In September, when Chinese entrepreneur and influencer Luo Yonghao visited the popular restaurant Xibei, he emerged from the experience describing the meal as “disgusting” and accused Xibei of serving pre-made food at premium prices.
He didn’t just tell his friends – crucially, he shared these views with his 1.4 million followers on leading Chinese social media network Weibo. He also demanded that the government make it a requirement for operators to disclose if they are serving pre-made food.
The 400-store strong chain denied serving pre-prepared meals and, in response, decided to open its kitchens so customers could see for themselves how dishes were prepared. The move backfired as the public saw chefs cooking with pre-packed and pre-marinated fish with a long shelf life and using frozen broccoli for kids’ meals.
The whole episode resulted in significant brand damage and ultimately led to Xibei pledging a move away from central production kitchens to on-site preparation where possible.
At the heart of the debate seems to be a conflicting definition of pre-made food, but the incident underlined the importance of transparency – and the risks of opening up your operation to social media scrutiny.
For good and bad
The story resonates because social media can be decisive for the survival of a foodservice brand. Instagram, TikTok and similar platforms are demonstrably changing the eating habits of Gen Z; a single trending post, reel or story can spark a frenzy and fast-food chains see the power in launching limited-time menus to create trends.
According to Euromonitor International, about 48% of Gen Z and 51% of Millennials now use social media to find restaurant suggestions, recipes, and product information.
The communication around these stories is crucial, says Bruno Magro FCSI, managing director of Think Food Concepts in Shanghai.
“Social media can be for the good or for the bad. So many restaurants use it to attract customers, even paying for reviews,” says Magro, adding that in China there used to be stories of restaurants paying people to line up outside “to make it look trendy. Apparently social media, even for food and beverage, is one of the most well paid jobs now in China,” he says, acknowledging the ephemeral nature of social media.
“A restaurant’s reputation takes time to build, and today it can go up and down very quickly. It spreads very fast with the help of social media, but that is why I also feel it is hard to keep concepts trending. People go to try, maybe go once again and that’s it. It’s very hard to keep things on,” he says.
It’s a world consultant Gil D’Harcour FCSI, of Resto Bazaar, knows well. He operates in Indonesia, one of the world’s top four countries in terms of the number of social-media users. “Every new restaurant will have an elaborate social media campaign at launch, except for the local street cafés, known as warungs,” he explains.
This might mean inviting local influencers or vloggers to press conferences and launch events. Influencers charge based on their number of followers, with micro influencers – boasting 10,000 to 50,000 followers – demanding a fee of $150-$500, varying based on the deliverables: feed post, story, reel and how many days it stays up. “For many operators it makes sense to go with several micro influencers rather than one macro influencer,” adds D’Harcour.
Ben Gregoire FCSI, principal of Levels in Malaysia, reports good experiences working with micro influencers. “Their content tends to feel more genuine, and their followers often engage more actively. It aligns well with the growing trend of diners trusting peer recommendations and authentic reviews over polished advertisements,” he says.
He says that in his local market and across Asia, social media has become the key platform for marketing within the bar, restaurant, and hotel sectors, with Instagram the most popular platform for English-speaking audiences while Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) is preferred by many Chinese communities.
He helps hotel clients develop their F&B marketing strategies, create content, and manage their social media accounts. “There is a strong belief that hotels must treat their venues as freestanding bars and restaurants that happen to be within a hotel rather than traditional hotel restaurants,” he explains. “This shift requires a dedicated social media strategy, strong visual content, and a distinct tone of voice.”
Exposure and control
Philippines-based FCSI Associate Jespher Millano, director of año Restaurant and Bar Consulting, says social media today tends to be where a target market first understands a restaurant or bar’s offerings, story, and culture, essentially shaping how the brand’s identity is perceived.
“Influencer collaborations can jumpstart a restaurant’s visibility, especially when the influencers’ audience aligns with the brand’s target market,” he says. “However, it’s important that these influencers are credible and genuinely understand the dining experience, so that the partnership feels authentic and not forced.”
Millano believes restaurants need to define their own social media strategy and, based on this, approach influencers – now known as key opinion leaders or KOLs – in a marketing strategy. Mutual respect is crucial. “Constructive criticism should ideally be shared privately with management rather than posted publicly,” he adds.
The risks associated with opening yourself up to social media coverage don’t have to be as extreme as it was in the case of Xibei – and it is important to note that while Yonghao might not have visited as an influencer, social media gave him the platform to share his views.
A common risk to look out for is misrepresentation. “We sometimes find ourselves unable to repost or feature influencer-generated content because it simply doesn’t fit the venue’s image or communication style,” says Gregoire. “Maintaining brand consistency is key, and operators need to balance exposure with control over how their venues are portrayed online.”
As for managing the process of marketing via social media channels, D’Harcour offers words of advice. “Controlling the message, the image aesthetics, the style and the content is paramount in order to be able to build a proper public relations campaign and reinforce the product branding,” he says. “Operators that don’t have a budget to hire a permanent marketing and PR employee will have to carefully select their influencer and work hand in hand with him/her to ensure the audience is relevant to their product segmentation and positioning.”
Tina Nielsen
