Eatery sales soar this holiday

Customers dine in a restaurant in Uniwalk shopping center in Bao’an District on Sunday. Zhang Yanyan

As many residents went out to gather and dine with family and friends during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, catering businesses in Shenzhen saw customer traffic spike over 50% during the holiday, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

Restaurants in Futian District, such as Haojiangchun and Fengshenglou, diners occupied over 60% of the seats. A receptionist surnamed Wang from a restaurant in Chegongmiao told the News that the store was packed with customers every day during the holiday.

“All of our 10 private dining rooms were fully booked. I am really happy and touched to see the restaurant is full again,” Wang said.

The influx of guests also strained the restaurants in shopping centers. Hunan cuisine restaurant Nonggengji in Maxland, Bao’an District, had no seats left, with nearly 300 visitors still queuing up, when the News reporter visited the place Friday evening, the first day of the three-day holiday.

Feng Guohua, founder of Nonggengji, said its 50 restaurants in Shenzhen were all staying in business. During the holiday, the footfall in its branches in shopping malls was two to three times that of regular days, with tables turned over four to five times every day.

Feidachu, another Hunan cuisine chain with 17 restaurants citywide, has reported that their holiday consumer traffic went up by over 20% compared to regular days, and their table turnover rate reached 400%. Feidachu in Wongtee Plaza in Futian sold over 300 of its signature dishes in one day.

Walaida catering company’s 40 Shenzhen stores served 13,860 visitors during the holiday, up by 28.05% year on year, according to Luo Qing, the firm’s chairman. Its highest single-day online orders reached 3,298 in Shenzhen, a growth of around 150.79% compared with last year.

Zongzi, a traditional snack during the Dragon Boat Festival, was also one of the top-selling foods during the holiday. Zongzi sales increased 30% year on year on the online food delivery service platform Ele.me.