Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks

Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks

　　Wuhan is renowned nationwide for its diverse and distinctive local snacks. Among them, Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks Restaurant brings together the best of Wuhan’s street food offerings—not only in variety but also in accessibility. Especially after the “Sanzhen Minsheng” trademark was successfully registered with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, over 50 sweet snack branches have spread to every corner of the three towns of Wuhan.

　　The Origins of Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks Restaurant

　　In the 1930s, the area around Zhongshan Avenue and Minsheng Road was quite prosperous. At the intersection of Minsheng Road and adjacent to the Yangtze River Hotel, there were four small shops: Fushouju Sweet Snacks, founded in 1936 by Huang Jindao from Hanyang; Fuluju Soup Dumplings run by Zhang Hongde; Shiyunju, another small shop; and Huaya Teahouse. These four shops were all doing fairly well at the time, and business boomed even more after the liberation of Wuhan. In 1955, in response to societal development needs, Wuhan decided to demolish the area around the intersection of Zhongshan Avenue and Minsheng Road to build the Wuhan Arts and Crafts Building. At that point, Fushouju and Fuluju decided to merge and relocate to a three-story building at 218 Minsheng Road, directly opposite their old location. They opened a new shop on the first floor, naming it “Minsheng Canteen.” It was managed by Guo Chunshan (1904–1991), known as the “King of Sweet Snacks,” with Huang Jindao, the former owner of Fushouju, serving as deputy manager. Before liberation, Guo was famous for making bean skin pancakes, proudly bearing the title “King of Bean Skin Pancakes.” He held the highest rank in the culinary industry, earning a monthly salary of 74 yuan. His skills in making sweet snacks were top-notch—he excelled in making everything from bean skin pancakes and baked glutinous rice dumplings to sticky rice cakes, soup dumplings, fried dough, sponge cakes, and fermented rice wine. Gao Jin’an, the famed “King of Bean Skin Pancakes” from Wuhan’s Lao Tongcheng, was actually his apprentice back then.

　　After Minsheng Canteen became a public-private partnership, it was officially renamed Minsheng Sweet Snacks Restaurant in 1957. The higher authorities assigned Zhang Shirong and Dai Minggui as public representatives to further strengthen political ideology and operational management. The restaurant continued to thrive and catered well to the tastes of Wuhan residents. During this period, it was under the administration of the Jianghan Catering Service Management Office and was repeatedly recognized by the Jianghan District People’s Government as a “Civilized Unit” and a “Trustworthy Price Unit.” In 1992, Minsheng Sweet Snacks Restaurant was acquired by the Wuhan Longwei Group and came under the management of the Wuhan Second Light Industry Bureau Guesthouse. Business declined significantly from then on.

　　Seizing the Golden Brand and Expanding through Franchising

　　At this critical moment, Chen Hanhua, a professionally trained chef, recognized the value of the “Minsheng Sweet Snacks Restaurant” brand. He quickly raised over 200,000 yuan to acquire the operating rights. He promptly hired six veteran chefs from the original restaurant, including Wu Wenqin, who specialized in baked glutinous rice dumplings, Chef Chen, known for fried dough, and Grandma Zhang, who made fermented rice wine, among others. He asked them to train younger staff in their crafts. On October 12, 1999, the restaurant reopened, offering classic Wuhan-style snacks such as three-deliciousness bean skin pancakes, rich oil baked glutinous rice dumplings, assorted tofu pudding, fried dough, fermented rice wine, and sweet rice cakes. Business gradually picked up again, regaining its former popularity.

　　Expanding with Traditional Techniques and Rolling Development

　　While stabilizing operations at the Minsheng Road branch, Chen opened a branch in Wansongyuan in 2001. Surprisingly, the new branch’s revenue was one and a half times higher than the flagship store. Chen was delighted but also reflected calmly: “To succeed, you need the right timing, location, and people.” He had the right timing—the national reform and opening-up policy; he had the right people—his united and dedicated staff. What he lacked was the right location. Due to the construction of the Dalian Wanda Plaza, the original Minsheng Sweet Snacks Restaurant faced demolition. In August 2002, Chen made the bold decision to relocate the entire operation to 86 Shengli Street, at the intersection of Heping Road in Hankou. The new location opened on August 18, and from that day on, daily revenue soared from two to three thousand yuan to over five thousand yuan. This spot is now the site of the flagship store. Capitalizing on this momentum, Chen quickly opened three more branches on Beihu West Road, Daxing Road, and Dacheng Road in Wuchang, forming a solid base for self-operated stores. His business philosophy focused on serving the public with low margins and high sales volume, keeping profits below 40%. These self-operated stores also served as training bases where Chen emphasized traditional techniques, nurturing a skilled team capable of independent operation. Building on this foundation, he selectively accepted franchise stores, attracting social investment to open shops in chosen locations. The flagship store set the menu, franchise rules, technical standards, pricing, and contracts, implementing a branch manager responsibility system under the leadership of the main store. Skilled chefs from the main store operated the franchises, promoting healthy development of franchised flagship stores across the city. Each successful store was consolidated, ensuring profitability and growth for every location. As a result, Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks branches multiplied across the three towns of Wuhan like a rolling snowball. Each branch maintained a unified and simple decor, with posted “rules and regulations” and “ten employee guidelines,” and price tags displayed at the cashier. The food was affordable and high-quality, catering perfectly to the needs of working-class customers. A typical lunch cost around ten yuan and was both filling and satisfying, providing real value to the public. During a period of widespread price hikes, Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks kept prices stable while maintaining quality, earning praise from the media.

　　Ensuring Food Quality with a Distribution Center

　　As the number of Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks branches grew and supply demands increased, ensuring consistent food quality became a major challenge. Chen Hanhua stated, “Food is the first necessity of the people; eating is the most basic aspect of livelihood, and we must start with the fundamentals of survival.” In June 2005, he established his own distribution center in Changmatou, Qiaokou, investing 800,000 yuan in equipment such as electric grinders, fully automatic noodle presses, dough mixers, and slicers, along with six vehicles. The distribution center was tasked with bulk purchasing high-quality ingredients like flour, sesame, rice, glutinous rice, white sugar, Haitian soy sauce, Shanxi aged vinegar, Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar, pepper, and MSG directly from markets or manufacturers. Today, the distribution center operates on an industrial scale, producing around a thousand kilograms of sesame paste daily, over a hundred kilograms of homemade sweet sauce, and more than four thousand kilograms of refined white noodles.

　　The distribution center now employs over 30 staff. The flagship store requires each urban branch to submit plans for required raw and auxiliary materials around 3–4 PM daily. The distribution center guarantees timely delivery, stipulating that fresh items like noodles must arrive no later than 8 PM to allow for timely processing and market supply. It also strictly prohibits the reuse of returned dough products, including dumpling wrappers.

　　Everything for the Health of the Public

　　With societal progress and improved living standards, some people have developed health issues such as diabetes due to poor dietary habits. Afraid of exacerbating their conditions, they avoid sweet foods and often steer clear of sweet snack restaurants like Sanzhen Minsheng. However, not all items offered by Sanzhen Minsheng are sugary. Their menu includes fried dough sticks, fried dumplings, rice cakes, soup buns, pan-fried buns, steamed dumplings, three-deliciousness bean skin pancakes, hot dry noodles, beef noodles, three-deliciousness noodles, noodle soup, rice noodles, spare rib soup, chicken soup, duck soup, fried rice, and rice bowl meals—many of which are not high in sugar.

　　Currently, Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks is collaborating with relevant institutions to research and develop a new product called “Mengtang Pure,” aimed at mitigating diabetes when added to food.

　　Chen Hanhua, now nearing sixty, remains energetic and fully dedicated to the culinary industry he loves. He arrives at the flagship store every morning around six or seven to oversee operations, taste the food, and advocate for excellent customer service and smiling staff to ensure customer satisfaction.

　　With the introduction of policies supporting time-honored brands, Chen sees a bright future ahead. He plans not only to open a few more stores within Wuhan but also to expand beyond Hubei Province, just like “Zhongbai,” bringing Wuhan’s famous snacks to other provinces. His goal is to make Sanzhen Minsheng Sweet Snacks a household name, serving more people across the nation.