Is it a good business?

A few days ago, when the editor of the red food network had dinner in the business district near the company, it was unexpectedly discovered that the niche cuisine of Thai cuisine was particularly hot.

At 19 o'clock in the evening, guests at the "banana leaf" restaurant located in Poly Plaza, Guangzhou Paizhou were already full of equivalent guests. One hour later, the door of the store was still the city.

Similar scenes are also staged at the entrance of another Thai restaurant on the 5th floor of the mall. At 19 o'clock, the restaurant's upper seat rate had exceeded 90 %; around 19:20, the restaurant had no seats, and the queue phenomenon began to appear at the door. However, in the same time, most of the restaurants in the mall have not been filled, and even some stores only sat in two or three tables.

The niche category of Thai cuisine is going to be hot?

Thai cuisine is popular, Thai food brands are accelerating the layout

In fact, the market performance of Thai food in the past two years has always been remarkable.

A set of public data shows that the number of customers in Thai restaurants has reached 120 million, the market size has reached 600 billion yuan, and the annual compound growth rate is 120%.

Winshang big data shows that in 2021, the overall switch shop of Thai meals is above 1, that is, the overall number of stores is greater than the number of closing stores. As of the end of 2021, the number of Thai restaurants in the shopping malls (an area of ​​≥ 50,000 square meters) across the country has exceeded 1,300.

The "2022 May Day" Food "Consumer Consumption Insight" released by Meituan Food also showed that during the May 1st period of this year, the search volume of Thai cuisine increased by 303%at the same time, ranking first place in different regions.

When visiting the market, it also noticed that many Thai restaurants have been popular in recent years.

Founded in 2020, the new Thai meal brand -Thai Food Cang, the founder Giovanni Zhou said in an interview with the Red Food Network that the Thai Diancang's first store in Shanghai will be on the public. The top of the Southeast Asian cuisine list, Shenzhen's first store also occupied the top nine months of the Shenzhen Southeast Asian category list.

At the same time as Thai cuisine is hot, a group of Thai meal brands represented by mini coconut · Thai stalls, Tudu Thai shops, fishing · Thai seafood hot pot, and Taiye beast -style tea restaurant also follow the trend Expand layout.

The Thai meal brand Dudu Thai Pavilion in Hunan has a per capita consumption of 70-80 yuan. According to the official public account, nearly 30 new stores in Tu Dudu, Thai Dudu, in 2021, are distributed in Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan, Guangxi and other areas.

Founded in 2021, the mini -coconut · Thai stall, the development momentum is also very eye -catching. According to the Mini Coconut Thai stall public account, mini coconut has more than 100 chain stores in the country.除了北京、上海、深圳一线城市，迷你椰在徐州、洛阳等二三线城市亦有布局，门店已覆盖浙江、江苏、湖北、江西、陕西、安徽、四川、广西、海南、宁夏、吉林、河南、 Fujian and other provinces.

After the development of Thai -style seafood hot pot, after development in recent years, the number of stores has also reached 200+.

Why does the niche category Thai cuisine get angry?

"Thai meals have set foot on the counterattack track. Unlike in the past, the current Thai food category has been large -scale, and it will become the next air outlet of the catering industry." Said the Shengzi who had opened 5 chain Thai restaurants in Zhuhai, said arrive.

Under the wind, Thai food brands are also running into the field. In this regard, we can't help wondering, why can the Thai food market grow? Why can such niche cuisine fever in the Chinese market? Maybe a glimpse of the demand end.

△ Picture Source: Red Food Network Photo

Tourism drives the spread of Thai food and food culture

According to the "Annual Report of China Outbound Tourism Development 2020", in 2019, Vietnam and Thailand ranked among the best in the ranking of Chinese travel destinations. According to the Thai National Tourism Administration, in 2019, Thailand's foreign tourists visited 39.8 million people throughout the year, of which 10.98 million were Chinese tourists. Thailand has become a popular choice for Chinese people's outbound tour.

To travel to Thailand, it is essential to taste traditional Thai food. In addition, the hit of films such as "Chinatown Detective Case" and "Thailand" in previous years have also set off a "Thai heat" in China. The awareness of Chinese people's awareness of Thai culture has begun to increase, and the willingness to taste Thai food in Thai -style restaurants has also increased significantly.

Zhu Danpeng, a researcher at the China Food and Commerce Research Institute, previously said that in the early years, Thai cuisine and other Southeast Asian cuisines successfully entered the Chinese market with "novelty". After that, the development of Southeast Asian tourism has made more and more people know Southeast Asian cuisine and operate Southeast Asian cuisine. The restaurant also began to increase.

"The existence of Thailand tourism, Thailand culture, and Thai catering in the minds of Chinese people is getting stronger and stronger. But the cause of the epidemic is that everyone cannot travel abroad. Therefore, people will find some foreign tastes to comfort themselves. Common, so Thai meals are also reasonable. "Luo Dingmin, the founder of Guangzhou banana leaf group, said.

Taste is spicy and spicy, which is in line with Chinese dietary preferences

The reason why Thai cuisine can get angry in China is an important reason that the taste of Thai food is highly consistent with the national taste.

As we all know, Thai food is mainly "hot and sour and salty" flavor, with strong aroma, and Chinese people generally prefer heavy taste foods. Essence

Luo Dingmin bluntly stated that compared with Western food, Thai food is more in line with the Chinese taste. "At the same time, Thai cuisine uses a lot of natural healthy ingredients, such as peppers, lemon, lemongrass, southern Xinjiang, ginger, mint leaves, Thailand, etc., which also meets the needs of consumers in the post -epidemic era. It shows that in the public comment, for Thai dishes, netizens have commented on more than 11,000 comments related to "food health".

On the basis of the maturity of taste and market cultivation, some Thai restaurants are carefully arranged in the dining environment, high saturation color matching, green planting elements such as bananas, rattan, coconut trees, and the use of various sculpture ornaments. Let Thai -style restaurants be a punch -in sacred place in the eyes of consumers.

The superposition of many factors has promoted the popularity of Thai food in the domestic market.

Opportunities and challenges coexist. How can Thai food seek long -term development?

At present, although the Thai food market has maintained a good development potential, Thai cuisine as a niche category, its consumer group and consumption frequency may still be limited. How can the Thai food brand develop in the future in the future?

In this regard, Red Food Network has also interviewed a number of people in the industry. They generally believe that in the future, Thai food brands will also need to continue to make efforts in products, models, store environment, and supply chain.

Adhere to exotic flavors and do not exclude moderate improvement

For catering operators, no matter what category to start a business, taste and ingredients are always the magic weapon to win. According to data from Ai Media Network, in 2021, authentic dishes are the main factor for Thai cuisine to attract Chinese netizens, accounting for 73.8%. Secondly, it is the decoration and services of Thai characteristics, accounting for 63.6%.

It can be seen that when consumer Thai food, the taste and dining environment of the dishes is an important consideration for consumers.

With the development of the times, the degree of cultural integration of Asian countries has continued to deepen. After these years of cultivation period, although the popularity of Thai food is not as good as popular categories such as hot pot and Sichuan cuisine, the awareness of Chinese people's diet has continued to increase, and it is increasingly paying attention to whether the freshness and taste of the ingredients are authentic.

However, it should also be noted that after all, exotic cuisine comes from foreign countries, and its taste and the taste of Chinese people still have a certain gap. Moderate localization and improvement may reduce the situation of exotic dishes and soil dissatisfaction, and gain more consumers.

Like the development of banana leaf in Guangzhou, it has been continuously improved in taste. According to Luo Dingmin, as long as there is a chance, he will take the chef to worship everywhere and go to Thailand, Southeast Asia and other countries to inspect on the spot. It also combines national cultural differences and dietary habits in different regions. Essence

△ Picture Source: Red Food Network Photo

The fishing · Thai -style seafood hot pot has also been adjusted too much on the development of the soup base. From the choice of fish species to the time and concentration of boiling, to the matching degree of fresh materials with winter, Chen Wei, chairman of the fishing and Thai seafood hot pot, has repeatedly adjusted for three or four months. No less than 30, make the soup base more in line with the taste of diners.

Create a tone dining environment to meet the multiple needs of the diners

As mentioned earlier, the taste and dining environment is an important consideration for consumers. Therefore, in addition to the taste of the dishes, the dining environment is naturally the direction of the brand's focus.

Search for "Thai Restaurant" on Xiaohongshu, and you can also see a lot of punching notes. Rogging forest green, warm beaches yellow, green plants embellishment ... Most notes are related to the relevant content describing Thai food environment and atmosphere. Needless to say, in the future, if the Thai food brand wants to stand out in the market, it is necessary to create a stylish dining environment, especially for target groups to create a dining scenario that can attract these people's attention.

Wang Yugang, a well -known brand positioning expert, said that couples and young women have become the main consumer forces of Thai restaurants. This group of people will be more inclined to have the needs of Thai restaurants with multiple scenes such as eating, taking pictures, and social networking.

Either do exquisite ingenuity, or do the ultimate cost -effective

At present, whether it is a high -end Thai restaurant or a new Thai stall, there are their own consumer groups and market space.

Positioning the mid -to -high -end Thai restaurant can follow the exquisite and ingenious route to provide consumers with a stylish dining environment and exquisite dining experience. The price is paired with high -quality products and services to open a larger market.

It is worth mentioning that the big data of red meals shows that the current Southeast Asian restaurant with an average price of 51-100 yuan accounted for over 50 %, and Thai restaurants are the main force of Southeast Asian restaurants. The Red Dining Network also observed that the Thai-style stalls with a per capita consumption of 50-150 yuan and Thai tea restaurants have been emerging in recent years. Become the mainstream.

"In the context of consumers' rejuvenation and consumers tending to be rational, in the future, it is more optimistic about popular, cost -effective Thai food models." Wang Yugang also said for the development prospects of cost -effective Thai food.

Improve the supply chain and do a good job of cost control

"In 2012, there are not many people doing Thai food business in Zhuhai. Thai spices often import to China through customs in Macau or Guangzhou. But now, similar spices can also grow in Yunnan. It is also necessary to face problems such as transportation and logistics and chef costs. "Shengzi told the Red Food Network.

As the Shengzi Son stated, the future development of Thai food to ensure cost -effectiveness, it is also necessary to ensure quality and improve the supply chain is a major challenge.summary

With the development of the times, the development of the Thai food market in China has entered a new stage of development, and the opportunity of the Nuggets cannot be underestimated.But we have to admit that even if the potential of the Thai food market is unlimited, and want to easily open the door of the business opportunity of Thai food, it is still not easy for companies.

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