(Yicai) Feb. 2 -- Lu Style, a Chinese restaurant chain with a Michelin star, is unexpectedly taking part in a Chinese New Year fair in Beijing, giving more people the chance to savour its specialty dishes and their ingredients.

“What Lu Style sells at the fair are products and raw materials from its supply chain," Marketing General Manager Li Tianyuan told Yicai. As a Michelin-starred restaurant, it has strict requirements on selecting ingredients and suppliers and hopes that consumers at the fair will buy some of its ready meals, raw materials, and ingredients that meet Michelin standards, Li noted. 

Lu Style's restaurant at the Beijing National Stadium, colloquially known as The Bird's Nest, serves cuisine originating from China’s eastern Shandong province and received its Michelin star in 2022.

Lu Style's food and ingredients are very popular among diners, and they even buy some to take home after eating at its restaurants, founder Wang Zhijie said to Yicai, adding that at some, these sales can reach CNY30,000 to CNY40,000 (USD4,250 to USD5,650) a day.

Lu Style decided to set up a stall at the Beijing fair to give more people the opportunity to taste its products, Wang said.

Consumers are becoming more cautious given the market environment, but still want to buy high-quality food and beverages, Wang said, noting that caterers should tailor their products and sales strategies to respond to the demand. Lu Style is considering using its supply chain advantages to start selling products and food ingredients via e-commerce and livestreaming, he pointed out.

The Michelin brand is well known among Chinese consumers, said Zhu Danpeng, deputy director of Guangdong Food Safety Promotion Association. By leveraging this, catering firms can extend their business into the ingredients retail business, helping them to maximize brand value and operating revenue, he said.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev