The temple is on fire, and the anxiety of young people is becoming a new catering business!

“Between going to work and making progress, young people choose Shangxiang!”
“Between seeking someone and seeking oneself, young people choose to seek Buddha!”
……
The bitter temples of young people are the clearest.
After the camping wind and the stove cooking tea wind, “temple catering” became popular.
From the second half of last year, the Yonghe Palace, Tanzhe Temple, and Hongluo Temple in Beijing have been established; Kaifu Temple, Xixin Zen Temple, and Lushan Temple in Changsha; The Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou… is bustling with people every day, and most pilgrims are from the 90s and 00s. While they have given anxiety to the temple, new catering opportunities are also being discovered.
1、 Phenomenon: The rise of the “compassionate economy”, this generation of young people like to eat in temples!
It is commonly said that catering is the business of young people. Where the young people are, the business is there.
For today’s young people, they no longer like shopping malls or visiting scenic spots, but instead choose to squeeze into temples.
The popularity of temple tourism has greatly exceeded expectations.
Since February 2023, the post 90s and post 00s have accounted for 50% of the population who have booked tickets to the temple scenic spot. Compared to previous years, ticket orders for temple related scenic spots increased by 310% year-on-year this year.
Take the Yonghe Palace, the most important spiritual totem of Beijing people, for example. In previous years, the grand spectacle of crowds and crowds only appeared on the first and fifteenth days of the first day of the lunar calendar and important Buddhist festivals. Moreover, those who came to pay homage to the Buddha were also elderly believers.
However, since the Spring Festival this year, the congestion pattern in the Yonghe Palace has entered a normal state, and even on weekdays, it is often possible to see jostling tourist teams, with young faces prominently listed.
This huge flow of young people has also shifted the focus of catering from major shopping centers to the surrounding temples.
The Michelin vegetarian restaurant near the Yonghe Palace in Beijing, Beijing Zhaoyin, needs to be located at least a week in advance for more than 1000 people per capita; Hangzhou Temple Coffee has also gone crazy, with the Compassion Coffee from Yongfu Temple, Muhuan Coffee from Faxi Temple, and Deshou Palace Coffee from Deshou Palace; Young men and women in Chengdu abandoned the Heming Tea House and threw themselves into the arms of the Daci Temple Tea House
The rise of a compassionate economy has ushered in a golden era for surrounding catering and beverage stores based on temples.
So, why can temple+food be so popular among this generation of young people?
There are two main reasons:
（1） Psychological comfort: the more developed society is, the more it wants to “avoid the world”
“Burn hundreds of incense and make millions of wishes”;
“The end of marriage is not blind date, but temple worship”;
……
“About why this generation of young people are passionate about temples, online jokes may give a good answer.”. Why is this happening? In fact, the main reason is that young people need more psychological comfort. Under the high pressure of social competition, it becomes impossible to live in seclusion for a period of time. However, a day’s trip to a temple can temporarily avoid reality, restore inner peace, reconcile with inner anxiety and spiritual friction, and give themselves positive psychological cues. Why not do it?
So why have more than a year of young people flocked to temples and dined? The main reason is that the lives of young people in the past three years of the pandemic have not been easy, both in terms of job hunting and emotional well-being. Uncertainty about the future is the main reason why they are flocking to temples.
（2） Becoming a new “social currency” and punching in and talking
With red walls and yellow tiles, and a quiet environment, if you have a meal and a cup of coffee here, it must be the most enviable person in the circle of friends today.
In addition to some people who come to the temple for pilgrimage due to psychological needs, there are also some young people whose appeals are more simple and straightforward. They have no faith, just to take beautiful photos, take beautiful coffee cups, and work hard for today’s Jiugongge photos.
Because in their minds, punching in and eating at such a place is far more advanced than going to a shopping mall.
In addition, the immersive dining environment, good reputation, and attractive cultural and creative surroundings are like a pair of magic hands firmly grasping young people’s wallets.
2、 Cold Thinking: Can everyone cook “temple” food?
Attractive young traffic and huge business opportunities are placed in front of many diners like a delicious cake. Since temple catering is so good, can we do it?https://www.stoneitech.com/
First of all, temple catering is bound to form a culture, especially the more civilized the material, the greater the demand for such catering will be. Therefore, there is a market, but there are also several prerequisites that require our cold thinking.
（1） First-tier and quasi first-tier cities are more suitable for temple catering
There are two prerequisites for making temple catering and temple coffee. One is the local need for a temple; The second is to have enough young people and needs.
Whether it’s the Yonghe Temple in Beijing, the Ciyun Temple in Chengdu, or the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou… we find that these temples are all located in first-tier cities, new first-tier cities, and cities with good tourism resources.
Therefore, if you want to do temple catering in third – and fourth tier cities, and the consumer group is mainly middle-aged and elderly, you still need to think twice.
（2） Coffee, tea, and businesses with a per capita income of over 1000 yuan are more suitable for temples
Now, from coffee in Hangzhou to temple catering in Beijing, it is not difficult to find two types of business that can be made bigger and stronger. One is coffee and drinks; One is high-end restaurants with an average per capita of over 1200 yuan.
For example, Beijing Zhaoyin, the only Michelin 3-star three-star vegetarian restaurant in the world, is next to the Lama Temple, and now the minimum per capita set meal is more than 1400; For example, the TRB French restaurant opened in Beijing next to the 600-year-old ancient temple costs around 1000 yuan per person
Why can tea and high-end catering survive well?
The first is due to traffic:
Although the price of drinking is not high, if the flow of young people is large enough to support a store, and if you are also doing a flow business like tea drinks, it is also possible.
The second is due to tonality and pricing:
As is known to all, the better the location, the more valuable it is. The temples are usually located in the center of the city, where every inch of land is worth every inch of money. It is conceivable how expensive it is to rent a restaurant in such a location.
In the past, our understanding was that when driving near a temple, we must sell vegetarian food, but in fact, some Western and French food still live very well.
In fact, it depends on our per capita and positioning. If it is low per capita, home-made dishes obviously cannot be supported. In this regard, Beijing’s TRB French cuisine is very good. It uses the 600-year-old Zhizhu Temple as a selling point, selling for scarcity. Having a meal in front of an ancient temple can feel the tranquility of time.
Therefore, the business format is not limited to vegetarianism. The key is to see whether your customer order can support high cost operations with a low turnover rate.
（3） There should be a dining atmosphere, and there should be clock in and photo spots
If I am not a tea drinker or a high-end restaurant with a high per capita income, can I not target temple catering?
Actually, it’s not entirely true. In fact, there are gold bunkers within 2 kilometers around the temple. The key is to have a dining atmosphere, including restaurants around the location you choose, so that young people are willing to ride bicycles and buses to reach.
For example, in the “Fire God Temple” next to the Drum Tower in Beijing, there is a terrace hot pot called Jiuji about one kilometer away. You can visit the temple while taking photos of the beautiful scenery of the Drum Tower, and there is also a dining atmosphere around.
Secondly, the temple catering itself has the assistance of punch in and take photos. For example, we also take TRB as an example. There are antique tea houses, yoga halls, and art galleries around for guests to take photos.
Social media for young people, with images to display, is also a core.
Summary:
“Where there are young people, there are catering mines.”
Nowadays, there has been a more detailed differentiation in the lifestyle of young people, with the shift from commercial supermarkets to temples, which have become scenic spots. Therefore, it is worthwhile for us catering people to consider how to take a share in this shift.
“It also makes us more imaginative in creating scenes. For example, the quiet style of decoration that evolved from temples in a number of restaurants such as the Yuan Dynasty and the Jingguan Pavilion is worth considering what young people like today.”.