China's cuisines tickle global taste buds
Catering brands expand overseas even as they seek growth in domestic market
Australia, the US, Canada and the United Kingdom where there are high numbers of Chinese people among local populations, are also considered top destinations for catering brands.
In addition, thanks to the strong rebound of overseas travel, many catering brands have scaled up their reach to countries such as the United Arab Emirates, which are visited by an increasing number of Chinese travelers.
Such overseas expansions, however, have been testing the supply chains concerned. The catering industry is greatly influenced by the quality and supply of upstream ingredients. For customers, the consistency and quality of catering products are more important than taste and flavor, market insiders said.
In the Chinese food industry, Xibei Catering is one of the few dining brands that has achieved standardization. In China, Xibei's central kitchen ensures standardization across all its outlets, maintaining consistent portions and flavors, Song said.
This formula would be extended to its operations in the US. So, local procurement capacity is crucial. "If we cannot source ingredients from general suppliers or supermarkets, we won't even include them in our menu in the first place," Song said. "Any ingredients that require long-distance travel or are hard to secure will not find their consumers locally here in the US."
As Chinese restaurants continue to innovate and localize their offerings, they are poised to capture a boarder international market, meeting the diverse tastes of global consumers, market observers said.
Maymay Li, who has been living in Melbourne, Australia, for two decades, applauded the rise of Chinese restaurants and bubble tea houses such as Lanzhou Noodles, Mixue Bingcheng, Heytea and David Hotpot in the city.
"I used to miss Chinese food," said Li. "Now I feel I don't need to travel back to China just for Chinese food. Chinese cuisines and beverages are now available here in Australia that my friends in China enjoy. What's more, their businesses are booming."
wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn
