Shrimp Paste Hotpot Buffet at RMB 59: Will It Become the Next 'Beef Rib' Buffet?

Recently on a trip back to my hometown, I noticed that a second-tier small city in Hebei has opened several 'shrimp paste hotpot buffet' restaurants.

Unlike regular hotpot buffets, this is like a 'shrimp paste museum': from original shrimp paste to roe shrimp paste, mushroom shrimp paste, squid shrimp paste, and even dragon fruit shrimp paste — over a dozen varieties are available.

In addition to shrimp paste, the stores offer chicken paste, beef paste, fish paste, and other 'paste derivatives', all served in bamboo-tube-shaped containers and neatly arranged in rows in the refrigerated cabinet.

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Besides shrimp paste, there are also traditional hotpot items like beef, lamb, vegetables, and mushrooms, as well as desserts, drinks, ice jelly, and some stores even offer pizza and other staples.

Of course, most customers come for the 'shrimp paste freedom'.

In fact, over the past year, a number of chain shrimp paste hotpot buffet brands have emerged in Hebei Province and even expanded beyond. For example, Cijie Fresh-Made Shrimp Paste Hotpot Buffet from Shijiazhuang, founded last year, now has 66 stores in Shandong, Jilin, Jiangsu, and more. Another brand from Hebei, Chengke Bei Shrimp Paste Hotpot Buffet, founded around the same time, has opened nearly 40 stores in Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, and Jilin.

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Jiang Laolao Shrimp Paste Seafood Hotpot Buffet, which opened its first store in Zhejiang, now has stores across 12 provinces, with 20 new stores opened this year alone. Established in 2018, Lao Xiaoxian Shrimp Paste Seafood Hotpot Buffet has also accelerated its store expansion since last year, opening 40 new stores in 2025.

The category has become so popular that it has even spread to South Korea. Recently, a netizen posted that South Korea also has shrimp paste hotpot buffets, with the 'bamboo tube + shrimp paste' setup identical to that in China.

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Why Shrimp Paste?

The rise of shrimp paste hotpot buffets stems from several factors.

On one hand, shrimp paste has become increasingly valuable in the food industry and is already a classic hotpot staple. Data from the Mashiying offline retail monitoring network shows that shrimp paste category sales grew 56.9% year-on-year in 2025, with volume up 60.6%, the fastest growth among frozen food segments. In five provinces—Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan, and Guizhou—shrimp paste has even overtaken beef balls as the top hotpot ingredient category.

On the other hand, shrimp paste carries a premium perception that meets consumers' expectations of value for money. Despite its popularity, its price is quite high. For example, at Haidilao, a serving of signature large-grain shrimp paste (about 140g) costs 74 yuan. Even in supermarkets, a pack of Anjoy shrimp paste can cost 16.5 yuan per 150g.

In contrast, eating a few servings of shrimp paste at a buffet easily offsets the 59-yuan ticket, and adding other items ensures a 'break-even' experience, making it highly tempting.

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Most importantly, the upstream supply chain for shrimp paste has become increasingly strong, with growing production technology and volume. For example, Daxieji, which focuses solely on the shrimp paste category, led the drafting of the 'Shrimp Paste' group standard in 2023 and the 'Frozen Shrimp Paste' national standard in 2024, and has now achieved monthly sales exceeding 100 million yuan, with annual revenue over 1 billion yuan.

For the food industry, especially hotpot, the upstream supply chain is the core lifeline for cost reduction, efficiency, and quality assurance. The rise of these shrimp paste supply chains has opened the door for shrimp paste hotpot buffets.

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Will Shrimp Paste Hotpot Buffet Become the Next 'Beef Rib'?

According to Chenxi Big Data, the number of shrimp paste buffet stores has grown rapidly from fewer than 10 to over 500 in the past year, mainly in lower-tier markets.

The model of using a single SKU buffet to create differentiation and rapidly expanding stores is reminiscent of the 'beef rib buffet' phenomenon. The latter emerged quickly in the second half of 2024 but saw mass closures in early 2025, with some businesses losing over 2 million yuan in just three months.

Of course, unlike beef rib buffets, which opened due to falling beef prices and closed when beef prices rose, shrimp paste costs are relatively more controllable, and the development of the upstream supply chain also reinforces the category.

But it's worth noting that ingredient cost was just the 'last straw' for beef rib buffets. Another major reason was that most stores simply rode the online trend without converting category popularity into brand loyalty, ultimately failing in a homogenized market.

For these emerging shrimp paste hotpot buffet brands, challenges of brand differentiation, product innovation, and store operations still lie ahead. Whether they can achieve long-term scale remains to be seen.