For the current time-honored enterprises, how to pass on the dishes with a history of hundreds of years is becoming a thorny topic. Behind this topic, it reflects the rapid changes of the whole society: labor problems, consumption tendencies and so on. , wrapped in a small environment composed of chefs, waiters and consumers, pushed to the inheritor of the old brand. Take the chef as an example. Chef is the closest link in the inheritance of dishes. In the past, it took at least 10 years to train a chef in an old brand, but now many crash courses can be trained into "masters" in three years. The whole society has been accelerated, eager for quick success and instant benefit, including the only child, and parents' attitude towards their children's ambitions. There is no real successor. Similarly, not only old brands, but also ordinary restaurants are increasingly difficult to recruit waiters. "There is a workplace, no workplace" and "limited income, unlimited time" make catering enterprises and other service industries obviously at a disadvantage in labor competition. Coupled with the rising cost of waiters, it is eroding its meager profits. Consumers should be the most deadly. With the infiltration of western food culture and the tendency of "fast food", many young consumers are accustomed to the taste of "material package" and lose their appreciation of the "taste" and "taste" emphasized by time-honored brands. Time-honored dishes emphasize the meticulous use of labor, fresh, ready-made and hard materials, which have formed a huge conflict with the current "fast food" life rhythm. Consumers don't buy it, which makes the inheritance lose its fulcrum and significance. Not only that, with the erosion of take-away business on catering business, time-honored enterprises also need to catch up with take-away as the "east wind" to expand users and spread brands, but many time-honored dishes that need to be "cooked and eaten now" are not suitable for the consumption scene of take-away. Now many time-honored enterprises are no longer "crowded" in those days, and most of the customers who come to spend are elderly people. Even if there are young people, most of them come with their parents. This also means that for the most consuming young people, the old brand has not found the "explosion point" of the current market. In this way, objectively, "restricting employment", "restricting consumption scenes" and "restricting users" have formed insurmountable barriers in the current survival map of time-honored brands. How to cross this barrier and revive the vitality of time-honored brands is becoming a problem worthy of people's attention. 1. It is not easy to mention Zhimeizhai when its old name can still be preserved. Old Beijingers may think of famous Beijing dishes such as "Four Eating Fish, Rotten Fish Slices and Nine Turning Large Intestines". Think of the story of tribute Lu in the south of the Yangtze River, and "roasting claw tips" was the "top dish" during Tongzhi period; Think of Liang Shiqiu's favorite "shredded pork with minced meat" and his feeling that "one meal in a lifetime will not be forgotten after 50 years"; Think of the historic moment when Cai Yuanpei hosted a banquet for Chen Duxiu in Zhimeizhai before Chen Duxiu taught at Peking University. The memory and cultural inheritance left by these dishes on the taste buds seem to give the old brand a soul and foundation. After more than 400 years, it can still be remembered. However, in today's "fast food" and "fast pace", in the face of changes in the consumption environment and rising costs, it seems difficult to maintain the calmness and calmness of "shallow water can accommodate the moon, and mountains do not hinder clouds" in Meizhai. According to public information, Zhimeizhai was founded in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), and its original site is Meishi Street outside Qianmen. It deals in Suzhou-style dishes and then changes hands. After several generations of famous chefs devoted themselves to research and development, the dishes produced and sold are famous all over the world for "integrating the essence of North and South cooking and the essence of imperial cuisine and folk food", and Zhimeizhai has also become a gathering place for celebrities and businessmen. When talking about the history of Zhimeizhai, Chen Fuqiang, the current manager of Zhimeizhai Restaurant, told the reporter, "With the changes of the times, Zhimeizhai's dishes have gradually entered the society and been widely recognized, gradually forming a unique Beijing-style dish." Today, Zhimeizhai, located at No.35 Baiguang Road, is a rare enterprise with a pure state-owned background among the time-honored catering enterprises in Beijing. Because of the state-owned background, during the epidemic in 2020, when many catering enterprises had to lay off employees and close down, Zhimeizhai would still give employees the minimum living expenses and quickly recover from the impact of the epidemic. Chen Fuqiang told reporters, "This reflects the social responsibility and anti-risk ability of state-owned enterprises, because as an old brand, we don't operate for several years when we make money, and sell it when we don't make money, but we must keep doing it." However, even so, Zhimeizhai, like most catering enterprises, has to face various changes in the social consumption environment, which also makes the inheritance and persistence of time-honored brands a difficult problem. First of all, the chef is the closest link in the inheritance of dishes. Many famous dishes in the time-honored brand are passed down for a hundred years. They pay attention to the choice of ingredients, cutting and cooking, as well as the chef's understanding and aura. It takes at least 10 years to train a chef, but few people are willing to be chefs now, let alone study hard for a long time before they can get started. This directly leads to the lack of successors in the inheritance of many time-honored famous dishes. "In the past, being a chef was a gradual process. From the grassroots to the side dishes, you have to stay in the kitchen for many years, and you have to cook side dishes for three years. You can't be a good cook without a good chopping board for three years. At this time, if you are good-natured and considerate, you will have a chance to get angry. Even then, you can't cook at once. You have to stand in front of the queue. You jump up and there is only one. This time is at least 10 years, but now I have just worked for one year and passed the exam as a master. It's not the same at all. " Chen Fuqiang told reporters. Not only that, the time-honored brand pays attention to "all kinds of dishes and tastes", which is different from the "hot pot" and "sheep scorpion" on the market now. There can't be only one craft in the kitchen, so an old brand like Zhimeizhai generally needs six or seven chefs, and each chef's income is at least 10,000 yuan, which is not a small cost. Secondly, the waiters in catering enterprises are also very important. Chefs pay enough, the market is connected, and there is basically no liquidity. However, the waiter is different. Catering enterprises "go to work a little, but don't leave work", coupled with limited income, it is difficult to recruit young waiters, and even if they do, they are highly mobile. "We are state-owned enterprises and we have to pay social security to our employees. Urban hukou will also have a provident fund. For example, our salary is 3,800 yuan, and we may get 3,400 yuan, but the self-employed boss next to us may not pay social security, which makes it easier for young people to leave their jobs. But if I give her a raise, the more I pay, the greater the cost pressure. Nowadays, young people, including little girls in rural areas, are not short of money at home. When she first arrived in Beijing, she may work in a hotel, but after knowing the situation, she may go to an enterprise with a lighter job and a little less time off work. Therefore, social involution also affects the operation of catering enterprises to a great extent. " Chen Fuqiang said. It is worth noting that the current labor cost of catering enterprises accounts for 30% or more of the total cost. Even if the rent cost is not counted, all kinds of expenses add up to nearly half of the sales. This means that if the rent and various taxes are added, the enterprise may be basically unprofitable. Thirdly, the change of the times and the sharp decline in the proportion of consumption in people's income are also objective social factors that affect the direction of catering enterprises, which is also a greater challenge for time-honored brands. "In the past, eating was expensive, and most people's income (70%) was eaten. Now the income is high, but the proportion of eating has dropped to about 10%~20%, so now catering enterprises can't afford to hire people, and many chains are alive and well, but they have collapsed in a few years. For the old brands, many things are not cost-effective and slowly disappear. "