Latest news with #Haidilao
Hype Malaysia
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hype Malaysia
Haidilao Teases Possible Collab With C-pop Group WayV; Will They Be Coming To Malaysia?
Haidilao Malaysia recently announced a collaboration with GOT7 member Jackson Wang in support of his new album, 'MAGIC MAN 2'. The partnership features rotating merchandise, from collectable photocards to plush pillows, offered as part of a special set meal curated by the superstar himself. However, it seems the popular hotpot chain has no plans to slow down, as they are now preparing for an upcoming collaboration with a C-pop idol group, which also happens to be a sub-unit of K-pop boyband NCT. Here's what we know so far about the partnership: On Tuesday (22nd July), the brand shared a teaser featuring the silhouettes of a five-member boy group. 'A major collaboration is about to be revealed! 🔥 With a blazing rhythm, a special encounter is heading your way 🎼 Get ready to share a vibrant summer with them — only at Haidilao! ✨,' the company wrote on social media. As expected, fans flocked to the comments section to submit their guesses on who the mystery artists might be. The majority, however, had one group in mind: WayV (威神V/웨이션브이). As with previous instances, this speculation arose after fans recognised the members' silhouettes, which matched a pose from one of the group's promotional photos for their single 'BIG BANDS'. So, does this mean the idols will be coming to Malaysia soon? Fans have expressed their excitement, with many hoping that WayV might make a special appearance. However, while the anticipation is high, there has been no official indication that the group will be visiting Malaysia for an event. It remains unclear whether this collaboration will follow the same format as Haidilao's current partnership with Jackson Wang. Still, that hasn't stopped fans from urging the hotpot brand to organise an event that would give them the chance to see the Chinese stars in person. Perhaps, with enough demand, more exciting news could be on the horizon. For now, however, we'll just have to wait for the official announcement. What do you think the collaboration could be? Here's the full post: Source: Instagram
Hype Malaysia
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hype Malaysia
Haidilao Unveils Exclusive Collaboration With Jackson Wang For 'MAGIC MAN 2' Set Meal
Experience music and hotpot with the Jackson Wang (王嘉爾/왕잭슨) and Haidilao collab! With the singer's 'MUSIC MAN 2' album release on July 18th (Friday), now is the perfect time to get your hands on exclusive merchandise available only at selected Haidilao outlets. This limited-time partnership blends Jackson's bold musical style with Haidilao's signature dining experience, creating a one-of-a-kind event that brings fans closer to the artist in a deliciously interactive way. Running for one month, the collab features rotating merch — from collectable photocards to plush pillows — included with a special set meal curated by Jackson himself. Featuring his personally chosen ingredients, the meal lets fans enjoy his favourite hotpot flavours while collecting exclusive items that change through phases. This isn't the first time that Jackson Wang collaborated with the thriving hotpot company. Earlier in 2025, Haidilao Malaysia launched the 'Jackson's Pick Set Meal' priced at RM 158, which quickly became a fan favourite. The set featured dual soup bases such as tomato and Sichuan spicy, paired with premium meats like beef and lamb, fresh seafood, vegetables, and signature sides like fried rice and crispy pork strips—all carefully chosen to reflect Jackson's personal hotpot preferences. His collaboration successfully combined great food with unique memorabilia, giving fans a chance to savour Jackson's favourite flavours while adding limited-edition items to their collections. During the event, fans who purchase the specially curated set meal will have the chance to receive a limited-edition Haidilao x Magic Man 2 photocard, along with either a phone stand or an exclusive pillow. Each item is designed with Jackson Wang's signature style, making them must-haves for any true fan and a perfect addition to your collection. With new merchandise dropping throughout the month, it's the perfect excuse to come back, collect them all, and savour Jackson's personal hotpot favourites along the way. Whether you're a longtime Haidilao lover or discovering the experience for the first time, this collaboration brings a unique fusion of music, food, and fandom you won't want to miss. The collab meal is only available at selected outlets in Sabah, Sarawak, Penang, Johor, Perak, and Melaka, so check out Haidilao Malaysia's official social media pages for more details. Source: Instagram Zaima Humaria contributed to this article
Independent Singapore
5 days ago
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Singapore restaurateurs expand regionally amid soaring rents, labour shortages, and shrinking consumer spending in SG
JOHOR BAHRU: Singapore restaurateurs are turning to other parts of the region amid soaring rents, labour shortages, and shrinking consumer spending in the city-state, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Food and beverage (F&B) businesses across Singapore have been shutting down at the fastest pace in almost 20 years. Last year, more than 3,000 F&B outlets shut down — the highest since 2005, when 3,352 outlets closed. In the first half of this year alone, 1,404 closures were recorded, only slightly below the 1,611 seen during the same period last year. In fact, government data showed that an average of 307 establishments have closed due to high costs and fewer diners this year, which included Eggslut, Manhattan Fish Market, and Burger & Lobster, as well as Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao. SCMP also noted the closure of Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao's 20-year-old outlet at Holland Village and the Michelin-starred Poise on Teck Lim Road. See also The story of how You Tiao Man's business flourished amid COVID-19 One restaurateur from Singapore, 56-year-old Govinda Rajan, opened his first Malaysian outlet of Mr Biryani and is already eyeing expansion in Johor Bahru. Meanwhile, his Singapore outlets in Little India and Siglap are struggling. 'Don't talk about profit margins anymore,' he said. 'Surviving is the priority now.' Keith Koh, a 35-year-old gastropub owner who opened a Muslim-friendly branch of Lad & Dad in Kuala Lumpur in May, said that lower operating costs there gave him breathing space and helped remind him that he's an entrepreneur. 'In Singapore, sometimes I forget why I'm doing this because I get lost chasing margins due to the high overheads,' he said. 'I lost track of the passion, the fire, the adrenaline I was burning out every other year, but going to Malaysia gave me that sense again,' he added. While F&B business owners mentioned that some ingredients are more expensive in Malaysia, they told SCMP's This Week in Asia that significantly lower rents and labour costs make it easier to maintain profit margins. They also noted Singapore's tight restrictions on hiring foreign workers and the low local interest in service jobs, which have made operations more difficult. Temasek Polytechnic's Diploma in Culinary and Catering Management course manager Geoffrey Tai said more local F&B owners have been eyeing regional expansion over the past 12 to 18 months amid high costs in the city-state. 'Contrast this with Malaysia, where rental, utilities, and manpower are significantly cheaper, and you start to understand the appeal,' he said, adding that while pricing power is lower there, operating costs are too, which makes the numbers 'work out more attractively'. In addition, a YouGov survey of over 4,035 Singaporeans showed that 26% plan to cut back on dining out, while 20% said they will spend less on food delivery. The food scene is under even more pressure as F&B outlet openings continue to surge — over 3,790 new eateries opened last year, followed by another 1,964 in the first half of this year. Singaporean chef-owner Bjorn Shen said many newcomers in Singapore's F&B scene wrongly believe they can make a 30% profit when, in reality, most are lucky to get 5% to 7%. He added that eight in 10 are losing money, with most F&B businesses in Singapore closing within two years. 'For 5% to 7% profits, you should be thanking your lucky stars and kissing the feet of whoever you worship,' he said. 'We have more restaurants here than we have people to feed,' he added. Meanwhile, Mr Shen, who recently opened NEP! in Penang and Baba G's in Bali, said profit margins in those cities can reach up to 20% and 30%, with entry-level staff in Indonesia costing about a fifth of Singapore's rates. /TISG Read also: Knight Frank: F&B surge in S'pore could hurt profitability, waste resources, and destabilise the retail sector
Business Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
How Chinese consumer brands are muscling into South-east Asia
EVERY tourist arriving in Ho Chi Minh City visits the 110-year-old Ben Thanh Market. Its surrounding streets pulse with local eateries, coffee joints, and souvenir shops. Yet amid these Vietnamese staples stands a branch of Miniso, a lifestyle chain that may appear Japanese but is actually Chinese. Since entering Vietnam in 2016, the brand has grown to 66 locations, taking prime spots in malls and bustling street corners. It's not the only one. Number of outlets of Miniso, PopMart, Cotti, Haidilao as of 30 June 2025; Luckin, Chagee as of 30 March 2025, Mixue as of 30 September 2024. SOURCE: TECH IN ASIA RESEARCH Chinese consumer brands are expanding at breakneck speed across South-east Asia, snapping up flagship corners and turning passers-by into fans. That said, the region is far from being one single market, and brands sticking to a particular homegrown playbook could stumble. Scale advantage Chinese consumer brands are not new to South-east Asia. Haidilao, China's largest hot pot chain, entered Singapore 13 years ago. Meanwhile, Mixue, now the world's biggest F&B player by outlet count, picked Vietnam as the site for its first overseas store in 2018. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up SOURCE: TECH IN ASIA RESEARCH Yet Chinese brands have only started expanding aggressively across the region in the past three years. By the end of 2024, more than 60 Chinese F&B brands were operating over 6,100 outlets in South-east Asia. That's triple the 2022 figure of less than 2,000, according to research firm Momentum Works. With China's consumer market still flat post-pandemic, South-east Asia, with a population of 700 million people, 30 per cent of whom are aged 15 to 34, has become a good target for brands, said Lina Yan, consumer analyst at HSBC Global Investment Research. SOURCE: OVERSEAS COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF TAIWAN, WORLD BANK Cultural ties play an important part here. Four of South-east Asia's six biggest countries have the world's highest ethnic Chinese population shares. 'Southeast Asian markets are definitely more China-friendly than the US and Western countries,' Jason Yu, managing director at Beijing-based CTR Research, told Tech in Asia. Among Chinese brands, Mixue stands out in scale, with 4,700 outlets across South-east Asia as at September 2024, according to its prospectus. Over 84 per cent of them are in Indonesia and Vietnam. Mixue sells ice cream and cold drinks for under US$1, with all its stores in the region run by franchisees. Most of its revenue comes from selling supplies to them. The company's scale of 40,000 outlets in China gave it a foundation of a low-cost, reliable supply chain that no competitor can match. Its optimisation level is simply in a league of its own. That operational edge lets it keep franchise fees low to scale fast and earn from ingredient sales, according to Jason Ong, master transformation strategist at Axxelerated Transformation, a Singapore-based consulting firm specialising in retail innovation. 'It's intensely competitive in China,' he said. 'Anyone who survives there and expands abroad must already have a strong playbook.' Other Chinese beverage chains such as Luckin and Cotti also ran tens of thousands of stores in China before entering South-east Asia. In contrast, the region's biggest homegrown coffee brands – Thailand's Cafe Amazon and Indonesia's Point Coffee – have around 4,400 and 1,200 outlets, respectively. Beyond sheer numbers, some Chinese brands are making South-east Asia the centrepiece of their global push. For example, Miniso's largest store in the world is not in China but in Indonesia. Opened in August 2024, the flagship spans 3,000 square metres. New approach Miniso began by positioning itself as Japanese-influenced. However, it later ditched Japanese elements in its styling after a backlash in China driven by consumer nationalism. Now it touts itself as a global lifestyle brand. Its makeover has signalled a bigger shift. Chinese consumer brands, long deemed budget copycats of Western or Japanese labels, are winning on their own paths. Leading Chinese brands are reshaping their image by investing heavily in design, R&D, and customer experience, said Mark Greeven, professor of innovation and strategy and dean of Asia at the International Institute for Management Development. While Miniso partners with well-known global intellectual properties such as Disney, Harry Potter, and Sanrio, Pop Mart has sparked a global craze among young consumers with Labubu figures from its exclusive IP. This applies not only to South-east Asia. These brands are 'winning over new generations of consumers worldwide,' Greeven added. Moreover, Chinese brands are not just about low prices anymore. Chagee, which positions itself as a premium milk tea chain, prices its drinks roughly on par with Starbucks coffee in Singapore. Bumps on the road Still, Chinese brands face challenges from South-east Asia's diverse market. SOURCE: IPSOS' RESEARCH (2024) 'The region is deeply nuanced,' said Ryan Wei, founder of Indonesia-based Sino Indo Pacific (SIP) Group and former chief business officer at Indonesian F&B giant Boga Group. 'There's no single playbook – you will not win in Vietnam the same way you do in Indonesia or Thailand. It's not like expanding to another province in China.' For example, Luckin and Chagee have maintained both franchising and direct operations models in the region – different in each country. SOURCE: MOMENTUM WORKS (2025) Finding the right local partners is crucial when entering a new market, said Nathanael Lim, Asia-Pacific insight manager for beverages at data analytics firm Euromonitor International. Some brands do not get it right the first time, however. Chagee, for instance, abruptly exited Singapore in early 2024 after operating for five years through a franchise partnership model. It later returned with direct operations and now runs six stores in the city-state. SOURCE: EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL That said, localisation isn't just about business models. It also demands cultural awareness. In April 2025, Chagee planned to open its first Vietnam store along one of Ho Chi Minh City's most premium streets. But it pulled out after a public outcry and boycott calls from locals. The backlash was triggered by a map on the company's app and website showing the nine-dash line – China's disputed territory claim in the South China Sea that overlaps with Vietnam's own. No apology, no update. Chagee's Vietnam entry is likely off the table. Commenting on the incident, CTR Research's Yu said it's not easy for Chinese brands to navigate politically sensitive issues abroad. If a brand removes the nine-dash line to follow local laws, it risks backlash at home if the situation gains traction on Chinese social media. 'They will need to strike a delicate balance to please both Chinese and foreign sentiment when dealing with politically charged topics,' he explained. But while Chinese brands excel in tech and operations, many still lack international finesse, argues SIP Group's Wei. A large number of them have only started expanding overseas in the last five years, while American and Japanese companies have decades of global experience. Missteps are then inevitable. 'But at the end of the day, success belongs to those who keep outgrowing themselves,' Wei added. 'And on that front, I believe Chinese players are learning and evolving faster than most local brands.' TECH IN ASIA
AsiaOne
16-07-2025
- Business
- AsiaOne
'Against racial harmony': Singaporeans riled by Chinese menus with no English translation, Singapore News
Stepping into an eatery, the last thing most diners would expect is a menu entirely in a language they don't understand. After all, English is Singapore's lingua franca and the working language of the civil service, bringing its diverse communities together. While bigger chains like Haidilao, Tanyu, and Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodle cater to all customers with bilingual menus, some Chinese food establishments have been spotted operating without English menus — a trend that some non-Chinese Singaporeans call "exclusionary". A photo of a Chinese pancake stall menu recently went viral for its lack of English. The stall is located in Clementi's Gantral Mall, which one Google Maps user nicknamed "mini-Chinatown" in a review. This is in spite of Singapore Food Agency (SFA) regulations stating that food businesses offering prepacked food for sale in Singapore must provide labels with basic information about the product, such as its source, contents, and net quantity, in English. The labelling requirements do not extend to non-prepacked food like dishes served in a restaurant. This seems to be an issue across some Chinese food establishments in Singapore. In June, a Reddit user shared a post detailing the struggles of understanding a menu entirely in Chinese, as an Indian Muslim who does not speak Mandarin. "Yes, they're a Chinese business, and Singapore is Chinese-majority. But having only the Chinese language means you are excluding non-Chinese people and even some Chinese Singaporeans who struggle with their mother tongue," the user wrote. Comments in response to the user noted that Singaporeans are not the customer base these businesses are targeting: "Your absence does not make a difference to their bottom line because the (China national) expat bubble is self-sustaining." Another user who identified as a Chinese Singaporean felt that service staff should be trained to speak basic English: "I'm going to do my part and speak (in English) to the staff in Chinese restaurants." Not a one-off The Grantral Mall stall is not an exception - when The New Paper visited Scarlett Supermarket on a weekday afternoon, some signage was entirely in Chinese. The newly-opened outlet in Sembawang, one of 38 outlets owned by the Chinese supermarket chain, was predominantly staffed and patronised by Chinese nationals. It boasted a food court with four stalls, one of which was a mala stall with no English on its signage. An item on the menu of a dumpling stall was labelled in English, apparently with the help of online translation services, as Sichuan chilli oil wonton was awkwardly mistranslated to "copyist with red oil". Alienating non-Chinese customers 24-year-old university student Nornabihah Mohamed Noor told The New Paper that the lack of proper English translation alienates non-Mandarin-speaking customers: "Honestly, I dislike it. It feels unfair and goes against the idea of racial harmony that Singapore stands for. "As a Malay who looks Chinese, I often get told I should speak Mandarin, even though I didn't grow up speaking it. It feels like there's an assumption or pressure to fit in a certain box." She added that, intentionally or not, these businesses are sending a message to customers that other races are not as welcome: "Not having English labels would make people feel excluded or like they don't belong in their own country." 'We are a multilingual society' A 47-year-old woman from China's Hainan province, who only wanted to be known as Mrs Tan, told TNP that she first visited Singapore 20 years ago in search of a job. She later met her Singaporean husband through a friend and settled here. Mrs Tan, who admitted that her English is still "not good", has since obtained Singapore citizenship and has two teenage children. "When I first came here, I didn't know English at all. Nowadays, I know basic words that I can use at work," Mrs Tan, who has worked as a dessert stall hawker for over 15 years, said in Mandarin. While she acknowledged the preponderance of Chinese immigrants, Mrs Tan stressed that it should not excuse the absence of English translations on menus. "If you're living here, you should follow how things are done here," she said. "We are a multilingual society, so of course, you have to label your menu in English. That's the most basic level of respect you can give to customers because not everybody can understand Chinese." Taking action Some Chinese eateries have amended their menus to better reflect their offerings. Xiang Xiang Hunan Cuisine, with 15 outlets across Singapore, recently updated its menu to correct some English translations. However, not all Chinese words on the menu were translated. In September 2021, Scarlett Supermarket was investigated by authorities for selling products without English labels. In April 2023, the chain came under fire again for selling instant Chinese bread soup that listed methamphetamine as an ingredient. It was later clarified that the ingredients had been wrongly translated by the Chinese manufacturer. At press time, Scarlett Supermarket and Xiang Xiang Hunan Cuisine had not responded to TNP's queries. Miss Nornabihah told TNP that the lack of proper English labelling on menus is "not right" in a multiracial country. "It goes against the idea of inclusivity and racial harmony we claim to value and preach about." [[nid:719628]] This article was first published in The New Paper . Permission required for reproduction.
