This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on September 28, 2021.
Economic Observer, citing reporter Ye Xinran, reported on Dicos' 25th anniversary, its 3,000-store milestone, and management's view of the chain's next phase of competition. Jiemian News, citing Bloomberg and reporter Lu Yibei, separately reported background on Ting Hsin International's potential Hong Kong IPO plans involving Dicos and Master Kong Chef's Table Beef Noodles.
In 2021, Dicos marked its 25th anniversary. On September 12, with the opening of its Wutaishan, Shanxi store, the western-style fast-food chain reached 3,000 stores in China.
At that point, Dicos introduced a Brand 3.0 upgrade plan and the slogan "All for You." According to Shao Xinmou, chief executive of Dicos parent Tingqiao Food Group, the company's scale was built on consumer acceptance: once consumers recognize the brand, store openings, investment, and returns become possible.
The 3.0 plan centers on putting consumers first across product, service, store operations, and communication.
Shao said Dicos' biggest challenge is internal: whether each generation of consumers can continue to accept and recognize the brand.
Western fast food is no longer scarce in China. Shao described it as an affordable mass-market dining category, and said the internet era has reduced the awareness gap between first- and second-tier cities and lower-tier markets.
For operators, Dicos' stated priorities under the consumer-first strategy include:
Before rolling out new products nationwide, Dicos tests them in selected stores to identify execution issues in complex real operating conditions, then adjusts accordingly.
Dicos divides the national market into 80 business units, with each unit managing about 50 stores. Unlike models where distributors buy products from the brand and then handle store location and management, Dicos says all franchised stores are supervised and inspected by headquarters-assigned personnel.
Shao emphasized that consumer complaints ultimately become the brand's responsibility. He also highlighted store-manager development, saying Dicos would rather not open a store if it does not have a suitable manager.
Dicos requires stores to upload a full set of daily food-safety inspection results to the cloud. Shao described this as part of a "strong platform, heavy management" approach, arguing that consumer trust is central and that opening beyond the company's management capacity would damage the whole brand.
Dicos is also adjusting its store layout. Shao said openings and closures are normal because store locations are fixed while trade areas shift. With online delivery now widespread, the network also needs to be optimized so products still reach customers at the right temperature and freshness.
As of the article, franchised stores accounted for 85% of Dicos' network. Shao said the company planned to grow by 400 to 500 stores per year.
Shao described Dicos' attitude toward KFC, McDonald's, and other peers as "learning more than competing." He said those companies helped build the western fast-food category in China, expand the market, mature the sector, and improve supporting industries.
He added that western-style foodservice supply chains had already become mature, and major brands' resource-integration capabilities were now broadly similar. As a result, the decisive issue returns to the brand itself.
Shao said that no matter how much marketing volume or traffic a campaign generates, only sales are tangible. For Dicos, the competitive frame is therefore against its past, present, and future self, measured by whether each step follows a consumer-first direction.
Jiemian News reported on March 3 that Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said Taiwan food company Ting Hsin International Group, the company behind Master Kong, was considering listing its restaurant business in Hong Kong and seeking to raise USD 800 million.
Ting Hsin International is the parent of the Master Kong instant-noodle brand. In the 1980s, the four Wei brothers, founders of Ting Hsin, went from Taiwan to mainland China to invest after seeing opportunities from reform and opening. The group initially worked in edible oils. In 1992, Ting Hsin invested in an instant-noodle production line in Tianjin and created the Master Kong brand. In 1996, Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. listed in Hong Kong; in 2002, the listed company was renamed Master Kong Holdings Co., Ltd., now known for producing and selling instant noodles and beverages in China.
Outside the listed Master Kong business, Ting Hsin International's operations include fried-chicken chain Dicos, restaurant chain Master Kong Chef's Table Beef Noodles, and convenience-store chain FamilyMart, among other formats.
Bloomberg's report said the potential Hong Kong IPO could include Dicos and Master Kong Chef's Table Beef Noodles. It also said the plan was at an early stage and might not proceed.
Dicos originated in Texas in the southern United States, entered Chengdu, China in 1994, and was acquired by Ting Hsin International in 1996.
In its early China development, Dicos used a strategy described as "surrounding cities from the countryside," focusing on third- and fourth-tier cities to avoid direct competition with KFC and McDonald's. Since opening to franchising in 2000, Dicos had opened more than 2,600 mainland China stores, 85% franchised. Euromonitor data cited in the source ranked Dicos third in China's fast-food market by share, behind KFC and McDonald's.
As KFC and McDonald's expanded into lower-tier markets and took some share from Dicos' original base, Dicos began seeking growth in first-tier cities.
In 2018, Dicos opened its first unmanned smart restaurant, the "Dicos Future Store," in Shanghai. Earlier, it had piloted a "fresh food" concept store in Shanghai, differentiating through more vegetables, made-to-order preparation, and food traceability. It later extended that format into "fresh food+" concept stores and "fresh food fast-food stores."
At the product level, Dicos accelerated new launches, including plant-based meat products. In marketing, it moved closer to younger consumers and increased investment in delivery and digitalization.
In September 2020, Dicos chief operating officer Cui Kaijun said the brand opened 400 to 500 new stores nationwide in 2020, with more than 200 stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. He said store-count growth in the previous three years had reached its largest increase and that Dicos would continue accelerating. The source noted that because Dicos had rarely disclosed detailed operating results in recent years, outsiders had limited visibility into its true performance.
Master Kong Chef's Table Beef Noodles was founded by Ting Hsin International in Beijing in 2006. It focuses on Taiwanese-style beef noodles with freshly simmered broth. In 2011, the brand had 124 stores across 32 mainland Chinese cities, but its market visibility had weakened in recent years.
The reported potential spin-off of Ting Hsin International's China restaurant business invited comparison with Yum China.
On November 1, 2016, Yum Brands' China business was spun off as Yum China and listed on the New York Stock Exchange the same day. Yum China held exclusive operating and licensing rights in China for KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, and fully owned the East Dawning and Little Sheep restaurant chains.
For Yum Brands, the move was framed as a value-maximization step. China had contributed more than half of Yum Brands' revenue for four consecutive years from 2012 to 2015, but China's profit contribution was falling quickly. Creating and listing Yum China before the China business deteriorated further also helped attract Chinese capital, support localization, seek performance improvement, and reduce the parent group's exposure to China-market volatility.
Note: IPO plans, fundraising figures, store-growth targets, and forward-looking statements are historical as reported in 2021.