Fast Food Goes Chinese 
New Asia Snack was established here in Shanghai seven years ago. Now it has grown into the biggest Chinese fast food company in China.
It should come as no surprise that Chinese food is hard to standardize considering the freshness and methods of preparation. However, New Asia Snack is famous for doing just that. Serving up various local shanghai snacks and traditional Chinese food, including fried bread sticks, soybean milk锛孋ookies, poached eggs锛宺oast chicken and most importantly, Chinese dumplings or Baozi. Achieving a high degree of standardization continues to be a major factor success.
The standardization and care put into New Asia Snack鈥檚 food is readily acknowledged by customers, many of whom are daily customers. They are also aware of the health benefits of Chinese cuisine over western fast food choices.
I am used to Chinese food, because I often feel uncomfortable in my stomach when eating western food.
McDonald鈥檚 and KFC sell mostly high energy foods. Chinese fast food on the other hand is relatively mild. I think that eating Chinese noodles is healthier than having western fast food.
Shanghai is not the only city with new Chinese fast food chains on the rise. Daniaoshuijiao is becoming a household name in Beijing.
Despite the natural difficulties of obtaining a high degree of standardization in the ingredients and preparation of Chinese dumplings, a remarkable degree of precision is attained by trained chefs. After kneading, dough is sliced and portioned by hand into individual dumpling balls each weighing between 8 and 10 grams.
After measuring, the dough balls are flattened and fresh ingredients added before the completed dumplings are measured one final time.
And it is exactly 20 grams per dumpling.
The dumplings are then boiled for 7 minutes and served to ever more discerning customers who demand consistent taste and quality.
It is outdated now to offer only one variety of a product. If we want our company to truly flourish, we need to improve our service, environmental management, and commercial advertisement.
Since 1993 when Lihua kuaican began filling orders, they have expanded their delivery stations thoughout the city to 82 locations and have become a leader in the local fast food delivery industry. All of this, without opening a single store front.
To ensure that the ideal of FAST food is met, we make use of high-tech communication technology including the internet. We have to transmit information to every service location as soon as possible.
What if we fail to deliver within half an hour? The meal is free.
We are living in a quick-fix society which stresses speed. Fast is the essence of fast food. If we hope to out perform our competitors, we have to provide fast and good service.
Orders are routed from the call center to the delivery station nearest the customer. Lihua Fast food is the first Chinese fast food delivery company utilizing the internet to ensure that orders are filled as fast as possible.
At the delivery station the order is printed, packaged and wrapped to ensure the food is fresh and at the correct temperature when the customer receives it. Delivery is made by motorcycle, bicycle or truck depending on the location and size on the order.
A delivery person may deliver as many as 100 orders in a single day. In recent years many foreign companies and even embassies have been placing orders adding an international dimension to the company.
鈥淚 like to have Chinese fast food. At least 4 or 5 times a week, you need western food once in a while to have a taste of home. But Chinese food is a lot cheaper and it is really really very good. It is not that unhealthy greasy American fast food we are accustomed to back home. And the variety and the price is very low. Chinese has a big variety of food, xin jiang , Beijing . Sichuan 鈥.鈥濃
That variety is easily sampled at shopping centers and in business districts where flourishing fast food restaurants specialize in different local snack and dishes. These restaurants cater to visitors from all over the country seeking a taste of home.
Chengdu xiaochi specializes in local dishes and flavors of Sichuan native. As expressed by this Chengdu native, tastes are largely regional in China, so what tastes good to the people living in one city may seem bland or too spicy in another city 銆
Differing regional preferences is a key challenge in the development of nation-wide fast food chains and is one reason that no Chinese fast food chain has succeeded in building a strong brand name comparable to KFC or McDonalds. Comparing the foods native to several different parts of China it is easy to understand how difficult it would be for one fast food chain to serve all varieties or even meet the drastically different flavor expectations of the people of China鈥檚 different regions. For example Dishes in the north tend to center around meat, while in Shanghai sweet delicacies in smaller portions are preferred, Henan dishes primarily consist of noodles while Guangdong residents prefer dim-sung.
Like many Chinese fast food chains Malan is also focused on serving a special mix of noodles. What is particularly unique is the restaurant鈥檚 d茅cor. Recognizing that people鈥檚 quality of life is on the rise and that Chinese are making choices now not only based on the price of menu items but also the overall dinning experience, this Malan restaurant is designed to attract higher income customers with more comfortable d茅cor and better service. Fast food restaurants such as these are labeled, 鈥淟eisure Diners鈥.
Malan is an example of the efforts many Chinese fast food restaurants are making to standardize not only menu items but service, environment and culture.
As an alternative training programme, this Chef鈥檚 competition is one way that Chinese fast food is trying to draw attention to the new level of service and quality they are reaching.
The best outcome of this contest is the exchange of cooking skills and knowledge. Through this contest, my cooking skills have improved. I appreciate this contest because of its simplicity and scale. Me, and many other contestants here, prepare cold dishes for Malan Noodles. It is the first time I have engaged in such a contest. I was impressed and I hope I will have opportunities take part in more contests like this one.
How can we provide good service? The answer is through training and the quality of staff members. For example, we have training courses for waitresses and chefs. In addition, we have our stores specially decorated. This way, our customers feel more at home when they are having meals in our stores. I hope our brand name and our efforts will be well received by more and more people.
The competitive spirit of Malan is evident not only in events such as these but also in their aggressive expansion plans. After experiencing success in the domestic market, Malan is actively reaching out to international markets to establish their brand name and open chain stores abroad.
Thanks to our government, fast food industries are going global. Malan Noodles has already launching overseas expansion plans. Now we have 4 overseas chain stores. Western fast food restaurants are making big money here, why cant we, Chinese fast food restaurants make big money overseas?
Editor:Hu Source:CCTV.com
