Case study

Meat slicers make around 30 hotpot restaurants significantly more efficient

The Chinese hotpot restaurant chain Niuzong Dian serves an average of around 500,000 guests per year and location. The number of visitors is multiplied by nine of its own restaurants and more than 20 franchises.
In view of these dimensions, Niuzong Dian had considerable potential for increasing efficiency when slicing beef. More specifically, yellow beef – the most important ingredient in the hotpot variations on offer.
  • Experience
I
n China, yellow beef from the province of Guizhou is considered a very specialty. The tender yellow, very fine marbling of the meat is considered a special quality feature – just like the Japanese Kobe cattle. The strips of beef for the hotpots are sliced from different cuts of yellow cattle, each of which has its own characteristic taste. Translated, the cuts have evocative names such as snowflake meat, spoon knuckle or hanging dragon. For the sake of freshness, these pieces are only sliced into fine strips on site in the Niuzong kitchens.
Company
Niuzong Dian Catering Management Co., Ltd
Founded in 2013 as Guizhou Yellow Beef Restaurant, the hotpot restaurant chain registered the Niuzong Dian brand in 2017. Its specialty is hotpots at affordable prices with the coveted yellow beef, the meat of a cattle breed from Guizhou province. Starting from its headquarters in Nanjing, capital of the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, Niuzong locations have also spread to the surrounding provinces and cities. There are currently nine restaurants managed directly by Niuzong, as well as over 20 franchises. The nine restaurants alone employ more than 300 people.
  • Founded in Nanjing in 2013
  • 9 own restaurants with around 300 employees
  • 20+ franchisees
In our busiest restaurants, the investment in the VS12 F had paid for itself within just one month, in the others after three to four months.”
Cheng Yuanli
General Manager and owner of Niuzong Dian
challenge

It all depends on the perfect strip thickness

The perfect thickness of the strips is important when slicing so that the delicate, characteristic taste of each piece can be fully appreciated. This is why Niuzong used to rely on manual slicing by so-called "knife masters". However, due to the rapidly increasing demand, at some point they were no longer able to cope with the work in the desired quality. Even a very experienced knife master slices a maximum of 100 kilograms a day at Niuzong – considerable, but not enough in view of the constantly growing number of visitors.

100 kg of meat per working day? There is still potential

Cheng Yuanli, General Manager and owner of Niuzong Dian, recognized untapped efficiency potential here: he wanted to slice faster and with consistently perfect quality. At the same time, he wanted to relieve the team of heavy physical work, true to the philosophical principle of Guanzi, which places people at the center, as he explains. He set out to find a suitable slicing machine.
Solution

Powerful and durable

After extensive market research into suitable meat slicers, Cheng opted for the VS12 F manual vertical slicers from Bizerba. They are also suitable for larger products such as those processed at Niuzong Dian. The vertical carriage arrangement allows ergonomic operation in an upright posture – making work much easier for the operators.

Infinitely adjustable slicing thickness

The respective slicing thicknesses for the various cuts can be infinitely adjusted, ensuring precise slicing results strip by strip. Intelligent drive technology only ever applies as much force to the blade as is required for each individual cut. This ensures a particularly gentle cut, reduces energy consumption and significantly minimizes the heat generated by the machine. Cheng equipped all Niuzong locations and franchises with one to two VS12 F slicers each. 

Advantages

As much throughput as 5 knife masters

"One of the things that convinced us was the high output," says Cheng. With the VS12 F slicer, one operator can process up to 500 kilograms of meat per day. Or, as the restaurateur puts it: "One machine can be worth five good knife masters. In the busiest restaurants, the investment therefore paid for itself within just one month, in the others after just three to four months." 

Easy introduction, simple operation

The teams were able to operate the meat slicers without any problems after a short briefing. The hygienic design of the systems also makes everyday work much easier, for example thanks to the convenient, tool-free disassembly of the dishwasher-safe components. A special cover is placed on the blade before it is removed, which can also be placed in the dishwasher. As the knife always remains securely enclosed in this way from removal to reinsertion, the risk of injury in Niuzong kitchens is significantly reduced.

Less food waste

Thanks to the intelligent motor control, the VS12 F heats up only minimally, even in continuous operation, so that the raw beef remains cool and fresh during slicing. This is particularly important because: "The quality of our hotpots depends crucially on the freshness of the meat," explains Cheng. He sees his goals – and more – achieved: "Bizerba helped us to establish standardized production across all locations, increase production speed and further improve the quality of the dishes. At the same time, we were able to significantly reduce food waste thanks to precise slicing." It would be a shame to lose the beautiful yellow beef.

Let's count

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founded in Nanjing
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restaurants
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guests on average per restaurant and year
We offer our customers a comprehensive service. From testing the systems to installation and staff training. This ensures smooth day-to-day operation from day one and all potential can be fully exploited immediately.”
Zhang Bu
Senior Sales Representative, Retail and Food Processing, Bizerba China
Components

The Hotpot solution

Slicing
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Manual vertical slicer VSP with Meat Carriage
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