A street-food vendor prepares food for a customer in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province.Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
China’s luxury hotels are increasingly taking their catering businesses to the streets in a bid to survive the ongoing wave of “consumer downgrading,” as consumers nationwide turn to affordable, value-oriented products over premium goods.
The sight of starred hotel chefs working behind makeshift street stalls has gone viral on Chinese social media since late June, when several high-end hotels and restaurants in the central provinces of Henan and Anhui began selling hotel-quality food at budget prices outside their doors, while their dining rooms sit largely empty.
