Chinanews.com, March 3 (Zhongxin Finance, Zuo Yuqing) "If you can find a restaurant in a place where there is no shop in front of the village and behind, it must be Lanzhou ramen. ”

As one of the four major fast food in China, Lanzhou ramen can be said to be opened all over the country, becoming a high-quality and inexpensive delicacy in the minds of countless migrant workers. As Lanzhou beef noodles go out of Gansu, "Lanzhou does not have Lanzhou ramen", it also makes it difficult for Lanzhou ramen and Lanzhou beef noodles from Qinghai to escape the "authentic" dispute.

Recently, "Gansu will legislate for Lanzhou beef ramen" appeared on Weibo's hot search, which also caused heated discussions among netizens: "Can the legislation regulate the amount of beef in each bowl of noodles?" ”

"Lanzhou no Lanzhou ramen"

The crisp beef broth, the strong ramen, and a few slices of beef and radish were once the joy of countless workers. However, although the signboard of many ramen restaurants says "authentic Lanzhou ramen", the real origin of Lanzhou ramen is Hualong County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province.

In the eighties of the last century, the Hualong people came out of the mountains and began to promote the ramen business to the whole country. At first, the ramen shop opened by the Hualong people was called Qinghai ramen, but later because Lanzhou beef noodles were more famous, they simply changed to the signboard of "Lanzhou ramen".

Authentic Lanzhou beef noodles pay attention to "one clear (soup color), two white (radish), three red (spicy chili oil), four green (coriander, garlic seedlings), five yellow (noodles yellow and bright)", but in the eyes of many laymen, it is actually difficult to distinguish between the two.

"I have eaten both Lanzhou ramen and Lanzhou beef noodles, and I feel that the ingredients and taste are similar." A consumer admitted to Zhongxin Finance that as an ordinary diner, it is difficult for him to realize the difference between the two.

Lanzhou's time-honored Ma Zilu beef noodles. Photo by Zuo Yuqing

Which are the authentic Lanzhou beef noodles? During the visit, Zhongxin Finance found that Lanzhou ramen is mostly operated by small shops, and the menu in the store is more complicated, including other dishes such as knife-cut noodles and covered noodles (rice) in addition to beef ramen. Lanzhou beef noodles, on the other hand, are more chained and branded, and the staple food is generally only ramen, and more choices of noodle thickness and style are provided.

In addition, Zhongxin Finance noted that although Gansu netizens often emphasize that the local authentic is "beef noodles" rather than "ramen", the unified trademark registered by the Lanzhou Beef Ramen Industry Association and the official title of Lanzhou beef noodles in official documents of Gansu Province are "Lanzhou beef ramen".

"Beef noodles and beef ramen are more than one word difference." Earlier, He Wentao, deputy director of the Gansu Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and director of the Intellectual Property Office, said in an exclusive interview with Chinanews.com that for some historical reasons, Lanzhou previously registered the trademark "Lanzhou beef ramen", but from the current domestic market, the trademark has certain limitations. To this end, Gansu is working to complete the trademark conversion from "Lanzhou beef ramen" to "Lanzhou beef noodles".

According to the General Office of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, at present, Lanzhou beef noodles have spread to more than 50 countries and regions around the world, with more than 50,4000 domestic noodle restaurants and annual sales roughly estimated to exceed <> billion yuan.

Lanzhou beef noodles "right" road: industrialization, branding

With the development of Lanzhou beef noodles to the whole country in recent years, Gansu Province has also increased its support for Lanzhou beef noodles, trying to "correct the name" of Lanzhou beef noodles.

In addition to holding the "China Lanzhou Beef Ramen Festival" and registering a unified trademark, Gansu has also continued to promote the industrialization of Lanzhou beef noodles. In 2018, Gansu Province issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development of Lanzhou Beef Ramen Industry", proposing to vigorously implement the brand strategy and continuously expand the Lanzhou beef ramen brand cluster. In 2019, Lanzhou City issued the "Lanzhou Beef Ramen Quality Improvement Action Implementation Plan", real money encouraged Lanzhou beef ramen brand enterprises to go out of Lanzhou.

Zhongxin Finance noted that at present, local brands in Lanzhou, such as Ma Zilu, Jinding and Dongfang Gong, have successively opened chain stores in major cities across the country. Among them, the Oriental Palace, which only entered Beijing in 2013, has swept the Beijing ramen industry, opening 105 stores in only two years.

In the wave of financing in the catering industry in recent years, noodle restaurants have become the "new favorite" of capital, which also makes Lanzhou beef noodles usher in its own "red sea".

Chen Xiang Guilanzhou beef noodles opened in Beijing APM. Photo by Zuo Yuqing

In 2021, Lanzhou beef noodle brands Ma Jiyong, Chen Xianggui and Zhang Lala from Shanghai completed financing. Among them, Ma Jiyong is valued at more than 10 billion yuan, Chen Xianggui is also valued at nearly 10 billion yuan, and the slightly smaller Zhang Lala is valued at 3 million yuan.

Compared with the traditional Lanzhou beef noodle brand, these emerging brands are mostly located in the prosperous areas of Beijing Wangfujing, Shanghai Lujiazui and other business districts, with richer product lines, more fashionable and trendy store decoration, more Internet celebrity restaurant style, and higher unit prices - taking Shanghai as an example, the unit price of Chen Xianggui and Zhang Lala is between 35-40 yuan, and the unit price of Ma Ji Yongke is between 40-45 yuan.

While promoting the industrialization of Lanzhou beef noodles, Gansu Province is also further seeking legislative guarantees.

According to media reports, recently, the legislative proposal put forward by the General Office of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on the inclusion of the "Lanzhou Beef Ramen Industry Development Regulations" in the legislative plan has been included in the 2023 legislative work plan research project of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial People's Congress, and relevant departments and units will step up the work of legislative research, demonstration and drafting.

The General Office of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference pointed out in the proposal that at present, Gansu Province has not formed a relatively unified beef ramen quality, technology and standard system, and the service quality of production, processing, operation, service and other links lack legal guarantees, and it is urgent to ensure and promote the large-scale, standardized and brand development of the Lanzhou beef ramen industry by formulating special regulations for the development of the beef ramen industry.

Lanzhou Ramen: Finally a wedding dress for others?

For the news that Lanzhou beef noodles will be legislated, some netizens expressed support, and some netizens believed that the legislation was not necessarily conducive to the development of local specialty snacks.

Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in China's food industry, told Zhongxin Finance that in recent years, whether Yunnan has formulated the cross-bridge rice noodle group standard or the Nanjing duck blood vermicelli soup fast food production standard has landed, it means that local specialty snacks have entered the process of standardization, specialization, branding, capitalization and scale.

"For local specialty snacks, the introduction of targeted standards and timely specifications is conducive to the development of local specialty snacks nationwide." From the perspective of the industrial side, it is of positive significance. He said.

In the development of Lanzhou beef noodles, there are also many people who complain about Lanzhou ramen. As the biggest contributor to "Lanzhou beef ramen" from many local ramen types, the real body behind Lanzhou ramen, Qinghai Hualong ramen, is somewhat "making a wedding dress for others" at this time.

Data map: At a Qinghai ramen shop near Nanjing Road in Shanghai, a ramen chef is ramen. Photo by Hu Youjun

Zhongxin Finance has noticed that Hualong County, which started with ramen, is now also working hard to promote the industrialization and branding of "Qinghai ramen" and "Hualong beef noodles", and actively promote the construction of ramen industrial parks. According to media reports, in 2021, Hualong County's ramen economy achieved a profit of 45.77 billion yuan, accounting for 70% of the city and 50% of the province, and the salary income of ramen practitioners was <> billion yuan.

However, perhaps the biggest problem for Hualong County, the "hometown of ramen", is how to get the Hualong people to take off the "Lanzhou" brand. Zhongxin Finance found that a local lifestyle platform showed that there was only one ramen shop in Beijing that was clearly called "Hualong Beef Ramen". This means that compared with the famous "Lanzhou ramen", the "Hualong ramen" signboard, which is equivalent to starting all over again, may not be easy to attract customers.

At a Lanzhou ramen restaurant that has been in business for nearly 20 years, the owner who has just finished his busy life told Zhongxin Finance that his business is still very good at meal time, and many of them are still regular customers. As for the news that Lanzhou beef noodles are about to be legislated, he is not clear, and he is not worried about whether it will have an impact. "(We) have never changed the signboard, nor have we heard about Lanzhou beef noodles." (End)