Catering sector bounces back from shutdowns

Solutions found

Ren Pangbo, 42, general manager of Fengtian restaurant in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, has overseen efforts made in the past three years by the business, which specializes in northeastern cuisine and takes its name from the former name for Shenyang.

When the first wave of the pandemic emerged, Ren said he and his team were quite nervous, as they had no experience of such a situation. But in the past three years, they have been able to handle these circumstances by finding solutions to manage cost control for raw materials and personnel, as well as creating new sources of revenue.

"We have made a breakthrough with online business during the pandemic," Ren said. "As a restaurant focusing on traditional Chinese cuisine and the dine-in experience, we used not to pay much attention to online business.

"We launched our online shop to provide raw materials popular in Northeast China, such as linden honey, wild mushrooms and homemade pickled cabbage," he said, adding that the ingredients sold online can be traced to source.

Ren said the business also runs four virtual communities for a total of 2,000 people who are regular online and dine-in customers, providing the latest information about the outlet.

"We know exactly how many people are fans of our food and produce, and they always tell us about their needs in the chat group," he said.

Takeaway business at Fengtian, which specializes in fine Chinese cuisine, has been a particular success during the pandemic. For takeaway choices, the eatery offers homestyle dishes such as spicy and sour shredded potatoes, which are not available for dine-in customers. "We have a different cooking bench for making takeaway dishes," Ren said.

Before the pandemic, takeaway trade only accounted for 10 percent of the restaurant's sales volume, but it now comprises some 40 percent of its business.

In March, large numbers of COVID-19 cases were reported in Shenyang, with the city's dine-in businesses halted for two months. During this time, Ren's restaurant provided boxed meals as well as raw materials for the neighborhood. It asked its staff members to deliver the food.

"Sometimes if the customers could not cook, we cooked the ingredients according to their requirements, before delivering the food to them," he said. "Our solution to deal with the pandemic is to make the most of our employees and raw ingredients, and meet clients' needs without them having to leave their apartments."

Ren said that in 2020 after the first wave of the pandemic subsided in the city, local customers went on revenge spending sprees, before returning to rational consumption patterns.

He added that as COVID-19 cases stabilize in Shenyang, his restaurant's revenue has gradually returned to 80 percent of the pre-pandemic level.

Founded in 2012, the restaurant chain now has 13 branches in cities across China, including Xi'an, Shaanxi province, Taiyuan, Shanxi province, Jinan, Shandong province, and Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

New branches opened in Shenzhen in January and in Xi'an in July. Even though the opening of these two outlets was delayed by new waves of the pandemic in each city, both are proving popular.

At the Xi'an branch, customers sometimes wait in line for an hour to get a table.

"When it comes to flavors, the preferences of customers in Xi'an are not greatly different from those in Northeast China, so we don't change the seasoning for dishes at our branches outside Shenyang," Ren said.

"Each time the pandemic strikes, we never think about closing our doors. We do everything we can to keep running. In addition to launching takeaway choices, we even ask people in the shopping mall where we are located if they need any service from us."

Ren said the business is opening a total of three more branches in Shenzhen, Dalian, Liaoning, and Changchun, Jilin province, in the next two months.

"Northeastern cuisine is becoming popular across China, and we present it in a way that is different from people's usual impression of large quantities and homestyle cooking. We are confident about the prospects for the new branches," he said.

Seasonal ingredients have made their way onto restaurant menus across China for autumn, the harvest season. According to Meituan's Black Pearl restaurant guide, more than 50 percent of the nation's fine-dining restaurants have launched autumn menus.