Gas stations sell seafood noodles. Is the smell of gasoline very strong?

Can you imagine that today's gas stations not only refuel vehicles and sell Red Bull, but now even serve noodles?

This is not a project from Wang Duoyu, but a side business of Sinopec.

What's more surprising is that it does not serve pre-made noodles, but runs a full-fledged dine-in restaurant.

Recently, a restaurant named "Yilu Xian" opened by Sinopec Shandong E-Jie in Rizhao City has gone viral online, sparking heated discussions among industry insiders and consumers.

According to All Food Online, this restaurant is not located on the expressway in Rizhao, but close to major traffic arteries, not far from the seaside, covering different consumer groups such as tourists and local residents.

It can be seen that although Sinopec already owns the high-frequency rigid-demand scenario of gas stations, it still adopts professional site selection standards for the catering industry. It not only serves passing customers who come to refuel, but also provides convenience for tourists who want to try new food and local residents who want to have a meal.

Even if you don't refuel your car, you can still come here for a meal.

Interestingly, Sinopec Shandong E-Jie does not just position this place as a fast-food Chinese restaurant, but sets all standards from supply chain to environment layout in accordance with the specifications of a standard formal restaurant.

For example, in terms of supply chain, all seasonal vegetables come from the micro-farms of Sinopec gas stations. They are sourced locally, harvested in season, and delivered fresh to the kitchen every day.

The whole process includes independent planting, unified picking and same-day delivery.

The efficiency of this supply chain and the freshness of ingredients are no less than any high-quality restaurant.

And the environment layout is also very distinctive. Do you think it is a casual food stall-style dine-in restaurant?

No, you are wrong. In addition to a spacious full-view lobby with log-style decoration and a large open public dining area that can accommodate hundreds of people dining at the same time, it also sets up independent light luxury private rooms, which can meet the needs of business casual meals, small gatherings of relatives and friends, and small team building activities.

This is by no means a simple eatery inside a gas station, it is clearly a branded restaurant in a commercial district. Regardless of whether the dishes are expensive or delicious, at least Sinopec definitely has top-tier consultants for this cross-border attempt.

The opening of this restaurant marks that Sinopec Rizhao Petroleum has officially unlocked a brand new integrated track of energy + life + car maintenance services.

Then why did Sinopec decide to test the catering business?

It is well known that before this, the best partner of gas stations was convenience stores, and E-Jie convenience stores have naturally become the largest convenience store chain in China.

But the advantages of these convenience stores are mostly concentrated along the expressways, while there are still a large number of gas stations in urban areas.

However, the convenience stores in urban gas stations do not have prominent advantages. Basically, few people will stay for a long time in urban gas stations except for using the restroom or getting their car washed.

Because there is no reason for people to stay.

But the daily customer flow of urban gas stations is no less than that of gas stations on expressways.

Therefore, how to retain the people and vehicles that come to refuel at urban gas stations, and encourage them to generate additional consumption, is the problem that urban gas stations need to think about in the future.

In fact, the integration between gas stations and the food and beverage industry has become increasingly close in recent years.

For example, the Changsha Zhengyuan Station of PetroChina has opened an in-store store with Nowwa Coffee, transforming the idle coffee area of the old urban station into an industrial-style "store within a store", equipped with a rest area with camping tables and chairs, launching the series of "refuel + 5.9 yuan to redeem coffee" and "ton bucket" products, the average daily sales revenue of the store alone increased by 107% month-on-month in two months.

Shell Select convenience stores have introduced freshly ground coffee, hot food bento and baked goods in some urban stations, emphasizing the "driver's coffee corner" and membership point redemption, to build a model that suits urban commuter stations.

In fact, selling coffee or even fast food at gas stations is not new, but opening a full restaurant is indeed the first attempt. Some netizens joked that traditional restaurants are facing huge competitive pressure now.

Some other netizens said that maybe traditional restaurants will also be equipped with charging piles in the future.

Although it is just a joke, it may become a reality in the near future.

As you can see, today's gas stations no longer only provide car-centered services such as car washing and maintenance, but are moving towards people-oriented life services such as catering and coffee.

Therefore, Sinopec Rizhao has built the "refueling + seafood noodles" service into a one-stop station, which essentially turns the short stop for energy replenishment into a composite stay that meets the needs of people, vehicles and daily life.

It no longer only serves passing drivers, but actively attracts ordinary urban consumers. Gas stations are transforming into comprehensive life service stations.

Then some netizens asked: Is there a strong smell of gasoline when eating in a gas station?

This article is from the WeChat official account "All Food Online", author: Mark for Follow, 36Kr is authorized to republish it.