Introduction
A small shop that doesn't rely on advertising or celebrity endorsements has achieved remarkable success with just a bowl of chicken soup. It has not only been recommended by Michelin Bib Gourmand for seven consecutive years but also entered the international market, with a monthly revenue approaching ten million. Could this bowl of soup become the next Taiwanese pride? Hello, foodies! I'm Liz. Have you guessed which restaurant I'm talking about? That's right, it's Shuangyue. I've been a fan of Shuangyue since it had only one store. Before I knew it, Shuangyue has opened more and more stores, done more and more advertising, and even been called the next Din Tai Fung. This has piqued my curiosity about the brand story of Shuangyue. Let's take a look at Shuangyue's achievements so far. It has not only been recommended by Michelin Bib Gourmand for seven consecutive years but also opened 11 stores in Taiwan within three years and entered the international market, opening three stores in Singapore within six months last year. And all of this started from a small shop in a Taipei alley. Could Shuangyue really become the next Din Tai Fung? In this episode, I want to take you to understand: 1. Why did Shuangyue dare to expand during the pandemic, and how did they break through the difficulties? 2. How accurate is their expansion strategy, and what data did they use behind it? 3. How did a brand hit by a cockroach reverse its reputation in a crisis? 4. Why did the international food giant Jollibee Group take a fancy to Shuangyue? 5. Can Shuangyue enter the world and看齐 Din Tai Fung?
The Origin of Shuangyue
When it comes to the taste of home, what comes to your mind? For Lai Yong-sheng, the founder of Shuangyue, the taste of home is a bowl of soup cooked by his mother. In 2010, Lai Yong-sheng returned to Taiwan after studying in the UK. Instead of taking over his family's furniture business, he opened a snack bar for his mother in a lane on Qingdao East Road in Taipei. The name "Shuangyue" means "reunion under the full moon," symbolizing happiness and completeness. The store is not big, and the menu is simple, with chicken soup, oil rice, and a few home-cooked dishes. But every dish is carefully prepared by his mother from scratch, from frying shallots and kneading pickled vegetables to selecting ingredients. Every bowl of rice and every mouthful of soup is made as if it were for family members. This seriousness and purity have become the brand gene of Shuangyue. Without relying on advertising or following trends, it has gradually accumulated a reputation for being delicious and trustworthy. Gradually, more and more people came to Shuangyue to drink soup. At first, it was just word-of-mouth among nearby regular customers, but later, people from other places also came specially. I actually live nearby and have witnessed the long queues at the Qingdao store. I have also been in the queue. If this kind of popularity were for an ordinary food and beverage brand, it might have started opening branches and franchising and quickly replicating. But Shuangyue didn't. From 2010 to 2018, Shuangyue had only one Qingdao store. It wasn't that there were no opportunities. During these eight years, many department stores and landlords actively invited them, and some even wanted to help them with brand licensing and franchise chains. But Lai Yong-sheng declined them all. He said they weren't ready. It wasn't that they didn't have money or didn't want to be popular. It was because they knew that once they moved too fast, they might ruin the taste.
The Turning Point
The real turning point came in 2020, when the global pandemic broke out and the food and beverage industry was in a state of contraction. But Shuangyue chose to start preparing for expansion in that year. This may sound crazy, but the logic behind it is clear. Before that, Lai Yong-sheng had spent nearly a year rebuilding Shuangyue's internal structure, including the human resources system, POS process, supply chain management, and operational standardization. He knew that if Shuangyue really wanted to become a brand that could go global, it couldn't rely on intuition and old experience alone. It had to make the process replicable, the quality controllable, and the team able to operate independently. So he didn't open ten stores at once. Instead, he started from the first expansion store, making adjustments while doing it and trying to optimize the SOP. This allowed Shuangyue to not only survive the pandemic, the transformation of food delivery, and the digital ordering trend but also firmly stand at the center of Taiwanese brand transformation.
The Expansion Strategy
When you make the first bowl of soup that people remember, the next step is how to let more people drink it. Most restaurants expand based on intuition, looking at landlords, crowds, rent, and luck. But Shuangyue chose to let data speak. Lai Yong-sheng cooperated with Uber Eats to obtain food delivery order data and analyze which areas had high food delivery demand, which time periods had the most concentrated orders, and which products were most often ordered. For example, at that time, the business of the Bade store was so good that it couldn't handle the food delivery orders. But the Uber Eats data showed that there was still a large amount of demand within 500 meters of the Bade store that had not been met. At this time, an ordinary brand might think that it was because the restaurant was too slow to serve or there were not enough delivery staff. But Shuangyue saw an opportunity. They chose to open another Guangfu store near the original store to specifically support food delivery. You might think that this would compete with each other for business, but in fact, it didn't. The facts have proved that this one-plus-one model has actually made both stores grow. The Guangfu store has a monthly new revenue of up to 3 million yuan, and the operating efficiency of the Bade store has also recovered due to the reduced pressure. This one-plus-one expansion strategy has been replicated to more places and has become Shuangyue's iconic two-point layout model. The main store provides on-site brand experience, and the sub-store supports logistics and food delivery to maximize efficiency. This model has allowed Shuangyue to jump to 11 branches in just three years. And from the end of 2024 to the beginning of 2025, Shuangyue opened three stores in Singapore in a row, including Ngee Ann City, JEM, and VivoCity, Singapore's largest shopping mall, where it opened its largest flagship store. But the menu is not directly copied from the Taiwanese version. Instead, it is adjusted to suit the local consumption habits. In Taiwan, it is mainly individual pots, while in Singapore, it mainly focuses on double-person sharing. The marinated food has also been changed from single-point to a combination of three items to make the price more flexible. It has also added items such as vegetables, desserts, and fried rice to enrich the dining experience. This strategy model has been successful. The monthly revenue of the first store in Singapore reached 8.67 million yuan, which is 1.5 times that of the Jinan store in Taiwan, and the customer unit price has also increased by 2.5 times. In other words, it has successfully entered a new market with the same brand soul.
Quality Control
At this point, you may be wondering how to ensure that the quality of every bowl of soup does not deteriorate when there are so many stores and they are so far apart. This is where Shuangyue is amazing. Lai Yong-sheng has created a store manager management master system. Every store manager and partner can use their mobile phones to take pictures and report the opening, closing, and cleaning processes. As soon as an abnormality is found, the system will immediately prompt, and the supervisor can master and improve it within 15 minutes. And all the data will be automatically accumulated into education and training materials, which is not only process management but also talent cultivation. The standardized process speed and accuracy of this system have also attracted the attention of chain coffee brands such as Louisa and hand-shaken tea brands such as Wutonghao, which have expressed their desire to introduce and learn. In terms of retaining talent, Shuangyue has also made great efforts. In addition to issuing attendance bonuses and operating performance dividends every quarter, full-time employees also have an annual childcare allowance of 24,000 yuan, which can be received until the child is 12 years old. When Lai Yong-sheng says good morning and good night in the group, those who reply to the message will be given breakfast and supper fees. During the World Cup, New Year's Eve, and even typhoon holidays, they will also take the initiative to give holidays. Shuangyue really spoils its employees without hesitation. So when others are short of workers, Shuangyue has added 100 partners in a year, and the turnover rate is only 15.2%. In addition to people's hearts, Shuangyue has also introduced technology to reduce the pressure on partners, such as quick ordering, LINE online ordering, automatic ordering machines, and even AI smart navigation track delivery vehicles in new stores to speed up the meal delivery speed during peak hours and not rely on human effort. Therefore, whether it is data-based site selection, operational diversion, or product localization, Shuangyue has successfully transformed from a street snack into a brand prototype with international potential with the flexibility of a small brand and the strategy of a large brand, under the insistence on quality and innovative management.
The Crisis
But Shuangyue is not without setbacks. They have also encountered food safety problems and business crises. In September 2024, a consumer ordered food delivery from the Qingdao store through Uber Eats and found a small cockroach in the lunch box and left a public comment on Google. Although no photos were leaked, Shuangyue has high expectations from consumers as a Michelin-starred restaurant. This incident caused a heated discussion on social media platforms within a few hours. Shuangyue responded to the comment on the same day and posted a public statement on its official account. They said: "We know that no matter how hard we work on monthly regular disinfection, daily closing cleaning inspections, and even after-hours environmental cleaning, we still can't guarantee 100% that there will be no problems." This response initially caused two reactions. Some people thought that this was the real situation in the food and beverage industry, but others continued to question what they had done. As a result, before the online pressure completely disappeared, Shuangyue announced a shocking decision. They were going to close the founding Qingdao store. The Qingdao store has been the brand's starting point and spiritual symbol since its establishment in 2010. It is also the store with the highest unit area efficiency, the most stable food delivery, and has been recommended by Michelin for seven consecutive years. It has excellent operating performance and high brand value, but they chose to close it. Shuangyue's announcement was very straightforward. They said: "Customers said that if they can't eliminate cockroaches, they should not open the store. We have tried our best to clean and improve this old store, but we still can't guarantee that it will not have problems in the future. Instead of continuing to be nervous, it is better to face it honestly." At the end of the statement, they also said: "This time, please forgive Shuangyue's willfulness to close the store." After this statement was released, the original one-sided criticism began to reverse. A large number of supportive comments appeared under the statement, such as "People who do food and beverage know that it is really difficult to deal with this kind of thing in old stores. Thank you for facing it honestly" or "Even if you dare to close your most profitable store, this is the real brand." This incident made everyone see another side of Shuangyue. In the past few years, everyone saw that they were good at operating, calculating data, analyzing expansion, and building SOPs. But in this crisis, they showed a principle of not sacrificing trust at any cost. This is also related to Lai Yong-sheng's personality. He once said in an interview: "Rather than using marketing to persuade others how good we are, it is better to make every choice worthy of trust." This sentence has become more than just a slogan in the Qingdao store incident. The renovated Qingdao store reopened in February 2025 and once again won the recognition of consumers, and also increased the brand's visibility.
The Cooperation
At the beginning of 2025, Shuangyue announced a shocking news in the industry. They officially cooperated with the global food giant Jollibee Group. Jollibee Group obtained more than 70% of Shuangyue's shares through MIXUE International and officially launched the international resource integration plan with Shuangyue. Who is Jollibee? You may be a little unfamiliar with this name. In fact, it is one of the most expansionist international food and beverage groups in Asia. Jollibee, from the Philippines, currently operates tens of thousands of stores in more than 35 countries around the world, with brands spanning burgers, Chinese food, hot pot, desserts, and coffee. It has been rated as the most expansionist food and beverage enterprise in Asia by Forbes and has been actively investing in local characteristic food and beverage in various Asian countries in recent years, from beverage brands and desserts to hot pot. This time, the cooperation with Shuangyue is not just an investment for them. It is also because they value the value of Taiwanese food culture represented by Shuangyue. But this kind of cooperation has also raised a question that everyone is most concerned about. Will Shuangyue change? Will it lose its original taste? On this point, Shuangyue has drawn a line early. Lai Yong-sheng emphasized that this cooperation is not an acquisition. Although Jollibee has obtained a majority of the shares, Shuangyue still retains complete operational autonomy. The brand value, menu content, and operational decisions are still in the hands of the original core team. In other words, Shuangyue will not become one of Jollibee's product lines but will gain a stronger backing. This backing brings not only financial and expansion resources but also supply chain integration, digital management systems, brand licensing models, and overseas partner matchmaking, among other international-level know-how. In the past, Shuangyue expanded its stores by relying on accurate internal SOPs and data analysis. Now, they can ride on Jollibee's logistics, technology, and financial logistics train and expand this model to more markets. Therefore, Shuangyue has not only accelerated its overseas expansion but also simultaneously developed online channels and product licensing, from frozen chicken soup, mixed noodles, and oil rice gift boxes to more instant food series in the future. It hopes to send this bowl of Taiwanese soup to more family tables through cross-border e-commerce and logistics. And the brand's international expansion has already started from Singapore. Next, Shuangyue will focus on Hong Kong, Thailand, and Japan as the next wave of layout. In some regions, it will adopt strategic cooperation models such as brand licensing and joint ventures.
The Comparison with Din Tai Fung
So, can Shuangyue, which has already developed overseas, become an international brand that can represent Taiwan and enter many major cities in the world like Din Tai Fung? Din Tai Fung's xiaolongbao has long been a symbol of the internationalization of Taiwanese cuisine. Its success is not accidental. It has more than 200 strict SOPs to maintain quality, and it also relies on high-efficiency table turnover, extreme customer service and experience, and a brand image that targets high-end customers and internationalization strategies to stand firm in the global market. The transparent promotion system and complete employee training behind it are the cornerstones of all this. Back to Shuangyue, it also shows strong growth potential. With the investment of international food and beverage groups, it has accelerated its expansion, and the endorsement of Bib Gourmand has also made the brand more credible. However, to become the next Din Tai Fung, Shuangyue still faces challenges. Din Tai Fung's decades-long detailed management, service experience, and high-end brand image are the results of long-term corporate culture and talent cultivation. Shuangyue mainly focuses on health-preserving soups and snacks. How to establish a unique and high-end brand identity in the international market still needs time to verify. The international market is also full of variables. Local eating habits, operating models, and talent management are all tests. In the next few years, Shuangyue's internationalization pace and brand upgrade results will be the focus of observation.
Conclusion
Finally, I want to ask you, foodies. What do you think is the most important key factor in becoming an international chain food and beverage brand? Do you think it is A. Accurate expansion strategy, let data speak, quality control, and maintain a certain level of food? Or B. International capital entry, rapid expansion of the international market? Or C. Target the Chinese - dominated market first and then expand to other unfamiliar markets? Which one do you think is the most important? Welcome to leave a message and tell me your thoughts. That's all for this episode. I hope you like it. Remember to subscribe to my channel, Liz's Gourmet Self - Learning Road, like it, turn on the bell, and you can also use the fan - recommended function to let more people discover my videos. Well, I hope everyone will continue to pay attention to my more wonderful food sharing and analysis. See you next time. Bye!