent company. But as the situation in the catering industry changes, even at the risk of slapping himself in the face, Taier has to try to step down from these high platforms built by himself.

Although, these actions will inevitably be ridiculed: Boss, I still like your unruly appearance before.

The "fast food" of sauerkraut fish

In all fairness, whether it is in terms of taste, marketing ideas or management models, Taier was once the best among its peers.

Choosing the right track is the most correct choice for Taier.

Qing Yong, founder of Tomato Capital, said: "The sauerkraut fish category brand is one of the largest revenue categories after the casual of a single meal. "Although the sauerkraut fish, which originated in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, has long been a household name, it has long been unknown in the long fusion of cuisines, and it is difficult to make a special feature, and no one regards it as the only signature dish.

However, this has also achieved the positioning of "non-standard products" of sauerkraut fish: because there is no fixed standard and specification, it leaves enough room for merchants to play in terms of taste and pricing.

The signature sauerkraut fish in the menu of "Jiumaojiu Northwest Cuisine". (Photo/Jiumaojiu applet)

Founded in 2015, Taier Sauerkraut Fish inherits the popular items in its parent company brand "Jiumaojiu Northwest Cuisine" in terms of taste, and after establishing its own portal, it has achieved the ultimate in the category of sauerkraut fish.

On the one hand, Taier blurs the regional attributes of sauerkraut fish, and does not pay too much attention to the spicy taste; In terms of ingredients, it also focuses on differentiation, and the fish is sea bass, rather than the grass carp and black fish that are customary in traditional Sichuan cuisine. The phrase "sauerkraut is better than fish" resounded in half of the shopping mall, which effectively attracted the attention of diners: since the taste of fish fillets is similar, it is obviously more convenient to make a full article on sauerkraut, "invincible all over the world".

The brand invited "Tan sir" Tan Qiao to visit Taier Sauerkraut Factory. (Photo/bilibili@Taier sauerkraut fish)

On the other hand, seizing the market with differentiated positioning has made Taier quickly popular among young people in the first few years of its establishment, and has also made sauerkraut fish gradually become a civilian delicacy comparable to crayfish in the future, even in the southeast coastal cities with light tastes.

Even later, with the gradual entry of lower-priced chain brands such as "Fish You Together", Taier still has the status of "Sauerkraut Fish Brother" among young people.

In the face of young diners, Taiji is good at using black and white comics to create a "food culture experience hall" with a full sense of atmosphere. Unique store rules such as "not adjusting the spiciness" and "not accepting more than four people" have achieved the effect of killing two birds with one stone: not only with personality and confident settings, but also with the seemingly "impersonal" way, greatly reducing the difficulty of Taier's standardized production, so as to quickly improve the turnover rate.

But "Cheng also sauerkraut fish, sleepy also sauerkraut fish".

From 4 billion yuan in 2014, 12.3 billion yuan in 2018 to 70.5 billion yuan in 2024, this is the national sauerkraut fish track, the report card handed over in the past 10 years, shocking, bright and gratifying.

At the same time, the "2018 Sauerkraut Fish Market Development Report" released by Meituan shows that as of the fourth quarter of 2018, the number of sauerkraut fish stores in the country reached 30,000.

But this is almost the last "hurricane" of sauerkraut fish.

Since 2018, the growth rate of sauerkraut fish store opening has begun to slow down. Chenzhi big data shows that in 2021, there will be about 49,100 pickled cabbage fish stores in business across the country, and in 2022, this number will be about 43,900. According to the latest data from Narrow Door Restaurant, as of June 10 this year, there were only 27,662 pickled cabbage fish stores left in the country.

Sauerkraut fish, not fragrant? (Photo/Picture Worm Creative)

To a certain extent, with the intensification of involution, sauerkraut fish began to appear "fast food" trend, which made some consumers begin to lose interest. The lack of interest in people is also in turn accelerating the "fast food" of sauerkraut fish, and brands have to take the initiative to change their positioning to become consumers' choice in more scenarios.

For example, do takeout, and then launch a single meal with more categories and lower prices, in order to increase the possibility of being "flopped" by migrant workers at noon on weekdays.

At least, that's what the "sauerkraut fish brother" did.

The pride of "Brother Sauerkraut Fish",

How was it broken?

The loss of sauerkraut fish is also directly reflected in Taier's business data.

According to the financial report of Jiumaojiu Group, from 2018 to 2022, Taier's turnover rate has dropped from 4.9, 4.8, 3.8, and 3.4 to 2.6;

Among them, there are the impact of objective factors such as the epidemic, as well as Taier's own problems.

The signature dish of Taiji Sauerkraut Fish Shop. (Photo/Dianping)

In the past two years, "high pricing" has gradually become the reason why Taier has been criticized. Taier, who used to be good at subtraction on the menu, also had to subtract from the pricing and started a series of vigorous price reduction promotions.

In 2022, Taier Sauerkraut Fish will lower the price of some dishes, adjust the price of a single bowl of rice from 5 yuan to 3 yuan, carry out preferential promotions through live broadcast on e-commerce platforms, and also launch a "baby meal" priced at 9.9 yuan, which can be called the ultimate enjoyment of "light manual laborers" and poor ghost workers.

Netizens praised Taier's "baby meal". (Photo/Little Red Book)

Judging from the 2023 financial report released at the beginning of this year, it seems that a series of targeted reforms have begun to bear fruit. Taier's annual revenue exceeded 4.4 billion yuan, and the turnover rate of stores rebounded for the first time in five years, handing over the best report card in the past five years.

However, the "turning the tide" by means of price reduction has also brought new problems. Judging from the announcement issued by Jiumaojiu in April this year, Taier's average daily sales of the same store in the first quarter fell by 13.9%, and other chain restaurant brands under Jiumaojiu also experienced corresponding declines. This does not bode well.

On social platforms, there are not a few consumers who complain about Taier's "bright fall and dark rise". Some netizens feel that while Taier is reducing the price, the weight is getting less and less. "I couldn't finish eating before, but now I can't eat enough" "There are fewer and fewer side dishes, and the service is becoming more and more perfunctory"...... It is not difficult to see such skeptical voices.

On social platforms, netizens complained a lot. (Photo/Screenshot of Xiaohongshu)

In a word, with the glory of sauerkraut fish no longer there, it is no longer the first choice for people to gather in groups and friends for dinner. Players who used to be glamorous on the track are also in desperate need of a new way of playing.

Previously, Li Xiyao, a consultant in the catering industry, had proposed in an interview with the media that price reduction promotions can indeed allow brands to quickly increase turnover in the short term, but once there is a lower price, it will lead to a rapid loss of customers.

"If brands continue to follow frequent price cuts, it will only make consumers feel uncomfortable, and it will be difficult to raise prices in the future." Oscillating between financial data and brand tonality, Taier can only continue to move forward with a heavy load at present.

"National cuisine",

They all started to save themselves

It seems that relying on price reduction promotions can only temporarily retain the hearts of customers, but it is not a good strategy for brand development.

Taiji is also helping himself in other ways. In February this year, Jiumaojiu Group publicly announced that it would break the direct sales model that has been always, conform to the current franchise tide, and gradually open up the franchise business of Taier and other brands; In overseas markets, Taier is also actively expanding, opening stores in Southeast Asia, North America and other regions where there are many Chinese, trying to get rid of the endless price involution.

In overseas markets such as Singapore, Taier is also opening new stores one after another. (Photo/Little Red Book @ Taier Sauerkraut Fish)

And now, Taier is testing the waters of "satellite stores" in first-tier cities, which also shows that the brand has initially grasped the online customer group and obtained the admission ticket to the gladiatorial arena of the head chain restaurant.

In the post-epidemic era, many people's lifestyles and consumption habits have changed, and the frequency of takeaway consumption and "one-person food" in life is much higher than that of dine-in and multi-person dinners. Smaller stores and higher efficiency have made "satellite stores" a powerful tool for chain catering brands in first-tier cities.

More importantly, it provides a completely different approach to the operation of dine-in stores, focusing on efficiency and convenience rather than offline experience, and can also effectively avoid the conflict caused by the coexistence of takeaway and dine-in orders.

Over the years, many brands, including Haidilao and Muwu Barbecue, have begun to implement the operation mode of coexistence of various store models such as "dine-in store + satellite store". Among them, Hunan cuisine brand Nongji has successfully opened nearly 200 "satellite stores", with monthly sales reaching the level of 1,000 orders, and the revenue contribution rate of the main brand has been as high as 30%, becoming one of the excellent cases of seizing the opportunity with satellite stores.

The characteristics of high turnover and low cost can not only help brands achieve rapid expansion and enhance brand influence, but also rely on existing store resources to bring rapid returns to catering brands.

"For takeaway only" Haidilao next meal. (Photo/Haidilao applet)

Whether it is hot pot, barbecue, or Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine, for "national cuisine", it is only the first step to be able to take the lead in obtaining "national character".

Proofreading: Zou Weiyun

Operations: Ono

Typography: Sweet

[1] Wu Rong. Taiji sauerkraut fish temporarily retained guests with a price reduction. Interface News, 2023-08-23

[2] Tang Fei. The sauerkraut fish spoiled by capital is not fragrant? Value Planet, 2024-01-20

[3] Taier sauerkraut fish efficiency improvement new action: open a takeaway satellite store, the implementation of a new scheduling algorithm. Caijing.com, 2024-05-28

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