Author: Huang Qiong

  On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month last year, Wang Fang, who opened a noodle restaurant in Fujian, returned to her hometown in Jiangxi ahead of schedule.

  "After the epidemic was lifted, everyone became 'sunset' one after another. Many nearby construction sites closed early, so we simply went home early to celebrate the New Year, rested, and resumed work earlier after the festival." Wang Fang said.

  Wang Fang is already the owner of two beef noodle restaurants. Before the epidemic, these two restaurants could bring her small family an income of hundreds of thousands of yuan a year.

During the three years of the epidemic, especially in the past 2022, Wang Fang said that only the basic expenses of the store can be maintained.

Both of her stores are located in the lively streets of the area. In addition to the patronage of the surrounding residents, some nearby construction sites often come to order food.

  Similar to other restaurants, the sudden outbreak of the epidemic caused the business of noodle restaurants that mainly rely on offline consumption to drop sharply. The employees in the shop also changed from four to six before the epidemic, and then all were dismissed later, leaving only Wang Fang and his wife.

  In the past three years, consumption across the country has generally been sluggish.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics: In 2022, the per capita consumption expenditure of national residents will be 24,538 yuan, a nominal increase of 1.8% over the previous year, and a real decrease of 0.2% after deducting the impact of price factors; in 2021, the national per capita consumption expenditure of residents will be 24,100 yuan, a real increase of 12.6% ; In 2020, the national per capita consumption expenditure of residents will be 21,210 yuan, an actual decrease of 4.0%.

  Among them, consumption expenditure on food, tobacco and alcohol, which accounts for a large proportion of consumption, will increase by only 4.2% in 2022, compared with an increase of 8% in 2019 before the epidemic.

  In the first two years of the epidemic, there were fewer outbreaks of the local epidemic, and the business and customer flow in Wang Fang's store decreased, but it would not close down.

Coupled with the fact that some nearby construction sites came to order food in the store, the annual income of Wang Fang's two stores was halved, but they would not be closed.

  In 2022, the epidemic will spread across the country, and the street where Wang Fang lives is also inevitable.

Since April last year, Wang Fang's two stores have been closed for 45 days.

"The noodle shop is closed, so we can only stay in our room and dare not go out," she said.

  According to the consumption habits of catering stores, every time they are closed and reopened, it takes a certain amount of time for customers to return.

Last year, her store opened and closed repeatedly, resulting in a complete loss in the first half of the year.

  In recent years, Wang Fang has also been trying to find other ways to increase in-store orders.

Taking pictures on Douyin, distributing leaflets at the aquarium, spending money on promotion on takeaway platforms, etc. These new ways of playing have also increased the popularity of Wang Fang's noodle restaurant.

  In October 2022, seeing the end of the year, but the number of customers coming to the store is still pitifully low, Wang Fang began to waver. The store’s three-year lease will expire in half a year. If the business still does not improve, can the store be closed? Looking for a place to work?

  It wasn't until the end of last year that the country announced the release of epidemic control, and the store finally ended the daily routine of temperature registration, disinfection, and code scanning.

For Wang Fang, the release of the epidemic gave her hope again.

  "It will take some time for the store to recover after it is released, but at least people can be seen on the street now. It has been too deserted in the past few years." Wang Fang said, "As long as people leave our small businesses, we can see hope even more. After the Spring Festival this year, I will return to the store early, hoping to slowly return to the level before the epidemic.”

  In the first Spring Festival after the epidemic was released, Li Lin took the lead in feeling the recovery of passenger flow in small counties.

He has opened a restaurant in a county in Jiangxi Province for more than 20 years, and the store has firmly occupied the top three local popular food recommendation lists. However, during the epidemic, Li Lin’s store has also suspended business many times, and the customer flow is the best during the holidays It is still less than half of previous years, and the annual revenue has declined severely.

  "This year's Spring Festival, business has really come back." Li Lin told Yicai.com reporters that if you come to the store for dinner this year, you have to reserve a place half a day or a day in advance. Small boxes and large boxes are very popular. There are many dinners with friends or classmates.

  Wang Fang told reporters, "After the Spring Festival this year, we will return to Fujian a few days in advance to prepare for business. I hope the customer flow of the store in the Year of the Rabbit will improve."

  The "2022 Fast Food Category Analysis Report" released by the China Cuisine Association shows that in 2022, the scale of catering stores will increase by 15.6% year-on-year.

Chinese fast food is the "cornerstone" track for the growth of the catering market. Except for rice fast food, other types of Chinese fast food have a very obvious growth rate. The best performers are the growth of specialty snacks, braised snacks and pasta fast food.

At the same time, the overall online chain rate of Chinese fast food has reached 25.43%, exceeding the chain rate of the catering market.

  In the fast food industry, Chinese fast food occupies an important position, covering multiple subcategories such as noodles, porridge, and rice. It has the characteristics of timely delivery, convenience, and high cost performance. The market size has grown rapidly in the past three years.

  In the new year, in addition to regular operations, Wang Fang also plans to continue launching some new products in the store.

"In fact, there are still many places for innovation in catering. If consumption can be better this year, we plan to build a seafood food stall." Wang Fang said that the maintenance of some online traffic such as short videos, takeaway platforms, and gourmet platforms is also this year. I hope that the lost customer flow of the store can come back as soon as possible.

  (Wang Fang and Li Lin are pseudonyms)