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2008年,塔可贝尔(Taco Bell)关闭了中国最后一家分店,自此退出中国市场。时隔九年,塔可贝尔重新进驻上海,宣告正式回归中国市场也已有半年了。如今在陆家嘴的店面生意火爆。我一直钟爱这家餐厅,现在我觉得是时候去店里看看了。我的点评如下。

1.真的很棒——至少比美国的塔可要棒

我可是塔可的头号粉丝。我在加利福尼亚州康克德市长大,我家附近就有一家塔可门店。过去一到两个月,我曾光顾塔可上海、纽约以及在多米尼加的门店。我可能不是专家,但我绝对算知之甚多的了。

总体而言,上海门店对塔可的菜单进行了重新构思。百盛公司也尽其所能,打造了许多新的菜品。如牛油果虾卷、火山鸡肉卷饼、烤鸡牛油果餐以及加利福尼亚阳光套餐等。这些餐点在肯德基和必胜客也有差不多的菜品。此外,百盛中国(应中国市场所需)发展的很快,也很大胆。注:正是这个团队选择将牛蛙和鹌鹑蛋加进了必胜客(中国)的菜单。

在对菜单进行改造后,塔可上海的菜单上基本就没有什么西方的痕迹了。菜单上没有米饭、没有豌豆、也没有煎饼。不过却增加了多种果汁、甜品、啤酒、鸡尾酒、沙拉、华夫饼以及其他一些新品。

总体而言,塔可上海的食物还是不错的。在美国的时候,我一个月最多也就去一两次塔可,因为里面的食物偏快餐风格。但上海的塔可,我愿意一直去吃,它一点也不像快餐,这也就是我要说的第二点。

2.塔可贝尔由快餐向“新鲜健康”食物的转型

他们目前正在推出“新鲜健康”食物,这在当今的中国市场十分重要。在外面的展板上,我们可以看到“新鲜、健康”这几个字眼(旁边写着‘裸夏’)。大多套餐都有沙拉和果汁。虽然他们的菜品外多多少少都披着一层“油炸”外衣,这些美味诱人的食品均在透明厨房中制作,厨师们都是戴着口罩和手套做菜的,消费者可以眼观看整个过程。在他们身后的墙上都是一些(假的)蔬菜与水果。

这种“健康新鲜”的定位在中国不是什么新鲜事了,中国的中产阶层现在很推崇健康生活与饮食。同时塔可还兼具国外品牌的优势,其食物质量深受顾客信任。不管是在饭店,还是在超市,新鲜健康的食物似乎就等同于高价—这也就到了我们要说的第三点。

3.改走“加利福尼亚”路线,定价更加亲民

不可否认,他们从来没有在任何场合提过自己是墨西哥食物,实际上,唯一能让我联想到它是墨西哥食物的也就是“Live Mas”中的“mas”了。(见上图)

相反,他们给自己改造为中国人更熟悉的“加州食物”。墙上写着加利福尼亚,杯子上印着“首创于加利福尼亚”。墙上画着冲浪选手与吉他(见下图),天花板上悬挂有冲浪板。店内并没有戴着墨西哥大宽帽的服务员,也没有德克萨斯州的地图。

注意前面窗户上的冲浪者

外面的招牌上带着好莱坞及金门桥的标志。它的加利福尼亚定位也正好与“裸夏”相呼应。

它的定价符合中国中上阶层阶级的普通就餐标准,一顿饭在40-50人民币之间,甜品和饮料在15-30人民币之间,与必胜客价格差不多,但要高于肯德基的价位(传统快餐)。当然,这几类快餐都比中国本土的快餐要贵,如永和豆浆,一顿价位在20人民币左右。

这一举动非常明智。这针对中国全新升级的塔可正是中国客户想要百盛做的,而他们也确实做到了,而且做的很好。相比塔可在西方国家的表现,我对塔可中国的爱可以达到它的三倍还多。

但是……(这篇文章终归要反转,你们懂的。)

中国客户究竟有多喜欢玉米饼呢?

这毕竟是一个很关键的问题。你可以在菜单上附加一些食物,你可以把店面装修的很漂亮,但塔可最终提供的不过就是那三四道主菜:卷饼、墨西哥饼、玉米片和玉米饼。自从去年该项目宣布开始之时,我就一直很想知道,中国客户究竟是有多喜欢这些菜品。我担心的不是他们不喜欢这些菜品,我所担心的是,如果是从1到10打分的话,会不会他们的打分都在5分左右,也就是一般般而已。

如果有人对你们店菜品的评价是一般般,你会怎么做?你可以重新开列新的菜单,舍弃一些没什么人点的菜,像豌豆玉米卷。但如果你的菜单里没一个是大热的菜品呢?

我们把塔可和中国大热的肯德基做个对比。据首席执行官Mickey Pant所说,肯德基仅靠炸鸡这一单品就能风靡全国。如果是按1-10打分的话,它能打11分。必胜客的披萨也很受欢迎(打分可能再7-8分的样子,仅是猜测)。

所以说,中国客户究竟是有多喜欢玉米饼、玉米卷和墨西哥夹饼呢?6个月过去了,百盛中国现在应该知道答案了——他们表现地还是很明显的。2017年第二季度,百盛在中国开设了90家肯德基及必胜客门店。但他们并没有再新开任何一家塔可贝尔(据我所知是这样,或者他们正在规划,我就不得而知了)。

将此情景与目前狂热的火锅店做个对比,当中国顾客发现一项新的玩意的时候,通常这项事物会井喷式火爆,但塔可中国却没有出现这样的现象。

百盛中国最新的季度报表中有一项吸引了我的眼球。就是“我们对中国市场的肯德基、必胜客以及塔可(在达成一些约定的条件的基础上)拥有独家经营权及分销权”。

我很好奇这些“约定的条件”究竟是什么。如果说再开一家或几家塔可门店都不算是约定的条件的话,我还真不太相信。所以说,2017年,他们就算是为了保全这些权利,也一定会开至少一家塔可门面的。当然,我只是这么猜测而已。

4.中国餐饮业处境艰难

我曾经参与过3家餐馆的筹备项目,这不是闹着玩的,过程非常艰辛,如果你是想做运营者的话,你需要很多运营经验,又没有什么优势(当然,加盟商会轻松一些)。我的经验就是,你每周要大概要做1000件事情(人员、供给、线上商铺、翻新、市场等等)。但是真正关键的有两点:你的主菜单的受欢迎程度(能扛得住客户喜好的改变)以及你的管理能力与速度。虽说随着你的规模变大,你就能获得规模优势,但这两个因素依然是最重要的两项。

在过去的20年里,百盛在中国市场有两个非常受欢迎的品牌(肯德基和必胜客),同时配备了一支非常棒的管理团队,该团队之前由Samuel Su执掌,现在由Micky Pant执掌。他们表现优秀,前途一片光明,此外,他们目前正在推进会员计划及外送服务。

不过他们的成功在中国餐饮业并不常见,市场已经被数百万家的餐饮店瓜分了,大家疯狂地相互竞争。在这样的情况下,大多数海外品牌是无法显露头角的。

这是一个残忍的市场,《一小时读懂中国消费者》是我写得最得意、但读者寥寥无几的一本书。在这本书里,我称中国餐厅为“运营马拉松”。这是一场永远不会结束的比赛,没有多大优势,但挑战却不少——包括无情的竞争对手和善变的客户。我一直给出的建议就是:你不会选择去肯尼亚与人比赛长袍,你也不会选择去中国,与人竞争餐饮业。

对于塔可中国下一步会怎么走,我拭目以待。但那里确实是个吃饭的好去处。百盛表现不俗,但在中国市场,做到这样还是不够的。

感谢您的阅读—陶迅(Jeff)

我的写作内容主要涵盖: “E时代下中国消费者对全球市场所带来的影响”

Photos by Jeff

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