中國餐飲集團(tuán)瞄準(zhǔn)“單身經(jīng)濟(jì)”

With diners gathered around cauldrons of boiling soup, dropping meat and vegetables into the broth, hot pot is a quintessentially communal Chinese dish. But the country’s dominant chain has a new weapon to attract single diners: stuffed bears.

火鍋是中國共餐制文化的典型，通常是一群食客圍坐在沸騰的湯鍋旁，將肉和蔬菜放入鍋里。但中國一家著名火鍋連鎖店動(dòng)用了一個(gè)新武器來吸引單身食客：毛絨熊。

The introduction of large plush toys to accompany solo diners in the some 200 outlets of the Haidilao chain highlights the efforts of businesses in China to take advantage of a demographic shift creating a rising number of single consumers.

“海底撈”(Haidilao)在旗下大約200家連鎖店推出用大型毛絨玩具陪伴單身食客，此舉突顯了中國企業(yè)力求抓住人口結(jié)構(gòu)變化所造成的日益龐大的單身消費(fèi)者群體。

“They help people feel less lonely,” said Wang Ping, a waitress at a Haidilao in Shanghai, suggesting the Financial Times choose between a large teddy bear and a stuffed yellow chicken.

海底撈上海一家分店的服務(wù)員王萍(音譯)說：“它們有助于讓人們感到?jīng)]那么孤單。”她建議英國《金融時(shí)報(bào)》記者選一只大泰迪熊，或一只毛絨黃雞。

China’s population of adults living alone has grown by 16 per cent since 2012 to reach 77m, according to government statistics compiled by consultancy Euromonitor. By 2021 the number is set to rise to 92m.

據(jù)咨詢公司歐睿(Euromonitor)匯編的政府統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，2012年以來中國成年獨(dú)居人口增長了16%，達(dá)到7700萬。到2021年，該數(shù)字將上升到9200萬。

The shift is driven by a trend towards later marriage in China, led by prosperous cities. In Shanghai, the average first marriage age for women has reached 30, up from 27 in 2011. Marriages are also shorter due to a doubling of the divorce rate in the past decade.

這一轉(zhuǎn)變是由富裕的大都市帶動(dòng)的晚婚趨勢推動(dòng)的。在上海，婦女平均初婚年齡已經(jīng)達(dá)到30歲，高于2011年的27歲。由于過去10年里離婚率翻了一番，婚姻持續(xù)時(shí)間也縮短了。

Demographers estimate that a gender imbalance created by China’s one child policy means tens of millions of men may never marry. As a result, 16 per cent of China’s urban population now lives alone, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

人口學(xué)家估計(jì)，中國獨(dú)生子女政策造成的性別不平衡意味著，數(shù)千萬男性可能永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)結(jié)婚。其結(jié)果是，據(jù)波士頓咨詢集團(tuán)(Boston Consulting Group)研究，中國16%的城市人口現(xiàn)在獨(dú)自居住。

“The trend is accompanied by a profound change in people’s perceptions of remaining single: the concept is no longer stigmatised,” the group said in a recent report, meaning singles “dine, travel and pursue activities by themselves”.

波士頓咨詢集團(tuán)在最近一份報(bào)告中表示：“這一趨勢伴隨著人們對(duì)單身人群看法的深刻改變，單身概念不再帶有污名。”這意味著“單身人士會(huì)自己就餐、旅行和從事各種活動(dòng)”。

Companies have responded to the trend, which mirrors demographic shifts already experienced by China’s east Asian neighbours South Korea and Japan. Japanese chain Muji has introduced smaller rice cookers, ovens and kettles aimed at Chinese singles.

企業(yè)已對(duì)這一趨勢(該趨勢映襯了中國的東亞近鄰韓國和日本已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)的人口結(jié)構(gòu)變化)作出了回應(yīng)。日本無印良品(Muji)連鎖店針對(duì)中國單身人群已推出了小型電飯煲、烤箱和水壺。

Alibaba created Singles Day each November 11 as a celebration of the unattached lifestyle. It is now an annual consumer juggernaut, racking up Rmb120.7bn ($17.8bn) of sales in China in one day last year.

阿里巴巴打造了每年11月11日的“光棍節(jié)”，以慶祝單身生活。這一節(jié)日現(xiàn)在已成為一場年度消費(fèi)狂歡，去年該節(jié)日的銷售額達(dá)到1207億元人民幣(合178億美元)。

Asked on what they would most like to spend their time, China’s singles chose watching films online and travelling “to make their plain and mundane lives more exciting”, according to a recent report by consultancy Mintel. They are “less likely to travel for the connection with their family or shopping compared to married people,” preferring sightseeing and experiencing local culture, the report adds.

根據(jù)咨詢公司英敏特(Mintel)最近一份報(bào)告，在被問及他們最喜歡怎樣打發(fā)時(shí)間時(shí)，中國的單身人士選擇在網(wǎng)上看電影和旅行“來讓平凡單調(diào)的生活更加精彩”。報(bào)告還說，他們“與已婚人士相比，旅行在更大程度上不是為了家庭團(tuán)聚或者購物，”而是為了觀光和體驗(yàn)風(fēng)土人情。

Food delivery services have benefited from the trend. The sector saw 44 per cent sales growth in China last year, according to consultancy Bain. Yang Gengshen, a spokesman for Ele.me, one of China’s largest delivery services, which reported sales growth of 127 per cent in the first half of this year, said: “In my experience, very few single people are willing to cook for themselves.”

送餐服務(wù)從這一趨勢受益匪淺。根據(jù)咨詢公司貝恩(Bain)的統(tǒng)計(jì)，去年中國該行業(yè)銷售額增長了44%。中國最大網(wǎng)上訂餐平臺(tái)之一、報(bào)告今年上半年銷售增長127%的“餓了么”(Ele.me)的發(fā)言人楊耕身表示：“根據(jù)我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，單身人士很少愿意自己做飯。”

Meituan-Dianping, a restaurant review and food delivery company, which was valued at $18bn in a funding round last week, said 65 per cent of its orders came from unmarried customers, with fast food the most popular order for single consumers.

餐館點(diǎn)評(píng)和餐飲外賣公司美團(tuán)點(diǎn)評(píng)(Meituan-Dianping)在最近一輪融資中估值達(dá)180億美元。據(jù)該公司介紹，其65%的訂單來自未婚客戶，而單身消費(fèi)者最喜歡點(diǎn)快餐。

“Single are the most important group of customers for us,” said Wang Pu Zhong, general manager of Meituan’s on-demand delivery service. “Chinese food is quite complicated . . . it takes a lot of time, so single people will think it is a waste of time compared to ordering take-out,” he added.

美團(tuán)點(diǎn)評(píng)外賣和配送事業(yè)部總經(jīng)理王莆中表示：“單身人群是我們最重要的客戶群體。中國菜是很復(fù)雜的……做起來需要很多時(shí)間，所以單身人士認(rèn)為，比起點(diǎn)外賣，自己做是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。”

Single eaters are a common sight in fast food restaurants and convenience stores, but more upscale restaurants have found it hard to attract singles because of a continued stigma about dining alone. “We only get a few single customers each day,” said Ms Wang, the waitress.

單身食客是快餐店和便利店的常見景象，但較高檔的餐廳仍較難吸引單身消費(fèi)者，因?yàn)楠?dú)自用餐還是件羞恥的事。服務(wù)員王萍說：“我們每天只有幾個(gè)單身顧客。”

Shanghai singleton Chen Nie, 23, experienced a gamut of emotions when offered a teddy bear at Haidilao. "I was shocked at first. Then I felt warm,” she said. “But in the end I felt awkward because it reminded me of the fact that I'm single.”

23歲的上海單身人士陳聶在海底撈進(jìn)餐時(shí)，對(duì)于店方提供泰迪熊“陪吃”的提議百感交集。她說：“首先我感到很震驚，然后感到了溫暖。但是最后我覺得很尷尬，因?yàn)樗屛蚁肫鹆俗约簡紊磉@一事實(shí)。”