Summary of Key Points
The sudden rise and rapid disappearance of popular internet-based restaurants in the food industry are not the result of “taste” or “luck,” but rather a well-organized, industrialized chain of events: from creating online queues to artificially inflate demand, to shopping malls actively selecting trendy categories, to companies like CanChuang Group mass-producing brands, and then to super franchisees taking advantage of market opportunities for profit, all supported by standardized supply chains that enable nationwide expansion. This system has turned the popularity of restaurants into a replicable and controllable business model. The phenomenon where “similar restaurants seem to appear everywhere” is actually the result of a coordinated effort by multiple parties.
Detailed Analysis
1. The queues you see may be artificially created
Many popular internet-based restaurants see long lines from day one, not because their food is exceptionally delicious, but due to strategic planning by those behind them.
- Three-tier traffic generation strategy: Start by identifying 3–5 top bloggers with millions of followers to set the tone (e.g., “The New Queue King of the City”), then use 20–30 mid-level bloggers to drive search traffic (e.g., “XX Dating Restaurant Recommendations”), and finally expand reach through over 500 ordinary users to create the illusion that “everyone is talking about it.” The combination of these three layers, along with platform algorithms, makes it seem like “the whole city is eating at this restaurant.”
- Example: Before the opening of Pick Chill’s first Shanghai location, Rednote continuously promoted the restaurant, resulting in over 700 reservations on a weekday and making it the most popular option on Dianping. In contrast, the sudden popularity of Zibo barbecue faded quickly because it didn’t utilize this system.
2. Shopping malls are the “conductors of trends,” actively creating clusters of similar businesses
Shopping malls are increasingly relying on food businesses to attract customers (as retail formats are struggling). Their investment departments target popular online categories and introduce them strategically:
- Offering discounts to attract popularity: They provide rent-free spaces, prime locations (e.g., near subway stations), and even subsidies for renovations to attract popular brands.
- Clustering of categories: For example, IAPM in Shanghai has cleared out traditional dining venues to focus on Sichuan and Thai restaurants; Heshenghui in Beijing has over 20 Japanese restaurants—this clustering is often planned by the mall itself.
- Collaborating with CanChuang Group: Malls prefer to work with companies that can manage multiple brands. If one brand fails, they can easily switch to another under the same group, avoiding the need to find new tenants and reducing the risk of vacant spaces (e.g., all the Guangxi restaurants in China Resources malls are managed by the same team).
3. Popular internet-based brands are mass-produced on an assembly line
There are several companies like CanChuang Group in Wuhan that produce popular brands like “Wuhan’s Five Little Dragons”:
- Rapid development: From concept to opening, it takes as little as 45 days. They first test the concept in smaller markets in Wuhan, then open flagship stores in major cities, and later replicate the model nationwide.
- Brand rotation: If a brand becomes less popular, they simply replace it with another under the same franchise (e.g., a Japanese barbecue restaurant might be converted into a beef restaurant, with the same owner).
- Appearance over taste: When developing new dishes, aesthetics are prioritized; flavor comes second—after all, in the era of social media, looks matter more than taste for attracting customers.
4. Super franchisees: astute profit-makers in the trend game
Franchisees include not just small business owners but also “super franchisees” who make strategic moves:
- Early planning: Their teams conduct secret market research (e.g., monitoring customer flow for three days) and secure locations before the brand becomes popular, capturing the benefits of its initial success.
- Timing their exit: Once ordinary investors join in due to the trend, they move on to the next opportunity. For example, the initial franchise fee for Ba Wang Cha Ji was 600,000 yuan, with a return on investment in 8 months; later, it rose to 1.5 million yuan, making it harder for new investors to profit.
- Powerful influence: Super franchisees hold key locations and can negotiate terms with brand owners, giving them significant control over the expansion of the chain.
5. The supply chain is the invisible driver behind nationwide trends
Many popular foods are driven by upstream supply chains:
- Reverse innovation: For example, the frozen coconut milk used in latte drinks wasn’t invented by Luckin Coffee; it was developed by a Hainan-based company that collaborated with Luckin after testing its effectiveness.
- Standardization reduces barriers to entry: Ready-made ingredients and semi-finished products have made popular dishes like barbecued duck more accessible, but they also contribute to their widespread popularity.
- Local specialties that can’t be standardized: Traditional, handmade dishes often fail to become nationwide hits due to variations in taste and high costs—this is the cost of achieving widespread popularity.
In summary, the current trend in the food industry is no longer a result of natural selection but of a carefully orchestrated system involving capital, traffic, and supply chains. The perceived excitement among consumers is the outcome of these coordinated efforts, with ordinary franchisees often bearing the ultimate consequences of these commercial strategies.