Yesterday was the second day of the Lunar New Year. According to old Beijing customs, this day is the day when a married daughter brings her son-in-law to her natal home to "return home".
Returning to their natal home is not empty-handed. In addition to all kinds of snacks in the "returning ceremony", many people also bring semi-finished New Year's goods back to their natal home to save their parents from worrying.
"Jingba Pieces" upgrade sales soared
In the early morning of the second day of junior high school, all stores in Daoxiang Village in Beijing, as well as Zero Store, Huguosi Snacks, and Yili Food Store welcomed a large number of customers.
At 7:30 in the morning, the third business department of Beijing Daoxiang Village has already opened its doors to welcome customers, half an hour earlier than usual.
According to the store staff, opening early on the second day of the new year has become an old tradition in the store, because old Beijingers value the custom of "returning to the door". Consumers want to buy the freshest and complete pastries on the day, but are afraid of delays Itinerary to visit relatives, so I came to the store early to queue up.
During the Spring Festival this year, the dim sum inventory in Beijing Daoxiang Village has increased by 30% compared with previous years. The inventory of directly-operated stores is relatively sufficient, but some stores have sold out of popular items such as Beijing Eight Pieces and Nianweier Gift Boxes.
During the Spring Festival, the "Futu Xianrui" series of limited pastry gift boxes for the Year of the Rabbit launched by Zero Store in Daoxiang Village has been enthusiastically sought after by consumers.
Since childhood, the queue in front of No. 0 shop has never stopped. It can sell three to four thousand gift boxes every day. Many people queue for more than three hours just for this Jiugongge pastry.
In order to slow down the flow of people queuing, Zero Shop still sells all-in-one packages outside the store, but there are still many people who are willing to continue queuing up to pick and box them by themselves, and feel the sense of ritual of choosing dim sum for the New Year by themselves.
Like the dim sum box in Daoxiang Village in Beijing, the birthday peaches, various snacks, and rice cakes in Huguo Temple have also become hot items for "returning to my mother's home".
Zhang Meng, the manager of Huguosi Snack Origin Store, told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that from the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, in order to ensure the supply, all 38 employees in the store are on duty, and the earliest group of early shift employees will start preparations at 3 am Snacks out.
"According to the characteristics of younger consumption, we have improved a Jiangmi preserved fruit, adding red bean paste filling, sweet-scented osmanthus sugar, and green red silk, which has a richer taste. In addition, we have upgraded the traditional Jingba pieces to individual products. After the adjustment, the sales volume is huge. The daily sales of this single product alone are close to 10,000 yuan, an increase of more than 30% over the same period last year. In addition, a bunny-shaped pastry was developed for the Year of the Rabbit, and the price is 38 yuan. Due to the complicated and time-consuming production process, every day Make 60 copies and sell them as you go, and the supply is usually in short supply before 11 am."
The semi-finished products of many time-honored catering brands are full of New Year's taste
The semi-finished gift boxes of time-honored brands have also become "New Year's souvenirs" for many people visiting their parents.
Driven by the catering theme event of "Beijing Consumption Season - Beijing Food for New Year's Eve", major catering brands have launched a variety of products such as family banquet gift boxes suitable for different numbers of people and different standards to meet customers' multiple needs for New Year's Eve dinner.
For example, time-honored brands such as Tongheju, Tongchunyuan, Gulou Makai Restaurant, Eryouju, Yanji Restaurant, Qingfeng Steamed Bun Shop and other enterprises under Huatian, as well as Huifeng Dumpling House, Huifeng Mending Meat Pie, Xiangfei Roasted Chicken, etc. There are a variety of semi-finished New Year gift boxes at different prices, ranging from 98 yuan to 598 yuan.
Ms. Wang, who packs semi-finished products at the Makai restaurant in Gulou, said that she mainly came to the store that day to pack and take away some dishes that were not cooked well at home, such as preserved pork, sauced pork, and dry roasted fish, so as not to burden the two elderly members of the family.
According to the relevant person in charge of Beijing Huatian, in addition to the finished New Year's Eve dinner and semi-finished gift boxes, Beijing Huatian has also developed a variety of new pre-made dishes this year.
Huayin Tianshi, an e-commerce company under Huatian, launched a new "two festivals" product, focusing on "childhood taste". The "Fu Rabbit Welcome Spring Gift Pack" is sold in the form of "one-stop shopping" for the Spring Festival dining table to meet customers' needs.
Daoxiang Village No. 0 store new store will be unveiled soon
According to Cao Siyuan, the person in charge of the No. 0 store project in Daoxiang Village, the planning and design of the Lunar New Year products for the Year of the Rabbit began in August last year.
Entering the product research and development process, there are also many adjustments, especially the zodiac cake "Futuguo", which is very popular with consumers this year, has been revised three or four times from the product's contour arc to the adjustment of product color. The bunny eyes used to be made of small dough sticking to the dough, but it was easy to fall off, and the 3D printing technology used later made this little rabbit appear vividly in front of everyone." Cao Siyuan said, in terms of design, a On the one hand, it starts with traditional cultural elements and continues the tradition of zodiac cakes. For example, the first Spring Festival when Zero Store opened, it also launched a "tiger tiger cute beast".
On the other hand, in combination with the auspicious celebrations of the New Year, the "koi" shape that young people like is presented in the limited-edition pastries for the Spring Festival in the past two years.
She also revealed that last year, another new store was being prepared for Zero Store, which is currently being renovated and is expected to open when the spring blossoms.
Text/Reporter Li Jia
Photography/Reporter Fu Ding