news

Consumer Reference丨Catering price war intensifies again: 99% profit drops sharply, while Kudi continues to run wild

2024-07-24

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

21st Century Business Herald reporter He Hongyuan and intern Han Chang report

"Value for money" seems to be increasingly becoming the mainstream in the catering industry.

Recently, Jiu Mao Jiu issued a profit warning, predicting revenue of 3.064 billion yuan in the first half of 2024, an increase of about 6.4% year-on-year; net profit is expected to be no less than 67 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of no more than 69.8%.

The decline in profits is due to price wars.

Jiu Mao Jiu mentioned that the average customer consumption and table turnover rate of the restaurant have both declined, which has led to a decline in the restaurant's single-store revenue. At the same time, the cost control measures implemented by the company to reduce the various costs of restaurant opening and operation lag behind the decline in restaurant single-store revenue. Therefore, it is expected that the group will have negative operating leverage during the period. In addition, the impairment losses of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets were generated during the period.

The financial report shows that in the second quarter of 2024, the average per capita consumption of Tai Er Restaurant, Shuang Hotpot, and Jiu Mao Jiu was 69 yuan, 104 yuan, and 55 yuan respectively. In 2023, the average per capita consumption of Tai Er Restaurant was 75 yuan, the average per capita consumption of Shuang Hotpot was 113 yuan, and the average per capita consumption of Jiu Mao Jiu was 58 yuan.

In addition, in May, Xiabu Xiabu launched a new menu showing that the average price of a single set meal dropped by more than 10%. In June, the price of Hefu Lamian products dropped again by about 30%, and the price range of mainstream products was adjusted to between 16-29 yuan. According to the financial reports of various companies, in 2023, the average customer price of Haidilao has dropped to less than 100 yuan (99.1 yuan); the average customer price of Shuang Hotpot is 113 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12%.

On the other hand, Kudi, the initiator of the coffee price war, continues to expand.

On July 23, Kudi Coffee disclosed that it had officially issued a plan to open 8,000 convenience stores in the second half of the year. At the same time, the company also proposed a goal of opening 50,000 convenience stores in the next three years. At the end of February, Kudi said that the store expansion had reached 7,000 stores and would enter a period of stable expansion.

The expansion is accompanied by a price war. On May 24, Kudi Coffee announced a three-year promotion, namely "9.9 yuan promotion for the whole store".

It should be noted that at the price of 9.9 yuan, Kudi may have completed a positive capital cycle. Li Yingbo, the company's chief strategy officer, said that Kudi has basically completed the construction of the supply chain and achieved a preliminary cost advantage.

Overall, embracing "value for money" may have become a necessity for survival for the catering industry.

On July 23, the Shanghai Composite Consumer 80 Index closed at 4210.21 points, down 3.38%.

agriculture

Average pork prices in agricultural product wholesale markets nationwide fall

On July 23, according to the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as of 14:00 on the same day, the average price of pork in the national agricultural product wholesale market was 24.98 yuan/kg, a decrease of 0.5% from yesterday.

food and drink

Beverage robot manufacturer Botrista completes new round of financing

On July 21, beverage robot manufacturer Botrista announced the completion of a new round of C financing of US$65 million, and has raised a total of US$120 million (about RMB 870 million). In March 2024, JFC acquired a 10% stake in Botrista for US$28 million, and the latter's valuation was US$280 million (about RMB 2 billion). Botrista was founded by Xu Haozhe in Silicon Valley in 2017. Inspired by his work experience at Tesla, it focuses on automated beverage production solutions, aiming to provide restaurants with more beverage options, beyond the limitation that Americans can only choose Coke.

FOOD

HEYTEA Paris pop-up sold over 1,000 cups on first day

On July 23, according to 36Kr, HEYTEA's pop-up store "HEYTEA Paris Match Watching Tea Room" in the 11th arrondissement of Paris sold more than 1,000 cups of tea on the first day of opening, with sales exceeding 10,000 euros on the first day.

Luckin Coffee adds tea and coffee: launches Dancong Latte

On July 22, Luckin Coffee launched a new tea and coffee product, Dancong Latte.

HEYTEA releases new tea beverage standards

On July 22, Heytea released the "Four Realities and Seven Zeros" healthy tea beverage standard. The standard states that healthy real tea beverages should be made from "real tea, real milk, real fruit, and real sugar" as raw materials, and all products should meet the requirements of "0 creamer, 0 flavors, 0 fructose syrup, 0 non-dairy creamer, 0 hydrogenated vegetable oil, 0 trans fatty acids, and 0 instant tea powder".

McDonald's Japan reopens most of its stores due to malfunction

On July 23, McDonald's Japan announced that almost all stores that were forced to suspend operations due to payment system problems have now resumed operations. As of 12:00 noon on the 23rd, a small number of stores are still closed, but they will reopen when they are ready. The problem is not related to the global IT failure caused by the software update of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

McDonald's extends $5 'poor man' meal sale in the US

On July 23, according to media reports, McDonald's will extend the sale of the $5 "poor meal" in most restaurants in the United States to attract diners with tight budgets. According to a memo, about 93% of McDonald's restaurants have promised to extend sales, and some branches plan to continue the offer until August. According to the memo, McDonald's is seeking to strengthen its affordability plan for the rest of the year, including the possibility of extending the current meal discounts. At the same time, it is also considering extending business hours to meet demand during non-peak hours. McDonald's said in a statement that previous performance showed that the meal "achieved the purpose of prompting guests to return to our restaurants." The company hopes to attract American consumers whose consumption is restricted due to reduced disposable income.

Guoquan Industrial acquires Huading Cold Chain

On July 22, the listed company Guoquan Food Co., Ltd. announced that its controlling shareholder Shanghai Guoquan Industry acquired Henan Huading Cold Chain Warehousing and Distribution Technology Co., Ltd. on a wholly-owned basis. On the same day, the board of directors reviewed and approved the relevant proposals, agreeing that Guoquan Food Co., Ltd. (on behalf of the group) and Huading Cold Chain (on behalf of Huading Cold Chain and its contacts) would enter into a service procurement framework agreement. Huading Cold Chain and its contacts would provide cold chain warehousing and logistics services to the group.

Cooking robot company Oak-Deer Technology receives nearly 200 million yuan in strategic investment from JD.com

On July 23, Oak-Deer Technology announced that it had recently received another strategic investment of nearly 200 million yuan from JD.com and reached a comprehensive strategic cooperation. After this round of financing, Oak-Deer Technology will continue to increase its investment in the upstream and downstream industrial chain infrastructure of AI cooking robots. The company will continue to expand the construction of the industry's largest AI cooking robot factory and actively seek to establish a second production base north of the Yangtze River.

Supermarket

Yonghui Supermarket to close three stores in Beijing

On July 23, Beijing Business Daily reported that Yonghui has made drastic adjustments to its store system. Yonghui supermarkets located in Chaoyang Vanke Times, Changping Longqi Plaza, and Shunyi New World Department Store have successively entered a state of discount clearance and suspension of business. The closure of three stores in Beijing is just a microcosm of Yonghui Supermarket's nationwide layout reshuffle. Store closures have also occurred in Zhengzhou, Shanghai and other places.

logistics

Shenzhen Airport opened 9 new cross-border e-commerce air freight lines in the first half of the year

On July 23, Shenzhen Airport announced that in the first half of this year, Shenzhen Airport opened 9 new cross-border e-commerce air freight routes from Shenzhen to Paris, London, Mexico City, etc., which promoted the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce air freight business. By the end of June 2024, the cargo volume of cross-border e-commerce air freight business at Shenzhen Airport reached 138,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 68.5%. With the opening of the Shenzhen-Abu Dhabi route on July 14, Shenzhen Airport now has 7 cargo destinations in the Middle East.

Home Appliances

Zhuanzhuan platform's home appliance recycling orders in the second quarter increased by 450% year-on-year

On July 23, Zhuanzhuan Group released data showing that the second-hand recycling market continued to heat up, with the platform's sales orders in the second quarter increasing by 35% year-on-year and recycling orders increasing by 42% year-on-year. Among them, driven by the "old for new" campaign, a home appliance recycling boom was set off in the second quarter. During the period, the number of home appliance recycling orders on the Zhuanzhuan platform increased by 450% year-on-year.

Jewelry

Chow Tai Fook: Retail sales fell 20% in the second quarter

On July 23, Chow Tai Fook announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its retail sales in the second quarter fell 20%, same-store sales in mainland China fell 26.4% in the second quarter, and same-store sales in Hong Kong and Macau fell 30.8% in the second quarter.

Travel

The number of tourists who bought tickets for Yangzhou's Slender West Lake Scenic Area in the first half of the year hit a 10-year high

On July 23, according to the WeChat public account "Yangzhou Release", from January to June this year, the number of tourists who bought tickets for the Slender West Lake Scenic Area in Yangzhou reached 2,557,639, an increase of 10.2% compared with the same period in 2023, a record high in ten years, and young tourists accounted for "half of the country". Among the tourists who bought tickets for the Slender West Lake in the first half of the year, individual tourists reached 2,008,606, an increase of 15.6%, and individual tourists accounted for 79% of the ticket-buying tourists.

Luxury

BALENCIAGA releases new advertising campaign

On July 23, BALENCIAGA released its new THE CHARACTERS advertising campaign.

Harrods launches own-label collection

On July 23, British luxury department store Harrods announced the launch of its own-brand collection to celebrate its 175th anniversary.

Blackpink's Lisa becomes Louis Vuitton brand ambassador

On July 23, according to the official website of Louis Vuitton, Blackpink member Lisa has joined Louis Vuitton as its brand ambassador.

Film and Television Entertainment

Tomato Novel Responds to Online Writers' Joint Boycott of AI Protocol

On July 23, according to The Paper, in response to online writers’ hotly debated demands to terminate AI-related agreements, a person in charge of Tomato Novel said that Tomato Novel has launched a function portal to terminate the relevant terms for authors who have signed supplementary agreements or signed contracts that include AI-assisted writing clauses. Users can initiate the termination of relevant terms through the Tomato Writer Assistant app and the Tomato Novel website author workstation. Recently, many online writers have posted that the "AI Training Supplementary Agreement" has been added to the Tomato Novel contract, requiring authors to agree to "feed" their works to the platform's AI for content development, which has aroused opposition from many writers.