Chapter 24 Case 2 Lihua: Catfish in the fast food industry

Lihua's secrets are concentrated in these 30 minutes. Xiao Chen, a 2002 student in the Department of Computer Science of Jinan University, has no class today and is hanging out on the Internet.It was almost noon, and I was a little hungry. It was only 200 meters from the dormitory to the cafeteria, but he was busy chatting, and he didn't bother to walk the few hundred meters.He learned from the morning newspaper that a fast food company had just launched a QQ meal ordering service, and he decided to try it. He found "Guangzhou Lihua Fast Food" on QQ, and after adding him as a friend, he "chat" for only 5 seconds.In less than 30 minutes, the fast food was delivered to the dormitory.He became the first QQ meal ordering customer of Guangzhou Lihua Fast Food Co., Ltd. This was the first day Lihua launched QQ meal ordering in Guangzhou.

"Many people in Guangzhou hang on to QQ all day long. We have specially launched QQ meal ordering service in South China. This should be the first of its kind in the country." General Manager Jiang Jianxin said. In fact, as a leader in the domestic Chinese fast food industry, Lihua has already launched many firsts in the industry.The first in China to use "800 caller pays" to order food; the first to launch online ordering; the first to promise delivery within 30 minutes within a certain area. There is only one purpose: to make fast food faster. One of the most important breakthroughs of fast food is that people's demand for it is mainly fast.How fast?

Jiang Jianping said: "Our survey results show that 30 minutes is the extreme of people's psychological tolerance, and they can wait up to 30 minutes. The fast standard is that the time from accepting the order to the customer receiving it does not exceed 30 minutes. This is our life and death line. .The barriers to entry in the fast food industry are very low, and we can only avoid being caught up by others if we run faster.” In the food delivery market, big fish may not necessarily eat small fish, but fast fish can definitely eat slow fish.The secret of Lihua's success is within 30 minutes.

For these 30 minutes, Lihua used all means. Lihua took the lead in adopting methods such as computer wiring transmission system and radio intercom system in China. This system can quickly process customer information and distribute it to chain stores in time, becoming one of the first fast food companies in China to use computer networks to place orders; Boldly launched mobile phone SMS ordering, QQ ordering business.Lihua, which mainly targets white-collar workers, uses high-tech means to realize the standard time of ordering food: 5 seconds per order.Their ordering system also has an automatic storage system, which can record the address left by the customer's first order, and save a lot of drool when you order the same way for the second time.

Fast food ordering can be solved by modern means, but fast food delivery is not a simple matter.In big cities, the traffic control is strict and there are often traffic jams. How can we guarantee delivery within 30 minutes? Jiang Jianping said: "I said it's easy to solve. We will build it into a network and open several chain stores. Its delivery radius will be very small, and its delivery speed will be very fast. It will not be said that there is too much distance. feeling." Lihua creatively put forward the concept of "fixed plus mobile storage center", weaving a network covering the entire urban area.

When they enter a big city, they will first establish a production center and a dispatch center. How to choose this point will be explained in detail later.After determining the core business circle of the city, Lihua will gradually establish fixed warehouses in these places, which can basically cover the entire area they promised.This is the mainline. Around these fixed points, they provide a certain number of lunch boxes during lunch time according to the daily order situation.In the non-commercial circle, they use more than a dozen vehicles to load a certain number of lunch boxes and distribute them in these areas, forming a mobile "storage center".This is the branch line.

Their food delivery staff are waiting in these fixed and mobile "storage centers". As soon as the company's order arrives, they will start immediately.What they have is just a "second pass". They don't deliver the boxed lunch directly to the customer, but to the food delivery person waiting at the door of an office building, and then immediately return to the original place to wait for orders. All of this is directed and coordinated by the dispatch center. "A box lunch, what style, who delivered it, where it was delivered, and how long it took, we know; we know which delivery person is where, and where it is needed, what style and quantity of box lunch, we know; We also know the types and quantities of the catering points. Knowing these points, we can ensure that the boxed meals are delivered to customers in a timely and accurate manner." Jiang Jianxin said.

It's easy for me to write this, and it's easy for him to say, but Lihua has gone through more than ten years from ordering food overnight to promising delivery in 30 minutes.These ten years of perseverance have made Lihua what it is today. Like many "hidden champion" leaders, Jiang Jianping is not afraid of challengers. He said: "These 30 minutes have concentrated the essence of all the technologies and experiences that Lihua has accumulated over the past ten years. , These others cannot be cloned, so we have only one competitor, and that is ourselves." What Lihua sells is not fast food, but trust, speed, service and nutrition.

To maintain a leading position in the fast food industry, "fast" is a necessary condition, but not sufficient. Jiang Jianping said: "Lihua does not sell fast food, but sells trust, speed, service and nutrition." Lihua's innovation in service and marketing is also remarkable.We can see the whole leopard from a glimpse, and we can see Lihua's keen market capture ability from some small points below. During SARS in 2003, prices soared, and everyone was in danger.Under the circumstance that the price of raw materials has risen in an all-round way and the production cost of fast food has increased greatly, Lihua Company has maintained the original price of fast food unchanged.From mid-April, Lihua Company overcame many difficulties from procurement to food delivery, and delivered meals to major hospitals in Beijing and some government departments receiving "SARS" patients every day, including key units such as Xiaotangshan Hospital, which were well received by the government. , the hospital and the patients' compliments.

Jiang Jianping said: "Since the government trusts us, we completely regard this as a political task. Most of the company is young people. They did not choose to leave and return to their relatives. Instead, they risked their lives while taking good precautions. A box of meals was sent to many places including hospitals and isolation areas in time, which wrote an epic stroke in Lihua's development history." With this order, Lihua's profit was almost zero, but the company's brand has won unprecedented trust from Beijingers.During the SARS outbreak, Lihua’s daily meal delivery volume increased by 40% and has remained constant.Lihua suddenly became the leader of the fast food industry in the capital.

"Isn't a crisis a business opportunity? In fact, under special circumstances, people's request for it is a kind of trust, that is, I trust you. Because at that time, everyone knew that it was a matter of life and death. If you don't do it well, you can endanger it immediately Who can you trust when life and death are at stake? People can trust that if you eat Lihua fast food, the hygiene of Lihua fast food, the operation of Lihua fast food, the brand of Lihua fast food, and the entire operating system of Lihua fast food can be trusted. If it is trustworthy, it should be said that this kind of trust has provided Lihua with a good brand value." Jiang Jianping said with emotion. "Trust these two words, gold is not exchanged for it." An accidental event attracted the attention of many media in East China and triggered a great discussion among readers. Behind the marketing of this event, Lihua became the biggest winner. Not long after Lihua entered Shanghai, scavengers continued to pick up whole bags of rice in the trash cans along Dapu Road and Xianxia Road, ranging from a few catties to hundreds of catties.According to reports from nearby residents, the rice was poured by some young people wearing red shirts from "Lihua Express". It turns out that "throw away if you can't sell it all out" is the practice of "Lihua Fast Food".The purpose of doing so is to fulfill its business promise of "sell products on the same day, and overnight meals will no longer be sold to consumers". However, this approach made many people feel distressed.Many people think that the phenomenon of overnight meals being sold the next day is common in the food industry, and it would be a pity to throw away the delicious rice.Another point of view is that rice should be thrown away if it cannot be sold out. This actually reflects the collision between traditional concepts and modern management concepts. "Lihua Fast Food" is one of the symbols of the progress of Chinese fast food by dumping the rice that cannot be sold out. The big discussion lasted for half a month, and the worthless "overnight meal" "murdered" a lot of media space and time, and Lihua's popularity in the local area increased rapidly.Every time Lihua goes to a city, there are always some practices that attract media attention, so Lihua always gives Lihua some free advertisements. "We definitely didn't do it on purpose. Lihua has always operated strictly according to the prescribed procedures. Of course, it is still very novel for a strange city." Jiang Jianxin said it very plainly, and I knew that he was secretly happy. Within the area promised by Lihua, if the delivery is not delivered within half an hour, subscribers can enjoy free fast food. Not only will Lihua not take any money, but the delivery staff will also say "I'm sorry." In order to test whether this is a gimmick played by Lihua, the Beijing TV News Center made a special news.The reporter from the TV station ordered fast food from Lihua in a relatively remote place, and it was estimated that it would not be easy to get there in 30 minutes.Sure enough, Lihua's food delivery staff arrived at 37 minutes.The sweaty delivery man didn't give any reason, but said sincerely: "I'm sorry for the delay in your meal. In order to express my apology, Lihua will not charge you any fees. Please take care of me next time. "And it was all captured on hidden cameras. "We didn't know until the news was broadcast that night." Jiang Jianping said, "We are very grateful to this reporter. Truth is the best advertisement." With its sincere service, Lihua Express not only impressed the Chinese people, but also opened the doors of many embassies in Beijing.In order to make it easier for foreigners to order food, the company has specially assigned English-speaking operators and dispatched more than 10 food delivery staff to deliver food to the embassy area.The embassy area is generally heavily guarded, and it is difficult for outsiders to enter, but Lihua’s food delivery staff are very familiar with the guards because they often deliver food, and they can enter directly by bicycle, which is not available to other food delivery companies "Courtesy". Jiang Jianxin believes that the reason for Lihua's success is that the service is in place, the embassy's work efficiency is high, and the working hours are particularly tight. Lihua promises to deliver within half an hour, which is convenient and fast. The biggest food problem is safety. In order to ensure safety, Lihua Fast Food has passed the certification of the 2000 International Quality System, HACCP Food Safety Control System, and ISO14001 Environmental Management System.Strictly follow the requirements of the Food Hygiene Law to purchase raw materials from excellent manufacturers who have passed ISO9002 certification. "This is just a basic requirement." Jiang Jianping said, "We not only need to eat safely, but also eat nutritiously." As people's requirements for nutrition are getting higher and higher, Lihua took the lead in playing the "nutrition brand" in the fast food industry .They spent a lot of money to import equipment from abroad, set up laboratories for nutrition and hygiene indicators, and hired nutrition experts to make scientific and most nutritional combinations for each type of meal. They matched meat and vegetables with three different grades of fast food of 10 yuan, 15 yuan and 20 yuan, and the calories, protein, vitamins and other nutrients contained in each set of fast food were marked with numerical values. Is it really nutritious to eat, or is it just a gimmick played by Lihua?Your mouth is the best tester, try it. Lihua sticks to one principle: no store sales.Low-cost expansion is the foundation of our survival. If five years ago, the fast food industry was not considered a meager profit industry, then with the rise in housing prices, meat and vegetables, and labor, it has really become a meager profit industry.Lihua's per-serve prices have never risen, but it has been expanding rapidly.The secret here is to control costs. Jiang Jianping has better calculations than anyone else. Jiang Jianping's "specialize in take-out, not dine-in" is essentially the internationally popular "sales without stores". This special business model ensures that Lihua Express can enter every city and expand at low cost.The rich factories and warehouses of local enterprises can become the chain stores of Lihua Fast Food. A few years ago, when Jiang Jianping decided to enter Beijing, the fast food market in Beijing was almost saturated. He said: "We still use the method of leasing, but this leasing is different. I have used some canteens that are idle in Beijing society, including many state-owned enterprises and institutions. We can modify them slightly and all the standards can be satisfied. To achieve sanitation, to achieve environmental protection, to achieve its operation and production indicators. In this way, our initial investment cost is very low." Jiang Jianping took a slant and started by contracting the canteen of the Electronics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, serving staff meals as well as fast food. This way, the investment is small and the effect is quick; from this, it is like a spark that started a prairie fire, and quickly entered Lihua Fast Food into Beijing. Jiang Jianping said: "House prices in Beijing are among the best in the country. If you want to open so many stores, it is impossible for you to contract or buy them. So we still adhere to this principle: I pointed out that survival first, Post-development, but also the principle of low-cost development and low-cost expansion.” Although Lihua is considered "rich and powerful" among her peers, they have always been "stingy" in publicity.They always enter a city in a low-key manner, and hardly do big hard advertising. They will do a warm-up through the public relations company first, and post some topics about white-collar dining and nutritious fast food in several major local media. Lihua does not need to bring any obvious effect to their sales, "We just tell us The target audience: the 'wolf' of the fast food industry is coming." Jiang Jianxin said. Of course, they waited until the network matured, and then began to launch some soft articles in a planned way.After the market is detonated, regular image promotion will be carried out. "Generally speaking, it is a step-by-step process and doing what we can." Jiang Jianxin said, "We are not reluctant to invest, but strive to obtain better benefits with the least investment." With the expansion of the demand for food delivery, everyone knows that it is necessary to increase investment, but there are no more idle funds in hand, what should we do? Jiang Jianping's solution is simple: rent.He even rented a car with him. "Renting people and cars together not only satisfies the shortfall in my funds, but also meets the market's demand for fast service and large-scale food delivery. There are a large number of such services in the society. There is such a team with motorcycles in it, so it means that we moved it over and used it for us. I just took such a measure, which is very good, so this is very effective and practical.” Jiang Jianping Say.Many fast food restaurants have learned this trick. In short, Jiang Jianping is ambitious, and his goal is to send Lihua's fast food out of China and to the world.I really hope that when I arrive in Paris or New York one day, when the word "bird" comes out of my mouth, I can make a phone call and have an authentic Chinese fast food in 30 minutes.