Can a RMB 59 shrimp-paste hotpot buffet become the next "beef rib buffet"?

When I went back home recently, I noticed that a second-tier city in Hebei had actually opened several "shrimp-paste hotpot buffets." A RMB 59-per-person shrimp-paste buffet—are young people in small towns the first to achieve "shrimp-paste freedom"?

Compared with a regular hotpot buffet, this place is basically a "shrimp-paste museum": from original shrimp paste to caviar shrimp paste, shiitake shrimp paste, squid shrimp paste, and even dragon-fruit shrimp paste—more than a dozen varieties in all.

Besides shrimp paste, the shop also offers chicken paste, beef paste, fish paste and other "paste derivatives," all packed in bamboo-tube-shaped containers and lined up in rows in the chilled case, which is quite a sight.

In addition to shrimp paste, the store also has traditional hotpot items such as beef, lamb, vegetables and mushrooms. Desserts, drinks and shaved ice are all there too, and some stores have even added pizza and other staple foods.

Of course, most customers come for one thing: "shrimp-paste freedom."

In fact, over the past year, Hebei alone has produced a batch of chain shrimp-paste hotpot brands, and some have even expanded beyond the province. For example, Shijiazhuang-based Cijie Fresh-Made Shrimp-Paste Buffet Hotpot, founded last year, has already opened 66 stores and reached Shandong, Jilin and Jiangsu. Another Hebei brand founded in the same period, Chengkebeixi Shrimp-Paste Buffet Hotpot, has opened nearly 40 stores across Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang and Jilin.

Jianglaolao Shrimp-Paste Seafood Buffet Hotpot, which opened its first store in Zhejiang, now spans 12 provinces nationwide and has opened 20 new stores this year alone. Laoxiaoxian Shrimp-Paste Seafood Buffet Hotpot, founded in 2018, also accelerated expansion last year and has opened 40 new stores since 2025 began.

The format has become so popular that it has even spread to South Korea. Some netizens posted that Korea now also has shrimp-paste hotpot buffets, with the same bamboo-tube-plus-shrimp-paste setup as in China.

Why shrimp paste?

There are many reasons behind the rise of shrimp-paste hotpot buffets.

First, shrimp paste has become increasingly valuable and widely used in catering, and it has long been a classic big-ticket item in the hotpot segment. According to Masan Zing's offline retail monitoring network, sales of shrimp-paste products in 2025 rose 56.9% year on year, and sales volume in converted terms rose 60.6%, the fastest growth among all subcategories of frozen food.

In Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan and Guizhou, shrimp paste even staged a comeback and replaced beef meatballs as the No. 1 hotpot ball-and-paste category locally.

Second, shrimp paste has a premium feel that fits consumers' expectations of making their money back. Despite its popularity, this "frozen-food dark horse" is not cheap. Take Haidilao as an example: a serving of its signature large-grain shrimp paste (about 140g) costs RMB 74. Even in supermarkets, a pack of Anjoy shrimp paste can cost RMB 16.5 per 150g.

By comparison, eating a few portions of shrimp paste at a buffet can perfectly offset the RMB 59 ticket, and after that, eating some other hotpot items means you can "make your money back," which is very tempting.

Most important of all, the upstream shrimp-paste supply chain is getting stronger, with production technology and output both rising. Take Daixiaji as an example. It focuses on shrimp paste as a single category and led the drafting of the "Shrimp Paste" group standard in 2023 and the "Frozen Shrimp Paste" national standard in 2024. It now has monthly sales above 100 million units and annual sales exceeding RMB 1 billion.

For catering, especially the hotpot segment, the upstream supply chain is the lifeblood of cost reduction, efficiency gains and quality assurance. The rise of this shrimp-paste supply chain has also created an opening for shrimp-paste hotpot buffets.

Will shrimp-paste hotpot buffets become the next "beef rib"?

According to Chenzhi data, over the past year the number of shrimp-paste buffet outlets has grown rapidly from fewer than 10 to more than 500, and they are mainly concentrated in lower-tier markets.

Building differentiation around a big-item buffet model and opening stores quickly in a short time naturally brings to mind the similar "beef rib buffet." That concept rose quickly in the second half of 2024, then closed in batches in early 2025; some operators reportedly lost more than RMB 2 million in just three months.

Of course, unlike beef rib concepts, which opened when beef prices fell and then collapsed when beef prices rose, shrimp paste's costs are relatively controllable, and the development of the upstream supply chain has also strengthened its base.

That said, ingredient costs may only be the last straw on the camel's back for the beef rib model. Another major reason for the slide was that most stores merely rode the wave of the viral "beef rib" trend without turning category heat into repeat brand visits, and in the end could only exit a commoditized market in disappointment.

For these emerging shrimp-paste buffet brands, the tests of brand differentiation, product innovation and store operations are still very real. Whether they can scale sustainably still remains to be seen.