[Big read] Chinese F&B boosts chances of overseas success with high efficiency and output

At the two Singapore outlets of Chinese barbecue restaurant Meow Barbecue (猫抓烤肉), the team observes a strict “time limit” of two minutes and 30 seconds in serving the classic BBQ platter, twice as fast as the average five minutes and 16 seconds at their outlets in China.

How do they manage “speed without chaos”? In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Meow Barbecue founder Fang Daqing explained that the restaurant uses a set of “efficiency methodologies”; one way is to prepare frequently ordered items in advance according to past sales and customer preferences, to shorten serving time.

Meow Barbecue has 17 outlets across mainland China. In 2022, the brand launched its international expansion, and has since opened two outlets in Singapore and one in Hong Kong. Faced with the realities of high rental and labour costs in both cities, Fang realised that only data-driven, precision management would allow the business to gain a foothold abroad.

Fang’s efficiency methodology also includes other measures, such as calculating the staff’s step counts and planning service routes.

He explained: “The front-of-house staff in our Singapore restaurants is only half the number in China, so efficiency must improve. For example, how many steps does a server take each day? Which are effective steps, and which are not? After serving dishes, can they collect empty plates on the way back? This way, there’s no need to walk back and forth unnecessarily — it cuts down on inefficient movements.”

Fang has also implemented the standardised management system he refined in China at his overseas outlets: staff must complete 122 fixed inspection items daily, covering the dining area, kitchen and dishwashing zone, from hygiene details to food safety procedures, with about a dozen staff members working in tandem.

Meow Barbecue is one of many Chinese F&B brands riding the wave of overseas expansion in recent years. Since 2023, as competition in China’s domestic food and beverage sector has intensified, many brands have accelerated their international push, with categories like hotpot, BBQ, bubble tea and coffee rapidly entering global markets, Southeast Asia being one of the hottest destinations.

According to the Chinese F&B in Southeast Asia report published by consulting firm Momentum Works, as of the end of 2024, over 60 Chinese F&B brands have opened more than 6,100 outlets across Southeast Asia, with Singapore and Malaysia hosting the highest concentration of these brands.

To stand out in overseas markets, the extreme efficiency and cost-control skills honed in China’s 1.4 billion-strong consumer market have become key competitive advantages.

As a strong advocate for boosting efficiency and reducing cost, Fang Daqing revealed that thanks to various workflow systems he implemented, kitchen efficiency at the Singapore outlets is now 2.3 times higher than in China, a figure calculated by dividing total kitchen hours by number of dishes served.

He said: “The F&B market in China is highly competitive, and businesses there tend to push much deeper into areas like product development, operational efficiency and customer experience.”

This pursuit of “extreme efficiency” not only relies on meticulous KPI-driven performance management but also on advanced technological systems, a trump card for well-funded Chinese restaurant chains.

Freelance consultant and former adviser to a chain tea brand, Singapore F&B consultant Lim Zhi Liang shared in an interview that many large Chinese beverage brands are leveraging sophisticated Internet of Things (IoT) and big data technologies, with store operations advancing to the point of “one-click end-to-end automation”, where staff barely need to make drinks by hand.

Lin described these smart systems as “amazing”: once a customer places an order, the order data is sent directly to the tea-brewing machine. All staff need to do is press a button, and the system automatically dispenses the ingredients according to the set formula.

As a result, employees no longer need to mix or measure manually — they just add ice, shake, pour, scan the order code and the system announces the collection number to the customer.

What is more impressive is that the operations of thousands of outlets worldwide can be remotely controlled from headquarters in China. For example, if the water quantity for a specific drink needs to be reduced from 4000ml to 3000ml, headquarters can adjust it in the central system, and all stores will update in real time.

In-store digital menu boards and promotional visuals are also regularly updated; not by staff, but pushed centrally from China.

Lin quipped with a laugh: “All the staff need to do is turn the TV on and off.”

The key advantage of these high-tech systems is their ability to save manpower and boost efficiency. Lim noted that compared to some local bubble tea brands, Chinese tea chains typically require less than half the training time for new staff.

So does fully automated, highly standardised bubble tea fall short in taste compared to handcrafted versions? For some customers, the latter may feel more refined and personal.

But in Lim’s view, if manual preparation involves ten steps, each step introduces the possibility of error. By contrast, automation ensures precise ratios and consistent processes, which may actually help maintain higher quality.

Another major trump card for large Chinese F&B chains expanding abroad is their strong control over the supply chain. Today, many brands have built large-scale factories and production bases in China, eliminating the need to rely on intermediaries for sourcing ingredients and materials.

Well-funded brands are going even further by setting up factories overseas. According to the 2024 China F&B Global Expansion Report (《中国餐饮出海发展报告2024》) by the Hongcan Industry Research Institute, more and more brands are striving for globalised supply chains. For instance, bubble tea giant Mixue Ice Cream and Tea has established subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Vietnam to procure food ingredients, packaging, equipment and operational supplies.

Coffee chain Luckin Coffee has recently taken supply chain control to the next level by “leasing” entire islands in Indonesia. In March this year, the company signed an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding with the Banggai Islands Regency Government in Indonesia to develop the area as an exclusive production base for coconut milk, a key ingredient in its popular Coconut Latte. The deal grants Luckin exclusive procurement rights to the island’s coconut resources.

An analysis in the National Business Daily said while this “co-developing production base” model involves considerable upfront investment, brands are betting on long-term advantages. Once distribution costs are lowered in the future, it will support their pricing strategy and enhance competitiveness in the global market.  

It is precisely through integrated supply chains combined with efficient operations that some Chinese coffee and tea brands have gained a pricing advantage, enabling them to rapidly capture market share and expand at high speed.

The scientific management practices of Chinese F&B chains also extend to service quality and staff incentive systems.

Felix Ren, founder of Singapore-based food & beverage consultancy Wemedia Consulting, who has worked with several Chinese restaurant brands, cited renowned hotpot chain Haidilao as an example: “Many people know Haidilao is famous for its excellent service, but the key question is: how do they consistently motivate their staff to deliver such service? Behind it lies a very powerful system.”

Ren explained that on the cultural level, Haidilao emphasises the idea of “changing your fate with your own hands”, promoting the belief that working there can be life-changing. This corporate culture helps transform the employer-employee relationship from a transactional one to a shared mission of co-creation.

In addition, Ren noted that Haidilao was one of the first F&B companies in China to adopt a piece-rate compensation model, where earnings are based on productivity — the more you do, the more you earn.

The definition of “more” even includes entertaining guests with talents. In 2023, an employee at a Haidilao branch in China went viral for performing the viral “Subject Three” (科目三) dance, sparking a nationwide trend. Rumours circulated that dancing employees earned higher pay.

Haidilao later responded by confirming that the company encourages staff to combine their unique talents with customer preferences to innovate. It also regularly holds competitions for roles such as face-changing performers and noodle dancers. Under the piece-rate wage system, employees who are acknowledged by customers are rewarded accordingly.

The finely tuned “operations manuals” developed by Chinese F&B brands may not be fully replicable in overseas markets. Take the “more work, more pay” corporate culture, for example — the expectations tied to “doing more” may not be easily embraced by local staff.

Malaysian F&B operator and managing director of Grand Meltique Food Trading, Koh Lee Pang, explained in an interview: “The Chinese market is extremely competitive. Chinese bosses may assume that Malaysian Chinese workers should hustle just like those in China, working over ten hours a day.”

However, Koh pointed out that Malaysian employees are unlikely to accept the intense “996” work culture (9 am to 9 pm, six days a week): “If the job is too exhausting, people simply won’t stay.”

Another major obstacle Chinese restaurant brands face when going global is the difficulty of transferring China’s highly advanced digital payment systems.

Felix Ren explained that Chinese restaurants often rely on WeChat-based payment systems that are deeply integrated with their internal finance and POS systems. In Singapore, however, the diversity of payment platforms and messaging apps — along with the imposition of service charges and GST — makes it difficult to directly apply the same systems.

Overall, Ren believes the core strength of Chinese brands expanding abroad lies in their capacity for “group-style operations” — a strategic playbook honed through relentless refinement in China’s intensely competitive environment.

“In such an environment, the market forces you to slow down, reflect on your journey, distill what works, and then take the next step forward.”

Faced with the aggressive and highly efficient strategies of Chinese “cross-border dragons”, local Singapore F&B operators are under growing competitive pressure. Unable to replicate the same models, they are turning inward, digging deep into their own strengths and exploring alternative approaches.

Fong Chi Chung, founder of the Singapore-based Putien restaurant group, described the impact of Chinese F&B brands on local players in stark terms:

“This new wave of players, they don’t say hello when they arrive… The market used to be too comfortable, with enough pork to go around. But now, you can’t control how others fight.”

Founded in Singapore, Putien now operates dozens of outlets in both Singapore and China. When asked whether local businesses can learn from Chinese competitors’ playbooks, Fong was frank: “It’s very difficult, extremely difficult. These companies have already been through multiple rounds of intense competition in massive markets. If you try to fight them using their own tactics now, you’re setting yourself up for defeat.”

Ultimately, practices such as “extreme efficiency” and “globalised supply chains” require significant financial resources and depend heavily on a company’s ambition and capacity to expand; conditions smaller local brands often cannot meet.

Software development is a case in point. One local operator revealed that building a relatively comprehensive in-house app could cost up to S$100,000 (US$77,720). Even if small or mid-sized companies are willing to invest for improved efficiency, they still need to assess whether the return justifies the cost. As F&B consultant Lim Zhi Liang put it: “If you only have one or two outlets, how could that kind of spending be worthwhile?”

The speed at which Chinese chains open new locations also leaves most local players far behind. Malaysian F&B operator Koh Lee Pang noted that many Chinese restaurant brands entering Malaysia are backed by deep-pocketed investors, capable of opening a new outlet every one or two months while simultaneously launching aggressive marketing campaigns. This allows them to dilute average promotional costs and boost brand visibility more effectively. 

Compared to their Chinese counterparts, Malaysian F&B operators tend to expand at a more conservative pace, often waiting to recoup investment from their first store before opening a second. The interval between outlets typically ranges from one to one and a half years.

With limited resources, what local players can realistically learn from Chinese restaurant brands are lower-cost tactics, particularly in marketing.

Koh cited one such adoptable strategy of turning the business owner or founder into a public-facing figure to build a personal IP (or personal brand).

He pointed out that many Chinese F&B founders now appear on camera themselves, shooting short videos or livestreaming to attract nearby customers and drive foot traffic to their stores. “Many Malaysian operators have become more aware of the competition and have started experimenting with short videos to grow their influence.”

Fong Chi Chung echoed this view, noting that instead of trying to go head-to-head with battle-tested Chinese brands in the same competitive lane, local operators should double down on what they do best, and amplify those unique strengths to find breakout opportunities.

Using Putien as an example, Fong noted the brand’s key advantage lies in its seasonal ingredient sourcing and its ability to maintain an average spending of about S$27 per person. “I believe that’s my forte, and I’ll keep building on it.”

While Chinese F&B brands are storming the overseas market with impressive speed, most industry insiders interviewed believe that their presence does not constitute a “dimensionality-reduction blow” (降维打击) to local players. These Chinese brands also have vulnerabilities, and the long-term viability of their aggressive strategies remains to be seen.  

Fong emphasised that local F&B brands possess many home-ground advantages that are difficult for overseas entrants to replicate. One key edge lies in their deeper understanding of Singapore’s rental market, labour dynamics, and ingredient costs.

He explained that some foreign operators may be willing to take up retail spaces even if rents are 30% higher, but this could ultimately result in a mismatch between costs and revenue, and such problems might only become apparent three to five years down the road.

Felix Ren added that local brands are often more familiar with the nuances of individual neighborhood malls and can more effectively liaise with special venues such as airport terminals. This gives them more accurate insight into rent benchmarking, foot traffic forecasts and local consumer spending power. “These are areas that overseas brands often overlook at the outset.”

Fong said of the long-term prospects of Chinese “cross-border dragons”: “Those who come mostly don’t survive.” In his view, entering a new market requires the mindset of starting from scratch, as success cannot simply be copied and pasted. “Going overseas may be the current trend, but if you’re not prepared, it’s more like jumping into the sea.”

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “高效高产推高胜率 中国餐饮出海抢滩”.

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