Summer new product launch, Guoquan opens all-weather mode through the 'Community Central Kitchen' strategy

@新熵 Original

Author 丨 Sakuragi Editor 丨 Yiye

In the current domestic catering market, spending money wisely seems to have become a consensus and new normal among consumers.

On the other hand, from the perspective of category trends, consumer demands have not become monotonous due to cautious spending and price sensitivity. On social platforms like Xiaohongshu and Weibo, a wide variety of foods are constantly being hyped. From last year's Zibo barbecue to this year's Tianshui spicy hot pot, people are continuously exploring the boundaries of cuisine while also thinking about how to satisfy their desires at a low cost.

It's clear that people crave good food and want to find suitable delicacies in different scenarios. Of course, they also expect good value for money.

The combination of these two demands has given rise to a pressing question for the catering industry: In an era of cautious spending, how can consumers' "appetites" be better satisfied?

Guo Quan, with its chain of over 10,000 stores, has offered its own interpretation.

Guo Quan recently held its 2024 summer new product launch, introducing several heavyweight products: not only collaborating with ice beverage giant Yili Ice to make breakthroughs in the ice cream category but also launching a 9.9-yuan craft beer, Western-style dishes like children's steak, and more. Building on this, Guo Quan continues to address consumers' dining needs across multiple scenarios, innovating around high-frequency, healthy, and delicious options while maintaining value for money.

This launch is also a practice of Guo Quan's "Community Central Kitchen" strategy: starting from consumer scenarios and leveraging its strong supply chain to further unlock new growth for the brand. To some extent, this is an "infrastructure" upgrade for catering consumption, not only increasing the frequency of product consumption but also enhancing consumers' sense of happiness. People can enjoy healthy, value-for-money delicacies in multiple timeframes and scenarios.

Community Central Kitchen: Guo Quan's Infrastructure Upgrade

Guo Quan responded early to changes in consumption trends. Its 2023 financial report shows that Guo Quan launched 339 new SKUs, with the total number of SKUs increasing by over 40% year-on-year.

This is thanks to Guo Quan's mature digital system and 完善的 supply chain capabilities, as well as the C2F (Customer-to-Factory) model built on this foundation. By analyzing consumer data, Guo Quan can predict consumption trends and regularly launch new products for regional markets to meet the unique preferences of consumers in different areas. The diversity of products directly leads to 多元化 consumption scenarios and also lays the groundwork for the Community Central Kitchen strategy.

What is a "Community Central Kitchen"? A Guo Quan representative explained this strategic positioning at the launch event:

Guo Quan currently has around 300 食材 suppliers who produce standardized ingredients for the brand. Through Guo Quan's 强大的 supply chain network, these ingredients can be quickly delivered to over 10,000 Guo Quan community stores nationwide. By combining ingredients with different seasonings, cooking techniques, and cookware to create meal solutions, Guo Quan aims to address consumers' pain points of not knowing how to cook at home, finding it troublesome, not making it tasty, or it being expensive to buy. The ultimate goal is to achieve "three 无限":无限人用 (suitable for everyone—adults, children, the elderly, and 年轻人);无限应用 (meeting various scenarios like 客厅， camping, solo dining, and group gatherings); and 无限方案 (creating 无限 dishes from 有限食材，供应火锅，烧烤，家常菜， and 西餐).

If this capability is realized, Guo Quan stores could indeed replace most functions of a home kitchen, becoming residents' "central kitchens." The introduction of more 品类 structures is building a stronger foundation for the "Community Central Kitchen" strategy.

For example, in Western-style dishes, Guo Quan has launched categories like steak, pizza, snacks, and pasta. The 主打 product in steak is a children's steak series promoted as "0 添加，" "marinated with 果蔬汁，" and "放心选 for 宝妈，" with the slogan "家有小孩，锅圈牛排" (Got kids? Guo Quan steak). This series of Western-style products is not only suitable for Guo Quan's 擅长 adult dinner or 正餐 scenarios but also extends to breakfast, lunch, and children's 消费群体。

From a strategic perspective, this reflects Guo Quan's commitment to developing the "Community Central Kitchen"路线. With its chain of 10,000 stores, Guo Quan has already embedded itself like 毛细血管 into residents' daily 社区 lives. After capturing the national market with 火锅 and 烧烤 ingredients that appeal to all ages, Guo Quan is now 思考如何满足社区 residents' diverse culinary needs.火锅 and 烧烤 focus only on dinner scenarios and are not 高频消费. By upgrading from a 火锅烧烤食材超市 to a "Community Central Kitchen," Guo Quan is now 致力于 providing solutions for residents'一日三餐， not only meeting 在家吃饭 demands more comprehensively but also increasing store revenue through higher-frequency consumer engagement.

In the process of selling 火锅 and 烧烤 ingredients nationwide, Guo Quan has built a 强大的 supply chain and 丰富的 product development capabilities, enabling it to reach consumers in 早餐， lunch, dinner, snacks, and 饮品 scenarios.

Take ice products as an example. As summer approaches, demand for cooling products surges. Guo Quan has partnered with Yili Ice to deliver Yili 冰品 to over 10,000 stores nationwide via its supply chain network. In the future, consumers will not only find popular brands like Chocliz, Zhenxi, Qixuan, Xujinhuan, Ice Factory, and Yili Ranch in Guo Quan's 冻品冰柜 but also get early access to 新品 like Chocliz 6 重巧巧 and Qixuan 松露支棒。

Under cautious 消费观， to meet consumers' emphasis on 质价比， Guo Quan's new craft beer is a 典型代表。

The "2023 Craft Beer Industry Research Report" shows that China's craft beer consumption reached 143,000 kiloliters in 2022 and is expected to hit 230,000 kiloliters by 2025, with a CAGR of 17%. Despite rapid growth, craft beer still poses a significant price barrier for consumers. Data indicates that the average price of craft beer in 2021 was already in the 30–100 yuan range.

How to balance the unique flavor of craft beer with affordability? Guo Quan chose to collaborate directly with China's largest professional craft beer production factory and hired German brewmaster Ralf Koch as a 特聘顾问 to ensure the taste，工艺， and quality meet 专业 standards. It also uses 全自动酿酒设备 and implements 218 检测项目 for 全流程 quality control.

In terms of pricing, Guo Quan offers a "9.9-yuan craft beer + 烧烤" combo, maximizing 质价比。

Under the Community Central Kitchen strategy, Guo Quan addresses the 时代之问 of 餐饮消费 through multi-scenario extensions and high-value product innovation. The reason Guo Quan 率先 delivers impressive answers lies in its supply chain.

From 10,000 Stores to Community Central Kitchen

Why can Guo Quan efficiently meet consumer demands? First, it's important to understand the scale of Guo Quan.

According to its latest financial report, as of December 31, 2023, Guo Quan has built a retail network of 10,307 branded stores. Third-party research by Jihai Data shows that over 90% of Guo Quan stores are located in communities. It's safe to say that Guo Quan has established China's largest digital community 餐饮 retail network.

On the consumer side, Guo Quan continues to develop and operate online tools like the Guo Quan App, WeChat Mini Program, and Douyin. Currently, Guo Quan has 27.9 million registered members, with prepaid card deposits reaching 700 million yuan, up 18% year-on-year.

The core competitive advantage supporting such a large user base lies in Guo Quan's 强大的 supply chain.

Breaking it down: Upstream, Guo Quan has deep collaborations with nearly 300 食材 suppliers, including dozens of listed food companies. It has also acquired three 食材 processing plants and holds shares in another, striking a balance between scale and efficiency while improving quality control.

Building on this, Guo Quan innovated the "单品单厂" (single product, single factory) 合作模式， significantly improving production 工艺， quality, and supply capacity. Most SKUs sold in Guo Quan stores are produced under this "单品定制代工" model, broadly meeting the needs of different regions and age groups. With C2F support, regional adjustments can be made based on local demands.

Downstream, Guo Quan now has over 10,000 community stores, and this number is still growing. However, with expanding SKUs, Guo Quan faces the challenge of limited store space and shelf capacity. To address this, Guo Quan is promoting a "一店一铺一库" (one store, one shop, one warehouse) hybrid model, showcasing products that can't fit in stores via online "云铺" and fulfilling orders through "next-day delivery"冷链 logistics. In this model, stores expand their shelves virtually while functioning as offline stores and pickup warehouses.

The 强大 supply chain and digital integration form the flywheel driving the "Community Central Kitchen," not only solidifying the 硬件 foundation but also streamlining front-end services.

Returning to its 初心， "美食平权" (culinary equality) has always been Guo Quan's brand message to consumers. Letting people spend less and eat better isn't just a slogan—the Community Central Kitchen, as the latest front-end 形象， is a tangible response to consumers'一日三餐 needs.

From 加盟商 perspectives, this upgrade not only enriches categories and increases revenue but also introduces more autonomy, effectively raising the 收入 ceiling.

Community Central Kitchen Unleashes New Growth Momentum for Guo Quan

In recent years, China's 餐饮 industry has faced unprecedented challenges and changes. Guo Quan，凭借敏锐 market 洞察力 and rapid 应变能力， achieved 逆势 growth, capturing the demand for home dining and quickly 占领 ing the market.

Over the past few years, Guo Quan has met consumers' new needs by providing healthy and convenient 餐饮 options while also completing market education and leading industry development.

As the post-pandemic era arrives, Guo Quan continues to 深耕 the "回家吃饭" (eating at home) 赛道. Facing consumers' cautious spending 心理， Guo Quan optimizes its supply chain and enhances R&D capabilities, transitioning from a 食材超市 to a Community Central Kitchen to further improve 质价比 and meet multi-scenario demands.

The implementation of the Community Central Kitchen strategy not only offers consumers more choices and better experiences but also creates more business opportunities for 加盟商。

Take the launch of Western-style dishes, ice products, and craft beer as an example.加盟商 can use more diverse 套餐组合 to extend summer 消费场景 into consumers'一日三餐. Such cases will likely become 常态 for Guo Quan. Meanwhile, the partnership with Yili Ice enhances efficiency and quality from 源头 to table.

On a broader level, the Community Central Kitchen is not just a centralized sales outlet but an efficient, smart-integrated 餐饮 supply chain center.加盟商 will have a 更强大 product 阵容 to meet market demands.

More catalysts are also emerging, most notably faster product R&D and innovation. Guo Quan's R&D team can quickly transition new dishes from testing to mass production and deliver them to 加盟商 via the central kitchen network. This rapid response mechanism ensures 加盟商 can 及时把握 market trends and meet consumer demand for 新品。

For C 端 users, an "all-day Guo Quan" will become the 代言人 of 美食平权， playing an increasingly important role.

Though already listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Guo Quan is just seven years old—a very young brand. In it, we see immense potential and vitality. In the future, Guo Quan is poised to become a significant force transforming Chinese 家庭餐桌。