There is great potential for the development of overseas catering industry, Chinese catering industry enters a new stage of going global.
With the intensification of competition in the domestic catering industry, in order to find broader development space, many chain brands accelerate their pace of going global from 2023. At the same time, there are also many upstream supply chain companies expanding their business overseas. Chinese catering has entered a new stage of development when going global, and 2023 is also hailed by industry insiders as the "first year of Chinese catering going global".
At present, the number of overseas Chinese catering stores has grown to nearly 700,000, with a market size of nearly 3 trillion yuan. Overseas Chinese catering stores have spread to more than 180 countries and regions, including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia.
Localization of menus, diversification of marketing , globalization of supply chain, brand implementation of localization strategy
In the past, most of China's catering brands opened stores overseas not because the brands themselves wanted to "go global", but because of the entrepreneurial needs of overseas Chinese and international students who sought to cooperate with domestic catering brands to open authorized franchise stores.
In recent years, more and more brands have taken the initiative to go global, even considering it as an international development strategy, opening up global franchise/partner programs, and actively seeking partners overseas.
Menu Localization: Catering brands will adjust their menus according to local consumer tastes and needs, such as removing some ingredients that local consumers do not eat or have taboos, adding local ingredients and popular flavors, and making localized adjustments to ingredients, flavors, and even dining patterns.
Marketing diversification: In order to quickly enhance brand awareness and influence, many catering brands adopt a dual track communication strategy of "online+offline" in overseas markets. Among them, online communication mainly involves brand promotion and advertising on mainstream overseas social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter; The offline dissemination methods are more diversified, such as collaborating with local well-known spokespersons, opening pop-up stores in high traffic commercial areas, collaborating with well-known brands for joint promotion, or directly offering discounts, buy one get one free, etc.
Globalization of supply chain: In order to establish a foothold and sustain development in overseas markets, more and more brands are emphasizing their global integration capabilities in the supply chain. For example, Hai Di Lao has been building overseas central kitchens since 2016. As of the end of 2023, Te Hai International has more than 1600 suppliers overseas, including over 900 in Southeast Asia and over 300 in North America;
Overall, these catering related supply chain enterprises mainly focus on import and export trade in their overseas business expansion. There are relatively few enterprises that have established processing plants overseas, and most of them are seasoning enterprises.
The overseas market foundation of hotpot is strong, the overseas expansion speed of freshly made beverages is fast
From the perspective of track segmentation, at present, there are many brands of hotpot, drinks, Spicy Hot Pot/Maocai and other tracks that have developed to a certain scale overseas, and have gradually gained a foothold.
Developing in Southeast Asia and North America is relatively easy, there is also potential for development in the European and Middle Eastern markets
Most brands choose Southeast Asia and North America, where there are more Chinese people, as their first stop when going global. According to incomplete statistics, the proportion of brands choosing Southeast Asia as their first destination for overseas travel is 34.8%, while the proportion of brands choosing North America is 29.5%. The sum of the two regions' proportions exceeds 60%.
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