Catering industry sees decline in revenues

China Quanjude Group announced on Tuesday that its expected annual profit would reach 109 million yuan ($18 million), a drop of 28.4 percent year-on-year.

The company said the fall in profit was influenced by the market situation, in which the high-end catering business diminished, and that the H7N9 bird flu that broke out nationwide early last year also affected its business operation.

Shi Bingfeng, secretary of the board of the company, said at a news conference in September that the catering industry has gradually transferred from extensive management to intensive management, driven by the government's anti-corruption initiative and the policy to reduce unnecessary public expenses. The entire industry has entered a "meager profit" time.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's catering industry generated 2.54 trillion yuan in revenue in 2013, up 9 percent from a year earlier. Over the past 22 years, it reported a double-digit year-on-year growth rate every year.

Statistics based on a survey conducted by the China Hotel Association on the industry showed that 90 percent of high-end catering enterprises reported a year-on-year decline in revenue, at an average rate of 40 percent to 50 percent, while the worst can drop 80 percent.

Contact the writer at huangying@chinadaily.com.cn