Hamburg, China, is it a Chinese hamburger？

Original Lu qi an chi huo institute

With the title of "China Hamburg", a fast food restaurant named Tasting has expanded rapidly in just a few years, killing all directions with "hand-rolled skin" and "freshly baked burger embryo", which has aroused many people’s curiosity-how can Hamburg be "China" when it is an exotic product? What does it taste like? Does it taste good？

Hamburg, China, Tustin | Image from Tustin official website.

01

Tasiting hamburger

/"Chinese food" in a national tide coat? /

Before 2018, Tustin was only a pizza delivery shop in Jiangxi, and then it began to transform into a hamburger. Currently, it is headquartered in Fuzhou. Tustin was a great success with two gimmicks: Chinese hamburger and handmade hamburger embryo. According to statistics, by the end of October 2022, Tasting had opened 2,890 stores in more than 200 cities across the country (there is no store in Beijing for the time being), mainly in second-tier cities and below.

Tasting’s core selling point lies in its hamburger embryo, which is more like a Chinese crust than the western bread used in ordinary hamburgers, which should also be the "China" of its advertised "China Hamburg".

Tustin’s hamburger embryo | Image from Tustin official website

In Tustin’s store, you can see the whole process of making hamburger skin in Ming chef, from hand-rolling, oven-baking, oven-opening, adding meat dishes, and a hamburger with meat in it is finished.

Making Chinese hamburger | From Breakfast China Season 4.

I have ordered Tasting’s spicy drumsticks twice in Chengdu, and the biggest feeling after eating is that Tasting’s hamburger embryo is really very similar to the cakes in Chinese food.

The taste is very tough, and it still bites a little bit, which is completely different from the soft bread embryo of K-Ji and M-Ji hamburgers. In addition, the fried chicken sandwiched in the middle is a little firewood and the juice is not enough, so it is a little bit expensive to eat as a whole.

The spicy chicken leg burger in Tustin, the real thing I got is not so full | The picture comes from the official Weibo of Tustin Hamburg.

As the core selling point, the "freshly baked burger embryo" is the difference between Tustin burger and K-Ji M-Ji burger. Its texture is between sesame seed cake and bread, and its taste is also between naan and steamed bread. Tougher than bread, but softer than steamed bread, some people are captured by this trait.

Tustin’s hamburger embryo | taken from Tustin official website

The unit price of a spicy chicken leg burger in Tasting is 12 yuan, and the package with French fries and drinks is 19.9 yuan. Other single-person packages are the most expensive and not more than those in 30 yuan. For those who want to eat these fast foods, the price is still very friendly.

The price of Tustin | Screenshot from Tustin applet

Tasting, which flaunts itself as "China Hamburg", not only adds the most fashionable elements of national trends in store decoration and product packaging, but also the product settings are full of Chinese food flavors, such as fish-flavored shredded pork burger, Beijing roast duck burger and crayfish burger. In addition to cola, drinks are also equipped with Chinese hot drinks such as black rice pulp, peanut pulp and jujube drink.

Burgers and drinks in Tustin | Image from Tustin official website.

So, aside from the gimmicks, is Tasting Burger delicious?

Everyone’s comments on this are mixed. Some people think that they just like eating hamburgers like Tustin, and they can’t stop eating them. However, some people insist that this is not like a hamburger at all. It is better to buy a proper hamburger at K Ji and M Ji.

02

Wallace

/Besides being cheap, it’s still cheap/

China brand, which is also engaged in fast food, has to mention another well-known enterprise-Wallace.

Unlike Tasting who shouted the slogan of the national tide loudly, Wallace insisted on the line of "takenism". From the name to the product, it is easy to be mistaken for a foreign brand.

The shrimp burger, chicken roll, cod burger and roast chicken leg burger in Wallace’s regular menu are all similar. There are fried dough sticks and chicken porridge for breakfast, and chicken popcorn, chicken nuggets and chicken wings for snacks … Wallace almost completely copied the "successful experience" of KFC and M.

Wallace’s products | Image from @ Wallace official Weibo

Despite the blatant traces of the cottage, Wallace, who has no advertising and marketing, has also prospered. At present, he has more than 10,000 chain stores and successfully listed on the New Third Board.

Wallace’s success is largely due to its low-cost strategy, which really makes many people hard to resist. There were three Hamburg activities in 10 yuan, which are still talked about today. Sometimes you can’t buy a bowl of noodles for 10 yuan, but you can get a set meal in Wallace. Who is not impressed by this price?

Wallace’s preferential activities | Screenshot from a preferential platform

However, there is one thing to say, affordable price is one thing, but questionable quality is another major feature of Wallace. Just open a review of a takeaway platform, there is no lack of spit on the product, and it is not surprising to have diarrhea after eating. Wallace was also labeled as a "jet package".

03

The dilemma of Chinese hamburger

Do you want "Chinese style" or "hamburger"? /

Although the packaging and loud slogans of the national tide are really attractive, there are many details in Tustin that reveal lingering embarrassment.

For example, he clearly advertised himself as Hamburg, China, but took an English name (Tastin TASTIEN). Moreover, from the point of view of the product itself, Tasting hamburger is more like a variant of snack meat buns and burritos. The question of whether Tasting hamburger is a hamburger or a hamburger has always been there.

Chinese hamburger | Tuchong creativity

China Hamburg sounds exciting, but just like American Chinese food, the concept itself is neither fish nor fowl. Although "China" is strongly emphasized everywhere, the best-selling product in Tustin’s shop is spicy chicken leg burger.

Open a takeaway platform at will. The monthly sales of Beijing Roast Duck Burger and Hot Spicy Chicken Burger are less than 100, while the monthly sales of Spicy Chicken Leg Burger can reach 600+. Sometimes the reality is like this. No matter how the concept is packaged, consumers will only give the most direct and true feedback according to their true feelings.

It’s not just the Tustins who are eyeing the "Chinese hamburger" track, such as Xibei’s "Jia Guolong Brewing Air Steamed Bread" business. As a chain store of northwest cuisine, Xibei regards air steamed buns with wine as "hamburger dough" with braised pork, beef, stinky tofu, braised pork intestines, chicken with rattan pepper, fried pork chops and other side dishes, threatening to be "China’s McDonald’s".

When everyone was still wondering whether a Chinese hamburger is a meat sandwich or a hamburger, Wei Jia Liangpi from Shaanxi gave another answer-selling both hamburgers and meat sandwiches!

Although there are not many kinds of chicken leg burger, fresh shrimp burger and beef cheese burger, everyone’s feedback is quite good. Cold rice noodles+hamburgers, while enjoying the happiness of Chinese-style carbon bomb and Western-style fast food, was clearly grasped by Wei’s cold rice noodles.

Wei Jia’s cold-skinned burger | Screenshot from Xiaohongshu

According to the data report of Zhiyanzhan Industrial Research Institute in 2022, Hamburg brands represented by McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and Wallace account for more than 90% of the market. In the catering industry, how to use "China Hamburg" to get a big cake on the track of Hamburg, let us wait and see ~

Image from Tustin official Weibo.

There are Beijing roast duck hamburgers in Tustin, but there is no Tustin in Beijing.

Author’s famous film

Original title: "Hamburg, China, is it a Chinese hamburger? 》

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