“Yilaomailao” Goubuli, Tianjin and finally even do not eat
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “Prism” (ID: lengjing_qqfinance), Author: Lee Hoshino, Editor: Yang pudding, Publisher: Prism · Tencent News Xiaoman Studio.
At the end of March 2021, Goubuli’s store at No. 31 Dashilan Street, Beijing, closed its doors to thank customers. The store is Goubuli’s last direct-operated store in Beijing, which immediately aroused controversy over the taste and reputation of Tianjin’s time-honored brand, and it was on the Weibo hot search list on March 29.
On the same day, a Goubuli staff replied to the author that the reason for the store’s closure was the expiration of the lease and the subsequent contract is still under negotiation. If the store is officially closed, it means that Goubuli has temporarily retreated to Tianjin: According to data from its official website, there are still 10 restaurants operating normally, all located in Tianjin.
Has this 163-year-old Tianjin time-honored restaurant brand have abandoned its national layout and strategy? On March 30, Zhang Yansen, chairman of the Goubuli Group, explained to the author that the location of Goubuli’s store will be determined according to the needs of consumers.
Consumers have mixed emotions towards Goubuli. Old Tianjin people miss its traditional delicacy, but the younger generation is deeply impressed by the high price. “Tianjin people almost don’t eat dogs because they are expensive and unpalatable. People from other places rarely eat them. That’s the reason. It’s not tasty and expensive.” On March 29, a technology blogger commented on dogs on Weibo. Li, the message was praised and approved by more than 1,000 netizens.
From the top of the “Three Wonders in Tianjin” to now not being recognized by the new generation of consumers, this time-honored brand is slowly disappearing in consumers’ memory.
Chaos in franchise stores
The history of Goubuli steamed buns can be traced back to 1858. Together with the marijuana flower on the 18th street and the fried rice cake with ears and eyes, they are called the “Three Wonders in Tianjin”, and they are also officially recognized as time-honored catering companies. In the spring evening of 2000, Feng Gong and Guo Donglin praised Goubuli buns in cross talks for “eighteen pleats with thin skin, just like a flower”, which amused countless people and gave people across the country the first impression of Goubuli.
But the highlight moment of Goubuli is still earlier.
According to data, before 2005, Goubuli Group was a state-owned enterprise in Tianjin, and its assets belonged to the Tianjin Heping District Government. From 2003 to 2004, Goubuli Group was considering restructuring and decided to publicly transfer the overall assets and the equity held by the holding company. In 2005, Zhao Jiaxiang, then chairman of Goubuli Group, introduced to Caijing that 2004 was the most profitable year in the history of Goubuli’s business. The annual operating income of direct-sales stores was 75 million yuan. The performance of chain stores (franchise stores) totaled 210 million yuan, an increase of 41.7% over the previous year. The auction assets were “beautiful women marry first.”
In February 2005, at the Tianjin Property Rights Exchange Center, Tianjin Tongrentang Co., Ltd. owned/p>
In addition to the continuing troubles of franchise stores, high pricing is also a place that Goubuli has been criticized by consumers.
In Goubuli stores, all kinds of meat buns are priced at 96-128 yuan per cage, and the single price is around 12-16 yuan. In the cheap Qingfeng Baozi Shop, the price of each bun is between 1-2 yuan. At the Goubuli flagship store on Tmall, the author saw that its bun gift box (5 bags) is priced at 138 yuan, which is about 31.6 yuan per bag. In the Sanquan flagship store, Xiaolongbao is 18.9 yuan per bag. Sanquan has 450 grams per bag, slightly higher than Goubuli’s 420 grams.
In 2012, Goubuli attempted an IPO. In an interview with “Daily Economic News”, its executives revealed their “family status”: At that time, there were more than 20 Goubuli branches in Tianjin, of which 10 Many are mid-range business banquet hotels, two are tourist hotels, and Goubuli Group has an annual turnover of 750 million yuan.
From 2004 to 2012, when the system was reformed, Goubuli’s operating income increased from 75 million to 750 million. An important point is that it took seven or eight years for the new management to upgrade civilian cuisine to a high-end time-honored brand, but In the middle is also accompanied by repeated doubts about “sky-priced steamed buns”. When Goubuli first attempted an IPO in 2012, a premium three fresh bun was priced at 35 yuan, and a traditional pork bun was 12 yuan, which also sparked a wave of discussion at that time.
In March 2017, Zhang Yansen explained the pricing issue in an interview. His view is that the time-honored brand comes from the private sector, but it does not necessarily have to be low-priced. “The time-honored Armani is not cheap, and the time-honored LV is not cheap either.” He believes that if the time-honored enterprises want to operate for a long time, they must have profit margins; if the products of the time-honored brands have good raw materials, good craftsmanship, and low prices, the company will not operate well. He believes that there are more than 1,000 time-honored brands in China, of which only about 10% are operating well, about 30% are “willing”, and many are difficult to maintain. Therefore, time-honored managers must change their minds and get rid of the shackles of cheap pricing.
High price but not outstanding taste, let Goubuli lose the popularity. According to Dianping, the overall score of Goubuli restaurant is around 3.56-4.35, while many Haidilao restaurants in the same area scored above 4.9. Tianjin Caiqihaoguan, Shunxingde, Songji Old House, etc. also scored Above 4.8.
“The consumption level in Tianjin is not high. Tianjin cuisine with good taste is only 80 or 90 yuan per capita, and Goubuli costs around 120-150 yuan, a time-honored brand.” Some consumers in Tianjin said that there are not many restaurants in Goubuli. It is not their first choice for daily dinners, but they will eat when they entertain relatives and friends out of town.
“Goubuli’s “relying on the old and selling the old” did not really activate the brand value.” On March 30, food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng told the author that the new generation of consumers is actually not price sensitive, but Goubuli price and quality are not equal, consumers still don’t recognize this brand; consumers do not think of the brand’s tonality, quality, and high-quality services.Wu Deng is associated with Goubuli Baozi. “Goubuli’s current products may not be what consumers really want.”
The dog ignores it, Bobby is on it
In the past 16 years, Goubuli has retired franchise stores while developing direct-operated stores. During this period, Goubuli also tried to IPO the catering sector, but failed.
“After the love between Hunan and Hubei, Goubuli also wanted to go public, but the timing was wrong and it didn’t succeed; if it had been IPO at that time, it might be a different look today.” An executive of a catering company said this with some regret. Catering companies have low cost and flexible forms to expand franchise stores. Expanding directly-operated stores requires a large amount of funding. The cost of opening a new store often requires millions, which is difficult to achieve without investors or capital market support. This is why Goubuli’s direct-operated stores have not developed, but have become smaller and smaller.
In 2012, a group of catering companies such as Goubuli had queued up for the A-share preliminary review, but the industry was constrained by financial problems at that time: the upstream raw material suppliers were a large number of self-employed individuals, there were no invoices, and the accounts were difficult to clarify, and the downstream were countless individuals, Households, cash consumption, and income are also difficult to clarify; this makes it difficult to quantify business costs and income. So far, among the companies queuing for review during the same period, only Guangzhou Restaurant has landed in A shares in 2017.
Currently, Goubuli Group only directly operates 10 restaurants in Tianjin.
The executives of the above-mentioned catering chain companies also speculated that the offline catering business in various cities was affected by the epidemic last year, and Goubuli should also be digesting this part of the negative impact and continue to shrink the “front.” However, Goubuli also has some advantages. It has developed food processing business (quick-frozen buns, etc.) earlier than its peers. Many catering companies only started to operate pre-made vegetables and frozen foods during the 2020 epidemic.
In November 2015, Tianjin Goubuli Food Co., Ltd. was listed on the New OTC Market. In May 2020, the company announced the termination of listing. This is Goubuli’s company specializing in quick-frozen steamed buns, pasta, and sauced meat products. Why delist in 2020? Goubuli Food’s explanation is that, in light of its own business development needs and current actual operating conditions, it applied for termination of listing after careful consideration.
In the three years from 2017 to 2019, the total operating income of Goubuli Food increased from 108 million yuan to 155 million yuan, and its net profit increased from 18.2082 million yuan to 24.255,800 yuan; of which, quick-frozen steamed buns accounted for the largest proportion. Reach 41%, and the rest are quick-frozen pasta gift boxes and sauce products; the comprehensive gross profit margin of the products is about 38%-40%.
At the time of delisting in 2020, the performance of other listed low-price quick-frozen food companies has grown amazingly: Yasjing Foods, Haixin Foods, and Huifa Foods have revenue growth rates of 32.24%, 15.92%, and 16.48%, respectively, which belong to the parent company. The growth rate of net profit was 60.86%, 948.03%, and 287.73% respectively.