In 2022, China’s economic ship broke through the waves.
Over the past year, in the face of the stormy international environment and arduous domestic reform, development and stability tasks, China responded to the impact of unexpected factors in a timely manner, maintained the overall economic and social stability, and China’s economy showed great resilience and great potential.
Standing at a higher historical starting point, the Party’s Report to the 20th CPC National Congress made a strategic plan to focus on promoting high-quality development, emphasizing the effective promotion of quality and reasonable growth of quantity in the economy. In the Central Economic Work Conference, the word "stable" appeared more than 30 times, and "stable word first, steady progress" is still the main tone next year.
The Beijing News Shell Finance interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs and dozens of scholars to understand China’s economy and grasp the general trend of China’s economic development.
He Guangqi, founder and chairman of Xiabu Group. Photo courtesy of respondents
"I believe that the catering industry will become one of the fastest-growing formats after the epidemic." He Guangqi, founder and chairman of Xiabu Group, is full of confidence in the future of the catering industry.
Founded in 1998, Xiabu Xiabu was listed in Hong Kong, China in 2014, becoming the "first hot pot chain". After more than 20 years’ deep cultivation of "desktop chafing dish", today’s Xiabu Xiabu has become a catering group with many brands, such as Xiabu Xiabu, Cuo, Xiabu Food, Tea, Rice and Tea, and occupies an important position in the catering market with a scale of over one trillion yuan.
In the three years since the epidemic in COVID-19, the operation and development of Xiabu Group have also been inevitably affected. In mid-December, 2022, in the dialogue between Shell Finance reporter and He Guangqi, the reporter listened to him about the impact and pressure brought by the epidemic to the industry and enterprises, and also analyzed the new challenges and opportunities brought by the new consumption environment to the catering industry.
While he is full of confidence in the recovery of the catering industry in the future, He Guangqi said: "No matter how the external environment changes, the safety and quality of restaurant dishes will always come first. Only by always keeping consumers in mind will consumers keep your brand in mind."
The catering industry will gradually recover, which will also drive the whole real economy to regain its vitality.
Shell finance:Looking back on 2022, what challenges did Xiabu Group encounter and how did it deal with them?
He Guangqi:2022 is an extraordinary year, and domestic catering enterprises have been affected and impacted by the epidemic, and Xiabu Group is no exception. We believe that the epidemic will definitely end. In order to seize the development opportunity of the catering industry after the epidemic, we have started and completed many structural adjustments and layouts.
At present, our integrated framework of supply chain has been completed, and our multi-brand membership system has been online and operated for several months, and the effect is very good. Recently, we launched a strong promotion campaign for members-how much to send as much as stored value, and the whole activity company will make hundreds of millions of yuan to promote consumption recovery.
In addition, we have also improved and upgraded the intelligent location of stores and the incentive system for store employees. In September this year, we also launched a new brand-Shaoshao, and the expansion of the business line is also to ensure that we can smoothly enter the rapid growth channel after the epidemic.
Shell finance:Report to the 20th CPC National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that "the focus of economic development should be on the real economy". As a senior catering person, what do you think of this sentence from the position of your own industry?
He Guangqi:The catering industry is a typical real economy. As practitioners, we deeply feel the state’s support and help to the real economy, and our hearts are very warm.
As the saying goes, food is the first priority for the people, and safety is the first priority for food. Looking at the whole country, you can observe that many cities regard the investment promotion of catering industry as an important part of urban work. The more prosperous the catering industry is, the better the city’s economy tends to develop and the higher the happiness index of residents’ lives.
Affected by the epidemic, China’s catering industry has suffered serious losses in recent years. With the gradual decline of the epidemic, the state and catering enterprises are actively guiding consumers to shop, and the catering industry will gradually recover, which will also drive the whole real economy to regain its vitality.
Digital development is beneficial to enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency.It is planned to invest 100 million yuan to upgrade and transform.
Shell finance:It is understood that Xiabu Group is also laying out overseas markets. Please tell us about the current development and planning, and how the domestic and foreign markets of Xiabu Group are linked.
He Guangqi:In terms of the layout of overseas markets, our focus is on Southeast Asia. Take Singapore as an example. We have opened three hot pot restaurants in Singapore and accumulated some experience. At present, the plan is to open 50 stores in Singapore within five years. The brands of the stores will include Xiabu Xiabu, Bubu, Tea, Rice and Tea, and many brands will develop together.
At present, Xiabu Group has developed mature big brands, and is also actively building new brands, so that big brands can drive the development of new brands. At the same time, our membership system is international. No matter whether you are a domestic registered user or an overseas registered user, as long as you are a member of Xiabu Group, you can enjoy the rights and interests that members should have.
Shell finance:How does the group plan the future development path of the three core brands of "sip and sip", "gather together" and "burn while burning"? What new plans do other brands have?
He Guangqi:First of all, from the perspective of brand positioning, "Xiabu Xiabu", "Gather together" and "Shaoshao" are all positioned at the mass consumption end in their respective subdivisions, and the customer unit prices of the three are about 60 yuan, 140 yuan and 220 yuan in turn.
Consumers can have a fine little hotpot in 60 yuan, a happy gathering hotpot in 140 yuan, or a roast meat with high cost performance in 220 yuan. We all hope that each brand can grow into a leading brand in its respective segments.
As for other brands and businesses such as Xiabu Food, Tea Rice Tea and Xiabu Design Engineering Company, we will also put forward individual development requirements for each brand, such as Tea Rice Tea, which we think will grow into one of the most competitive sectors of the Group. At the same time, our multi-brand membership system can accurately and intelligently drain different brands according to the digital analysis model, so as to achieve the goal of "big brands" with "small brands".
In the Spring Festival of 2022, we formulated two major strategies: "expanding eastward and advancing southward" and accelerating international transformation. At present, the Beijing-Shanghai dual headquarters has been launched. Although this year’s expansion is somewhat affected by the epidemic, it basically conforms to the plan; Starting from 2023, we will continue to implement these two strategies, and several major brands will add up to open more than 200 new stores.
Shell finance:At present, digitalization is becoming a new engine to drive the development of catering enterprises, and major catering groups are paying more and more attention to the digitalization and intelligent development of the industrial chain. What investment has Xiabu Group made in these aspects?
He Guangqi:We have always attached great importance to the digital and intelligent development of enterprises. Using big data, Xiabu Group can grasp the development trend and new generation demand, thus continuously helping enterprises to develop suitable products to meet customers’ preferences and needs.
In addition to improving the dining experience of consumers, digitalization is also conducive to reducing costs and increasing efficiency. For example, we are upgrading our internal system and launching WMS supply chain system, so as to better track the flow of ingredients, track costs, improve inventory turnover, reduce data input errors and reduce management costs.
We always believe that digitalization will play an important role in shaping the future development of the catering industry. With a total investment of 300 million yuan and a total area of 67 mu, the digital manufacturing center project of Richen Xiabu Joint Venture Company is stepping up construction. It is expected that the first phase of the project will be completed and put into operation in early 2024, and the whole project will be completed by the end of 2025.
In the next few years, we plan to invest 100 million yuan to upgrade the digital and intelligent industrial chain, including procurement quality control, warehousing and distribution, operation management, digital marketing and other fields.
Adhere to green and low-carbon operation and strive to create sustainable value for all stakeholders.
Shell finance:In your opinion, what changes have taken place in the current consumption environment faced by catering practitioners? How should enterprises respond?
He Guangqi:In the past three years, the whole consumption environment has undergone great changes, and consumers have become more and more clear about their own needs and more rational when making choices.
Specifically, prefabricated dishes have become the biggest beneficiary of "non-contact economy", which is actually an outbreak of standardization and industrialization of catering industry. Xiabu Group previously set up a group to study the field of prefabricated dishes. There are also many disputes within the company about the judgment of this sector. After research, we found that there is an opportunity to make prefabricated dishes on a small scale, but it is difficult to develop a certain brand of prefabricated dishes on a large scale. At present, we have also introduced some prefabricated food products.
In addition, the change of consumption scene is also very intuitive, and "destination catering" has become a new direction of industry evolution. For example, the "camping style" that has been on fire since last year, and grasping the business of "destination catering" is something that all catering people are thinking about.
Shell finance:In your opinion, what efforts can the catering industry make to achieve the goal of "double carbon"? In terms of green and low-carbon transformation, what measures does Xiabu Group have?
He Guangqi:The whole industry chain of catering industry can develop in the direction of low carbon in the past, which is also the general trend. Xiabu Group began to carry out green and low-carbon transformation a long time ago and actively created sustainable value for all stakeholders.
From the upstream, aquaculture and planting are developing green and pollution-free products. Inside our restaurant, we also pay great attention to energy conservation and environmental protection during operation. For example, we will use energy-saving lamps and many energy-saving equipment; The specifications of the sauce package will be adjusted according to the user’s consumption habits; Communicate with our suppliers to explore how to minimize the loss of ingredients, such as using clean vegetables to reduce the loss rate; Strictly manage kitchen waste, reduce plastic and waste; Vigorously advocate green office and so on.
To give a concrete example, washing vegetables with a vegetable washer is conducive to improving the efficiency of water resources utilization, strengthening water recycling and reducing the use of water resources from the source. Last year, the water-saving test conducted jointly by the purchasing department, the quality control department of the group and the equipment and facilities department showed that each vegetable washer could save 127.75 tons of water every year.
Shell finance:Looking forward to 2023, what are your expectations for Xiabu Group and the catering industry?
He Guangqi:I hope that every brand and project of Xiabu Group can develop smoothly, and every employee can provide the best service to consumers in his post and actively realize his social value and personal value.
In the past three years, the entire catering industry has been under pressure. During this period, many colleagues left behind and even left the catering industry. I hope the epidemic will end soon, and I hope those excellent catering people will come back as soon as possible and make a comeback. I also believe that the catering industry will become one of the fastest-growing formats after the epidemic.
Question and answer on the same topic
1. Report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out the direction for China’s economic development in the next five years. Among a series of key words such as "building a modern industrial system", "accelerating the green transformation of development mode" and "Chinese modernization",Which paragraph (paragraph) do you feel most about and why??
Report to the 20th CPC National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that the focus of economic development should be on the real economy and the construction of digital China should be accelerated. As the head catering enterprise, Xiabu Group is the representative of the real economy in the field of consumption, and it is also one of the company’s strategies to fully transform into digitalization. We have carried out a number of digital layouts in the entire catering industry chain, such as upstream food production and meat processing, which are all automated, intelligent and digital; In terms of reducing food waste, we have taken the lead in using digital systems in warehousing and transportation, as well as refined management of stores; On the marketing side, we also launched the multi-brand membership system of Xiabu Group, so that our consumers can enjoy food more favorably, conveniently and quickly.
2. At present, with the effective epidemic prevention and control measures and Omikmilitary affairsThe pathogenicity is weakened, the vaccination popularization rate is improved, and how to restore the normal production and living order has become one of the most concerned topics in all walks of life. In this regard,What is your suggestion??
With the resumption of production and the full opening of the consumption field, how to help the consumption recovery is also the function and responsibility of catering people. In the past three years, whether in the layout of upstream industries, accelerating digital and international transformation, or in the expansion of new brands and stores, we have been working hard to practice our internal strength, and we also hope to work together with our peers to welcome the spring of the catering industry after the epidemic.
three、In 2023What are your personal new expectations?
I hope that in 2023, the country will be prosperous and the people will be safe, and the economy and consumption will recover steadily. As representatives of excellent catering enterprises, we also hope to add more vitality and diversity to China’s catering consumption through our own reform and development.
Beijing News Shell Finance Reporter Yan Xia Editor Chen Li Proofread Liu Jun
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