Baozi King to Sell Wonton Noodles: Expanding into Multiple Categories and Scaling Offerings, Some Pilot Stores Launch Budget Stir-Fries | Big Fish Finance

What are the market driving forces behind AI · Baozi Customer’s product line expansion?

Frequent customers of Baozi Customer have noticed that their menu is becoming increasingly diverse. According to on-site investigations by Xinhuanghe reporters, all Baozi Customer stores in Jinan have now added pork wontons, and new noodle products are being intensively developed and tested. Some pilot stores have also launched affordable stir-fry meal sets, testing a completely new store model.

From its flagship breakfast featuring buns to a full-scene fast-food service covering three meals a day, Baozi Customer’s innovation journey reflects how local Jinan food brands are breaking boundaries and proactively seeking change.

Baozi Customer’s Multi-Dimensional Product Expansion:

New Wontons and Noodles, Pilot Stir-Fry Store Gains Recognition

Recently, a citizen reported that the Baozi Customer Longao No. 9 store on Longao North Road had upgraded its interior decor, no longer limited to buns, and added new categories of wontons and noodles.

On the 21st, Xinhuanghe reporters visited several Baozi Customer stores and learned that all stores in Jinan now sell wontons. The noodle category is still in product development and testing, not yet officially launched.

According to a marketing manager from Baozi Customer, the brand’s product rollout logic is very rigorous: “First, the company conducts overall product testing, then selects 5 to 10 stores for pilot testing. Once the pilot results meet standards, the new products are rolled out nationwide to ensure each new item meets consumer needs.”

“Originally, we focused on buns as our特色 in Jinan, but now we want to broaden our product range and make categories more diverse,” said a Baozi Customer representative. One reason is the overall economic situation, which has led consumers to demand more variety for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, hoping Baozi Customer can offer more types of products to satisfy changing tastes. Another reason is the brand’s focus on three meals a day; besides buns and porridge for breakfast, they also want to provide more options during lunch and dinner to increase customer stickiness. It is understood that this product expansion is driven by the brand’s precise assessment of its development and market demand. As a local fast-food brand deeply rooted in Jinan and centered on buns, Baozi Customer’s decision to expand product boundaries aims to enrich offerings and better meet consumer needs while aligning with its “three meals a day” positioning.

Notably, as early as November 28, 2025, Baozi Customer Beef Soup Dumplings officially announced that all 68 stores in Jinan would simultaneously launch handmade pork wontons. “I’ve had Baozi Customer’s wontons several times before. Not every store had them initially, but now all of them do,” shared Ms. Wang, a Jinan resident, describing her dining experience. This also indirectly confirms the long-term testing and accumulation of the wonton category in stores.

In addition to expanding single items like wontons and noodles, Baozi Customer is also innovating in store models. Xinhuanghe reporters learned that at the end of February this year, Baozi Customer renovated the Nanquanfu store and launched Jinan’s only store with a stir-fry category, representing a brand-new standard model. “We introduced an 8-yuan stir-fry set meal with 8 hot dishes, which customers can choose freely but only order once. They can also enjoy unlimited porridge and rice for 3 yuan,” said a relevant manager. After nearly a month of trial operation, the pilot results are promising: “Customers recognize it quite well. In terms of price, taste, and ingredient standards, we have advantages over many fast-food restaurants.”

The manager stated that Baozi Customer will continue to promote store model innovation alongside product expansion: “For the new store model at Nanquanfu, we will keep optimizing and testing to refine products and services. Meanwhile, the development and testing of wontons, noodles, and other items will also continue. Both efforts are aimed at enriching the product matrix and adapting to the three-meal consumption scenario.”

Industry Trends:

Local and National Food Brands Breaking Category Boundaries for Innovation

According to Baozi Customer’s official website, the brand is owned by Jinan Wanrun Catering Management Co., Ltd., a homegrown Jinan local brand established in 2016. It adopted a partnership model to attract collaborators and has now expanded to nearly 400 stores nationwide.

Baozi Customer’s multi-dimensional product and store track expansion is not an isolated case. Currently, the food industry faces increasingly fierce competition, with consumer demands upgrading from “eating enough” to “eating well, eating cleverly, and eating happily.” This pushes many brands to break category boundaries, expand product lines, and enrich consumption scenarios to enhance core competitiveness. This trend is evident among both local and chain brands.

As a leading local enterprise in Jinan, Shandong Kairui Group’s layout is quite representative. In recent years, Kairui has stepped out of the traditional Shandong cuisine track, launching a “local series” of restaurants. They plan to open 16特色 restaurants in Jinan named after various cities in Shandong, such as Boshan cuisine, Jinan cuisine, Heze cuisine, etc., allowing residents to taste regional flavors without leaving the city. Additionally, Kairui continuously refines scenarios, launching community-focused fast-food brands like Fumianli·Good Neighbor Fast Food. The group manages 14餐饮 brands with over 400 stores, pursuing diversified development through multi-track layout.

Besides local giants, niche local brands in Jinan are also actively innovating across categories. For example, Bruce Pizza on Wenhua East Road combines Jinan’s特色 braised pork with Western-style pizza, creating a bean pod braised pork pizza that fuses local flavors with Western cuisine. Its novelty has made it a “must-order” item, achieving category breakthrough with low-cost innovation.

Looking at the national market, category expansion and cross-border integration have become mainstream trends. Nayuki Tea collaborated with Luzhou Laojiao to launch a Baijiu-flavored milk tea, blending Chinese Baijiu with Western cheese foam; Xibei Youmian Village introduced black truffle Mongolian beef骨, using Western ingredients to enhance Chinese stews, boosting both average order value and order frequency. These brands break category boundaries to diversify their product matrix and precisely meet different consumer groups’ needs.

Industry Insights:

Product Expansion Is a Precise Response to Consumer Demand; Domestic Brands Have a Bright Future

Industry insiders say that expanding product lines is fundamentally a precise response to changing consumer needs. Today’s consumers demand more diversity in dining—seeking convenience and efficiency, as well as flavor and experience—making single-category offerings insufficient for long-term growth.

As a local Jinan fast-food brand, Baozi Customer’s pilot projects with stir-fry stores, new wontons, and noodles not only retain core strengths but also diversify choices, aligning with local market demands.

Currently, all Baozi Customer stores have incorporated wontons, while noodles are still in development and testing, and the Nanquanfu stir-fry store continues to optimize operations. In the future, the brand will gradually introduce new products and upgrade store models based on store feedback and consumer needs. As the trend of diversification deepens in the food industry, more local brands are expected to innovate through product development and category expansion, bringing richer dining experiences to residents and promoting high-quality growth of the local food market.

Reporter: Chen Yuanhao Photography: Chen Yuanhao Editor: Liu Meimei Proofreader: Wang Fei