China's Burger Boom Draws Pizza Hut, Haidilao and Coffee Chains Into Fast-Food Race

How China's Burger Market Became the New Fast-Food Battleground

Burgers are no longer just a Western import in China. They have become one of the country's most contested fast-food categories, as smaller households, cautious consumer spending and demand for portable meals push the humble sandwich to the centre of restaurant growth plans.

Yum China's Pizza Hut Burger Bar format, which places a burger counter inside an existing Pizza Hut restaurant, expanded to more than 200 outlets in six months and is targeted to reach 500-600 locations by the end of 2026. That would represent about 10% of Pizza Hut's total store network. Pizza Hut added burgers to its menu in 2024, and by 2025 the category accounted for a mid-single-digit share of sales. The company expects burgers to generate more than 1 billion yuan this year, or 5% to 6% of brand revenue.

The rush extends beyond traditional fast-food operators. Hotpot chain Haidilao last month launched Huanxianbao, or "Fresh Burger", selling burgers alongside pizza, pasta and fried chicken. Coffee chain M Stand has also opened burger-focused outlets in some cities. The wider Western fast-food market in China was valued at 499.65 billion yuan ($74.1 billion) in 2025 and is forecast to reach 587.09 billion yuan by 2027, according to iiMedia Research. Burgers topped consumer preferences, with 55% of respondents selecting them.

The competitive field is widening quickly. Domestic chain Tasiting is competing with McDonald's, Yum China's KFC and Shake Shack. When Five Guys opened stores in Beijing this month, consumers waited more than two hours to be served. Wendy's said in May it plans to enter China and open up to 1,000 franchised restaurants over the next decade.

Why Pizza Hut, Haidilao and Coffee Chains Are Chasing the Same Sandwich

Pizza Hut's Counter Format Turns Existing Stores Into Low-Cost Growth

Yum China is using an asset-light expansion model rather than building standalone burger restaurants. By placing Burger Bar counters inside Pizza Hut locations, the company can test demand and roll out rapidly without the full capital cost of new sites. The jump from zero to more than 200 outlets in six months, with a target of 500-600 by end-2026, signals that management sees burgers as a scalable adjacency, not a niche experiment. The projection that burgers will deliver more than 1 billion yuan in sales this year, or 5% to 6% of Pizza Hut revenue, gives a concrete indication of how the format is expected to contribute without displacing the core pizza business.

Haidilao and M Stand Are Betting on Brand Recognition, Not Just Burgers

The entry of a hotpot operator and a coffee chain shows that the opportunity is being treated as a demand shift rather than a simple menu item. Haidilao's Huanxianbao format broadens the company beyond its full-service hotpot roots into lower-cost, quicker meals, potentially capturing a different daypart and customer occasion. M Stand's burger-focused outlets similarly extend a coffee brand into food, using an existing customer base to compete for budget-conscious convenience spending. These moves are not random diversification: they target the same consumer logic that analyst Zhu Danpeng describes as a "good value-for-money choice" compared with ordering multiple dishes at a full-service restaurant.

Delivery and Demographics Are the Structural Forces

China's delivery habit is unusually strong: 43% of consumers order delivery at least once a week, compared with a global average of 23%, according to Euromonitor. Pizza Hut says burgers appeal particularly to takeaway and delivery customers, which aligns with the format's portability. At the same time, rising numbers of one-person households, smaller families and young urban workers are increasing demand for convenient individual meals. These demographic and behavioural shifts explain why a relatively small burger category, worth $18.4 billion in 2025, is projected to grow 8.7% annually through 2035, according to Emergen Research.

A Crowded Race With Five Guys, Wendy's and Tasiting

The demand story is attracting both domestic and international entrants. Five Guys generated two-hour queues at its Beijing opening this month, suggesting strong brand curiosity and willingness to pay. Wendy's plan for up to 1,000 franchised restaurants over the next decade adds significant supply. Domestic player Tasiting is competing with global incumbents McDonald's, KFC, Burger King and Shake Shack. The result is likely to be intense competition on location, value perception and delivery speed, with the risk that rapid expansion outpaces differentiated positioning.

What China's Burger Rush Means for Restaurant Operators and Diners

For restaurant operators:

• Watch Yum China's target of 500-600 Pizza Hut Burger Bar outlets by end-2026. Its counter-in-store model shows how incumbents can add burger sales without opening standalone sites.
• Treat delivery as central, not an add-on: 43% of Chinese consumers order delivery at least once a week, nearly double the global average, and Pizza Hut says burgers appeal to takeaway and delivery customers.
• Expect competition from non-traditional entrants. Haidilao's Huanxianbao and M Stand's burger-focused stores are pursuing the same budget-conscious, convenience-driven demand.

For consumers:

• More choice is coming. Wendy's plans up to 1,000 franchised restaurants in China over the next decade, and Five Guys opened in Beijing this month.
• Burgers are likely to remain one of the cheaper complete meals. Analyst Zhu Danpeng calls them "a good value-for-money choice", and student diners cite lower cost than ordering multiple dishes at a restaurant.