百勝中國的首席執行官潘偉奇近日向路透社表示，隨著百勝在中國國內的競爭對手日益強大，加之市場波動性的加劇，剛從美國母公司剝離的百勝中國要想實現銷售額的再次崛起，恐怕還有一場硬仗要打。

本周二，百勝中國正式在紐交所掛牌。自2012年以來，百勝中國旗下的肯德基、必勝客等知名洋快餐品牌在中國大陸已經新開張了1500多家店面，然而其收益卻并未隨著規模的擴張而上漲。百勝中國希望在2017年恢復強勢增長勢頭，不過潘偉奇也表示，中國市場的走向目前很難解讀。

潘偉奇在百勝中國的上海辦公室里表示：“歸功于我們的商業模式，我們已經實現了較高的個位數增長率，然而我們沒法真正地預測明年會怎么樣，因為中國的整體形勢就是這樣。你肯定會增長，但道路不一定總是平坦的。”

在2012年以前，百勝的中國業務平均每年都以20%以上高速增長。但2012年卻是一個分水嶺，此后百勝中國接連遭遇了食品安全危機、經濟增長降速、消費者口味改變和競爭對手變強等難題。

很多送餐APP為了吸引用戶而大打折扣，以及國內部分城市圍繞南海問題引發的“抵制肯德基”事件，也是使百勝中國銷量受挫的原因之一。

潘偉奇表示，百勝中國從百勝集團總部的剝離，并不意味著百勝中國會脫離美式快餐文化的“根”——雖然必勝客早已開始供應榴蓮披薩，肯德基也推出了好幾款很流行的中式粥品作為早餐。

潘偉奇認為：“作為一個美國品牌，既有其優勢，也有其風險……中國人民總體上喜愛美國，但他們不一定認同美國的外交政策。”

潘偉奇還指出，最近，百勝中國還引入了春華資本和阿里集團旗下的螞蟻金服的投資，中資伙伴入股百勝后，也將有助于百勝中國對中國的外匯、稅收政策以及房地產市場產生更好的了解。

緩慢而穩健

潘偉奇表示，百勝中國將把重點放在直營店而非加盟店的建設上，以實現收益的最大化以及牢牢把握食品安全。在美國，百勝旗下的絕大多數門店都是加盟的。

“我覺得中國的特許經營體系還處于非常早期的階段，仍然是一個非常新生的事物。在美國，有些人甚至已經擁有25年的特許經營經驗了……他們知道整套東西怎樣操作。”潘偉奇還稱，放松對旗下門店的控制將產生“巨大的風險”。

“接下來的幾年里，在絕大多數情況下，我們會打造自己的直營店。”

百勝中國計劃每年新鋪設600家門店，長期計劃是在中國市場上運營20,000家門店。不過潘偉奇也表示，目前公司重點是要提高現有7,300家門店的收益率——即便這意味著品牌的擴張速度會稍有減緩。

“今年我們拿出了1.5億美元左右的資金，這筆錢沒有用來開新店，而是用來翻新現有門店。”如安裝電子支付系統、高效的LED照明系統以及電子菜單等等。

潘偉奇還表示，百勝中國有可能將吸引更多的亞洲投資者，而百勝品牌在美國的傳統投資群體面對較高的風險則有可能持謹慎態度。不過投資百勝中國也有一個好處，那就是中國的政治環境相比世界其他國家較為穩定。

潘偉奇表示：“看看美國吧，美國還有一周就要大選了，沒人知道將會發生什么——這是最大的風險。而至少我們在這里還很穩定。”（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

Yum China Holdings, newly hived off from its U.S. fast food giant parent, faces a tricky battle to revive sales growth in the country, chief executive Micky Pant told Reuters, given the strength of its local rivals and a volatile market.

The firm, which debuted on the New York stock exchange on Tuesday, has seen China revenues at its KFC, Pizza Hut, and other outlets flatline since 2012 even as it has opened over 1,500 new stores. It is aiming for stronger growth in 2017, though Pant said China was hard to read.

“We’ve guided to high single-digit revenue growth as our business model, but we can’t really predict year-on-year, that’s the whole point in China. You’ll go up, but the path is not always straight,” Pant said at the firm’s Shanghai offices.

As part of Yum Brands, the China unit saw stellar sales growth of over 20% each year until 2012. Since then, it has struggled with food safety scares, slower economic growth, changing consumer tastes, and stronger rivals.

Yum Brands has also pointed towards food delivery apps luring diners with cut-price deals and recent U.S.-China tensions over the South China Sea triggering boycotts of its stores.

Pant said that the spin-off of the China unit would not, however, mark a shift away from Yum’s American roots any further than it has done already—its brands offer Durian pizzas and popular Asian breakfast porridge congee.

“Being an American brand has upside and it has some risks… People in general love America, but they might have differences with American foreign policy,” said Pant.

A recent investment, though, by Primavera Capital and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd affiliate Ant Financial Services Group would bring extra local nous with foreign exchange, local taxes and understanding the real estate market, he added.

Slow and Steady

Pant said Yum China will focus on building its own stores rather than via franchise partners in order to maximize returns and keep a strong grip on food safety. In the United States the vast majority of Yum stores are franchised.

“I think the franchise system in China is very nascent, it’s very new. In the U.S. you can go to people with franchise experience of 25 years… They know the whole deal,” said Pant, adding that letting go of control could be a “huge risk.”

“In the vast, vast majority (of cases), for the next several years, we will be building our own stores.”

Yum China aims to build 600 new stores each year with long-term potential for 20,000 outlets in the market. However, Pant said the focus for now would be squeezing more out of its existing 7,300 stores—even if this meant slower expansion.

“We took about $150 million of capital this year and transferred it, instead of building new units, to refurbishing our existing stores,” he said. This has included installing cashless payment systems, efficient LED lighting and digital menus.

Pant added Yum China was likely to attract more investors from Asia, while the traditional U.S. investor base for Yum Brands might be more cautious about the higher risks. One positive, though, was China’s stable political environment compared with other parts of the world.

“Look at the United States. They’ve got an election coming up in a week and no one knows what’s going to happen—that’s the biggest risk of all. At least we have stability here,” he said.