Chinese burger innovations bolster local brands

To be sure, not everyone is thriving. Expansion has proved to be a struggle for most of them. At the end of the first quarter, the Chinese burger segment appeared to have lost steam with investors steering clear of it, market insiders said.

Jia Guolong, founder of Xibei, a prominent catering group, knows all about the ups and downs in the market. In March 2023, Xibei launched its first store of Jia Guolong Chinese Burger. The plan was to open 50 burger stores in the first half of 2023.

The plan did not pan out. Xibei closed all of its Jia Guolong Chinese Burger stores. Some of them shuttered outright; others were renamed Jia Guolong Small Pot Beef. Xibei said the Jia Guolong Chinese Burger chain has been completely rebranded as Longbao and will be repositioned in the fast-food market. Pilot stores debuted in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, to explore the lower-tier market.

Xibei said the decision whether or not to retain a subsidiary brand hinges on its potential for global expansion. "The Chinese bun is actually derived from roujiamo, a local snack from Shaanxi province," said Song Xuan, a marketing executive at Xibei. "With its convenient hand-held format and savory filling, it was supposed to have the potential for worldwide appeal."

But theory and practice proved to be divergent. The intricacies involved in crafting Chinese foods, coupled with supply chain management issues related to Chinese cuisine, meant Chinese burgers presented challenges not typically encountered in making Western fast food.

"Scaling up the intangible artistry of Chinese culinary traditions is quite daunting," Song said. As a result, Xibei opted to halt Jia Guolong's expansion into first-tier cities.

But, in China's fast-food landscape, there is still potential to develop a Chinese cuisine-based fast-food product, said Song.

"We foresee the catering industry embracing increasing diversity, moving beyond rigid distinctions between fast food and formal dining.