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Author | Restaurant owner Insider Insider Insider
Cooking tycoons,
Everyone has set his sights on airports and high-speed rail stations
High-speed rail, airport, high-speed service areas... suddenly became "hot cakes", and leading brands have put forward their layout plans.
At the end of August, at the second quarter of 2025 financial report performance meeting, Lu Yongchen, CEO of Tims Tianhao China, said that the brand will layout more high-quality transportation points, "drive Tims into more high-speed rail stations, airports, and high-speed service areas to build a 'travel supply station'. At the same time, increase the coverage of special channel stores such as hospitals, schools, banks."
Not only Tims, the "Snow King" that has been soaring along the way also shows the brand's emphasis on transportation hub points. Since 2024, Mixue Bingcheng has continuously adjusted its store opening and franchise policies, and in June this year it has expanded the scope of store protection by three times. Many franchisees said that the adjusted store opening threshold is higher, and the brand's review speed for point-based locations has also slowed down.
◎Picture source: Brand official account
Although the store opening policy has undergone several adjustments, Mixue Bingcheng has always encouraged franchisees to enter special unsaturated channels including transportation hubs. In mid-August, the official account of Mixue Cooperation Center also issued a good news on the signing of Mixue Ice City in Wuhan Tianhe International Airport and Wuhan High-speed Railway Station.
Bawang Tea Girl, who had previously been committed to "opening big stores", also quietly increased the proportion of transportation hub stores.
CITIC Securities research report shows that before, about 80% of the stores of Bawang Tea Girls chose shopping malls and office buildings in first- and second-tier cities, and had certain requirements for store area, but this year, this proportion has dropped to about 60%. Among the newly opened stores, the proportion of community street stores, transportation hub stores and school stores has increased.
On the transportation hub,
Station is full of major chain restaurants
Based on Neizanjun's observation of airports and high-speed rail stations on business trips in recent years, he has made some new discoveries about catering in transportation hubs.
Look at the high-speed rail station first, fast food is the main one, McCannxing is the "standard configuration", and many stores of fast food in the region are also opened.
Taking Guangzhou South Station as an example, the number of brands may not be large, but the obvious feature isOne brand opens multiple stores, brands such as McDonald's, KFC, Bawang Tea Girl, Yu Jian Xiaomian, and Steamed Browse have opened more than one store on the site.
At the same time, the profit margin of the dishes is also quite considerable. Take steamed Liuji as an example. The price of meat dishes is concentrated at around 30 yuan. For example, the classic steamed pork ribs are as high as 38 yuan per serving, one meat, one vegetable, one soup and one meal, and the price of a meal is as high as 60 yuan. For the same price, you can group a three-person package at Shenzhen Excellent Times Square Store.
◎Photo: Neizanjun
Look at the airport again, from fast food to regular meals to local specialty brands, everything is available.
China's airport commercial market size reached 182 billion yuan in 2024, of which catering retail accounts for 39%, becoming an important pillar of airport commercialization.
Taking Chengdu Tianfu Airport as an example, there are particularly rich dining options, among which fast food and simple meals account for the highest proportion, meeting the fast dining needs of passengers. It also introduced regular dining brands such as Ruxuan Casserole Porridge and Quanniu Jiangleshan Qiaojiao Beef to provide a more ritual dining experience.
◎Photo: Neizanjun
From the point layout, the "central catering area" in the center of the T2 terminal of Tianfu Airport can be regarded as a core area, such as Starbucks, KFC, Shiqijia, Yuan Jiyun Dumpling and other large chain restaurant companies are located in it.
As a must-pass place before departure and after landing, the importance of this location is self-evident, and the restaurants inside are always densely populated. Especially stores like KFC, which have Sichuan characteristics such as "national fast food" and Yibiao Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant are even more crowded with travelers who are traveling together.
In order to increase space utilization, beverage brands in the waiting area, such as a yogurt cow, tea Baidao, etc., have adopted a store-in-store model to reduce the cost of opening a store.
◎Most beverage stores adopt the store-in-store model
Photo: Neizanjun
Finally, there is a high-speed service area that is moving closer to shopping malls and catering. Some netizens said that it is "more fun than scenic spots."
In the past, when it comes to high-speed service areas, they were nothing more than six-piece sets - fetching water, refueling, going to the toilet, supermarkets, lunch boxes, and instant noodles. Dining options are quite limited. But today, with the upgrading of consumer demand and the commercial iteration of service areas, drivers have also had new choices in addition to the traditional "six-piece set".
For example, the Jiaxing Expressway Service Area introduced the first expressway Starbucks in the country. Currently, the service area includes local restaurant companies such as Wufangzhai, Yaoqiang Lamb Noodle, and Wuzhen Special Noodle Restaurant, as well as international and domestic well-known brands such as KFC, Starbucks, and Guming, and even cultural and sports and entertainment brands such as Xinhua Cultural and Creative·Guangdong Space, which can be called a "one-stop solution for food, drink, play and entertainment."
◎ Source: Xiaohongshu
Why are you increasing your investment in transportation hub stores?
Opening a new store at a major transportation road seems to be a helpless turn of the store expansion strategy in the high-pressure market.
Qichacha data shows that in 2024 alone, there were as many as 3.574 million newly registered catering companies. As of the end of June 2025, the inventory of catering-related companies across the country had reached nearly 17 million, and the competition for stocks was becoming increasingly fierce.
At the same time, the core business districts and shopping malls that were once known as the "traffic entrance" are no longer in glory. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the passenger flow of shopping malls nationwide was only 78.3% of the same period in 2019, and many catering practitioners lamented that "the rent is sorry for the traffic."
When the market tends to be saturated and opening a store in places with more opportunities is a natural choice for brands.
The reason why the former "non-mainstream" points are very popular at the moment is that the number of travelers has repeatedly hit new highs under the influence of increasingly perfect transportation facilities, changing consumption concepts, and government-led support.
According to CCTV News, the cross-regional flow of people in the whole society is expected to reach 11.9 billion during the summer transportation this year, with an average daily increase of 192 million, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%.
The higher the traffic, the higher the brand has, and the higher the probability of completing the conversion of a wider customer base.
Take the Hong Kong West Kowloon High-speed Railway Station as an example, as the core transportation hub of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the average daily passenger flow during the May Day holiday reached about 100,000, which can be called the "traffic king". This year, Yu Jian Xiaomian, who has been hitting the IPO, aimed at this business opportunity and opened the brand's sixth and 400th store in Hong Kong to the Hong Kong West Kowloon High-speed Railway Station.
In fact, in addition to basic shopping centers, residential areas and other common points, Meet Xiaomian has long shown concern for special points such as transportation hubs, schools and scenic spots. After years of development, the brand has completed its layout in airports such as Beijing Daxing, Shanghai Hongqiao, Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao'an, as well as high-speed rail stations such as Beijing West Railway Station, Guangzhou South Railway Station, and Shenzhen North Railway Station.
Don't be superstitious about business districts, take "people flow" as a site selection consideration, and seek high potential benefits for the brand by increasing the number of potential consumer groups. As a transit station, the transportation hub can help brands reach passengers from all over the world, greatly expand the scope of customer base, and naturally gain more brand support.
◎Photo: Neizanjun
Secondly, the transportation hub can provide brands with natural endorsement, allowing catering brands to "bring their own highlights".
Unlike shopping malls, transportation hubs can form natural separations, and there are many people and few stores, making it more effective to expose the brand. Although customers may not always go to the store to consume, when a brand appears repeatedly, it will naturally form a memory point in the hearts of consumers.
For example, KFC has opened 6 stores (including 1 Kenyue Coffee) at Tianfu Airport alone, and has been exposed many times in multiple areas such as departure, arrival, and living areas. It not only facilitates and benefits consumers quickly, but also further strengthens the brand image and achieves the effect of the station endorsement of the brand.
Introducing special catering brands will help enrich the business ecology of stations/airports and improve the travel experience of passengers. It is a "two-way rushing" between transportation hubs and catering brands.
For example, Beijing Capital International Airport opened the Beijing Yun Cultural Food Festival in Terminal T3 in July 2024, not only Chinese time-honored restaurants such as Bianyifang, Hongbinlou, Emei Restaurant, and Barbecue Season, but also Internet celebrity restaurants such as EGG BOMB, Bawang Tea Girl, manner, and Heytea.
Daxing Airport, at the southern end of Beijing, was also popular because of its "delicious". In August this year, Daxing Airport opened the "Guixing Sijian" summer food festival and launched vouchers and check-in activities, including Axiang Rice Noodles, Daoxiangcun, Xiabu Xiabu, Qinlu Jiangxi Cuisine, Qingfeng Buns Shop, Xibei and other stores participating.
Young people use high-speed rail and airport catering,
Eat became a "travel three-piece set"
In the past, the impression left by transportation hub catering on consumers was that "high prices, few choices, average taste", and most passengers were "emergency consumption"; now, as passengers' requirements for travel experience increase, "eating good food when traveling" has become a new demand.
In order to better meet consumer needs, many regions have launched online ordering services, which are more convenient.
In March this year, Railway 12306 launched a self-pickup service. Passengers can place an order in advance within the 12306APP [Foodding·Speciality] option and pick it up after arriving in the store. Previously, Beijing Daxing Airport also launched the "Xingxian Delivery" service: Passengers place orders on the mini program, and the goods are directly sent to the boarding gate within 30 minutes. It is reported that the use of this function has surged by 150% in 2024.
On the price side, the "same city, same quality and same price" policy has also become one of the basic requirements for transportation hub investment. Affected by this, the prices of many products in transportation hubs are basically the same as those in the same brand and category of stores in the city. The package prices of some brands in Daxing Airport are even lower than those in the city. The prices of packages for some brands in Daxing Airport are even lower than those in the city., which greatly reduces passengers' concerns about product premiums.
Convenience + affordable has attracted a large number of young people to plant grass and check in and experience food at the transportation hub. It is becoming a necessary sense of ritual before departure/after landing.
The most famous one is called the "Daxing Airport Three-piece Set". On Xiaohongshu, there have been 4.356 million views under the entry #Daxing Airport Three-Piece Set.有游客专门到访，在馆内走了7千多步，就为了凑齐“老舍茶馆·杏仁豆腐牛乳茶”“阳阳中国饭·虾仁烧麦”和“美珍香·芝士肉干吐司”。
◎ Source: Xiaohongshu
The "three-piece set" of grass planting and check-in has spread to more cities. From the candied haws in Harbin + freshly brewed gawas + eggg burgers, to the steamed bait shreds in Kunming + Yunnan red latte + rose Pu'er ice cream, to the Cuihua pineapple bread in Shenzhen + Guangming pigeon + Chen Pengpeng Chaoshan cuisine... More and more young people have begun to "shop and eat and drink" in transportation hubs, and have brought out many "airport internet celebrity stores".
Summary
To a certain extent, today's transportation hub catering is: more reputation brands, fewer premiums and fewer customers; more convenient and adaptable, fewer curiosity and tastes; more clear labels, fewer fuzzy positioning... It has truly realized the transformation from emergency consumption to quality experience.
But it is not easy for catering people to enter.
The first thing is the high rental cost. "New Weekly" mentioned in the report that if the rent of stores in the city accounts for 15% to 20% of operating costs, the airport store can reach 30%.
In addition, the airport and high-speed service areas are equidistantly far from the urban area, and the transportation cost of food ingredients is also higher. Due to the uncertainty of the train number/flight time, most stores require 24 hours to operate, which further increases the cost of opening a store.
Therefore, although transportation hub catering has ushered in a quality upgrade on the consumer side, its high cost and strong restrictions cannot be ignored. This also means that if catering brands want to gain a foothold here, they need to further enhance their competitiveness in many aspects such as cost control and operational adaptation.
