Fewer than 31 million visitors! Haidilao's overall performance for the year is "dismal": 85 stores closed or relocated, and 11,000 employees laid off.

Column | “BUG” Section Zhang Jun

At the beginning of this year, Zhang Yong, who stepped down as CEO nearly 4 years ago, returned to Haidilao again.

Last night, Haidilao released its first annual performance report since Zhang Yong’s return. Among other things, revenue growth slowed further, hitting a new low in nearly three years; attributable net profit also fell 13.98% year over year, marking the first time in four years that it declined on a year-over-year basis.

Behind the disappointing performance was weak performance in core operating indicators. In 2025, Haidilao’s company-operated restaurants’ overall table-turn rate was 3.9 times per day; compared with 4.1 times per day in 2024, it dropped and also failed to reach the “passing line” of 4 times per day. In 2025, the number of customers served by Haidilao also directly decreased by more than 31 million person-times.

Under these challenges, in 2025 Haidilao shut down or relocated 85 company-operated restaurants, and another 45 company-operated restaurants switched to franchising; meanwhile, the total number of employees decreased by 11,558 compared with 2024. Haidilao also incubated 20 niche sub-brands and increased investment in delivery, but currently these two lines of business still contribute relatively limited revenue to Haidilao.

** For the first time in nearly 4 years, net profit declined; table-turn rate fell below the passing line**

In terms of revenue, Haidilao encountered a growth bottleneck.

Data show that in 2025, the Haidilao Group achieved revenue of 43.225 billion yuan, up 1.1% year over year. Compared with 2024, revenue growth slowed further, reaching a new low in nearly three years. The reason Haidilao gave in its financial report is that, in 2025, the catering consumption market was still facing intensified competition and a complex environment in which consumer demand continued to evolve.

The National Bureau of Statistics shows that from 2023 to 2025, nationwide catering revenue was 52,890 billion yuan, 55,718 billion yuan, and 57,982 billion yuan, respectively. The year-over-year growth rates were 20.4%, 5.3%, and 3.2%, respectively. From the industry as a whole, the nationwide catering market indeed faces pressure to grow, but Haidilao’s growth rate was below the industry average.

In terms of profit, Haidilao’s 2025 attributable net profit was 4.05 billion yuan, down 13.98% year over year, the first time in nearly four years that attributable net profit declined year over year. Haidilao explained that the profit decline was mainly driven by the drop in table-turn rate, as well as adjustments to innovation models in areas such as products and scenarios.

The financial report shows that, regarding restaurant performance, in 2025 the overall table-turn rate of Haidilao’s self-operated restaurants was 3.9 times per day, while it was 4.1 times per day in 2024. Over the full year, the company served 383.9 million customer person-times, down 7.5% from 415 million person-times in the previous year—equivalent to serving more than 31 million fewer customers. Per-capita spend was 97.7 yuan, slightly down from 97.5 yuan in 2024.

Among these, table-turn rate is an important metric for measuring how lively a restaurant is. In 2018, Haidilao’s overall table-turn rate reached a peak of 5.0 times per day, double the average level in the hotpot industry. This key indicator also supported Haidilao’s performance growth and its listing.

Back in 2021, Haidilao faced an unprecedented crisis. That year, it recorded a loss of 4.16 billion yuan and posted its first full-year loss since going public. At the end of that year, Haidilao announced the launch of the “Woodpecker Plan,” closing a large number of stores whose operations failed to meet expectations, while also setting a rule: if the average table-turn rate did not reach 4 times per day, it would, in principle, not open new stores at scale.

Now it appears that Haidilao’s table-turn rate in 2025 clearly did not reach the “passing line.”

** Shut down and relocate 85 company-operated restaurants; reduce staffing by over 11,000**

With performance falling short of targets, Haidilao also began implementing cost-cutting and efficiency-improving measures in 2025, such as closing stores and reducing headcount.

In terms of stores, as of the end of 2025, Haidilao’s brand operated 1,383 restaurants in total. Of these, company-operated restaurants totaled 1,304, with 79 newly opened during the year; franchised restaurants totaled 79, with 21 newly opened during the year. During the year, 45 company-operated restaurants were converted to franchising. Haidilao disclosed that during the reporting period, 85 company-operated restaurants were proactively shut down due to operating performance not meeting expectations, or were relocated due to commercial landmark moves or aging facilities.

In terms of employees, as of the end of 2025, the Haidilao Group had 125,620 employees. Total employee costs (including salaries, wages, allowances, and benefits) were 14.073 billion yuan. By comparison, as of the end of 2024, the Haidilao Group had 137,178 employees, and total employee costs were 14.113 billion yuan.

This means that within one year, the total number of employees in the Haidilao Group decreased by 11,558.

Beyond tightening spending, Haidilao is also creating new sources of revenue through diversification. According to its financial report, in 2025 the Haidilao Group formally rolled out operating multiple brands in parallel; the “Pomegranate Plan” has shifted from internal incubation to market expansion. It is understood that the “Pomegranate Plan” includes two incubation mechanisms: “Head Chefs” and “Civilian Restaurants.” The “Head Chefs” system focuses on employees’ independent entrepreneurship; “Civilian Restaurants” is more oriented toward projects incubated through the headquarters’ planning and promotion.

By the end of 2025, the Haidilao Group had operated 20 sub-brands covering niche segments such as seafood street stalls, sushi, Western light meals, hot pots, and Chinese fast food, for a total of 207 restaurants. Other restaurants generated operating revenue of 1.5206 billion yuan, representing a significant increase compared with the previous year. Overall, however, the revenue contributed by these 20 sub-brands to the group is still relatively limited; their share of total revenue increased from 1.1% in 2024 to 3.5% in 2025.

In addition, Haidilao is increasing investment in delivery. Across the country, it has completed the layout of more than 1,200 delivery outlets and cooperated in depth with all major delivery platforms. The financial report shows that in 2025, Haidilao’s delivery business revenue was 2.6576 billion yuan, up 111.9% year over year. Haidilao said it is also continuing to optimize its delivery operating mechanisms, develop new products that better fit delivery scenarios, improve the profit margin of its delivery business, and support other brands under the “Pomegranate Plan” in trying delivery operations.

However, similar to the sub-brands, at present the delivery business still contributes single-digit revenue to Haidilao and has not yet become the main driver engine behind performance.

In 2022, after Haidilao escaped the trough of 2021, its founder Zhang Yong stepped down as CEO. And facing the situation in 2025 where performance fell into crisis again, Zhang Yong also officially announced his return as CEO at the beginning of this year. This time, can he lead this legendary hotpot brand to rescue itself again?

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责任编辑：刘万里 SF014