Gaodefu: From Hegang to 900+ stores worldwide, the 23-year “standardization + partnership” journey road of the Dumpling King

Questioning AI · Why can the partner model solve the management challenges of Xijia De?

Source: Zhenghe Island (ID: zhenghedao)

Hello friends, today we are going to meet this island neighbor, the “Dumpling King” who turned a bowl of dumplings into a nationwide chain—Gao Defu, founder and chairman of Xijia De Dumplings. He has been on the island for 10 years.

You may have eaten Xijia De, but you might not know the story behind it.

Gao Defu is from Northeast China. He didn’t finish junior high school and went into society early. He first worked in restaurants in Hegang, opening more than 20 stores, which was quite successful locally. But his veteran employees wanted to follow him further, and he felt he needed to go out.

What track to choose? He tried making soup, hired a Hong Kong chef. The chef said one sentence that woke him up: “Everyone in China knows Northeasterners are not good at making soup. Why would you choose that?” He suddenly realized and returned to what he was most familiar with—dumplings.

In 2002, the first Xijia De opened in Hegang. At that time, no one thought dumplings could become a big business—every household makes them, why buy them at a restaurant?

Gao Defu identified the customers’ pain points: people didn’t dare to eat stuffed foods outside, worried about the freshness of the meat and cleanliness of the filling. He transformed the kitchen into an open kitchen, so customers could see the dumplings being made; only sold five types of fillings for quick turnover; no soy sauce, only white soy sauce for seasoning, to ensure the natural flavor of the ingredients. The dumplings were deliberately made into a 9-centimeter long strip, so a bite reveals fresh filling.

He said, “Things that you and your family wouldn’t dare to eat, absolutely cannot be sold.”

With this meticulous attitude, Xijia De gradually expanded from a small northeastern town to nationwide. Now, it has over 900 directly operated stores, established in four overseas cities, employs over ten thousand people, and generates annual revenue in the billions.

Additionally, he is the pioneer of the “standardization + talent partnership” model in the dumpling category. He turned employees into owners, used long-term thinking to counter short-term temptations, internalized sustainable development into organizational habits, leading Xijia De to over 900 stores and four overseas cities.

In his early years, he paid a professional manager a salary of 3 million yuan a year, but they left after a year—good idea, but couldn’t motivate partners. Later, he realized: in Chinese cuisine, partnership is the best model.

He established the “I Platform,” allowing partners skilled in HR, branding, site selection, and product to each take a piece and focus on one point. Internal scoring, PK, priority rights—those with higher scores get to open new stores in new cities. How is the profit split? Store managers get 8%, superiors get 8%, and even higher-ups get 8%—later unified to 16%, so partners earn more than their peers.

He said, “If the profit sharing is right, 50% of management problems are solved.”

On environmental protection and sustainable development, he is equally meticulous. Procurement insists on local sourcing, using fresh pork to reduce cold chain emissions; transportation eliminates disposable plastic bags, replaced with stainless steel reusable containers; store renovations implement “98% material control” to reduce waste from the source. When employee uniforms are old but not torn, they are not replaced; a white work suit worn for 20 years remains unchanged.

“Rustic but genuine, giving people a feeling of honesty, not playing tricks.” This is the look he wants.

In 2024, Xijia De will go global. For six consecutive years, it provided dinners for the Davos Forum, bringing Chinese dumplings onto the international stage. In March 2025, Xijia De is also challenging the Guinness World Record in Suzhou with hundreds of families—“Most people feeding dumplings to each other simultaneously.” A Ukrainian daughter-in-law feeds her daughter dumplings on site, with tears in her eyes: “The first person to take a bite must be your most loved one.”

From a table in Hegang to over 900 stores worldwide, Gao Defu has proven in 23 years: identify your direction, stick to it, plant roots deep in the soil, and spread your wings toward the highest sky.

Someone asked him for the secret of success? He said, “As long as each company finds its own attributes and establishes its own game rules, success is possible.”

Do you have such entrepreneurs around you? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.