Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang brought Malatang to the whole country. Under their leadership, more local entrepreneurs joined the battlefield of Chinese restaurant chains

Source丨Finance Eleven (ID: caijingEleven)

Yang Liyun | Text

Yu Le | Editor

You have not seen the photos of the two of them in the media, but their names They can be found everywhere in the streets and alleys of China. They are fellow villagers, relatives, competitors, and in a sense, comrades with the same destiny.

There are 5,500 Yang Guofu Malatang stores and 4,700 Zhangliang Malatang stores, both of which have exceeded the number of Starbucks stores in China and are about to reach the size of KFC in China. Behind this is the history of the fortune of rural sheepherders, the growth history of small and micro enterprises through chain franchises, and the story of low-end catering branding.

A few years ago, no one would have thought that the humble street food industry of Malatang could give birth to a large chain enterprise. It was Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang who changed everything.

In the past 15 years, these two leading companies have been running wildly, changing every year, spreading their brands across the country and even overseas, and registering brands in dozens of countries. Yang Guofu set up a factory and made products, determined to become the "Haidilao" in the spicy hotpot industry; Zhang Liang insisted on keeping a low profile and dormant, waiting for his own opportunity.

These two entrepreneurs who came out of Wanfa Village in Binxian County, Heilongjiang have not only made themselves representatives of new Chinese catering, but also made Binxian, a northeastern borderland, the "wheat hotpot" in the spicy hotpot industry. add". Their huge franchise system has continuously spawned new brands and new companies, prospering this once "not on the table" industry, but this has also created new competitive pressure on the leaders.

The history of the Sheep-herder's fortune

"When you shake these bags, it's like the monster in Journey to the West comes out, and the smoke is full of smoke. After shaking off the dust on your body and face, only Showing two eyes."

In Wanfa Village, Bin County, more than 80 kilometers east of Harbin City, there was a sheepherding boy named Yang Guofu about 30 years ago. Yang Guofu, who was born in 1970, only attended junior high school for half a year due to his poor academic performance. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and went home to herd sheep for three years. In addition to herding sheep, he also had to farm, raise pigs and chickens. Later, his family opened a tuck shop. Yang Guofu rode his bicycle to sell the garlic grown at home 18 miles away in the county, and then carried the tuck shop's goods home from the county.

Yang Guofu’s family has five brothers and sisters. There are too many people but not enough food. Poverty alleviation is everyone’s responsibility. The small business at home did not make much money, so Yang Guofu went to the county town to collect rags. He recycled cement bags from construction sites, shook the dust off the bags, then sewed them and mended them, and sold them to others for charcoal. Recalling this difficult period, Yang Guofu laughed at himself: "When I shake these bags, I feel like the monster in Journey to the West comes out, whistling full of smoke. After shaking off the dust on his body and face, only two eyes are exposed. "

Around 1990, Yang Guofu went to live with his aunt in Harbin and followed her to set up a stall at the bustling Jianshe Street night market. In summer, bowls of porridge and vegetables are displayed on a small cart; in winter, grilled mutton skewers and grilled ham are sold.

In Harbin, this sheepherder not only saw a traffic light for the first time, but also came into contact with Malatang for the first time. Also on Jianshe Street, a small restaurant called "Huachen Fast Food" attracts customers who line up to buy spicy hotpot and hotcakes every day. At that time, Malatang had not adopted the "DIY of your choice" model that later became popular across the country. Each bowl had fixed dishes, including bean sprouts, spinach, kelp, tofu skin, vermicelli, and crab sticks. A bowl only sold for 3 yuan.

The popularity of Huachen Fast Food makes every vendor on this street envious, including Yang Guofu. In the mid-to-late 1990s, under the supervision of the law enforcement brigade, vendors had to "enter the house." Yang Guofu rented a semi-basement house at the intersection of Xin Yonghe Street and Gogol Street for a monthly rent of 500 yuan, and continued to sell kebabs and sizzling squid without any signboards and only used loudspeakers to advertise. As the cost of squid became higher and higher, the bamboo skewers pricked each of his fingers again and again. In 2000, with the encouragement of his wife, he finally decided to try Malatang.

He did not become a master, he just restored the finished product in his mind. He cooked a pot of lettuce and kelp in a rice cooker and added bean paste, but "it didn't taste like that". He also tried frying spices, but the pot was burnt. The old customer said bluntly: "Lao Yang, what kind of crap are you doing? It's so unpalatable, is it called Malatang?" Yang Guofu happily continued chatting with the customer. But he was unwilling to give in. He spent all his useless thoughts on Malatang in the past, and even dreamed about stir-frying the ingredients. Slowly, the taste was right and the number of customers increased.

Three years later, Yang Guofu changed his storefront and had his first signboard of his own - in September 2003, "Yangji Malatang" opened at No. 52 Yonghe Street, Harbin. This was still two years before the birth of "Yang Guofu Malatang".

"Yang Ji Malatang" was sold out within half a day of opening, recreating the grand occasion of Huachen fast food in those days. "I am honest in selling vegetables and goods, and I have many regular customers. My address is next to the school. There were few restaurants at that time, so the business was easier."

The booming business of "Yang Ji Malatang" has attracted the attention of Yang Guofu's relatives and friends. Extremely envious. In the Northeast, which values ??human relationships, it is common to rely on relationships with relatives and friends to find work and make a living. By 2005, Yangji Malatang had grown to 20 or 30 stores within two years through the participation of relatives and friends. This is not an official "franchise". Many stores do not charge a franchise fee. "First give someone a brand. Anyway, they are all relatives and friends. Let's do it together. Everyone has suffered through it."

In At this stage, he found a new role model. "At that time, there was an 'Old Man Baozi Shop' in Harbin, which opened more than 300 chain stores. We also had such a dream." Yang Guofu said. At that time, there were more and more competitors, and Qixingjiao Malatang and Xiaodongtian Malatang appeared one after another. Both positive and negative factors prompted Yang Guofu to consider officially taking the road of branding and corporatization.

Initially, the franchise fee for Yang Guofu Malatang ranged from 1,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan. By 2009, he could earn two to three million yuan a year from the franchise fee alone. Yang Guofu said, "Because (restaurants) are so profitable, if you invest 10,000 to 20,000 yuan in each store, you will get your money back in a few months. A store can easily earn hundreds of thousands of yuan a year."

But by 2010, despite his wife’s objections, Yang Guofu ruthlessly cut off his income of two to three million yuan - the expansion speed was too fast, the entry threshold for Malatang was too low, and the quality of franchisees was uneven. The attitude of the headquarters is very bad. As soon as I get through the phone, I get cursed and everything goes wrong." The store environment is also dirty and messy. Due to the booming business, many store owners have adopted a "love to eat or not eat" attitude toward customers. Yang Guofu believed that this situation was not a long-term solution. He stopped joining the franchise and began to seriously rectify and screen franchisees and carry out unified store decoration. .

In the process of traveling from Harbin to the three northeastern provinces and even the whole country, Yang Guofu cultivated franchisees who had cooperated for many years into 16 regional general agents, and encouraged them through irregular sales incentives to help the headquarters attract investment and expand markets.

After conquering the northern market, he set his sights on the southern market, which has a larger space, hoping to enter as soon as possible and seize market share. In 2014, the company's annual meeting was specially arranged in Nanjing. The main purpose was to "let franchisees in the north experience the southern market." After that, Yang Guofu Malatang's clarion call went south.

A rising star in Wanfa Village

“It was because he made Malatang first, and then we chose this project.”

In 2005, when Yang Guofu used When he registered a trademark in his name, Zhang Liang, who was only 20 years old, also started to get involved in the spicy hotpot industry.

Yang Guofu is Zhang Liang’s cousin-in-law, and he was engaged in the spicy hotpot industry earlier than Zhang Liang. There is no dispute on these two points. However, it is somewhat controversial that Zhang Liang was greatly influenced by Yang Guofu on his growth path.

In Zhang Liang’s statement, he and the spicy hotpot industry are truly connected to Sichuan Maocai. Born in Binxian County, Harbin in 1985, he started helping his brother in wine sales when he was 18 years old. This job required him to travel extensively, and he tasted special snacks from various places. He liked the taste of Maocai very much and felt that it was easy to get started. At that time, there were very few spicy Sichuan snacks in Northeast China, so Zhang Liang decided to bring Maocai back to Harbin.

In 2005, Zhang Liang used his savings and loans to raise more than 20,000 yuan, hired three waiters, and opened a restaurant of nearly 100 square meters in Xiangfang District, Harbin, named " Sunshine Malatang”. At that time, Zhang Liang did not make any taste improvements to Sichuan Malatang, and Harbin consumers did not buy it. The store only lasted 7 months before closing.

In the autumn of this year, Zhang Liang rented a shop downstairs from the student dormitory of Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology and started all over again. The gradually improved soup base is paired with the sesame sauce that Northeastern people love to eat. "Students start queuing up from the beginning of class. For 3 yuan a serving, 2,000 bowls can be sold a day and hundreds of thousands of yuan can be earned a year."

< p> Zhang Liang's expansion trajectory is very similar to Yang Guofu's. The initial franchises started from relatives and friends, and no franchise fee was charged. On the one hand, this is due to the loyalty of friends traveling in the world, and on the other hand, it is also based on the hope of completing the first phase of expansion through a network of acquaintances. "The only requirement (for joining) is that our stores are too close together to compete with each other for business." Zhang Liang said that in this way, twenty or thirty stores have gradually developed, and some have "Sunshine Malatang" written on their signboards. Some are labeled "Brothers Malatang", which is not uniform.

As the customer flow of restaurants under Zhang Liang’s system increased, more and more people from outside were seeking to join, demanding a formal franchise system, signed contracts, and trademarks, which forced him to register "Zhang Liang Mala" Hot" trademark. In 2008, the first Zhang Liang Malatang opened in Acheng District, 23 kilometers away from Harbin city, with an investment of 200,000 yuan, which was 10 times the starting amount when Zhang Liang first started his business. “At that time (Harbin) Central Street was already too expensive, and with this money, we could get the best location in Acheng,” Zhang Liang said.

At the same time, Zhang Liang Malatang established a company in Acheng, and a dozen relatives and friends became regular employees. Their main job was to connect with franchisees. Jiang Baidong, currently the general manager of Heilongjiang Zhangliang Catering Co., Ltd., joined Zhangliang Malatang in 2008 and experienced the entire process of formal expansion. "When we first opened the franchise, we expanded very quickly. I felt good after receiving the franchise fee. However, I soon found that some stores did not meet expectations, franchisees were not satisfied, and the headquarters could not make money."

In order to solve this problem, around 2009, Zhang Liang decided to set up branches in various places, and local issues would be resolved locally. At the same time, the branch opens a directly operated store in the local area, and the profits supplement the expenses of the branch. With the establishment of the branch, Zhang Liang Malatang went to Inner Mongolia, Shandong and other places to initially capture the northern market, and then began to consider entering the country.

2013 is the year of upgrade for Zhang Liang Malatang. Heilongjiang Zhangliang Catering Co., Ltd. was registered and the company headquarters moved from Acheng to Harbin city. This year, the first branch opened in Beijing, and the number quickly grew to 400 in the next year and a half. The success of the Beijing market gave him the confidence to go nationwide. Unexpectedly, "I used to think it was very difficult to go south, but I found it was more comfortable than home (Harbin). Because the economy in the south is good, the competition in Malatang is not so fierce." In 2016, Zhang Liang Malatang opened its first overseas branch in Opened in Japan.

Asset-heavy vs. asset-light

"Every company is different. Some companies make money in the early stage, and some companies make money in the later stage. "

There are Malatang restaurants all over the streets, and what consumers can feel are only slight differences in dishes, tastes, and prices. In fact, the self-positioning and planning of each enterprise are very different. Take Yang Guofu Malatang and Zhang Liang Malatang as examples. The former prefers an asset-heavy model, running factories and doing business, with more diversified sources of income; while the latter adopts an asset-light model and concentrates on being a management company.

The expansion of "Yang Guofu" and "Zhang Liang" relies on the franchise system. A fixed franchise fee is charged to franchisees every year, and the base and ingredients of Malatang, equipment and equipment required for store decoration are provided. Material. These three aspects constitute the main contribution of franchisees to headquarters revenue.

In the future, the business module will also increase revenue from direct-to-consumer products. These include packaged products such as hot pot base, tomato seasoning, fish seasoning, chili dip, self-heating spicy hotpot, etc. Similar to Haidilao's self-heating small hot pot, hot pot base and other packaged products, they will be put into online and offline channels. "Our target is Haidilao." Yang Guofu said.

In order to support the growth of this business module, Yang Guofu fought against all opinions within the company and determined to build his own supply chain system. In 2018, the Chengdu factory affiliated to Sichuan Yang Guofu Food Co., Ltd. was put into production, with an annual output value of approximately 200 million yuan. According to Yang Guofu, the imported equipment of this factory accounts for 65% of the total equipment. It is equipped with a seasoning research and development center, a smart kitchen experimental center, etc., and the production scale can meet the seasoning demand of 12,000 franchise stores.

Yang Guofu believes that he is better at R&D and procurement than managing a company, so production and R&D at the Chengdu factory are his "field". He currently spends half of his time in the factory every year.

"Our company is a management company. The main goal is to keep franchisees alive and help franchisees save money. The headquarters can make some hard-earned money from the process, but no huge profits are allowed in any link." Regarding profits, Zhang Liang has his own rhythm: "Every company is different. Some companies make money in the early stage, and some companies make money in the later stage. Only by helping franchisees do a good job every day can the headquarters (headquarters) be sustainable in the later stage." Continuously making money.”

He believes that the company’s main job is still the franchise business. "In the short term, we have to do a good job in the market. Everything from consumers to franchisees is very stable. If I want to make money, I don't want to distract my energy now." He does not plan to build a factory like Yang Guofu, but is considering another way - —Invest in high-quality companies in the upstream supply chain, or hold shares in each other to strengthen the supply chain.

Binxian, the “Mecca” of Malatang

“Many of them came from Yang Guofu’s system. They used to stir-fry ingredients and deliver butter to his shop. , Now I do it myself.”

Bin County is located on the south bank of the Songhua River, at the intersection of Zhangguangcai Ridge and Songjiang Plain, with an average annual temperature of only 4.4°C. On the road from the high-speed rail station to the county town are large tracts of cornfields. According to data released by the Binxian Bureau of Statistics, the structural ratio of Binxian's three industries (agriculture, industry, and services) in 2017 was 16.1:33.1:50.8, while the national three-industry structure was 7.6:40.5:51.9. This shows that Binxian's economy is Still relies heavily on agriculture.

Such a northeastern borderland with a permanent population of less than 580,000 has developed into a spicy hotpot capital under the leadership of Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang, and the market competition is quite fierce. The names of "Yang Guofu" and "Zhang Liang" are well-known across the country, but in their hometown Binxian, they are only two of many brands and have no halo.

"Ma Yutao" is now well-known in the northern market. Dianping shows that there are 50 branches in Beijing. According to information from its official website and Tianyancha, Ma Yutao Malatang was born in 2006 and registered as a company in 2009. In 2016, it was renamed Harbin Ma Yutao Catering Management Co., Ltd., with its headquarters in Harbin. It currently has more than 1,000 franchise stores and a modern 10,000 meters of warehousing and distribution center. Recently, Ma Yutao Malatang has completely upgraded its brand and changed its name to "Uncle Ma Yutao's Malatang". Judging from the official website and store design, the purpose of adding the word "Uncle" is to communicate emotionally with the young people born in the 90s and 00s through the "Uncle Ma" IP, and to take the route of rejuvenating the brand.

These veteran restaurants are constantly creating new restaurants and brands. Xu Chao recalled that 2012 was the heyday of Yang Guofu Malatang in Bin County, with about 10 branches. Now it is constantly being squeezed by new brands. "Many of them come from Yang Guofu's system. Those who used to fry ingredients and deliver butter to his shop now make their own."

In Bin County, everyone can cook at any time. It is possible to enter the Malatang industry. Xu Chao's competitor next door is his old customer in the past. "He always comes to my store to eat and always asks about business experience. I didn't think much about it, but he opened a store next to it a few days ago."

Entrepreneurship that came out of the system of Zhang Liang and Yang Guofu Players use various methods to expand their franchises. Everyone selectively copies part of the original system and then makes some innovations of their own. Almost every small brand's store sign has a franchise phone number printed on it. Those who are just starting out will leave their mobile phone number, and those with a slightly larger scale will have a "400" phone number printed on it.

One of the ways for new brands to attract franchises is to reduce or reduce franchise fees - this is exactly what Yang and Zhang did back then. Xu Chao said that in order to attract investment, some brand headquarters will join for free at the beginning, and then start charging after the brand becomes bigger. The main reason why he joined "Shanghejia" is that there is currently no franchise fee, and it is not mandatory to use the team and materials designated by the headquarters for store decoration. Lu Xiaojian Malatang has only been established for a few months, and he has already decided to join the franchise. The franchise fee is set at 5,000 yuan per year. The franchise fee of Ma Yutao Malatang is divided into four levels. The most expensive level is 11,800 yuan per year, which is also lower than Zhang Liang and Yang Guofu.

Is there room for a third home?

"It cost hundreds of thousands of yuan to join two big brands. Including several costs, I only invested about 110,000 yuan in this store, and now it is almost back. "

New brands often attract people with limited entrepreneurial capital and no experience in the catering industry. Half a year ago, Meng Hui, who was delivering express at the post office, accidentally saw an investment advertisement called "Uncle Bu Malatang" on Kuaishou. He was impressed by the "affordable" entry threshold - a one-time payment of 25,800 yuan to join. There is no need to pay an annual fee, the store can be decorated independently according to the design plan of the headquarters, and there are no hard and fast regulations on the store area and location. Meng Hui rented a store in Xiangfang District, Harbin, and started a spicy hotpot business.

Compared with the past, the branding trend of mass catering has become more and more obvious. "The main reason is that the industrialization of the supply chain has made it easier to implement large-scale catering chains." Chen Qian said that in recent years, the system construction of the supply chain such as central kitchen, semi-finished product processing, cold chain logistics and normal temperature logistics has become more mature. . From a demand-side perspective, consumers have paid more and more attention to food hygiene and food safety in recent years, believing that larger brands may be more secure in terms of food safety and hygiene, thus encouraging brand chains.

Regarding the situation of franchisees setting up their own businesses, Jiang Baidong responded, “In fact, it has no impact on us. When you opened 20 stores, we didn’t even hear about it. Even if you open 200 stores, ours You won't be mentioned at the meeting. If you have 500 stores, we may mention it at the meeting. This brand has been developing well in a certain place recently and whether we want to take a strategic crackdown."

Yang Guofu admitted frankly that there are many businesses that have split from his own system. In his view, the battle in the future is whether it can truly guarantee food safety, supply chain, and franchise services for franchisees; if the new brand does not have these core competitiveness , will be eliminated sooner or later.

"There is not much competition. It seems to be just a bowl of spicy hotpot, but in fact there is a strong system and standards behind it to support it. It is not that simple." Yang Guofu said. "(Small brands) agree on cheap decoration fees and cheap franchise fees for franchisees, which is not a competitive advantage. A high survival rate and allowing franchisees to make money are competitive advantages."

In some forums On the platform, franchisees of Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang constantly posted comments criticizing the headquarters or transferring stores. However, "the survival rate of franchise stores is over 90%" is the data given by these two companies invariably. Actions such as setting up business schools, forming alliances with big brands, and building membership systems are not only ways for them to move from low-end catering chains to modern management, but also ways to attract investment, stabilize military morale, and strengthen brand influence.

Regarding the possibility of a third national company emerging in the Malatang industry, Zhang Liang believes, “There is no chance nationally, but it is possible regionally. Because high-quality franchisees and properties have been selected by us. The remaining people want to save money and build a store next to ours, which has no competitiveness or advantage." Several Malatang practitioners also said that they are not without ambition to "become bigger and stronger", but through passing. When expanding through franchising, you need to worry about supply, corporate operations and other matters. It is not easy to obtain the corporate food production license (QS) first. The abilities of most practitioners are only at the level of researching formulas and opening a few more stores. Although the Malatang brands on the market have changed from a blue ocean to a red ocean compared to more than ten years ago, the overall business management capabilities of practitioners have not improved much.

Will there be dramatic competition between the top two companies in the future? In Zhang Liang's view, Yang Guofu is the eldest brother in terms of time in the industry and number of stores. However, in terms of store profitability and takeaway business data, Zhang Liang Malatang is not inferior at all, or even better.

"The question of who is number one will be left to time." He said.

Snacks going global

"Now that this category can be discussed, we feel a little more comfortable now, more respected, and no longer feel embarrassed."

< p> Malatang changed the fate of these two rural people in Bin County. Today, Zhang Liang and his wife live in Harbin, and their two children go to school in Harbin; Yang Guofu has settled his family in Shanghai, with his wife and son working in the company, and his daughter studying in Shanghai.

In recent years, two companies have participated in exhibitions. Zhang Liang's company went, but Yang Guofu's company did not, and vice versa. Over time, the silence between the two parties seemed to have become a tacit understanding without communication. "There is no need to fight to the death. If the two companies really fight to the death, they will not reach the scale of the current country." Zhang Liang added: "I feel that we can promote each other, and there are some innovations that stimulate and learn from each other. We (the two) ") has a promoting effect on this category."

This mutual promotion is also reflected in overseas expansion, and the two companies have set up their own brands overseas.

When he opened Malatang overseas, Zhang Liang said he was driven by the market. In 2016, Zhang Liang Malatang was not ready to open franchises to overseas markets. A friend of Zhang Liang's who lived in Japan wanted to run Malatang locally, so he started his first attempt.

After the first overseas branch of Yang Guofu Malatang landed in Australia in 2017, it began to recruit professionals with many years of overseas work experience as the head of the international department. At present, Yang Guofu has registered trademarks in more than 60 countries, focusing on single-store franchises, requiring a store area of ??at least 80 square meters. In the future, he may consider cooperating with large overseas catering companies and handing it over to overseas agents for implementation.

Yang Guofu has made a more specific plan for the next five years of development - within five years, the number of overseas stores will reach 1,000, the number of domestic stores will increase to 9,000, and the group's overall revenue will reach 10 billion yuan. In the past, he had envisioned domestic expansion to 20,000 stores. With further calculations, he believed that it would be more reasonable to limit the number of stores to 9,000. Too many stores may affect the profits of individual franchise stores and cause cannibalism.

His ambition is no longer limited to Malatang, but he wants to build an international food and catering empire. He mentioned that he hopes to learn from global chain restaurant companies such as McDonald's and Starbucks in terms of management concepts. Yang Guofu has a clear goal in mind: "In the future, our target will be Haidilao. Although our stock market value is not as large as its stock market value, our size is not small."

Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang respectively said that the development process External capital has extended an olive branch to both companies, but they are unanimously cautious and have no plans to go public in the short term. Yang Guofu said: "If capital is introduced, what they require is short-term and fast, and what kind of performance they require every year; we still need to take root at this stage. I am not planting leeks, I am planting a tree, and I want it to become useful."