Quanjude General Manager Zhou Yanlong: One Product, One Strategy; Three-Step Approach to Rebuild Reputation

Translated from: China Securities Journal

Under the dual pressures of structural adjustments in the catering industry and a weak recovery in consumption, Quanjude Group, which has a century-old brand, is accelerating its transformation. Recently, in an exclusive interview with China Securities Journal, Zhou Yanlong, President of the Beijing Culinary Association and Party Secretary, Director, and General Manager of China Quanjude Group, stated that the company is striving to improve the uneven development of its sub-brands and is formulating differentiated development paths based on the historical foundations and current status of each brand. Regarding the reconstruction of its reputation, he proposed a three-step approach from “awakening” to “restoration” and then to “returning to leadership,” aiming for a comprehensive return from customer flow to reputation.

Promoting simultaneous advancement of sub-brands

For some time, Quanjude has faced the issue of uneven development among its sub-brands. Among them, the main brand “Quanjude” stands out alone, while the development of the three time-honored brands—Sichuan Restaurant, Fengze Garden, and Fangshan Restaurant—has lagged behind, becoming a contradiction that needs to be resolved.

“Sichuan Restaurant achieved a certain scale in Beijing from the 1990s to the early 2000s, and both its survival rate and profitability were very good,” Zhou Yanlong recalled. “But later, due to factors such as property lease expiration and team transitions, only the single store in Xinjiekou struggled to sustain itself.” To enable these four time-honored brands to advance simultaneously, Quanjude Group completed a structural adjustment for Sichuan Restaurant’s corporate governance in 2025, clarifying a development strategy of “one product, one strategy.” The so-called “one product, one strategy” means formulating differentiated development paths based on the historical foundations and current status of each brand.

Sichuan Restaurant has been chosen as the testing ground for a breakthrough. It has a relatively light operational weight and has officially become a time-honored brand in Beijing, providing the basis for chain development. Recently, the “Sichuan Restaurant Beichen Guohui Store” opened at the National Conference Center Hotel.

Zhou Yanlong introduced that in 2025, the Sichuan Restaurant brand will be highlighted again, pursuing a chain development path and planning its product line, supply chain, and talent pipeline. In the first half of this year, one new store has opened, and another is in preparation, with an expectation to open two to three stores within the year, and future speed will be even faster. “If the Sichuan Restaurant brand develops successfully, it will serve as a good example for Fengze Garden. The brand positioning of Fangshan Restaurant is relatively unique, and chain development is not being considered in the short term, focusing more on product output,” Zhou Yanlong said. The ultimate goal for each brand is to develop healthily and independently, and in the future, “Quanjude should not always be the unshakable leader; we should allow other brands to run as well.”

Focusing on youthfulness and reputation reconstruction

Faced with the generational shift in consumer groups, the youthfulness of time-honored brands is an unavoidable topic.

Zhou Yanlong believes that Quanjude’s practices for youthfulness have been validated, and the key lies in reaching new groups through new channels and expressions. However, he pointed out a core difference: “New brands say ‘let you know me,’ while time-honored brands say ‘make you remember me.’ But the goal is to ensure you have me in your life.”

To make consumers “remember” Quanjude, the company has been working hard in recent years to shed the singular label of “tourist store” through store renovations and product innovation. Zhou Yanlong observed that the thematic restaurant renovations, represented by the Peace Gate store, have led to a significant return of local and younger customers. “It used to be mostly large tables for ten or more people; now it’s mostly six to eight people. Family structures are changing, and our service needs to change accordingly.” He also mentioned that the sales growth of new products like milk skin yogurt and “Shangshangqian” has a very high proportion of young people; the in-depth positive reviews generated spontaneously by young consumers on social platforms like Xiaohongshu are also increasing, all of which confirm the changes in customer demographics.

However, reversing the reputation is not an overnight task. When asked about the progress of reputation reconstruction, Zhou Yanlong cautiously provided a figure: “One-third.” He divided this process into three steps: the first step is “awakening,” which sends the signal to the market that “Quanjude is changing” through store renovations and new store openings; the second step is “restoration,” aimed at allowing consumers to rebuild a positive perception of Quanjude through return and experience, reaching 50% to 60% of the peak reputation level; the third step is “returning to leadership,” where customer flow reaches historical highs.

“Beijing customers are really quite lovely; they have affection for Quanjude,” Zhou Yanlong expressed. “They hope for your success. I think we should seize this opportunity to truly do our own things well.” In his view, addressing consumer reputation is currently a higher priority; only by letting more people rediscover and return to consumption can economic benefits be generated, ultimately restoring confidence in the capital market.

Exploring new paths in the food sector

The 2025 performance forecast indicates that the company’s net profit, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, is in a loss state, which means the main business still faces challenges. Against this backdrop, Quanjude’s dual-drive strategy of “catering + food” is particularly important. Recently, the food product “Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup,” newly launched by Quanjude, represents a new attempt in the food sector.

Zhou Yanlong’s positioning on this is quite pragmatic. The choice of this category is because it aligns with Quanjude’s culinary style of duck ingredients, and the market has not yet formed an absolute monopoly, with high consumer awareness. However, he does not plan to assign overly high strategic expectations to this new product. “It is just one of the new products; we’ll talk about strategy once it is successful,” Zhou Yanlong admitted. “Launching new products is a norm in the fast-moving consumer goods sector; opportunities like selling a roasted duck for twenty or thirty years won’t happen again. Constantly innovating and allowing for trial and error—I believe eventually we will have products that belong to us and are recognized by consumers.” In his view, this product is the “vanguard” of the food sector in 2026 and is a positive attempt to respond to consumer needs.

From a longer-term perspective, the launch of Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup is a concrete practice of Quanjude Group’s four major brands jointly serving the food sector strategy. Zhou Yanlong revealed that if products related to Shandong cuisine are launched in the future, they may use the Fengze Garden brand; spicy products might belong to the Sichuan Restaurant’s sub-brand “Chuanlaoda.” Traditional products such as vacuum-roasted duck and sauce duck still need upgrades, while other brands have more opportunities to explore in the food sector.

Whether through the multi-brand “one product, one strategy” or the continuous innovation in the food sector, Quanjude is attempting to break the internal dilemma of uneven development and respond to external market expectations for time-honored brands. “Layered consumer demand” and “changing cost structures” are real challenges, while Zhou Yanlong’s three-step approach from “awakening” to “restoration” and then to “returning to leadership” is the path set by this time-honored brand. The fact that reputation reconstruction is only one-third complete indicates that there is still a long way to go, but the return of local customers, the attention of young consumers, and the trials of new stores and products may already hint at some positive signals.