Zhang Liang Malatang: The Ambition and "Slow Philosophy" of a Global Leader
At 12 noon Pacific Time in the United States, Zhang Liang Malatang on the commercial street in San Mateo is at the peak dining time. The 300-square-meter store is full of people, and the long queue of diners waiting for a meal winds around the store for a full circle.
The average monthly customer flow of this store usually remains above 20,000 people, and the annual turnover exceeds 25 million RMB. Overseas stores with similar performance to the San Mateo store are not rare in Zhang Liang Malatang.
This malatang brand originated in Northeast China started its internationalization in 2019. Now, the number of its overseas stores has exceeded 100, spreading across 21 countries and regions around the world. In shopping malls in Thailand, next to office buildings in Japan, on the streets of New York... you can always bump into the orange, white, and black - colored "Zhang Liang Malatang" signboard.
More importantly, the consumption of Zhang Liang Malatang is no longer exclusive to the Chinese community and Asian communities. The local mainstream population overseas is including this cuisine from the eastern power in their daily diet. In the overseas market, consumers of Zhang Liang Malatang generally believe that a bowl of malatang represents a "quality daily meal".
As a leader in the wave of Chinese cuisine going global, Zhang Liang Malatang has promoted the international upgrade of the malatang category and created a successful model for Chinese cuisine enterprises going global. Behind this, we can see the gifts of the times, the strategic choices of the enterprise, and a long - standing long - termism issue.
01 The Malatang Model of Chinese Cuisine Going Global
In April 2025, Zhang Liang Malatang's store in Galeries Lafayette in Paris is making the final preparations before opening. It is expected to welcome customers that month, which will be the first store of Zhang Liang Malatang in France.
The store is adjacent to Galeries Lafayette. There are many international catering brands such as Starbucks and Burger King around it, and there are also many high - end luxury brands and quality - conscious consumers who pursue fashion trends.
From an industry perspective, the opening of the Galeries Lafayette store in Paris is an important part of Zhang Liang Malatang's strategic upgrade in the overseas market and another successful footnote for the catering brand in the new era of exploration.
Back in 2019, when Zhang Liang Malatang officially launched the strategic layout of global store chains, the story of Chinese cuisine going global had reached its fourth season.
At that time, with the rise of the Chinese economy and the enhancement of cultural influence, Chinese cuisine going global had a more solid foundation. At the same time, thanks to the spread of social media, it had laid a market foundation for Chinese cuisine brands to go global and break through the circle. In addition, the highly competitive environment in the domestic catering market also made "going global" a strategic choice for leading brands with certain standardized operation capabilities.
In this year, Zhang Liang Malatang established a perfect franchise system, product R & D system, and digital operation capabilities. It achieved full coverage of the storage system for stores, formed a rich matrix - style product structure, and the number of global chain stores exceeded 4,500.
With solid internal strength and the right timing, Zhang Liang Malatang officially opened overseas franchise cooperation.
Standing on the shoulders of predecessors, catering enterprises in the new wave of going global have more forward - looking and practical top - level designs and scientific and efficient operation strategies. Zhang Liang Malatang is a typical example.
At the beginning of going global, Zhang Liang Malatang set a strategic layout for multiple target markets. Since 2019, in five years, Zhang Liang Malatang has established more than 100 stores in nearly 60 cities in 21 countries such as Japan, the United States, Australia, and Canada, laying a foundation for radiating the global catering market.
In a single market, Zhang Liang Malatang's expansion is also well - organized. It not only has an accurate brand positioning, a stable market expansion rhythm, but also a clever approach. For example, when first entering Thailand, Zhang Liang Malatang high - profilely entered shopping malls in core business districts (such as the Siam store in Bangkok) and densely opened stores around university towns (such as the Salaya store).
"Doing this has two advantages: one is to create our image as a fast - food restaurant in high - end shopping malls, and the other is to cultivate our target customer group starting from middle school and university students." Jing Zipeng, the director of the overseas business department of Zhang Liang Malatang, said.
After completing the layout in high - end shopping malls and around schools, Zhang Liang Malatang began to expand to office building areas. In this way, it can cover all dining scenarios of young people from middle school, university to work.
With the support of localization capabilities, Zhang Liang Malatang's target customer group has continuously expanded from the Chinese to non - Chinese groups. In the European and American markets, Zhang Liang Malatang has long stepped out of Chinese and Asian communities such as Flushing in New York and Chinatown in London and entered urban CBD office areas and local communities, covering various customer groups. The international influence of the brand has been continuously strengthened.
At this point, Zhang Liang Malatang is also ready to start a new journey.
After the opening of the Galeries Lafayette store in Paris, it will serve as an important hub to link multiple cities in Europe where the brand has been deployed, and then form a brand radiation network to accelerate the penetration of the entire European market.
At the same time, Zhang Liang Malatang, which is located in the same area as international luxury brands, has also consolidated its global leading position and taken a big step forward in providing all - day quality catering solutions for diners around the world.
02 Good Taste Is the Justice of a Bowl of Malatang
In the 17 years since its establishment, Zhang Liang Malatang has made its way from the domestic market to the global market with its delicious food. After all, "good taste" is the essence and justice of a bowl of malatang. The sensory experience when taking a bite determines how consumers vote with their wallets.
The problem is that although the sweet bean jelly is delicious, it's hard to satisfy everyone's taste. There is no unified standard for the definition of "good taste". In China, there is a debate between the salty and sweet tastes of tofu pudding in the north and the south. Overseas, Chinese diners and local diners also have different taste preferences.
"Generally speaking, we have met the taste differences of customers from different regions, ethnic groups, and preferences with 6 - 8 different soup bases." Jing Zipeng said.
People in Sichuan and Chongqing love spicy food, people in the north like salty food, overseas Chinese people love the classic spicy bone soup the most, and American customers prefer spicy and fragrant stir - fry... Zhang Liang Malatang meets the different preferences of diners with a rich variety of products and spares no effort to find the soup base that suits the local customers' taste.
The Sichuan - style beef tallow pot, the sour and spicy golden soup pot, the coconut - flavored curry pot, the Australian Laksa soup base... Behind each well - received regional limited - edition soup base is Zhang Liang Malatang's careful capture of every feedback from customers, and then using its R & D ability and innovative spirit to "pull out all the stops".
The soup base is the soul of malatang. With the advancement of the globalization strategy, Zhang Liang Malatang has always maintained innovation and leadership in taste, giving consumers new experiences and surprises. On April 19th, at a global press conference titled "The World Has Zhang Liang, Let's Have Malatang Together", Zhang Liang Malatang officially launched three "master soup bases" - the classic spicy bone soup, the sunny tomato soup, and the mellow dry - juice spicy mixed noodles.
In terms of taste, these three "master soup bases" each have their own characteristics, aiming to meet the different needs of different markets and different groups of people. For example, the classic spicy bone soup retains the traditional spicy and fragrant taste while enhancing the layering of the soup base, meeting the needs of mainstream consumers; the sweet and sour flavor of the sunny tomato soup is more suitable for markets in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States that prefer fresh and light tastes; the mellow dry - juice spicy mixed noodles break through the traditional soup base limit and are more in line with the needs of young consumers for the "dry - mixed" category.
In terms of craftsmanship, all three "master soup bases" are based on the classic freshly - boiled beef bone soup. Only 8 leg bones from each cow are selected and slowly simmered. However, each soup base also has its own "unique secret", such as the low - temperature aroma - locking technology of the classic spicy bone soup, the low - temperature frying process of the sunny tomato soup, and the salting treatment process and fermentation process of the mellow dry - juice spicy mixed noodles, which maximize the release of the fragrance of the raw materials.
The selection of ingredients for the "master soup bases" is also very exquisite. For example, the red Chinese prickly ash from Gansu with an average of 1,900 hours of sunshine per year, the bay leaves from Georgia, and the sunny tomatoes from the high - sunshine production area at 26° north latitude... Just for the raw material of chili, different varieties such as Yunnan small chili, Hebei goat - horn chili, and North China Sanying chili are selected, just to present the subtle differences when taking a bite of the same type of soup base.
The reason why they are called "master soup bases" is also because there are well - known chefs behind each of the three soup bases. According to Zhang Liang Malatang, the classic spicy bone soup is recommended by the famous Sichuan cuisine chef Lan Minglu, while the sunny tomato soup and the mellow dry - juice spicy mixed noodles are recommended by the Michelin chef Zhou Bingjie and the leading figure in world Sichuan cuisine, Liu Boping, respectively.
The essence of the R & D of the soup base is that Zhang Liang Malatang finds the greatest common divisor of the public taste through the insight into the diversified and personalized needs of consumers, and then realizes it with top - level materials and craftsmanship. This is a technical job that requires excellence, a consumer perspective, and a craftsmanship spirit.
Especially when the brand enters the international market, the innovation and inheritance of taste, and the combination of traditional techniques and modern catering needs can make a huge difference. The success or failure of the enterprise is precisely hidden in hundreds of details.
03 A Game for the Strong
For Chinese cuisine to go global is to head towards the vast ocean and also to traverse the thorny jungle. At the 4th China Catering Brand Festival in 2024, Jiang Baidong, the co - founder of Zhang Liang Malatang, once said bluntly: Going global is a game for the strong, not a haven for the weak.
With the multi - market layout, how to build a supply chain system suitable for local standards for overseas stores? Zhang Liang Malatang has explored a set of mature solutions in five years.
By cooperating with international top - tier suppliers such as Unilever and Tianwei, Zhang Liang Malatang has built a perfect global supply chain system. For the management of the local supply chain, Zhang Liang Malatang implements a strict supplier selection mechanism to ensure that the stores use high - quality ingredients that meet local market standards. In the production process, Zhang Liang Malatang has established a globally unified operating specification to ensure the global consistency of the basic taste. At the same time, in some regions, Zhang Liang Malatang will also appropriately adjust the ingredients of the base sauce to comply with local laws and regulations.
In addition to the supply chain challenges, another challenge for Chinese cuisine going global is the increased management difficulty due to the increased physical radius. In response, Zhang Liang Malatang has adopted a standardized operation system and management model, and established a global store management manual covering food procurement, kitchen operations, store services, etc., to ensure a unified high standard in different countries.
Zhang Liang Malatang has also set up regional management teams in some markets, combining the management of the Chinese headquarters with local management to improve the response speed and adaptability and ensure the implementation of the brand culture and business philosophy.
For Chinese cuisine full - service restaurants to go global is a "slow business" that pays off in the long run.
According to the data from the Red Meal Industry Research Institute, as of September 2024, only more than a dozen Chinese catering brands had more than 100 overseas stores. Excluding 9 tea - drink brands such as Mixue Bingcheng, Bawang Cha Ji, and Kudi Coffee, there were only 7 brands left, including Zhang Liang Malatang and Haidilao.
Generally speaking, the process of a catering enterprise going global can be divided into three stages. The first stage is from 0 to 1, to gain a foothold in a single market and run through the single - store model; the second stage is from 1 to 10, to improve the supply chain and management efficiency and show the scale effect; the third stage is from 10 to N, to integrate into the local catering market through in - depth localization.
Data shows that more than 100 overseas stores of Zhang Liang Malatang are mainly distributed in Southeast Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe. There are more than 60 stores in Southeast Asia and 24 stores in the United States. It is moving from the second stage to the third stage.
"What we need to do now is not to quickly expand the franchise, but to perfect our store model in each segmented market, strengthen our internal strength, build a good organizational structure, and then make efforts. We don't want to be an enterprise that pursues short - term profits or scale. Instead, we want to treat the overseas market as a long - term business and do it more steadily and for a longer time." Jing Zipeng said.
Slow is fast, which has become the strategic pace of Zhang Liang Malatang from top to bottom.
When "tens of thousands of stores" has almost become the common goal of fast - food chain enterprises, this company with more than 6,000 global chain stores and selling more than 200 million bowls of malatang a year, although ambitious, does not have an obsession with short - term scale.
"The essence of competition is not to prevent competitors from surpassing us, but to get closer to consumers." Jiang Baidong's words may serve as an annotation for Zhang Liang Malatang's overseas journey.