It's Haidilao, China's biggest hotpot chain worth more than $9 billion.

這是海底撈，中國最大的火鍋連鎖店，市值超過 90 億美元。

There's free services like manicures while you're waiting in line.

在排隊等候時，還有做指甲等免費服務。

And while you're dining, there's entertainment.

在用餐的同時，還有娛樂活動。

Lots of it.

很多娛樂。

The restaurant even has its own boy band?

餐廳甚至還有自己的男子團體？

But are these gimmicks enough to make it a success outside of China?

但是，這些噱頭是否足以讓它在中國以外取得成功？

Haidilao has grown to over 1,000 outlets across the globe.

目前，海底撈已在全球發展了 1,000 多家分店。

And with fresh funds from a recent public listing, the company plans to expand across the U.S.

憑藉最近上市獲得的新資金，公司計劃在全美進行擴張。

This is manicures, shoe shining.

有做指甲、擦鞋。

And massages for waiting customers.

還為等候的顧客提供按摩服務。

How do I get a hold of that?

我怎麼才能得到這些服務？

But can a local Chinese chain restaurant take on America?

但是，一家在地的中餐連鎖店能與美國抗衡嗎？

This is the economics of Haidilao.

本集是海底撈的經濟學。

So, what is Chinese hotpot exactly?

那麼，究竟什麼是中式火鍋？

It's a centuries-old cuisine in China meant to be eaten communally, with everyone sat around a table.

在中國，這是一種有著數百年歷史的美食，意為大家圍坐在一張桌子旁共同進餐。

Everyone will share in the same soup.

每個人都將分享同樣的湯。

You have to cook all the kind of dishes, fresh dishes, to cook it together and share the food around.

你必須烹飪各種菜餚，新鮮的菜餚，一起烹飪並分享食物。

The restaurant chain offers more than just hotpot.

這家連鎖餐廳提供的不僅僅是火鍋。

Besides free manicures, there's also playrooms for kids in almost every outlet.

除了免費做指甲，幾乎每家分店都設有兒童遊樂室。

With an in-house nanny, the restaurant provides.

餐廳還配有一名內部保姆。

Waiters also dance on request.

服務員也會應要求跳舞。

The most important thing for us is very friendly, because we want our customers to have a good experience in the restaurant.

對我們來說，最重要的是非常友好，因為我們希望顧客在餐廳有一個美好的體驗。

Haidilao's over-the-top performances and customer service sets it apart from competitors.

海底撈的精彩表演和客戶服務使其從競爭對手中脫穎而出。

And it keeps customers coming back, driving up revenue.

它還能讓客戶不斷回頭，增加收入。

Its net profit last year reached $620 million, almost double the amount in 2019 before the pandemic.

該公司去年的淨利潤達到 6.2 億美元，幾乎是疫情前 2019 年的兩倍。

Hotpot itself is not that unique a dish.

火鍋本身並不是什麼獨特的菜餚。

So how do you make it unique?

那麼，如何讓它獨一無二呢？

You do it by building the ambience and building the service culture that makes people want to come back again and again and again.

要做到這一點，就必須營造氛圍，建立服務文化，讓人們願意一而再、再而三地再次光臨。

And they've been very successful.

而且他們非常成功。

The company prepares all of its food in centralized kitchens off-site, which keeps overhead costs low.

公司的所有食品都是在場外的中央廚房準備的，這樣可以降低管理成本。

Meat and vegetables are purchased in enormous quantities.

大量採購肉類和蔬菜。

And the soup stocks are prepared and packaged here before they're sent to the outlets.

湯料也是在這裡製作和包裝的，然後再送往銷售點。

The strategy has worked out for the company, and now it wants to ramp up its international presence by attracting more investors.

公司的這一戰略取得了成功，現在它希望通過吸引更多的投資者來提升其國際影響力。

Today marks a special day for us.

今天對我們來說是一個特殊的日子。

It's not just about being listed.

這不僅僅是上市的問題。

In May, Haidilao's international operator SuperHi listed in the U.S., raising nearly $53 million, with shares surging more than 40 percent on its Nasdaq debut. 70 percent of that new money is earmarked for the company's global expansion.

今年 5 月，海底撈的國際運營商 SuperHi 在美國上市，募集資金近 5300 萬美元，在納斯達克首次上市時股價大漲 40%。這筆新資金的 70% 專用於公司的全球擴張。

The United States or American market is a very important market for us, not only just from the consumer perspective, but also from the capital perspective.

美國或美國市場對我們來說是一個非常重要的市場，不僅從消費者的角度來看是如此，從資本的角度來看也是如此。

We felt that Haidilao can also leverage on the experience, leverage on the market.

我們覺得海底撈也可以利用經驗、利用市場。

The company's first foray into the U.S. was in 2013 when it opened an outlet in Los Angeles.

2013 年，該公司在洛杉磯開設了一家分店，這是公司首次進軍美國市場。

In the decades since, Haidilao has opened more than 20 stores across North America.

幾十年來，海底撈已在北美開設了 20 多家分店。

Now its second biggest international market, making up nearly a quarter of its overseas revenue.

現在，它已成為第二大國際市場，佔其海外收入的近四分之一。

L.A. is a more diverse city, so it is more suitable for hotpot business.

洛杉磯是一個更加多元化的城市，所以更適合火鍋生意。

The restaurant chose not to open in Chinatown to set itself apart from other overseas Chinese businesses, a strategy it applies to all of its global ventures.

該餐廳選擇不在唐人街開店，是為了與其他海外華商區分開來，這也是它在全球所有企業中都採用的策略。

In the U.S., that's helped it to attract a cult following, including Hollywood stars.

在美國，這幫助它吸引了包括好萊塢明星在內的追捧者。

If you open a Chinese restaurant in the States, your target is to attract more non-Chinese customers.

如果你在美國開一家中餐廳，你的目標是吸引更多的非中國顧客。

But appealing to American consumers may be easier than Wall Street investors.

但吸引美國消費者可能比吸引華爾街投資者更容易。

New Chinese listings on U.S. stock exchanges slowed dramatically in 2022 because of tensions between Washington and Beijing.

2022 年，由於華盛頓和北京之間的緊張關係，中國在美國證券交易所的新股上市大幅放緩。

Analysts say, however, that Haidilao's expansion plans defy the bubbling tensions.

不過，分析人士認為，海底撈的擴張計劃與緊張局勢背道而馳。

Haidilao flies under the radar with politics, and that makes it a great company to grow internationally.

海底撈在政治上不引人注意，這使它成為一家在國際上發展的優秀公司。

Most people are never going to know what is the organizational heritage of Haidilao.

大多數人永遠不會了解海底撈的組織傳承。

People are not concerned about dropping $100 in Haidilao as compared to spending $35,000 on a BYD vehicle, which is then pitched as eliminating 50 American jobs.

人們對於在海底撈花100美元並不在意，但卻會關心花35,000美元購買一輛比亞迪汽車，因為這可能會被描述為會削減50個美國工作的問題。

There are other difficulties, however, in exporting a business that's centered on selling not just food, but a very specific restaurant experience that the staff provide.

然而，出口一家不僅以銷售食品為中心，而且以員工提供非常特殊的餐廳體驗為中心的企業，還存在其他困難。

These extravagant services can be challenging to reproduce in all its global outlets.

要在其全球所有分店複製這些奢華服務，難度可想而知。

It had to shut down manicure services in the U.S., for example, because as a restaurant, it couldn't get a cosmetology business permit.

例如，它不得不關閉在美國的美甲服務，因為作為一家餐廳，它無法獲得美容經營許可證。

Quality control is another concern.

但品質控制是另一個令人擔憂的問題。

The company has about 1,400 outlets across the globe.

該公司在全球擁有約 1 400 個據點。

All of them are operated directly by Haidilao, unlike some of the biggest fast food chains in the world that have expanded via franchises.

所有這些餐廳都由海底撈直接經營，不像世界上一些大型速食連鎖店通過加盟的方式進行擴張。

The company aspires to grow into a global restaurant juggernaut, such as McDonald's and KFC.

公司希望發展成為麥當勞和肯德基那樣的全球餐飲巨頭。

Like its peers, Haidilao is now considering franchising its business, but only in China, and it's doing so cautiously.

與同行一樣，海底撈目前也在考慮加盟業務，但僅限於中國市場，而且行事謹慎。

Haidilao's success mainly relies on the direct communication between customers and our staff.

海底撈的成功主要依賴於客戶與我們員工之間的直接溝通。

Whether franchising can or will change it, it is still a question mark.

加盟經營能否或能否改變這種狀況，還是一個問號。

Whatever direction Haidilao takes, analysts say the company's ambition for global growth comes at an opportune time.

分析人士認為，無論海底撈的發展方向如何，該公司實現全球增長的雄心都恰逢其時。

So when we think about international expansion in the next 10 years, we're going to be looking at the rapid growth of companies from both India and China.

當我們考慮未來 10 年的國際擴張時，我們將看到印度和中國公司的快速增長。

So Haidilao is a harbinger for what we can see for the future growth of Chinese companies internationally.

海底撈預示著中國公司未來在國際上的發展前景。

Haidilao's unrivaled customer service may have given it an edge over competitors.

海底撈無與倫比的客戶服務可能是其超越競爭對手的優勢所在。

But it may also slow the company's global expansion as it tries to keep replicating that experience around the world.

但這也可能會減緩該公司的全球擴張步伐，因為它正試圖在世界各地不斷複製這種體驗。