Recently, the founder of XiBei Catering, Jia Guolong, has significantly cleared out the content on multiple social media platforms, retaining only one interview video on Douyin. This move comes as XiBei is facing a trust crisis due to controversies surrounding “pre-made dishes” and marketing content, with the company attempting to rebuild its brand image through measures such as issuing hundred-yuan vouchers.
On September 28th, several mainland media outlets discovered that the main social media accounts of Jia Guolong, the founder of XiBei Catering, had undergone a major content cleanup. His Douyin account now only retains one publicly shared video from September 30, 2024 – an interview titled “Big Bear Interviews Jia Guolong,” detailing the development trajectory of XiBei cuisine and disclosing the company’s annual revenue of 6.2 billion yuan, emphasizing XiBei’s leading position in the Northwestern cuisine field.
At the same time, Jia Guolong’s Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) account and WeChat video account have been completely cleared. It is worth noting that his Weibo account “XiBei Jia Guolong” has not been cleared yet, with the latest post being a New Year’s message from the beginning of 2024.
The background of this social media “major clean-up” is the multiple brand crises that XiBei has recently encountered. In September of this year, XiBei was embroiled in a public controversy with well-known anchor Luo Yonghao over the “pre-made dishes” issue, causing a direct impact on the company’s operations.
According to data revealed by Jia Guolong during a media interview on September 12, after the controversy erupted on September 10th and 11th, XiBei’s nationwide store daily sales decreased by 1 million yuan each day, with an expected loss of 2 to 3 million yuan on the 12th, showing the immediate impact of public opinion turmoil on the physical catering business.
Facing a significant blow to its performance, XiBei issued a public apology on September 15, promising to adjust the pre-processing technology of the central kitchen to on-site preparation at store locations as much as possible. The company has set a detailed timeline for rectification, committing to complete nine specific adjustments by October 1st, including changing the cooking oil for dishes to non-genetically modified soybean oil and switching the beef sauce for children’s meal beef braised rice to on-site stir-fry, among other measures.
On the same day, Luo Yonghao also announced that he would no longer pursue the matter, bringing an end to the dispute.
To restore its brand image and regain consumer confidence, XiBei launched the “XiBei Invites You for a Meal” theme event at all its nationwide stores on September 24th, offering customers who dine in with a free 100 yuan dining voucher.
According to XiBei customer service, this promotion covers nearly 400 stores nationwide and runs from September 24th to October 8th, with the voucher’s expiry date extended to October 31, 2025, to facilitate consumers in using it to the fullest extent.
As of 2025, XiBei operates nearly 400 stores in the Chinese market. Faced with ongoing public controversies and operational pressures, XiBei’s management has not yet provided an official response to the founder’s clearing of social media accounts.