Can the 59 yuan/person shrimp paste self-service hotpot become the next 'beef rib self-service'?

Recently, when I returned to my hometown, I discovered that a second-tier small city in Hebei had opened several 'shrimp paste self-service hotpot' restaurants. Unlike ordinary hotpot buffets, these places are more like 'shrimp paste museums', offering over a dozen varieties from original shrimp paste to fish roe shrimp paste, mushroom shrimp paste, squid shrimp paste, and even dragon fruit shrimp paste.

Besides shrimp paste, the stores also have chicken paste, beef paste, fish paste, and other 'paste derivatives', all uniformly packed in bamboo tube-shaped containers and displayed in rows in refrigerated cabinets—quite a sight.

In addition to shrimp paste, the stores also offer traditional hotpot items like beef, lamb, vegetables, and mushrooms. Commonly seen desserts, drinks, and ice jelly in traditional hotpot buffets are also available. Some stores even add pizza and other staples.

Most consumers are drawn by the idea of 'shrimp paste freedom'.

In fact, in the past year, a batch of chain shrimp paste self-service hotpot brands has emerged in Hebei Province alone, and they have even expanded to other provinces. For example, Cijie Freshly Made Shrimp Paste Self-Service Hotpot, established last year in Shijiazhuang, now has 66 stores across Shandong, Jilin, Jiangsu, and other places. Established around the same time, Chengke North Shrimp Paste Self-Service Hotpot has opened nearly 40 stores in Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, and Jilin.

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

The category is so hot that it has even become popular in South Korea. Recently, netizens posted that South Korea now has shrimp paste self-service hotpot, with the 'bamboo tube + shrimp paste' setup identical to that in China.

Why choose shrimp paste: sales growth, premium characteristics, and supply chain reinforcement

There are several reasons for the rise of shrimp paste self-service hotpot. On one hand, shrimp paste has increasingly broad applications in the food industry and has long been a classic staple in the hotpot category. According to data from the Maxiroad offline retail monitoring network, sales of shrimp paste categories grew 56.9% year-on-year in 2025, with sales volume up 60.6%, ranking first in growth among frozen food subcategories.

In five provinces—Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan, and Guizhou—shrimp paste has even successfully 'overtaken' beef balls to become the top hotpot ball ingredient category.

On the other hand, shrimp paste inherently carries a premium characteristic that can meet consumers' expectations of 'getting their money's worth'. Despite its popularity, this 'frozen dark horse' is not cheap. For example, at Haidilao, a serving of signature large-grain shrimp paste (about 140g) costs 74 yuan. Even in supermarkets, a pack of Anjoy shrimp paste costs around 16.5 yuan per 150g.

In a self-service hotpot restaurant, eating a few servings of shrimp paste can offset the 59 yuan entry fee, and adding other items creates a 'recoup the cost' experience, offering strong appeal.

Most importantly, the upstream shrimp paste supply chain is becoming stronger, with increasing production technology and output. For example, Daixiaji focuses solely on the shrimp paste category and led the drafting of the 'Shrimp Paste' group standard and the 'Frozen Shrimp Paste' national standard in 2023 and 2024, respectively. It has now achieved monthly sales exceeding 100 million yuan and annual sales exceeding 1 billion yuan.

For the food and beverage industry, especially the hotpot segment, the upstream supply chain is the lifeline for cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and quality assurance. The rise of these shrimp paste supply chains has also presented an opportunity for the emergence of shrimp paste self-service hotpot.

Will it become the next 'beef rib'? Controllable cost doesn't guarantee long-term success

According to Chenxi Big Data, the number of shrimp paste self-service hotpot stores has rapidly grown from fewer than 10 to over 500 in the past year, mainly in lower-tier markets.

This model of differentiating with a key-item self-service approach and quickly opening stores inevitably draws comparisons to the similar 'beef rib self-service' trend. The latter surged in the second half of 2024 but saw mass closures in early 2025, with some merchants losing over 2 million yuan in just three months.

Of course, unlike beef rib self-service which opened due to falling beef prices and closed as beef prices rose, shrimp paste costs are relatively controllable, especially with the development of the upstream supply chain providing a foundation for this category.

However, it's important to note that ingredient cost was only the 'final straw' for the decline of beef rib. Another major reason for its failure was that many stores merely rode the 'beef rib' trend without converting category heat into brand repurchase, ultimately exiting the homogenous market to their regret.

For these emerging shrimp paste self-service hotpot brands, challenges such as brand differentiation, product innovation, and store operation management still exist. Whether they can achieve long-term scale remains to be seen.