Paris Beitian is a brand of Korea Special Food Co., Ltd., which belongs to SPC, a food group with a history of 65 years in Korea. ParisBaguette originally meant "French baguette" ("French baguette" stands for authentic French bread), and still retains the rich French style of putting baguette at the door of the store and ringing the bell when baking bread. SPC Group took a keen interest in the China market in the mid-1990s: Paris Bettencourt has more than 4,000 stores in South Korea, and the market is becoming saturated. Therefore, if the group wants to continue to grow, it must seek overseas markets. After the reform and opening up, China's economy has grown by more than 10 percentage points every year.
In 2003, Paris Betancourt established the first special food company in Shanghai. Two years later, it expanded to Beijing, and now there are 34 direct stores and 2 factories in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Tianjin. The daily turnover of a single store has increased from 5,000 yuan in 2006 to 20,000 yuan.
The location of the store is very important. At present, most of the nine direct stores in Beijing are located in mature business districts, and there are few old cities within the Second Ring Road. "Although we don't have the largest number of stores in Beijing, our sales are not worse than other bakeries," said Wen Shangzhun, deputy general manager of Beijing Special Food Co., Ltd.
As the largest Koreatown in China, nearly 70,000 Koreans live in Wangjing. In terms of turnover, Wangjing is the best. As the only store in the community, Sunshine East Paris Bette Baking is aimed at corporate executives, overseas and "returnees" living in this area. "The residents here are all people with higher education and overseas study experience, and there are many foreigners. Most of them not only have bread consumption habits, but more importantly, they have the consumption ability of high-end bread, "said Miss Zhu.
China bread
In China, bread is synonymous with afternoon tea and breakfast, so it cannot be used as a staple food. The population of Seoul is more than 10 million, and the population of Beijing is more than 30 million, but the bread market in Seoul, South Korea is more than 10 times that of Beijing.
China people have no bread consumption habit. When they first entered China, it was only a quarter as big as it is now, but the price was more than twice as high. It really took some effort to attract them into the store and pay two to three times more than other bakeries.
"kung pao chicken" and "scrambled eggs with tomatoes", when it comes to the localization of products, Li Genfu, the production technical director of Paris Bate, can't wait to answer in his less pure Chinese. He is considering adding more Chinese food elements to bread to satisfy the tastes of China people.
Under pressure, Li Genfu sold the fashionable bread that had just entered the Beijing market at a low price of 85℃. He is in charge of all kitchen affairs except the front desk. He personally went to 85℃ to buy bread and came back for analysis. In fact, Li Genfu's main research method is the investigation of competitive shops. "As soon as I hear what kind of bread sells well, I'll buy it back and try it." "China people have a strong taste. They like to add intestines, garlic, floss and blueberries to their bread." In view of the consumption habits of China people, the R&D Center has expanded the types of bread and invented pre-made bread to attract more China guests.
Paris Bette sold French bread to China not only because of the "returnees" and overseas people in China, but also because of the "indigenous" residents in China. At present, in some bakeries in downtown areas, the French bread at the door has been occupied by prefabricated bread, which is a manifestation of the "localization" of foreign bread.
Wen Zhun recalled that when Paris Bette first entered China in 2003, the proportion was basically 8: 2, with 80% foreigners, but now it has reached 3: 7, with China accounting for the majority. This makes Bertin Paris full of confidence in the China market. "China has a large population, so there is no need to take bread as a staple food. As long as more people eat, there will be a big market. " .
The biggest gain is not profit.
"Paris betaine is not high-end bread in Korea, but popular bread, and it will take the popular route in China in the future". But at present, in China market, Parisian betaine is really considered as aristocratic bread. "Even if the price is expensive, the reputation of Paris Beitian is still better than the profit, and its operating ability is far less than that of the Korean market." Wen Zhun said frankly.
Speaking of cost, Wen Zhun said that the cost in China market is more expensive than that in South Korea, because the bread market in South Korea is relatively mature and many high-quality raw materials are very cheap. However, the bread market in China is still relatively small, and high-quality raw materials are scarce and expensive, while middle-grade raw materials are hard to find in China market.
Li Genfu said that every product has its own standards for judging quality. Take sweet bread as an example. People who often buy bread will definitely notice its sides and bottom. Li Genfu demonstrated the scene of bread quality sampling inspection at the scene. "The lines and pores at the bottom are radial spindles, and there should be no big pores; The white part of the side should be obvious and natural, which can reflect the standard of bread in the curling stage and baking process. "
Regarding the frozen dough related to the core technology, Li Genfu said that it was delivered from the Shanghai factory. The temperature, humidity and time of each bread production will be signed and supervised by regional technicians. Under the strict control of fermentation and baking environment, defective products, usually frozen dough problems, can be traced back to the transportation time, batch and person in charge, and all shops will be notified to stop selling the product. There are problems like 1 and 2 every week, which can be solved quickly.
In addition, we will organize our own marketing activities from time to time, such as Strawberry Festival, Yogurt Festival, Naduo Festival, etc. At the same time, we will choose to cooperate with China International Fashion Week, Tennis Open and Badminton Open to attract more customers.
Relying on the technical and human support from the headquarters, the biggest gain of Paris Bette's six years in China is to expand the market, not to make a profit. Wen Shangzhun revealed that in the China market, due to the cost problem, it is still in the initial stage of expansion, so there is basically no profit. But this is also the focus of future competition, because the China market is getting bigger and bigger, and there are more and more high-quality raw materials to choose from. "We make delicious products by constantly researching and developing more practical raw materials to ensure a more competitive advantage in price."
Facing the increasingly fierce competition from brands such as Bread Newspeak and 85-degree C in the baking market, Wen Zhun said that the emergence of more and more competitors will help us to jointly open the China market. In the second half of 20 10, Bert Paris will introduce the first batch of franchisees from China, and at the same time open two or three new direct stores.
However, in terms of product development and technical secrecy, Paris Bette is not so generous. The kiwi fruit on the cake comes from New Zealand and the strawberry comes from nearby Beijing. Cooking oil is always put back when new oil arrives, and there is no mistake in the middle.