Haidilao International Holding Ltd. is a chain of hot pot restaurants founded in Jianyang, Sichuan, China in 1994. Its restaurants typically operate under the name Haidilao Hot Pot.
History
The name of the company originates from a mahjong term, haidilao, literally meaning "deep sea dredging", analogous to the act of completing a mahjong winning hand on picking up the last available tile in the game. This is very rare and considered very lucky. Haidilao was founded in 1994. At first, it was a small shop selling malatang. Later it developed and expanded its menu. Zhang Yong, who came from a small village in Sichuan, is the CEO of the company. In 2018, Haidilao Hot Pot served more than 160 million customers, with an average daily table turnover rate of 5.0. At the end of 2018, Haidilao Hot Pot had 466 direct-operated stores in operation in more than a hundred cities. In addition to many locations in mainland of China, the company has restaurants in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Haidilao Hot Pot has more than 36 million VIP members and 60,000+ staff. The first US outlet opened in Westfield Santa Anita in September 2013. Founded as a privately held company, Haidilao filed to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong in 2018, aiming to raise up to US$700 million for further expansion.
Special services
There are personalized services in Haidilao Hot Pot, including free nail art and hand care for female top customers while they are waiting in the line. Customers can also have free leather shoe cleaning service, as well as free photo printing. The restaurant offers massage chairs for customers. Also, some stores have children's play rooms and are accompanied by special personnel. While eating at Haidilao Hot Pot, customers can view Sichuan's characteristic face-changing performance as well as a fusion of Chinese martial arts. The restaurant also provides customers with a variety of snacks, fruits, and games at their seats.
Development
Hai Di Lao and Panasonic jointly launched a "smart" restaurant in 2018. This smart restaurant relies on Panasonic's robotics and image recognition technology to achieve full automation of the kitchen. After the customer orders the food with tablet computer, the system in the kitchen can automatically recognize the dishes and puts them into the tray. The low temperature status of the automatic food store is effective in ensuring food hygiene, and automated meal replacement can eliminate human error. The system can also read the label information on the plate, accurately manages the type of dishes, the time of loading, the shelf life and other data to ensure food safety.
Awards and certification
Haidilao Hot Pot has won more than ten titles and honors such as “advanced enterprise”, “consumer satisfaction unit” and “famous hot pot” in Sichuan, Shanxi, Henan and other provinces in China. From 2008 to 2012, it won the “Top 10 Hot Pot Restaurant” by the :zh:大众点评网|public comment website for 5 consecutive years in China. At the same time, it won the honorary title of “Top 100 Chinese Catering Enterprises” for 5 consecutive years. On May 27, 2011, “Haidilao” trademark was awarded “:zh:中国驰名商标|China Famous Brand”.
