Food for Thought

By+Yuan+Yuan

A seemingly endless queue of people winds around the popular Apple Store in Sanlitun， one of the busiest areas in downtown Beijing. The excited shoppers， however， are not the usual devotees waiting to buy the latest iPhone， but are waiting for a cup of tea.

The queue ends at a small store called Heytea and has been a common sight since its door opened on August 12， 2017. With a name meaning “happy tea” in Chinese， Heytea has already caused tea mania in Guangzhou， Shenzhen and Shanghai before opening its latest branch in Beijing and it is not unusual to wait in line for more than two hours just to reach the cashier before joining another queue to wait for the tea to be served – every part of the process shared on social media in a self-fulfilling marketing exercise that set the Internet on fire.

But what ingredient could be so enticing as to compel people across the country to endure such leg numbing waiting times？ The answer is cheese. Specializing in cheese topped milk tea， Heytea boasts a variety of Chinese teas served beneath a layer of cheese around one centimeter thick. Founder Nie Yunchen， himself an ardent fan of milk tea， came up with the idea for this unusual recipe when he was unable to find a decent cup of his favorite brew in his hometown， Jiangmen， in south Chinas Guangdong Province.

“All the local milk tea vendors were just mixing cheap milk powder with tea made from cheap teabags，” Nie told media. “I didnt want to drink that and so I decided to make my own from good quality and natural ingredients.”

Before long， the idea had grown into a business and a small milk tea shop in Jiangmen. After a couple of years， it had spread across the countrys first-tier cities on the back of a wave of popularity.

Bittersweet success

Nie， however， believes the craze for Heytea is not necessarily a good thing， and he seems more concerned than overjoyed regarding his products sensational reception. “This initial intensity might lead to the quick death of the business，” he said

Nies trepidation is well founded. Since 2012， a slew of eateries dubbed “Internet famous restaurants” by netizens have sprung up across China， replete with novel ideas or innovative marketing methods and attracting much attention， leading to large investment and rapid expansion. In most cases， these restaurants have been unable to maintain their business for more than three years. Back in 2012， just as Nie was opening his first tea store in his hometown， a Beijing local by the name of He Chang was also starting a business selling traditional egg pancakes in Beijing.

The egg pancake is a common breakfast item in the north of China， a staple of street stalls and restaurants across the region. But He was different from the other countless pancake vendors on the streets of Beijing. His small， nicely decorated shop was based in the citys central business district， and he delivered pancakes in his Mercedes Benz. His unusual approach soon made him and his business a hot topic on the Internet.

Alongside the popularity， cash also flowed in. In 2015 alone， more than 180 million yuan （$27.7 million） was invested into Hes pancake business with the brand name of Huangtaiji. The number of Hes outlets in Beijing rocketed to 44， all situated in gleaming shopping malls and bustling business areas， whilst the fad also spread to Shanghai and Guangzhou. In July 2016， the first overseas restaurant was opened in Sydney， Australia. However， in 2017， more than 20 outlets of Huangtaiji were shut down in Beijing as consumers became dissatisfied with the taste.

“The pancakes not only taste worse， but they are more expensive and less convenient than the vendors at the subway exits，” said Tao Wensheng， the co-founder of Allpku， a consulting company located in Beijing. “Most of the outlets are in shopping malls， which dont normally open until 10 a.m.， so its no good marketing it as a breakfast business.”

In Taos opinion， hasty expansion is another reason for the decline of the business. “This is a mistake that many restaurants often make，” Tao said.

Shu Huirong， a Beijing local， told ChinAfrica that the marketing tricks of such restaurants are just gimmicks， a word that many critics turn to when concluding why such restaurants struggle to maintain their early success. “They first create a story， either around the food or the founder， to attract potential consumers and lay intense attention on marketing instead of improving the quality of food and service，” Jia Xin， an independent gourmet critic in Beijing， told ChinAfrica. “It is no surprise that their business fails in the end.”

Breakfast with a twist

Nie Bao and Cheng Hui， the founders of Taoyuan Village， a restaurant chain serving Taiwan style food， seem to be defying the rule that culinary gimmicks cannot last –at least for now.

Both hailing from Chinas mainland， they were amazed by Taiwans cuisine while traveling on the island， and decided to open a restaurant at home in order to bring Taiwans culinary delights to a local audience.

As an interior design professional， Nie is responsible for the companys image， and worked every day on site during the construction of the first outlet in Shanghai in 2014. The menu is simple： fried twisted sticks of dough， soy bean milk and freshly baked pancakes， all ordinary breakfast fare for Chinese. Their flagship store located in a downtown area of Shanghai popular among white-collar workers and fashion conscious youngsters is open from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. the next day， with night owls also part of their targeted customer base.

Wu Kejing， the CEO of a Shanghai startup， even holds his companys daily morning meetings at Taoyuan Village. “The taste of the food is not as important as the environment it offers. We are all kind of fed up with the food at McDonalds and KFC. Here we can get better food， and even if we dont eat， it is still a nice place to chat.”In March 2016， Taoyuan Village opened its first branch in Beijings Sanlitun. The line for Heytea is still long， but not as long as it once was. Nie says he plans to be cautious in expansion， but the speed of the companys growth hardly seems restrained， especially after raising funds of 100 million yuan （$15 million） from IDG Capital in August 2016.

“I dont know how far Heytea can go，”noted Liu Changxi， a scholar from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.“They have to make a real effort， not only through superficial means like marketing and publicity stunts， but via the improvement of both service and the food or drink that they serve， if they are to survive such intense competition.”