Is the “Adult Dining Table” that is popular on social media a good business?

Recently, the topic of "small adult dining tables" has gradually attracted many people's discussion on social platforms, and even many young people have chosen to join the "small adult dining tables" business. However, can the "small adult dining tables" model be operated on a large scale? Let's take a look at the analysis and interpretation of this article.

"Did you order a small dining table today?" Unexpectedly, after fifteen years, Li Shuang ate at the small dining table again, and with his colleagues.

"Since I started working, what to eat for lunch has become a curse that bothers me. I'm tired of the takeout nearby and don't want to cook, so I just want to eat something normal." Li Shuang told the author, "Xiaofanzhuo is a good choice, with homely taste, health-conscious and economical."

"Small dining tables" originally refer to places around schools that provide food and beverages for primary and secondary school students, opened by schools, community committees or residents' families. Nowadays, adults have also joined in, and "small dining tables for adults" have become popular.

Since mid-to-late June, a craze for "small adult dining tables" has swept social platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, with many young people joining in. "Small adult dining tables" have become a new option for entrepreneurship.

Why do young people love small dining tables so much? Is small dining tables really a good business?

1. How popular are small dining tables for adults?

"Compared to the 'technical and hard work' of takeout, who doesn't want to eat a freshly cooked home-cooked meal?" Li Shuang told the author, "In the past, there was a cafeteria in the company park, and the food was slightly healthier. Since the cafeteria was closed, it has become a luxury to eat home-cooked meals."

Fortunately, the popularity of adult dining tables made Li Shuang's wish come true. "I contacted the adult dining table on Xiaohongshu, which happened to be two kilometers away from our company. It can deliver for free, with one meat and two vegetables per day, and reservations can be made one day in advance." Li Shuang said, "The price of the dining table is very affordable, and the taste is light, clean and hygienic, which meets my requirements."

Another girl born in 1995, Tang Tang, also worries about ordering takeout every day. She is a person who is very particular about food and loves to cook. However, the two-hour commute every day after work has worn away her passion for cooking. In addition, the company has no cafeteria, so ordering takeout has become her only option.

"I order takeout every day. I've tried all the takeouts around me. Takeouts are usually high in oil and salt. I've gained more than 10 pounds in the two years since I started working. If I keep eating more, my body will be damaged."

Tang Tang also discovered the existence of the small dining table for adults by accident. After trying to order from it once, he became addicted to it and has now become a "monthly" customer.

"The lunch box was still hot when it was delivered. Today's meals include scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stewed pork ribs, and garlic-marinated cowpeas. They are all freshly cooked home-cooked dishes. It can be said that the small adult dining table has eliminated my worries about ordering takeout."

In fact, as early as March this year, there was a news report that "a woman born in the 1990s didn't want to cook, so she spent 700 yuan to eat at the canteen of a daycare center" which sparked heated discussion. On social media, many people have smelled business opportunities from the pain point of migrant workers' difficulty in eating, and have opened "adult canteens" in their own kitchens to provide meal delivery services to surrounding office workers.

"I used to be a migrant worker. When I was working, I had trouble with food almost every day. Now I just quit my job, so I thought about opening a small restaurant for adults in Shanghai." Xiao Cui talked about the original intention of starting a business. "Nowadays, takeaway food is either fried or stir-fried. Many young people get sick from eating it. I hope my dishes can free migrant workers from high-fat and high-salt diets and return to natural and healthy eating habits."

Regarding the price, Xiao Cui told me, "Our price per meal is 30 yuan, and each meal includes two vegetarian dishes, one meat dish and a staple food. We deliver it for free within one kilometer, and you can pick it up yourself."

The Xiaohongshu blogger "Ajia Life Diary" is also an "Adult Small Dining Table" entrepreneur. She often posts notes, shows off her kitchen, ingredients, and dishes on social platforms, making people salivate.

In terms of price, the blogger "Ajia Life Diary" sets the price at 35 yuan, which also includes two vegetarian dishes and one meat dish + staple food per meal, and random fruits, which are limited in supply every day. The current delivery range is 5km near Jing'an Temple and Pudong Bridge. Many netizens asked in the comment area whether the delivery can be delivered to their addresses, but the blogger did not respond.

In fact, this is not an uncommon situation. If you search for "成人小餐桌" on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, you will find that the number of people who post is far less than the number of customers who want to place an order. In the comment section of almost every post about 成人小餐桌, there are many netizens asking about the price and delivery range, and some even leave a message: "Workers really need it, and it is recommended to promote it nationwide."

At present, the topic of "Adult Small Dining Table" has been played 26.64 million times on Douyin, and there are also a large number of notes on the operation of "Adult Small Dining Table" on Xiaohongshu. There is even a "Neighborhood Dining Table" applet specializing in adult small dining tables.

It is reported that "Neighborhood Table" is a small program operated by netizens. It suddenly became popular in April this year. Less than two months after its launch, the total number of users exceeded 35,000, attracted more than 1,000 chefs to register, and the daily order volume remained in the three digits, and the number of active users remained in the four digits.

Chefs can post daily menus on the mini program, updating the process of preparing, cooking, assembling and delivering dishes. Neighbors only need to place orders and wait for their meals to be served at home. In July this year, the "Neighborhood Table" mini program temporarily closed new user registrations due to too many users.

2. Why do workers love to cook home-cooked meals?

So, why do young people love small dining tables so much?

First, it is cheap. Needless to say, a lunch near the office buildings of first-tier cities costs about 30 yuan, and basically only some simple meals such as noodles. However, fast food chains such as Homemade Chicken, McDonald's, Super Bowl, Sukiya, and Burger King cost 40 or 50 yuan for a simple meal, which is expensive and the quantity is small.

The price of each meal at the small dining table is about 15-35 yuan. In first-tier cities like Shanghai, the freshly cooked home-cooked dishes that can be ordered for 30 yuan per serving can be said to be very nice.

Secondly, it is health. Young people have long suffered from takeout. Meal packages are high in oil and salt, which requires technology and hard work, and the hygiene conditions are unimaginable. The "Adult Small Dining Table" has fresh ingredients, nutritious combinations, less oil and less salt, and has obvious advantages.

"In order to ensure that customers can have a balanced intake of protein, staple foods and vitamins, every meal at the small dining table is 'one meat, two vegetables + staple foods + fruit'," Xiao Cui told the author, "The meat dishes may be fish, shrimp, beef, chicken breast and chicken legs, and basically they are different in a week. I will buy the ingredients on the same day, and then post the production process on WeChat Moments or in the group to reassure customers.

In addition, the adult dining table has some nostalgic feelings. "I feel that many of the dishes on the dining table are made by bloggers themselves, and they look like 'mom's dishes', with the taste of home and childhood." Li Shuang said.

Tang Tang also feels the same way. She said: "I need to lose weight. The cooking lady will help me control the amount of each meal and encourage me to lose weight every day. I have become friends with the lady at the adult dining table."

"Compared to standardized chain fast food, I prefer the service of small adult dining tables. It feels very warm," said Tang Tang.

In order to meet the diverse needs of customers, many entrepreneurs of small adult dining tables will ask for customers' opinions on everything from dish selection to packaging and delivery. They even carefully note down customers' taste habits and help them customize personalized packages.

In short, someone cooks for you at home and sends it to you downstairs after it’s cooked. It’s not expensive, and you don’t have to do homework after eating. What could a working person not be happy about?

3. Is small dining tables for adults a good business?

Although the "Adult Dining Table" is indeed very popular on the Internet and in short supply, this business is not so good.

First, most of the "small adult dining tables" have questionable qualifications, and potential food safety risks are worrying. Catering for adults should first obtain a business license that includes catering service business scope, and apply for a food business license in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Food Business License Management Measures". Otherwise, the "small adult dining tables" may be suspected of illegal operation.

But in fact, small adult dining tables are basically under zero supervision, and some are even opened in residential buildings in residential areas, which poses food safety and fire safety risks. Small adult dining tables are more like a kind of neighborhood mutual assistance, and the quality of ingredients, processing environment and practitioners can only rely on conscience.

Even the popular Xiaohongshu blogger "Ajia Life Diary" said that the relevant procedures are being processed and it is currently just a trial operation.

In fact, the business model of "Adult Small Dining Table" is very similar to "Family Shared Kitchen". As early as 2014, "Family Shared Kitchen" set off a wave of entrepreneurship. At that time, a large number of O2O shared kitchen brands such as "Go Home to Eat" and "Mom's Food" were favored by capital. Among them, "Go Home to Eat", which was established in 2014, was once called the "Didi" of the catering industry.

However, this entrepreneurial craze did not last long, because there were cases where consumers found foreign objects in their food or had diarrhea after eating, and the dirty and messy production environment of "family shared kitchens" also attracted doubts. In the end, the shared kitchen brands that had been running wild all the way left the market one after another.

Food is the most important thing for people, and food safety is the first priority. Although "small adult dining tables" have outstanding advantages, they also have prominent food safety issues. Most "small adult dining tables" are operated in residential buildings, and most of the operators are full-time mothers and unemployed people, who are "working without a license."

Second, contrary to popular belief, “adult dining tables” do not make much money.

"In order to ensure that the ingredients for each meal are fresh enough, I buy most of the ingredients from Sam's Club and surrounding markets. Each meal is priced at 30 yuan, but the cost price is around 18 yuan, so the profit margin is very small." Xiao Cui said, "And I always insist on cooking in a small pot, so the number of meals is limited. I can only say that I earn hard work."

Another operator of a small adult dining table told the author, "This thing looks fresh, but it's actually not profitable. In addition to the cost of ingredients, you also have to take into account the cost of time and labor, operation and maintenance, promotion and customer acquisition. I currently have 10 people making reservations, and it takes about 3-4 hours a day just to wash vegetables, prepare food, cook and deliver food."

Third, it is difficult for "small adult dining tables" to operate on a large scale. Low carrying capacity and distribution difficulties have become problems that restrict the large-scale operation of small dining tables.

Most meals at small dining tables are produced in family kitchens, and the operators alone complete the steps of determining the menu, purchasing, cutting side dishes, cooking, packaging, and delivery. Limited by kitchen utensils and manpower, the number of meal packages that can be completed every day is limited. According to the observation of Chief Business Review, the small dining tables currently operating in Shanghai can only handle very limited orders every day, with the number of meals served per day ranging from 3 to 20.

The difficulty of distribution is also a problem that limits the scale of small canteens. Since office workers are not as concentrated as students, most small canteens do not provide dine-in services and only accept self-pickup or delivery. Therefore, the delivery range of most small canteens can only be limited to the vicinity of home, and operators will choose to deliver by themselves.

In addition, small dining tables cannot meet the needs of all customers.

"I once met a very picky customer who asked not to put chili peppers, fennel, dried shrimps and coriander in any dish. I told her directly that I was sorry I couldn't meet her needs," Xiao Cui told the author. "Because we are self-employed, we don't accept orders. We always follow our menu. We can't meet overly demanding requests."

At present, the initial customer base of "Adult Small Dining Table" mostly comes from public domain traffic such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and Douban, but most meal orders and after-sales will flow to WeChat communication. The operators of "Adult Small Dining Table" are mostly mothers, unemployed people, young elderly people, etc., and have not yet broken through regionalization and scale. If they want to achieve sustainable development, "Adult Small Dining Table" still has a long way to go.

References:

1. "Office workers tired of takeout fall in love with freshly cooked adult dining tables" Financial World
2. "So popular that registration is suspended? The beauty and hidden worries of small adult dining tables" Jimu News
3. "At 20 to 30 yuan per serving, the demand is high but there are many hidden dangers. What is the difficulty in setting up a small dining table for adults?" Beijing Daily

Author: Mu Qing

Source public account: Chief Business Review (ID: CHReview), delves into business logic and helps value growth.