The East West Hospitality Scribe

Who Will Win The Ice Cream Wars in China?

 

There is a major war going on in the China ice cream market as all the key international ice cream players fight it out for a slice of market share.  Some take the retail store route like Cold Stone Creamery (Cold Stone) , Baskin Robbins (BR) and Dairy Queen (DQ).  Others the on premise route in restaurants and hotels like Movenpick (Owned by Nestle) .  Some the supermarket and independent mom and pop route like Nestle and Unilever.  One does all three very successfully - Haagen-Dazs.  And then there are McDonald's and KFC selling soft serve for only 2.5 Rmb.  Who has the winning strategy?

Is There A Link Between Color Pepper Prices and Hotel Occupancy in China?

Zhang Yin, a Beijing-based analyst with Hu Jie Investment Advisory Service, seems to think so.  Color peppers are a key ingredient in the salad served in four and five star restaurants in China and could be a reliable index for the luxury hotels business.  Red peppers are meant of course to spice up food while green peppers add flavor and aroma.  In the past few weeks, the price of color peppers have been on the rise since hitting bottom in late 2008 according to the April 26 issue of the CHINA DAILY.  According to the article, color pepper vendors in Beijing had the worst year in 2008 despite the Olympic Games, forcing them to dump large quantities every few days because of the lack of demand.   

Update on McDonald's in China - Price Cutting is no Nirvana!

McDonald's has high hopes for the China market and a burning desire to overtake KFC over time and establish their brand as #1 in the QSR category.  That won't be easy considering the KFC market lead made possible by a prior association with PepsiCo, the parent company at the time. (Excess cash flow from the beverage and snack food divisions were able to fund heavy investments in the 1990's in store development and infrastructure.)  McDonald's took a very dramatic step early this year by slashing prices up to 33% to gain market share and give better value to Chinese customers while at the same time increasing their store development plans. But has it hurt or helped the Brand with Chinese customers?

What is Marks and Spencer Thinking in Shanghai?

 

I was anxious to stop by and take a look at the Marks and Spencer outlet that opened last October on Nanjing West Road in the heart of Puxi in Shanghai.  I had the opportunity in between business meetings last Monday to take a look and unfortunately I was very unimpressed.  M&S has a great name in the UK retailing industry and I have always been a fan of their reasonably priced clothes and great prepared meals.  Their Hong Kong stores have always been a great disappointment to me and it seems that they are starting off in China by cloning a similar format - namely catering to the expatriate population and foreign tourists.