Haidilao, facing a decline in table turnover rate, is starting to set the stage for its "side business."

Amid intense competition in the dining market, even industry leader Haidilao is undergoing profound structural adjustments.

On March 24, Haidilao released its 2025 full-year financial report: total revenue reached 43.225 billion yuan, maintaining a steady growth of 1.1%.

However, competition within the core brand in the existing market is becoming increasingly challenging.

In 2025, although the total number of stores increased slightly by 15 to 1,383, Haidilao’s “system sales” declined by 3.7% against the trend.

During this period, Haidilao’s self-operated restaurant table turnover rate dropped from 4.1 times/day last year to 3.9 times/day, per capita spending increased slightly by 0.2 yuan to 97.7 yuan, and same-store sales decreased by 6.7%, indicating that store efficiency remains under pressure.

To stabilize customer flow and enhance competitiveness, Haidilao continues to promote the “Different Haidilao” strategy, improving appeal through store differentiation and scene innovation.

The company has developed various models around different consumer needs, including fresh-cut stores, night snack stores, parent-child stores, and pet-friendly stores. By the end of 2025, over 200 themed specialty stores had been renovated, with fresh-cut and night snack stores already deployed in key cities.

However, under the pressure on individual store performance and increased investment in store renovations, profitability has experienced a phased decline. In 2025, Haidilao’s core operating profit was 5.403 billion yuan, down 13.3% year-over-year.

The growth of diversified businesses has offset the decline in main brand revenue.

Among these, the delivery business achieved full-year revenue of 2.658 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 111.9%; franchise expansion accelerated, with the number of stores increasing from 13 last year to 79, of which 45 transitioned from self-operated to franchised.

While the main brand seeks stability, Haidilao’s diversification strategy is entering a “fission” phase.

By the end of 2025, Haidilao’s 20 subsidiary brands operated a total of 207 restaurants, an increase of over 60% from mid-year. Under scale effects, revenue from other restaurants surged by 214.6% year-over-year to 1.521 billion yuan.

Behind this expansion is the further systematization of the company’s incubation mechanism.

In 2025, the group officially launched the “Red Pomegranate Plan” from the internal pilot stage to the market, forming two parallel expansion models: “Master Chef” and “People’s Restaurant.” The former focuses on employee entrepreneurship to stimulate innovation and vitality within the organization; the latter is centrally planned and driven by headquarters, covering multiple categories and price ranges.

Notably, in this annual report, Haidilao downplayed specific sub-brand descriptions and instead devoted considerable space to the construction of the “Catering Ecosystem Intelligent Middle Platform.”

This platform is positioned as the group’s strategic dispatch and technological empowerment hub, aiming to digitize over thirty years of operational experience, service standards, and product logic.

The strengthening of the middle platform essentially signals Haidilao’s transformation from a simple restaurant chain into a platform-based company. Through intelligent middle platform services such as automated scheduling, smart procurement, and full-chain supply chain support, new brands can share core group resources, greatly lowering the barriers to cross-sector expansion.

This strategic direction was foreshadowed earlier in the year during personnel changes.

At that time, it was announced that after Gou Yiqun resigned as CEO, he continued to oversee the “smartization and automation planning of management processes” and led the “upgrade of operational models and the construction of the intelligent middle platform.”

Having the former CEO personally lead the middle platform department underscores its importance in Haidilao’s future blueprint.

The effectiveness of its diversification strategy will be a key indicator to watch for whether this restaurant giant can sustain long-term growth.

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