中國(guó)三四線城市成美國(guó)快餐品牌的“香餑餑”

The Chinese county-seat of Zouping, with a population of 700,000, is a backwater by Chinese standards, its bustling high street almost bereft of overseas brands. But it is firmly on the radar of fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken.

按照中國(guó)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，只有70萬(wàn)人口的鄒平縣算是閉塞落后的地方，熙熙攘攘的商業(yè)街上幾乎看不到外國(guó)品牌的蹤影。但鄒平縣無(wú)疑已被美國(guó)快餐連鎖品牌肯德基(KFC)的雷達(dá)鎖定。

Two KFC outlets there are magnets for families dining out and young people planning romantic meetings. “It’s pricier than other restaurants, but it’s more special,” says Kong Jianzhi, 35, treating her four-year-old daughter to a chicken burger.

對(duì)于外出就餐的家庭、或者打算來(lái)一場(chǎng)浪漫約會(huì)的年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)，當(dāng)?shù)氐膬杉铱系禄钟形Α?ldquo;價(jià)格比其他飯店貴，但比較有特色，”35歲的孔健芝(音)說(shuō)道，她帶4歲的女兒來(lái)吃雞腿堡。

KFC and McDonald’s outlets are opening at a rate of more than one a day in China, mostly in smaller towns such as Zouping, to revive growth in China’s fast food market, which generates annual sales of $125bn, according to Euromonitor.

為了恢復(fù)在中國(guó)快餐市場(chǎng)上的增長(zhǎng)，肯德基和麥當(dāng)勞(McDonald’s)如今在中國(guó)開(kāi)設(shè)新店的速度超過(guò)每天一家，大多數(shù)新店都開(kāi)在像鄒平這樣的小城鎮(zhèn)。根據(jù)歐睿(Euromonitor)的數(shù)據(jù)，中國(guó)快餐市場(chǎng)年銷售額達(dá)1250億美元。

Both outlets began to see falling revenues from their China operations after 2012, caused by declining same-store sales as health-conscious consumers lost their taste for fast food.

2012年以后這兩家快餐連鎖品牌來(lái)自中國(guó)業(yè)務(wù)的收入開(kāi)始下滑，原因是隨著注重健康的消費(fèi)者對(duì)快餐失去興趣，同店銷售額下滑。

New restaurants will help Yum China, the New York-listed company that operates KFC in the country, increase its revenues by about $180m this year, roughly half of its projected revenue growth, according to Anson Chan, analyst at Daiwa Securities. Yum’s China sales had been flat or falling since 2013, and last year reported annual revenues of $6.7bn.

大和證券(Daiwa Securities)分析師Anson Chan表示，今年新店將幫助百勝中國(guó)(Yum China)增收約1.8億美元，差不多是其收入增長(zhǎng)預(yù)期的一半。百勝中國(guó)是一家在紐約上市的公司，在中國(guó)經(jīng)營(yíng)肯德基餐廳。自2013年以來(lái)，百勝在華銷售額一直持平或下滑，去年公布的年收入為67億美元。

“We operate in 1,100 cities in China, but there are about 900 we are researching. That just shows the potential,” says Joey Wat, Yum China’s chief operating officer and soon to be chief executive.

“我們?cè)谥袊?guó)1100個(gè)城市開(kāi)設(shè)了餐廳，但我們目前正在對(duì)約900個(gè)城市進(jìn)行調(diào)研。這就表明了潛力，”百勝中國(guó)首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官、即將就任首席執(zhí)行官的屈翠容(Joey Wat)表示。

Yum operates 5,300 KFC outlets in China, double that of McDonald’s, which will open 2,000 Chinese outlets in the next five years to roughly double its total.

百勝在中國(guó)運(yùn)營(yíng)著5300家肯德基餐廳，是麥當(dāng)勞在華餐廳數(shù)量的兩倍。未來(lái)五年，麥當(dāng)勞將在中國(guó)開(kāi)設(shè)2000家新餐廳，門店總數(shù)幾乎將增加一倍。

McDonald’s handed 80 per cent of its China franchise to Chinese state-owned investor Citic and private equity group Carlyle in August in what was seen by analysts as an effort to raise capital for expansion. It says that 45 per cent of its restaurants will be located in so-called lower-tier cities by 2020.

今年8月，麥當(dāng)勞把中國(guó)業(yè)務(wù)80%的股權(quán)出售給了中國(guó)國(guó)有投資者中信(Citic)和私人股本公司凱雷(Carlyle)，分析師認(rèn)為麥當(dāng)勞此舉是為擴(kuò)張籌集資本。麥當(dāng)勞表示，到2020年其45%的餐廳將位于三四線城市。

The brands are looking to tap rising wages in these typically poorer cities. Average incomes rose 5.4 per cent in fourth-tier cities last year, according to the McKinsey Global Institute, significantly faster than the 4.6 per cent growth in the largest cities — although from a lower base.

這兩個(gè)快餐品牌正尋求利用這些通常收入較低的城市工資增長(zhǎng)帶來(lái)的機(jī)遇。據(jù)麥肯錫全球研究所(McKinsey Global Institute)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，去年中國(guó)四線城市人均收入增長(zhǎng)5.4%，明顯超過(guò)大城市4.6%的增幅，盡管基數(shù)較低。

McKinsey defines China’s fourth-tier cities as centres with less than 2.6m people.

麥肯錫對(duì)中國(guó)四線城市的定義是人口少于260萬(wàn)的城市。

Consumers in such cities visit western fast-food chains as often as their big-city peers and spend more money in them when they do, according to McKinsey. Analyst Daniel Zipser attributes the higher spending to the fact that trips are often for a “family occasion”. There are other benefits in smaller cities, he says, such as “substantially lower” costs for real estate and labour, meaning greater profitability.

麥肯錫表示，這類城市的消費(fèi)者在西式快餐連鎖店就餐的頻率與大城市的消費(fèi)者相當(dāng)，他們前往這些餐廳就餐時(shí)的消費(fèi)金額更高。分析師丹尼爾•齊普塞爾(Daniel Zipser)把消費(fèi)金額更高歸因于他們往往全家出動(dòng)。他稱，小城市還有其他優(yōu)勢(shì)，比如店面租金和人力成本“低很多”，這意味著更高的利潤(rùn)。

But there are pitfalls, too. “It’s easy to hire a person to oversee 100 stores in Shanghai, but not to cover 100 stores in different cities,” says Vincent Lui, analyst at the Boston Consulting Group. More restaurants in far-flung locations means more managers, and more cost, he adds.

但四線城市也存在一些困難。“在上海很容易聘請(qǐng)到一個(gè)人來(lái)管理100家餐廳，但要請(qǐng)一個(gè)人來(lái)管理位于不同城市的100家餐廳就很難，”波士頓咨詢公司(Boston Consulting Group)的分析師呂晃(Vincent Lui)表示。他補(bǔ)充稱，在偏遠(yuǎn)地方開(kāi)設(shè)更多餐廳意味著需要更多的管理者和更高的成本。

Maintaining food safety is key to both brands after the 2014 scandal which revealed that McDonald’s and Yum China restaurants had used expired meat. But longer supply chains with stretched oversight increases risks that such mistakes will be repeated, says Mr Lui.

在2014年曝出麥當(dāng)勞和百勝中國(guó)的餐廳使用過(guò)期肉的丑聞后，維護(hù)食品安全成為了兩個(gè)品牌的關(guān)鍵。但呂晃表示，供應(yīng)鏈拉長(zhǎng)加上管理壓力大，增加了這類錯(cuò)誤再次出現(xiàn)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

Meanwhile, domestic Chinese imitations have established a strong presence in smaller cities, pressuring prices. Dicos, a no-frills fried chicken chain that resembles KFC, has more than 2,000 outlets mostly in small cities. “There is tough competition. In some of these cities the price is decisive,” says Cheng Ke, a partner at Roland Berger, a consulting group. Yum China says its prices are lower in smaller cities.

與此同時(shí)，中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)模仿這兩個(gè)品牌的餐廳已經(jīng)在小城市建立了穩(wěn)固的根基，帶來(lái)價(jià)格壓力。與肯德基很像的炸雞連鎖店德克士(Dicos)開(kāi)了逾2000家門店，主要在小城市。“競(jìng)爭(zhēng)很激烈。在其中部分城市，價(jià)格是決定性的，”咨詢公司羅蘭貝格(Roland Berger)的合伙人陳科表示。百勝中國(guó)稱其在小城市的定價(jià)較低。

The long-term risk is that consumers in smaller cities might grow tired of fast food like their big-city peers. In the city of Zibo, neighbouring Zouping, local Chen Hao, 41, says: “I don’t think KFC is that healthy. I will only buy it if I’m in a rush.”

一個(gè)長(zhǎng)期風(fēng)險(xiǎn)是小城市的消費(fèi)者可能會(huì)像大城市的人一樣對(duì)快餐感到厭倦。在距離鄒平縣不遠(yuǎn)的淄博市，41歲的當(dāng)?shù)鼐用耜惡?音)表示：“我覺(jué)得肯德基不太健康，我只有趕時(shí)間時(shí)才會(huì)吃肯德基。”

In an attempt to lure consumers such as Mr Chen, McDonald’s and KFC are altering their offerings in larger cities. McDonald’s has renovated nearly all of its China outlets to give them a more fashionable feel and added coffee bars. It is also sponsoring running events to project a healthier image.

為了吸引像陳浩這樣的消費(fèi)者，麥當(dāng)勞和肯德基正在調(diào)整它們?cè)谳^大城市供應(yīng)的產(chǎn)品。麥當(dāng)勞幾乎重新裝修了所有中國(guó)門店，以給人一種更時(shí)尚的感覺(jué)，并且增加了咖啡吧。此外，麥當(dāng)勞還贊助田徑比賽，以打造更健康的品牌形象。

With a menu of salads and paninis complemented by freshly squeezed fruit juice, coffee and craft beer, Yum China’s KPRO restaurant opened in the eastern city of Hangzhou last month has little in common with other KFC outlets except that fried chicken is available — without batter.

上個(gè)月，百勝中國(guó)全新的KPRO餐廳在杭州開(kāi)業(yè)，菜單上有沙拉和帕尼尼并配有鮮榨果汁、咖啡和精釀啤酒。除了提供炸雞(不裹面糊)外，這家餐廳與其他肯德基餐廳幾乎沒(méi)有相似之處。

Aimed at “tech-savvy” urban professionals, the restaurant made headlines for its use of facial-recognition payment designed by internet giant Alibaba. Manager Tony Tan says another element of KPRO’s appeal is that “fewer children are seen here than in KFC”.

該餐廳以“精通科技”的城市專業(yè)人士為目標(biāo)，因其使用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭阿里巴巴(Alibaba)開(kāi)發(fā)的面部識(shí)別支付系統(tǒng)而登上頭條。該餐廳的經(jīng)理Tony Tan表示，KPRO另一個(gè)吸引人的地方就是“比起肯德基餐廳這里比較少看到小孩”。

The upgrading efforts seem to be working for KFC which reported same-store revenue growth of 7 per cent in the three months to August 31, after four years in which sales declined or stagnated.

這次升級(jí)努力對(duì)于肯德基似乎是有效的——在經(jīng)歷了四年銷售額下滑或持平后，在截至8月31日的3個(gè)月內(nèi)，肯德基同店銷售額增長(zhǎng)7%。

“Compared to other local restaurants the environment and the service is better,” says Wang Jiqing, 19, as he sips a KFC latte in Zouping. “It’s a place to bring a date.”

“與本地餐廳相比，這里的環(huán)境和服務(wù)更好，”鄒平縣19歲的王吉慶(音)邊喝著肯德基拿鐵咖啡邊說(shuō)道，“這里適合約會(huì)。”

Additional reporting by Wang Xueqiao in Hangzhou Wang Xueqiao杭州補(bǔ)充報(bào)道