“Chihuo (吃货)”is a very popular internet term among Chinese millennials, referring to foodies who like to try different kinds of food. Thanks to numerous Chinese food apps and online-to-offline (O2O) service providers, it becomes easier to search good food nearby and be a qualified “Chihuo” in China.

Which are the Most Popular Mobile Chinese Food Apps Among the Young Food Enthusiasts in China?

 1. 大众点评Dianping

First website launch: 2003.04

First mobile app launch: 2009.11

Website address: dianping.com

Total active users: Over 200 million

The Shanghai-based Dianping was the earliest website in China providing independent consumers reviews on local services. In 2015 October, Meituan, the largest Chinese group buying website, merged with Dianping.com and established Xinmeida. Dianping is now the leading O2O sharing platform about daily life services in China. The app provides all services needed in the neighborhood, including online restaurant reservation, shop reviews, food ordering, movie tickets discount, travelling tickets reservation, coupons promotions, and even house decoration consulting and home renovations. Dianping is the most popular independent restaurant rating app among Chinese people.

2. 饿了么me

First website launch: 2009.04

First mobile app launch: 2012.12

Website address: https://www.ele.me

Total active users: 70 million

Similar Chinese Food Apps: Meituan Waimai  , Baidu Waimai 

The Shanghai-based Ele.me, which means in Chinese “Hungry?”, was the first O2O food delivery platform launched in China and is now the leader in the food delivery market. Ele.me offers in-demand meal ordering services (Ele.me receives around 1 million orders every day) as well as other services such as breakfast booking, flower delivery, grocery delivery from the nearby stores and supermarkets and a review broad, where consumers can communicate with the restaurants and stores, as explained by Social Brand Watch. (source: http://socialbrandwatch.com/kobe-joins-forces-chinese-o2o-food-delivery-platform-ele/ ) .The start-up created by several students from Shanghai Jiaotong University in September 2008, expanded rapidly and became the most popular online food ordering app among university students. Although Ele.me is the first mover in the market, the platform faces severe competition with its biggest competitors MeituanWaimai and BaiduWaimai. Ele.me’s market share dropped into second place after Meituan merged with Dianping in 2015. However, Ele.me received $1.25 billion venture capital from Alibaba Group and its subsidiary Ant Financial Service Group in 2016, which may help Ele.me acquire more market share with Alibaba’s support.

3. 悦会YHOUSE

First launch: 2013.03

First mobile app launch: 2014.02

Website address: www.yhouse.com

Total Users: 10 million

Similar app: Enjoy 

YHOUSE is a group buying platform especially targeting Chinese Millennials who expect luxury experience in dining and entertaining activities. YHOUSE offers information about luxury food and services, including high-end restaurants, Five Stars hotels, party services, and diving activities. It also builds up a luxury online community where users can share their luxury experiences. Foodies who want best quality dishes, try food from foreign countries, or spend a romantic date can get discounts on YHOUSE.

4. 觅食Mishi

First mobile app launch time: 2014.1 Website address: http://www.mishi.cn

Similar Chinese Food Apps: Home-cook  , Chijidun 

“Mishi” in Chinese means “To look for food”. The concept of Mishi is to discover tasty homemade food in the neighborhood, designed for millennials who are tired of standard restaurant dishes and want to try new food. This app is mainly competing with Ele.me and other online food delivery services.

5. 我有饭Youfan

First mobile app launch time: 2015.10

Website address: http://www.youfanapp.com

Total active users: 65,000

Similar Chinese Food Apps: Huolishi  ,  Eatwith China ,   HomEat 

Youfan is a Chinese version of the app“Eat with”. The app can help foodies meet hosts who cook delicious food in their neighborhood and eat at his or her home. It is much more private than eating in restaurants, and people do not have to queue for tasty food. On the other hand, as hosts, users can invite others to their carefully prepared meal. Youfan now holds more than 100 meals with about 600 participants per week.

6. 爱大厨iDachu

First launch time: 2013

Website address: www.idachu.com

Total active users: 500,000

Similar Chinese Food Apps: Chushi007 

If foodies do not want to eat outside or order food, and still expect high-quality dishes, iDachu is a perfect choice for them. iDachu is an O2O app that users can reserve a chef online, and ask the chef go to their houses to cook delicious food. Chefs are specialized on multiple types of food. Users select the most appropriate chef according to their profiles, and reserve by paying service fees online. Users can also write reviews for other potential customers.

7. 豆果美食Douguo

First launch time: 2008

First mobile app launch time: 2012.02

Total active users: 7,5 million

Similar Chinese Food Apps: Xiachufang , Meishij 

Dougou is the first and largest online cooking recipe sharing community in China. It was built based on user-generated content (UGC). Users can upload recipes, discuss issues related to food and cuisine, and share their cooking experiences. Douguo transferred into O2O platform in 2015 by cooperating with household appliance giants like Siemens and Haier. It also collaborates with fresh food suppliers, providing half-prepared fresh food delivery to target Chinese millennials who want to cook at home but do not have enough time to prepare.

Users have published850 thousand original recipes to Douguo and more than 10 million cooking-related articles. With the good user experience, Douguo accumulated a large number of loyal fans. Douguo has more than 16 million monthly active users, about 82% of them are millennials. Dougou now owns more than 70% market share in food &beverage mobile app market in China).

8. 每日优鲜 MissFresh

First mobile app launch time: 2014.11

Website address: www.missfresh.cn

Total active users: 70,000

Similar Chinese Food Apps: Yiguo 

Miss Fresh is an O2O fresh food retailing and delivery platform, offering fruit and vegetables, dairy products, snacks and beverage, meat products. The slogan of the app is “products arrive within two hours”. Due to higher delivery requirements of fresh food, the company established own cold-chain logistics system to ensure product quality and delivery speed.

After two-year network expansion, Miss Fresh has established “within two-hour delivery system” in 10 major cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Until 2016, Miss Fresh receives more than 1 million orders and ¥100 million sales per month. In April, Miss Fresh received ¥430 million venture capital.

9. 喝啥 He Sha

First launch time: 2013.07

Website address: www.hesha.com

Hesha is the biggest alcoholic drink information sharing community in China. With the effects of globalization and favor of pursuing western lifestyle among Chinese millennials, drinking foreign alcohol becomes a trend. Hesha provides wine information, alcohol introduction and tasting events to educate Chinese customers, assist them choose good wines and compare prices. It also has filters to help customers select alcohol by food types, occasions and drinking purposes.

10. Foodie Camera

First mobile app launch time: 2016.02

It may be a bit weird that people take pictures of food before eating it. However, for real “Chihuo”, it is necessary to record food they had to keep good taste fresh in their memory. No matter if people go to a restaurant or cook by themselves, Foodie Camera can help “Chihuo” take good food pictures by offering many filters for different types of food. All filters are called by food names and make the app very easy to use, for instance, BBQ and Fruit. It also assists photographers to find the best angle to take good-looking pictures. According to Chinese consulting agency Dataway, Chinese millennials like to post food pictures. About 87.9% pictures taken by people born in 90s during dining time are food and dishes.

Foodie Camera is developed by Line, a subsidiary of Korean internet search engine giant Naver.

http://www.hngn.com/articles/180724/20160219/foodie-app-line-launches-camera-promises-perfect-food-photos.htm

(http://www.horizon-china.com/page/4133)

With these apps, foodies have so many options for their dining experiences. On working days, people can find a nice new-opened restaurant on Dianping, or take 10 minutes to order lunch from their favorite restaurants on Ele.me, or order homemade healthy food on Mishi. On weekends, they can reserve a top restaurant on YHOUSE to have a romantic experience with lovers, or meet another foodie and enjoy good food in their house by using Youfan. People can also hold a party in their own house by hiring a good chef on iDachu. They can even check favorite dish’s recipe on Douguo, order quick fresh food delivery on Miss Fresh and a bottle of wine on Hesha, and cook by themselves. With all different options, foodies have their tasty dishes and delicious wine on the table. It’s time to take a picture of food by Foodie Camera and enjoy the meal.

Source: Digital Marketing Agency

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