Tao Tao Ju Catering Manager Yin Jiangbo: Business management is a marathon; you need to compete in endurance.

Ask AI · How does Tao Tao Ju’s brand iteration balance heritage and innovation?

On March 24, the 2026 China Catering Industry Festival and the 35th HCC Global Catering Industry Expo, jointly hosted by the World Chinese Cuisine Federation and Hongcan.com, kicked off at the Hangzhou Convention and Exhibition Center. At the “2026 China Catering Industry Conference,” Yin Jiangbo, the founder of Shishang Guowei Group and the operator of Tao Tao Ju, said that in recent years Tao Tao Ju’s overall operations have been doing well, and that this is inseparable from Tao Tao Ju’s sustained brand-building efforts over many years.

△ Yin Jiangbo, founder of Shishang Guowei Group, operator of Tao Tao Ju

Yin Jiangbo said that Tao Tao Ju’s brand building has three integrations, and over the past decade it has never changed: integrating with fashion, integrating with culture, and integrating with technology.

First, integrating with fashion: Fashion is what’s trending; it is the direction and trend of people’s aesthetic needs. Tao Tao Ju upgrades and iterates every two years. The iteration is not only about the environment—it also includes products and more. “Tao Tao Ju isn’t copying; it’s inheriting. The best inheritance is staying in step with the times,” Yin Jiangbo said.

Second, integrating with culture: Culture is the foundation of a brand. Tao Tao Ju represents the culinary culture and way of life of people in Guangzhou, and it is a palace-level gourmet landmark in Guangzhou. Yin Jiangbo said plainly that during the process of opening stores in other places, Tao Tao Ju pays particular attention to building the team of chefs to preserve the cultural characteristics of Cantonese cuisine.

Third, integrating with technology: Technological progress can reduce costs and improve efficiency, enabling refined operations. According to Yin Jiangbo, Tao Tao Ju has introduced a digital-intelligent operations system to build a smart restaurant. On-site, Yin Jiangbo focused on describing Tao Tao Ju’s digital-intelligent operations. On the one hand, Tao Tao Ju continuously optimizes its product mix and service processes through a digital system, improving efficiency.

On the other hand, Tao Tao Ju enhances customer experience through systems such as intelligent dish allocation, intelligent table ratings, end-to-end management of KDS output, and table-side ordering. Taking product R&D and new product launches as an example, previously Tao Tao Ju’s new product launches were mainly based on chefs’ and teams’ experience and judgment; now, they use big data such as sales volume and ratings as the basis for product development.

“Running a business is like a marathon—you have to test your stamina, and you have to rely on the spirit of perseverance,” Yin Jiangbo said.

Author: Hongcan Editorial Department