Wallace 'abdicates,' Tasting 'ascends the throne': How much sudden wealth and cruelty are hidden in the power transition of the burger world?

Recently, a highly symbolic event occurred in the food and beverage industry: the former "King of the Lower-Tier Market," Wallace, officially announced its delisting, bidding farewell to the capital markets. At the same time, Tastin announced that its global store count has officially surpassed 10,000. The most ironic part is that Tastin's founder, Wei Youchun, was once just an "insignificant" franchisee within the Wallace system.

I. Wallace's Delisting: Success and Failure Both Stem from Its 'Unruly' Roots

Wallace's delisting announcement cited "improving efficiency," but fellow investors know the truth: its moat has been hollowed out.

Back in the day, the Hua brothers relied on the extreme low price of "3 burgers for 10 yuan" and the grassroots model of "cooperative joint operations" to forcefully open 20,000 stores in county towns, directly surpassing KFC in store count. However, this model has a fatal flaw—headquarters can't control the franchisees.

Dispersed equity turned each store manager into a "local emperor," making food safety a matter of luck. The continuous exposure of kitchen chaos in 2024 and 2025 essentially represents the collapse of brand trust. When "affordable" turned into "cheap feeling," Wallace's valuation logic in the capital markets broke down.

II. Tastin's 'Revenge': Adding Two Words to the Burger, Worth 10,000 Stores?

Tastin's rise is practically a real-life version of "The Apprentice's Revenge." Founder Wei Youchun understood his former employer Wallace's weaknesses all too well: products lacked memorability, the brand had no premium, and stores lacked warmth.

He did just one thing to break through Wallace's encirclement: handmade, freshly rolled buns.

Replacing the cold, Western-style burger bun with a steaming, "Chinese-flavored" handmade wrapper. Don't underestimate this single move; it solves the two hardest words in fast food—quality feel.

●Dimensionality Reduction Strike: Using Wallace's cost structure (cost 4-5 yuan, selling for 18 yuan) to deliver a freshly-made experience surpassing KFC's.

●Precision Hit Products: The "Beijing Roast Duck" and "Mapo Tofu" burgers launched in 2025 firmly cemented the "Chinese Burger" category in consumers' minds.

III. 'Bump-and-Run' Location Strategy: Deliberately Opening Stores Next to Wallace

Tastin's expansion strategy exhibits a near-ruthless precision. In provinces like Hunan and Jiangxi, over 70% of Tastin stores have a Wallace location within a 500-meter radius.

This is no coincidence; it's a tactic. Tastin directly leverages the prime locations (near schools, markets, urban villages) that Wallace spent two decades pioneering. Your store is empty, mine has a queue; this kind of "close-quarters combat" is the best silent advertisement.

Even more impressive, Wei Youchun learned from Wallace's mistakes, implementing a "strong control model." Franchisees only have profit-sharing rights, not operational rights. This means Tastin can act as a unified army, not a loose "alliance of warlords" like Wallace.

IV. Cold Reflection for 2026: Will Tastin Become the Next Wallace?

After surpassing 10,000 stores, Tastin has also entered its most dangerous moment.

1.Peak of the Dividend: County town streets can't fit more burger joints; the game of incremental growth has turned into a battle for existing market share.

2.Deformation of the Core Action: The market is already buzzing about some stores quietly replacing "hand-rolled" with "machine-pressed" for efficiency. If it loses the soul of "freshly made," Tastin is just a Wallace with a new wrapper.

3.Surrounded by Wolves: Competitors like Paile and Baker are copying it, and even Lucky Cup, under Mixue Bingcheng, has started selling burgers across categories.

Let's also look at the situation of other related tickers:

Yum China: As the "ceiling" of Western fast food, it's also the ultimate target Tastin has always wanted to challenge. Its current stock price is stable but lacks elasticity. Yum's supply chain is god-tier, but a "lower-tier killer" like Tastin has indeed snatched away much of the county-level growth that originally belonged to KFC. If Tastin can maintain quality control across 10,000 stores, Yum's valuation premium in the lower-tier market may be further compressed.

Domino's: Although it sells pizza, its logic is very similar to Tastin's—strong control + extreme efficiency. Domino's has always performed strongly in the Hong Kong stock market precisely because people are bullish on its "factory-like" operational capabilities. If you are bullish on Tastin's "strong-control partnership model," Domino's Pizza China (DASHI) is actually a more standard, purer observation target.

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