China News Service, Chongqing, August 14th: "Post-90s" Xin Martin's Chinese entrepreneurial social media brings German cuisine to the forefront
Zhong Yi, reporter from Chinanews.com
"In addition to the new stores being renovated in Chongqing and Chengdu, the total number is 8. We plan to open 12 more stores next year." Like the hot weather in the mountain city in August, German boss Martin Xin's catering business in China is "hot".
On the 14th, counting the expanding business territory, the "post-90s", who is 1.94 meters tall and speaks fluent Chinese, told reporters in Chongqing that starting a business is inseparable from the vigorous development of China's Internet and social media.
Martin Julius Domenico Hinkens, born in 1992, is from Cologne, Germany. His family has been in business all the year round and has been studying in the UK since junior high school.
"One Chinese class a week in high school and three classes a week in college" laid the foundation for his understanding of China.
Later, with the help of the study abroad program between British and Chinese universities, Xin Martin also practiced and studied in Shanghai and Beijing. "I met many people, went to various places, and made many Chinese friends."
In 2014, Xin Martin settled in Chongqing for love.
Influenced by his family's "entrepreneurial genes", he began to look for good entrepreneurial projects and work hard.
Surprisingly, he, who "never thought of doing catering", became a partner with a Chinese friend by mistake. The two hit it off in pursuit of authentic and affordable German food and created "German Sausage Brothers". brand.
"Drinking beer, chatting with people from all over the world, and becoming friends. This is how I live in Germany, and I want to replicate it in China." After extensive market research, Martin Xin gradually clarified how to operate a restaurant in China. Ideas: The location of the store in the business district is conducive to standardization and replication; in order to break the stereotype that eating Western food represents a formality, the store does not have store doors, bright kitchens and bright stoves, and uses an open attitude to attract customers; in order to create a relaxed dining atmosphere, The younger space of less than 100 square meters shows more casual personality; the menu mainly features German roast pork knuckle, special sausage platter, and some dishes are spicy and improved, which caters to local taste buds without losing the exotic style...
The picture shows Xin Martin showing his signature dish "German Roast Pork Knuckle".
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
From the first store in 2015 of only 10 square meters, to the opening in Sichuan and Chongqing, Xin Martin admits that although the road to entrepreneurship is not smooth, he enjoys the process.
When the epidemic first broke out in 2020, the two stores opened by "German Sausage Brothers" in Chengdu, Sichuan closed down instantly.
During the few months of lockdown, business was bleak. In order to save costs, I went to the store to work as a waiter and dishwasher.
One of the most important lessons the experience taught himself at the time, Martin recalls, was to "be optimistic."
There will be troughs and peaks in business, and if you keep a progressive mentality, you will have a different harvest.
His current focus on online social media communication is an example of "the willows and flowers are bright".
In August 2021, Martin Xin paid attention to the development advantages of social media, and began to enter the short video sharing platform, using the perspective of "foreign son-in-law" to display China's diverse culture, life anecdotes, and playfully and humorously promote the restaurant's delicious food.
In just one year, it has gained more than 500,000 followers on the entire network, and this number is still rising at a rate of two or three thousand per day.
"Before the rise of self-media and short video platforms, we could only rely on words and pictures to promote food, which had less impact on diners." Martin Xin believes that a restaurant is not simply selling food, but selling experience and culture.
The short, concise, dynamic and interesting short videos can not only quickly show the characteristics of food, but also magnify the cultural attributes behind them, achieving a multiplier effect. "At the end of last year, the restaurant launched the group purchase function in the short video link, and the turnover doubled." .
Regarding the popularity of the Internet, Xin Martin said that aside from temporary traffic packaging, the quality of food is the "fundamental" to retain customers.
Taking the average daily sales of more than 200 roast pork knuckles in the store as an example, there are strict standards for the weight, skin thickness and color of the pork. To be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, it is inseparable from good equipment, traditional German technology and more than 48 hours of development.
In his thirties, Sim Martin repeatedly stressed the importance of "maintaining a state of learning".
In life, he is keen to communicate with different groups of people and broaden his cognitive radius.
According to the plan, in addition to shooting short videos two days a week, he spends the rest of his time studying new media gameplay, looking for creative materials, and paying attention to netizens' comments.
"Learn good experience and practices, and do your own and current tasks well, so that the company can develop for a long time and opportunities will come to you."
Regarding the future, Martin Xin said that he not only wants to use food to build a "bridge" for mutual understanding between Germany and China, but will also promote the local customs and customs through social media, so that the Chinese people can experience the German life more and bring each other closer. distance.
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