The “Black Pearl” Conference Held in Fuzhou, Facilitating Fuzhou’s Bid for “City of Gastronomy”!
While life is more than the oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea in front of us, it’s the simple flavors of life that bring us the greatest joy. The “2024 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Food Pioneer Conference” took place in Fuzhou from September 25 to 26, drawing hundreds of chefs, intangible cultural heritage inheritors, and innovators from Black Pearl restaurants. The event, themed “Breaking Through,” offered an intellectual feast that encompassed culinary skills, restaurant management, and food culture. In addition, to further strengthen international culinary exchanges and promote local cuisines to a global audience, the “Food Pioneer International Fine Ingredients Expo” was held concurrently.
The successful hosting of the conference represents a major milestone in the branding, high-end development, and internationalization of Fuzhou’s catering industry. It also marks significant progress in the city’s bid for “City of Gastronomy,” injecting continuous momentum into the high-quality development of Fujian cuisine and bringing boundless vitality to its growth.
Discussing the development of Fujian cuisine
Facilitating Fuzhou’s bid for “City of Gastronomy”
The Black Pearl Restaurant Guide is curated and published by culinary masters, renowned gourmets, and food researchers. Often referred to as “China’s food guide,” it is dedicated to preserving and promoting Chinese culinary culture and showcasing cultural confidence. The much-anticipated 2024 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Food Pioneer Conference was held in Fuzhou. What was the driving force behind this event?
Tang Yan, head of Meituan’s Black Pearl Restaurant Guide, said,
“The decision to host the conference in Fuzhou is a tribute to and a continuation of Fuzhou’s status as a City of Gastronomy. Fuzhou, as one of the birthplaces of Fujian cuisine, is renowned for its rich history, culture, and unique culinary traditions. By holding this event, we hope to further promote the culture of Fujian cuisine, enhance the influence of Fuzhou’s culinary scene, and introduce the unique flavors of this region to a broader audience, while also contributing to Fuzhou’s bid for the title of ‘City of Gastronomy.’”
Fujian dish “Fotiaoqiang”
Fuzhou is the birthplace of Fujian cuisine, one of China’s eight culinary traditions. The origins of Fujian cuisine in Fuzhou can be traced back to the Qin and Han dynasties. Over the past 2,000 years, it has evolved through the fusion of Central Plains civilization and Minyue food culture, developing into a renowned culinary tradition known for its delicate flavors and refined dishes. With its long-standing cultural heritage, exceptional culinary skills, and a rich variety of dishes drawn from both the mountains and the sea, Fujian cuisine holds a prominent place among China’s “Eight Major Cuisines.” Fuzhou dishes like Fotiaoqiang and Instant-boiled Sea Clam in Chicken Broth have been featured at state banquets on several occasions, earning widespread recognition both domestically and internationally.
“The development of Fuzhou’s catering industry has made significant progress in recent years,” said a relevant official from the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce. In the first half of 2024, the city’s catering revenue reached 26.58 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of over 13.2%; there were 251 fine dining restaurants in the whole city, an increase of 33 compared to 2023.
Fujian Cuisine Culture Museum
Meanwhile, Fuzhou has established the first Fujian Cuisine Culture Museum in China, dedicated to showcasing Fujian cuisine. It has also established 12 municipal-level food experience demonstration streets, and guided 76 catering enterprises to obtain the title of provincial “ Fujian Cuisine Restaurant,” and 8 restaurants to win the honor of “China Time-Honored Brands.” Additionally, it has nurtured a group of well-known restaurant brands such as Juchunyuan, hosted the Bamin Food Carnival all year round, and issued special catering consumption vouchers to continuously boost the Fujian cuisine market. In 2023, Fuzhou was awarded the titles of “International (Fujian Cuisine) City of Gastronomy” by the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry and the “China Fuzhou · Fujian Cuisine Landmark City of Gastronomy” by the China Hospitality Association.
“Today, Fujian cuisine, with its rich historical heritage, has become an integral part of Mindu culture. It is steadily being established as a culinary benchmark of Fuzhou, reflecting the city’s unique cultural flavor and driving the high-quality development of the local restaurant industry,” said a relevant leader from Fuzhou at the conference. With strong support and guidance from the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce, Fuzhou successfully attracted Meituan to host the 2024 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Food Pioneer Conference. This marks a significant step forward in the branding, high-end development, and internationalization of Fuzhou’s catering industry, as well as remarkable progress in the city’s bid for “City of Gastronomy.”
Taking this conference as an opportunity, Fuzhou will use Fujian cuisine as a bridge to further deepen cooperation and exchange with the national catering industry and Meituan. Together, they will capitalize on the substantial benefits of Fujian cuisine’s high-quality development, preserve and promote China’s rich culinary heritage in the new era, and jointly pave the way for a bright future in the high-quality growth of the catering industry.
Collaborating to break away from traditional thinking
The key lies in meeting the mainstream dining needs
With the increasing diversification and personalization of consumer needs, the group of quality dining consumers in China’s restaurant market continues to grow. According to Meituan data, over the past three years, searches for quality dining-related needs have surged by 1.3 times. During this period, demand for banquets and business meals has steadily decreased, while the share of personal and family dining has continued to grow. Meanwhile, the number of quality dining establishments in lower-tier cities has increased significantly, signaling that the market is in a growth phase.
“Catering has always been a resilient and ever-evolving sector,” said Wei Wei, Vice President of Meituan and General Manager of Meituan’s In-store Catering Business Division. We are now in an era of in-depth development for quality dining. It is essential to break away from traditional thinking and deeply understand consumer needs. To adapt to new trends in the catering industry, many quality catering businesses are not only enhancing their services to meet mainstream dining needs but also diversifying their transformations, aiming to cover more consumption scenarios and expand into multiple brands, categories, and price segments.
For example, Lao Xing Xian, a Black Pearl One-Diamond restaurant in Shanghai, remains committed to the principles of “cooking and serving dishes on the same day” and “one wok for one dish.” The restaurant also focuses on accumulating reviews and building its reputation, catering to the public’s habit of discovering dishes online and enjoying them offline. This approach has consistently attracted new customers, leading to a revenue increase of over 50% year-on-year in the first half of this year.
The Yongfu brand has effectively identified market gaps and launched its collaborative brand “Shiheyuan,” which focuses on innovative Beijing cuisine and integrates the cultural features of the Beijing Central Axis within Beijing’s culinary culture. During its initial phase, the brand partnered with Meituan to establish an online presence, covering aspects like store design, brand ranking, and star-level operations. Furthermore, it introduced Meituan group-buying deals to offer consumers more cost-effective services, helping to expand its customer base. In the first half of 2024, the brand saw a revenue increase of over 23% compared to the same period last year.
Wei Wei stated that Meituan has upgraded its Prosperity Plan and unveiled a comprehensive roadmap for in-store dining operations, aiming to help more restaurants achieve higher-quality growth in three key areas: operational infrastructure, marketing growth, and data assets. Moving forward, Meituan will deepen its involvement in the in-store dining sector, positioning itself as a long-term partner for quality dining. It will continue to provide merchants with digital tools, including free AI-powered site selection, the BETTER customer growth model, business advisors, and operational blueprints. This reflects Meituan’s ongoing commitment to supporting the industry and driving mutual growth.
Co-creating a new era of transformation
The emergence of new flavors, technologies, and models
Upgrading traditional flavors with fresh tastes, the rise of immersive dining experiences, and the emergence of diverse new brand stores… It’s revealed at the conference that in response to changing public demands, the quality dining sector is brimming with innovation. New flavors, technologies, and models are constantly emerging, injecting “new vitality” into the high-quality development of the catering industry, while also adding a “new charm” to Chinese culinary culture in the modern era.
The Chairman, located in Hong Kong, is a Black Pearl Two-Diamond restaurant. Unlike traditional exquisite Cantonese cuisine, The Chairman avoids using luxury ingredients such as shark fin, bird’s nest, sea cucumber, or fish maw to enrich its broths. Instead, it focuses on fresh seafood sourced from local fishermen and premium soy sauce from nearby producers, resulting in dishes bursting with authentic flavors. This approach aligns with contemporary trends in healthy and green consumption. Due to its popularity, customers must make reservations two to three months in advance, underscoring the vitality created by blending traditional ingredients with modern concepts and techniques in the creative evolution of Chinese culinary culture.
At the development forum of the Food Pioneer Conference, restaurant professionals’ pursuit of innovation and change was also evident in their approach to exploring new business models. Several Black Pearl restaurant owners shared in the discussions that consumer demand has shifted from banquets to more personal dining experiences. This shift has raised higher expectations for restaurant offerings and specialties, which, in turn, has accelerated innovation and transformation within the quality dining industry.
“Only great restaurants make great guides, and great guides continuously provide restaurant professionals with valuable direction for improvement,” said Tang Yan, head of the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide. Since its launch in 2018, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide has aimed to become the go-to reference for high-quality dining. In addition, it is dedicated to helping quality restaurants grow and adapt to the times, using three core evaluation standards: culinary excellence, service ambiance, and the balance of tradition and innovation, while also sharing valuable industry insights.
After a year of refinement, the Black Pearl Food Pioneer Conference has evolved into a new platform for knowledge sharing, experience exchange, and cultural integration across industries. This year, the event has seen a notable increase in both the number of attendees and the richness of content compared to last year. It is hoped that restaurant professionals attending the event will find their position through insightful discussions, adjust their offerings and menus accordingly, and fine-tune their operational models to achieve breakthroughs that transcend market cycles.