Unveiling Shuyi ▪ Feng Xiaoxin

　　The participation and attention of the stars themselves are actually very low, and they are basically handed over to third-party teams to operate.

　　Recently, the actor Chen He's withdrawal from the shareholders of Fujian Xianhezhuang has caused heated discussions. Not long ago, there were many franchisees of Xianhezhuang Luwei Hotpot who claimed to have been "cut leeks" and collectively defended their rights, claiming that they lost hundreds of dollars during the operation of the store. 10,000 yuan, and pointed out that Chen He pocketed hundreds of millions of yuan in franchise fees.

　　On June 8, Xianhezhuang Luwei Hotpot responded to recent doubts on its official Weibo overnight.

Regarding the online rumors that Chen He charged "240 million franchise fee" and "370 million franchise fee", Xian Hezhuang said that Chen He neither received nor could there be any act of receiving or disbursing any money from the company.

　　In recent years, there have been many catering companies invested by celebrities, but most of them are only a smash hit, and most of them ended in dismal results.

Industry insiders believe that star investment in the catering industry is a way to quickly monetize their traffic, influence and brand power.

Among them, there are also many "laymen" franchisees who rushed forward.

Withdrawal events continue to ferment

　　In 2015, Chen He founded the Xianhezhuang brand and opened a number of direct-sale stores in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Hefei and other cities.

The external franchise fee is about 400,000 yuan per home, and the franchise stores once reached hundreds.

Over the past few years, Xianhezhuang has frequently encountered food safety problems, such as caterpillars in the peppers, explosions at the bottom of the pot, and plastics being eaten by customers.

For a series of issues, Xian Hezhuang sometimes denied, sometimes apologized.

　　In May of this year, Xianhezhuang was exposed to being gathered by franchisees to pull banners to ask for "hard-earned money".

The franchisees collectively shouted at Chen He, claiming that he made many families lose everything, and even put up the slogan "Xianhezhuang tax evasion and tax evasion".

　　The first financial reporter recently contacted several franchisees of Chen He's Xianhezhuang and Zheng Kai's Huo Fengxiang, and the other parties expressed that it was inconvenient to discuss the experience of joining a star hot pot restaurant.

A franchisee admitted that there were many problems with the brand, and then hung up the phone.

　　At the same time, Chen He seems to be withdrawing from the "mess" of Xianhezhuang.

The Tianyancha App shows that on May 12 this year, Fujian Xianhezhuang Brand Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), with nearly 40% of the shares held by Chen He, withdrew from the ranks of shareholders of Fujian Xianhezhuang Catering Investment Management Co., Ltd. Changed its name to Fujian Xianhezhuang Catering Co., Ltd. At present, Hainan Yaguangfeng Brand Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) holds 99% of the shares of Fujian Xianhezhuang Catering Co., Ltd.

　　Regarding Chen He's withdrawal from the ranks of shareholders, Xianhezhuang said that Chen He was not a direct shareholder of Chengdu Xianhezhuang Brand Management Co., Ltd., the operating entity of the Xianhezhuang brand. After no longer directly operating the Xianhezhuang brand, the main business direction has been adjusted to foreign investment, and it involves many fields except catering. For this reason, the company has also hired a professional management team. The original shareholder structure does not meet the new Business development needs, so make adjustments.

　　The reporter checked the data of Tianyancha and found that there are currently 556 enterprises with the words "Xianhezhuang Catering" and "Xianhezhuang Hot Pot" in the country, and 446 are currently in existence or in business, and the rest are in the state of cancellation or closure. .

　　However, Xianhezhuang said that during the epidemic, operational support measures have been taken to franchisee stores across the country.

Measures such as material and expense subsidies, marketing campaign support, training and operational assistance have been adopted many times.

According to incomplete statistics, after the outbreak, the company directly provided more than 10 million yuan in material assistance to stores.

Why do star restaurants frequently "turn over"

　　In recent years, celebrity investment in restaurants is no longer new.

Xue Zhiqian's "Shangshangqian" Chuanchuanxiang Hotpot, Zheng Kai's "Huofengxiang", Huang Xiaoming's "Burning Jiangnan", Meng Fei's "Mengfei's Small Noodles" and other brands once attracted the attention of consumers.

Celebrities bring their own traffic, and customers are curious and follow the trend, so these restaurants are often able to quickly become popular within a period of time.

　　In the view of Wen Zhihong, a restaurant chain expert and general manager of Hehong Consulting, celebrities play the role of spokespersons, or to endorse the restaurant brand. This is also a way to realize the personal traffic of celebrities.

　　However, such catering enterprises are also easy to "overturn".

Previously, the tableware of "Shangshangqian" was repeatedly detected to exceed the standard of E. coli. The "Spicy Fighting Spicy" hotpot store jointly opened by Du Haitao and Wu Xin was complained by consumers for "flying flies", and the milk tea shop endorsed by Ma Yili was arrested for fraud. According to the investigation, Guangzhou Bengong Catering Service Co., Ltd., a related company of "Bengong's Tea", in which Hu Haiquan is the co-founder, was fined by the Second Inspection Bureau of the Guangzhou Taxation Bureau for tax evasion.

　　The lack of ability to run a catering business is a common problem faced by celebrity bosses.

　　Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng believes that the star's own participation is actually very low, and it is basically handed over to a third-party team to operate.

The third-party operation is also a good word, and it will quickly open the franchise model and quickly reap the profits brought by the brand.

Although the third-party team will be relatively professional in operation, it is basically lacking in planning and creativity, so many star catering basically end bleak in the end.

　　It is worth mentioning that, including Xianhezhuang and Shaojiangnan, the "operators" behind most of the hot star catering companies are Sichuan Zhishan Brand Management Co., Ltd.

The company was established in 2011, and the "Tan Yaxue" old hotpot is also under the company's banner.

　　The Tianyancha App shows that Sichuan Zhishan Brand Management Co., Ltd. was established in April 2017. Its business scope includes brand marketing planning; catering enterprise management; corporate marketing planning; business consulting; public relations services, etc.

Jiang Yi, Zhou Yang and Xiong Jie hold 46%, 44% and 10% of the company respectively.

How to avoid pits in the future

　　Zhang Quan, the investment manager of a star hotpot restaurant, told Yicai.com that stores in popular business districts in first-tier cities can be calculated at a monthly turnover of 1 million yuan. By controlling operating costs, the net profit margin can reach 25% to 30%. Payback in about a year.

According to this reporter's calculation, in order to make a return in about a year, the average daily turnover rate of the store needs to reach more than 9 times.

　　The 2021 annual report of the hot pot leader Haidilao shows that the overall average table turnover rate of Haidilao restaurants in 2021 is 3 times per day.

The senior operators in the catering industry are still like this, so the turnover rate of star hot pot restaurants is expected to be difficult to achieve.

　　"Of course, it's not that celebrities can't invest in catering companies, but they should choose partners carefully, and have a very responsible attitude in terms of products, services, food safety, including operation management, etc., which is a more benign approach. "Wen Zhihong said.

　　Not only the stars themselves want to use their own traffic to quickly monetize, but franchisees are also rushing up.

According to Zhang Quan, many factory owners and real estate developers have also joined the star hotpot restaurant he has invested in.

　　So for franchisees, how to filter brands that are really worthy of joining?

Zhu Danpeng suggested: "For investors, it is necessary to conduct an all-round and multi-dimensional investigation. How is the star's popularity, how is his appeal, how is his affinity, how is his communication ability, how is his How is his operational ability, how is his personality, etc. This is a very complex system project, so investing in the catering industry should not only look at the immediate benefits, but also consider the medium and long-term development, which is also very important for investors. higher requirements.”

　　Wen Zhihong believes that in the process of seeking suitable catering brands to join, careful inspection is necessary.

Celebrities can play a certain role in drainage, but the operation of catering is not a short-term drainage problem, but a problem of continuous operation, so it must be in place in terms of products, services, operation management, supply chain, etc. Really good word of mouth.