Cracking the Challenge of Chinese Restaurant Chains: Green Tea Group’s Dual Drivers of Standardization and Talent Development

Since its establishment in 2004, Green Tea Group has gradually evolved from a local restaurant in Hangzhou into one of the leading chain restaurant brands. It successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 16 this year. The expansion of Chinese-style restaurants into chains always faces a core dilemma: how to balance the tension between standardization and regional adaptation. Green Tea Group has delivered an innovative answer after nearly twenty years of practice—through four generations of standardization system iterations and a digital talent cultivation mechanism, they have built an operational backbone supporting nearly 500 stores. From a single-store operation by West Lake to a listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, its journey of standardization reflects the transformation of China’s restaurant industry from experience-driven to systematized evolution.Sticking to the “cost-performance ratio” strategy, Green Tea Group originally started as Green Tea International Youth Hostel. The founding team noticed that young people were particularly fond of the dishes offered at the hostel, which prompted them to open their first restaurant. The restaurant became popular quickly, marking the start of the chain expansion journey for Green Tea Group.

Starting with the West Lake Longjing store, the group gradually expanded into cities like Beijing and Shenzhen, continuously broadening its footprint. Initially, Green Tea Group focused on Hangzhou cuisine, but as its business expanded, it gradually transitioned to a fusion cuisine model to meet the needs of consumers from different regions.By combining high-end ingredients with affordable prices, Green Tea successfully shaped its brand image as “value-for-money dining.” This clear brand positioning allowed Green Tea to firmly capture the mainstream consumer group. After early successes, Green Tea Group demonstrated exceptional strategic perseverance, which was most evident in sticking to its “high cost-performance fusion cuisine” positioning. This perseverance has not wavered in the face of short-term market fluctuations or external environmental changes. For example, during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic and the decline in consumer spending power, Green Tea Group did not blindly pursue higher-end or luxury offerings. Instead, it continued to focus on its high value-for-money strategy, precisely targeting the mass consumer demand. This strategic steadfastness has enabled Green Tea to maintain stable performance even during market turmoil.While Green Tea Group has maintained consistent stability in its strategic positioning, it has demonstrated high flexibility in its product strategy.

The R&D team constantly launches new products based on market research and consumer feedback, updating its menu every quarter. This frequent product iteration ensures that Green Tea stays on trend and meets the diversified needs of younger consumers. For example, the success of classic dishes such as “Bread Temptation” and “Fish Head Temptation” is based on keen market insights and continuous innovation. Additionally, Green Tea Group adapts its menu to suit regional preferences, adjusting according to local dietary habits and cultural backgrounds. For instance, spicier dishes are introduced in areas like Hunan and Sichuan, while flavor preferences in northeastern regions might be adjusted to enhance the customer experience. This combination of “standardization + localization” ensures brand consistency while enhancing adaptability in regional markets.Business Expansion: The Power of Standardization.During its business expansion, Green Tea Group faced many challenges, one of the key issues being the construction of standardization. As the number of stores grew from a handful to dozens or even hundreds, ensuring consistency in product and service quality became an urgent challenge. To address this, Green Tea Group drew on the “McDonald’s System” (McDonald’s and KFC systems) experience and established a standardization system covering products, talent, and operational processes.

Liu Shaoguang, head of the Standardization Department, emphasized that standardization is not only a tool for improving efficiency but also a key to enhancing customer experience. He stressed: “Standardization is not just about teaching employees how to operate; it’s about delivering the best possible experience to customers.” Based on this philosophy, Green Tea Group divided standardization into three levels: product standardization, talent standardization, and operational process standardization.Product Standardization.Green Tea Group’s product standardization is reflected in the meticulous regulation of the cooking process. From ingredient selection, preparation, to cooking time and fire control, every step has clear standards. For instance, the ingredients, cutting methods, and cooking procedures for each dish are recorded in the operation manuals, ensuring that consumers can taste the same flavors regardless of which store they visit.Talent Standardization.Talent is the core driving force for restaurant businesses. Green Tea Group has built a comprehensive talent development system, using Green Tea University as an internal platform to provide extensive training and development opportunities for employees. From onboarding training for new employees to promotion training for key positions like store managers and head chefs, the company offers a complete curriculum system and certification mechanism.

For instance, new employees must complete a series of basic courses before officially starting work, and store managers and head chefs undergo management training camps to enhance their leadership and professional skills. This talent standardization training model provides ample human resources to support the company’s rapid expansion.Operational Process Standardization.In terms of operational processes, Green Tea Group has established detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). From customer reception and order-taking to food ingredient management and hygiene cleaning in the kitchen, each position has clear workflows and standards. By optimizing processes, Green Tea has improved work efficiency while maintaining service quality consistency. For example, during peak hours, servers must quickly and accurately take orders and deliver food according to the set procedures, ensuring that customers receive timely and high-quality service.Liu Shaoguang further explained the two core principles of standardization: one is based on customer experience, and the other is based on operational efficiency. Only by truly considering the customer’s perspective can one design standards that meet practical needs; at the same time, efficient operational processes can significantly improve table turnover rates, driving business performance.

Talent Development to Support Standardization.As the number of stores rapidly increased, how to quickly replicate high-quality talent became a major challenge for Green Tea Group. To address this, Green Tea University was created as an important training and development platform within the company. In 2019, the group upgraded its original “Operations Center Training Department” to “Green Tea University,” marking a fundamental shift from experience-driven to systematic and digitalized talent development. Green Tea Group has developed a comprehensive and distinctive talent cultivation system to meet the human resource needs of rapid expansion and high-quality development. The talent development system mainly focuses on key positions, especially store managers and head chefs. Through Green Tea University, employees are provided with all-round training and development opportunities.Digital Transformation in Talent Development.Green Tea Group has actively implemented its digital transformation strategy, deeply applying digital technology and AI in talent development and company operations to enhance operational efficiency and service quality. To optimize the employee training system, the group introduced the Xuanxing Smart Technology AI digital learning platform.

This platform, built on an advanced AI framework, integrates a diverse learning resource library, including video tutorials, online courses, and electronic textbooks, providing employees with convenient and efficient learning paths. The platform also features online exams, progress tracking, and learning data analysis, facilitating enterprise management and evaluation of employees’ learning outcomes.Through the AI learning platform, Green Tea Group has shared and optimized its training resources, improving training efficiency and effectiveness while reducing training costs. The group has also applied AI in course development, which automatically generates course outlines, teaching content, and presentations based on the course theme and teaching objectives. This helps instructors quickly produce high-quality courses based on vast amounts of teaching case data and provides teaching ideas and suggestions.Through digital learning and AI-based teaching methods, Green Tea Group has successfully built a high-quality, professional workforce, providing strong support for the company’s sustainable development.Green Tea Group’s success in standardization and talent cultivation has laid a solid foundation for its continued growth, providing a valuable example of how to achieve breakthroughs and growth in the competitive market by embracing standardization, talent development, and digital transformation.