Yum! chewing hard to digest Chinese fast food
By Chang Tianle (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-08-19 10:21

Many residents in Dahua, one of the largest residential areas in north Shanghai, noticed a new brand Chinese-style fast food outlet three months ago.

But few of them realized that it is run by the same company which operates KFC and Pizza Hut that are just a few steps away.

Yum! Brands, which runs more than 1,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell outlets around the country, launched its first Chinese-style restaurant brand in a low profile way three months ago, reflecting Yum's ambition to appeal to Chinese stomachs.

The outlet's brand name East Dawning is excerpted from a famous Chinese poem written nearly 1,000 years ago. Over the counter a sign reads "Fast Food for Chinese People."

The new outlet serves more than 20 choices from Chinese noodles to dumplings, pig ears to fish balls, as well as Chinese desserts and drinks.

The service style is a mixture of KFC and Pizza Hut. Customers can get cold dishes immediately at the counter or wait at their tables for noodles and rice to come.

"We believe in the prospects of Chinese fast food and want to explore this market," Yum! Restaurants China's public relations director Wang Qun told China Daily in a telephone interview.

She said the new restaurant was a "learning and exploring process."

"We hope that our expertise in fast food will facilitate us in our new brand. Meanwhile, we are also aware that we are not experts in the Chinese food market and have a lot to learn," she said.

Actually, there are several well-established Chinese fast food chains competing head-to-head with KFC and McDonald's.

Yonghe King, a brand originally from Taiwan, announced in February that it planned to open around 1,000 new outlets in China in the next seven years.

Earlier, media reported that Yum planned to buy a well-established Chinese fast food chain in Shanghai, but failed to complete the deal.

Experts point out that Yum! will face a huge challenge entering the Chinese-style food market.

A local newspaper reported that the revenue of East Dawning so far is only one-tenth of other Yum! outlets.

Although East Dawning is located at a busy hypermarket, people usually pass it by instead of going into it and trying its fare.

By comparison, Yum!'s KFC and Pizza Hut never lack customers.

Wang refused to release results of the operation's three month trial run, saying "the prospect is not clear."

She also refused to say whether Yum! planned to open more East Dawning restaurants later on.

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