Going out for a taste of China

Goubuli, or Go Believe, believes it can "go out". The Chinese eatery giant based in Tianjin, which is known for its stuffed steamed buns, is in the final stages of talks to buy a chain of US coffeehouses in the first half of this year. When the deal is completed, Goubuli will acquire hundreds of stores in more than 40 countries and regions worldwide, and the deal will be the biggest acquisition of an overseas eatery chain by a Chinese company. Zhang Yansen, Goubuli's chairman, said that the company is seeking to use the coffee chain's business network to promote Chinese cuisine overseas.

Up to now, Chinese eateries have only had a small supporting role in overseas markets, with the majority being small family-owned restaurants. Moreover, compared with Western fast-food giants such as KFC and McDonald's, which have created a fast-food culture since they entered Chinese market and gained popularity in the early 1990s, Chinese restaurant chains have not yet formed similar associations that help reflect the country's culture.

A Bite of China, which has been widely considered the most successful television documentary in China since the 1990s, attracted more than 100 million viewers after it was shown on a major TV station, and it aroused the interest of both people home and abroad in traditional Chinese cuisine, be it snacks or the dishes in a formal meal. It showed how rich China's culinary heritage and food culture are, something that has yet to be properly exploited.

The reason for this, aside from the insufficient attention paid to promoting the country's cultural culinary richness in a global context, is the lack of a clear management vision for expanding China's eateries overseas and the cultural, institutional and policy restraints Chinese restaurants can encounter in overseas markets. For example, import restrictions may prohibit some key raw ingredients, making it difficult to guarantee the original flavor and reducing the desire of companies to explore overseas markets.