China News Service, February 1st. According to the US "World Journal" report, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has affected the catering industry in New York. After analyzing the catering market, Chinese-American businesses actively seek ways to comply with market demand and gain a foothold in the predicament.
In the epidemic, the tastes of diners have become more sophisticated, and people want to spend the least energy to find the best food.
"American Chinese food", "pizza" and "fast food simple meal" are popular among consumers.
The Chinese catering industry polishes the dishes and firmly grasps the stomachs of diners.
Chinese-American business owners said that the needs of customers for catering have become different during the epidemic. In the past, the New York City office used to order food by one person. Now customers are gradually turning to people in the home community. No matter how the dine-in policy changes, the restaurant's area, brand, and diners positioning , Has a great impact on their business.
From a regional perspective, restaurants in Manhattan’s original office building are in the most difficult situation today. Chinese catering researchers say that even if diners are fully open, as long as the staff have not returned to the office, the business of the restaurant industry will still be difficult; On the other hand, there are communities in the Upper East Side and Upper West Side, and the residents are relatively stable. If dine-in can open 25%, the restaurant will be of great help.
The business owner pointed out that the reopening of dine-in is also relatively beneficial to the east and west villages and Chinatown in the lower city. Diners will return to their familiar restaurants again. The larger the number of guests in the room, the less time they will have to wait for a meal in the winter. , The more it can drive the flow of local people.
Speaking of the impact of the epidemic, the researchers pointed out that the “consumption scene” of New York’s catering has changed. Diners can be divided into three categories. The first category is community residents, who have a regular life and rarely have time to find new food during workdays at home. ; The second category is white-collar office workers who choose restaurants around the unit to be simple and fast; the third category is gourmet pioneers who go out on weekends for leisure and dating.
According to the analysis of the industry, restaurants for the first and third types of diners have developed better under the epidemic. The long-lasting takeaway business and the stable customer source before the epidemic ensure that they can continue to survive.
Brand and word-of-mouth are also very important factors. Many mid-to-high-end Chinese food brands have benefited from the opening of dine-in restaurants; word-of-mouth Chinese restaurants that had a good business in the past are now performing better, and they have benefited even more than before the epidemic.
For many businesses in Chinatown, most of their business today is still mainly from regular customers. They said that people often have clear intentions when going out during the epidemic to avoid waiting too long or eating bad food; while Chinese Americans with a picky appetite This is especially true for diners. They say that the most important thing to pay attention to when ordering food is to avoid the pit, and they hardly try new foods, but choose different dishes in familiar restaurants. The industry said, "The opening of dine-in has given New Yorkers more With so many choices and hopes, we will be very happy as long as we can open them." They introduced the word-of-mouth dishes and firmly grasped the stomachs of regular customers.
Fast food and American Chinese food are still very popular among diners. Chinese catering researchers say that even if these dishes come from different restaurants, they often have the same taste. Which dish you like, even if you order different restaurants, you will not "step mine".
The co-founder of a chain of American Chinese food said that in the American Chinese food market, traditional American Chinese food has great market influence and development potential, but there is an urgent need for more improved Chinese food to adapt to the American market. American Chinese food has a marketing network throughout. In the United States, there are 28,000 small family-run stores alone, and American diners are very familiar with the menu, format, and price of traditional American Chinese food.
The new crown epidemic is still continuing, but regardless of how the epidemic prevention order changes the restrictions on food and beverages, the industry has been actively seeking ways to adapt to the market, rather than just relying on changes in policies, "because the opening of the door every day is unchanged, different All we have is to entertain more or less guests. What we can do is to try our best to make the taste better, so as to wait for the epidemic to improve." The catering industry said.
(Zhang Chen)