Brand expansion

Since mid-2018, Shaxian Snacks restaurants, with their iconic Pac-Man-like logos, have been established in 62 countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Australia, France and Portugal.

This growth comes amid rapid overseas expansion by a number of Chinese fast-food chains that have enjoyed domestic success and have started to venture abroad in recent years.

Luo said the rapid development of businesses serving Shaxian delicacies in recent decades is inseparable from strong local government support.

Yang Xingzhong, secretary of the CPC Shaxian County Committee, said that since the late 1990s, the local government has tried to create more jobs for rural workers by developing the catering industry to raise farmers' incomes.

From 1985 to 2002, when President Xi worked in Fujian in various positions, he made several inspection visits to Shaxian county.

Yang said, "He asked officials to identify industries－Shaxian delicacies in particular－to sustain local economic growth and strengthen the service sector, making it a growth driver."

To provide customers with authentic food, the Shaxian Delicacies Trade Association, founded in 1997 and backed by the local government, registered the "Shaxian Snacks" trademark in 2014.

With unified management, the association is aiming for eateries serving the delicacies to be franchised in order to make Shaxian Snacks an international brand like KFC and McDonald's. It has also filed trademark applications overseas.

The menus of fast-food chains such as KFC and McDonald's are mainly standard in different countries, but this is not the case for Shaxian delicacies.

They differ according to the country and region they are served in, and prices also vary.