CNY59 Shrimp Paste Hotpot Buffet Craze: Can it Become the Next 'Beef Rib' Hit?

CNY59 per person shrimp paste buffet, small-town youth first to achieve "shrimp paste freedom"?

Recently, on a trip back to his hometown, the author discovered several "shrimp paste hotpot buffet" stores in a second-tier city in Hebei.

Compared to ordinary hotpot buffets, this place 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, with over a dozen varieties.

Besides shrimp paste, there are chicken paste, beef paste, fish paste and other "paste derivatives", uniformly packed in bamboo tube-shaped containers, arranged in rows in the cold cabinet, quite spectacular.

In addition to shrimp paste, there are beef, mutton, vegetables and mushrooms, and other traditional hotpot items. Desserts, drinks and ice powder common in traditional hotpot buffets are also available, and some shops even add pizza and other staples.

Of course, most consumers come for the "shrimp paste freedom".

In fact, over the past year, a number of chain shrimp paste buffet brands have emerged just in Hebei, some even expanding to other provinces.

For example, Shijiazhuang's Cijie Freshly Made Shrimp Paste Buffet Old Hotpot, founded last year, has now opened 66 stores, reaching Shandong, Jilin, Jiangsu and other places. Another brand from Hebei, Chengkebei Shrimp Paste Buffet Old Hotpot, also founded last year, has opened nearly 40 stores across Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang and Jilin.

Jianglaolao Shrimp Paste Seafood Hotpot Buffet, which opened its first store in Zhejiang, now has stores in 12 provinces, with 20 new stores opened this year alone. Founded in 2018, Laoxiaoxian Shrimp Paste Seafood Hotpot Buffet also accelerated expansion last year, opening 40 new stores since 2025.

The category is so hot it has even spread to South Korea. Recently, netizens posted that South Korea now has shrimp paste hotpot buffets, with the "bamboo tube + shrimp paste" setup identical to China.

Why Shrimp Paste?

The rise of shrimp paste hotpot buffets has multiple reasons.

On one hand, shrimp paste is increasingly used in the catering industry and has long been a classic hotpot staple.

According to Maywin offline retail monitoring data, shrimp paste category sales increased 56.9% year-on-year in 2025, with volume up 60.6%, the fastest growth among frozen food subcategories.

In five provinces (Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan, Guizhou), shrimp paste has even overtaken beef balls to become the No.1 hotpot ball category.

On the other hand, shrimp paste has an inherent premium perception, meeting consumers' expectations of getting value for money.

Despite its popularity, the price of this "frozen dark horse" is considerable. For example, at Haidilao, a serving of signature large-grain shrimp paste (about 140g) costs 74 yuan. Even at supermarkets, a pack of Anjoy shrimp paste can cost 16.5 yuan per 150g.

Correspondingly, eating a few servings of shrimp paste at a buffet can offset the 59 yuan ticket, and adding other items achieves "value for money", making it quite attractive.

Most importantly, the upstream supply chain for shrimp paste has strengthened, with increasing production technology and output.

For example, Daixiaji, focusing on the single shrimp paste category, took the lead in drafting the "Shrimp Paste" group standard and the "Frozen Shrimp Paste" national standard in 2023 and 2024, now achieving monthly sales of over 100 million yuan and annual sales exceeding 1 billion yuan.

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

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

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

This rapid expansion using a single-product buffet model to create differentiation brings to mind the similar "beef rib buffet".

The latter emerged quickly in the second half of 2024 and then saw a wave of closures in early 2025, with some merchants losing over 2 million yuan in just three months.

Of course, unlike beef rib, which was affected by beef price fluctuations, shrimp paste costs are relatively controllable, and the upstream supply chain strengthens the category's foundation.

However, it's worth noting that ingredient cost is only the "last straw" for beef rib buffets.

Another major reason for beef rib buffets' decline is that most stores merely jumped on the trending "beef rib" concept without converting category heat into brand repeat purchases, ultimately exiting in a homogenized market.

For these emerging shrimp paste buffet brands, challenges remain in brand differentiation, product innovation, and store operation management. Whether they can achieve long-term scale remains to be seen.