During the 2026 Spring Festival of the Horse, Jiangsu's catering market experienced robust performance and high activity levels. Over the nine-day holiday period, the province's catering revenue exceeded 18.3 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 11.9%, with the average daily growth hitting a five-year high. Approximately 3.2 million reunion dinners were served across Jiangsu, while over 220,000 catering establishments remained open, adding vibrant festive atmosphere to the celebrations.
The 2026 Spring Festival saw strong and rapid growth in Jiangsu's catering consumption, with total revenue reaching 18.3 billion yuan, an 11.9% increase from the previous year, maintaining the province's leading position nationally in terms of consumption scale. During the holiday, more than 220,000 catering outlets across the province operated without interruption, covering all segments including formal dining, snacks, fast food, hot pot, tea beverages, and time-honored brands. Key monitored enterprises reported an average table turnover rate of 2.8 times per day. Restaurants in core commercial areas, food streets, and near tourist attractions remained highly popular, with waiting times at popular venues exceeding one hour.
Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Yangzhou formed the top tier of consumption cities. Counties in northern and central Jiangsu recorded catering growth rates as high as 12.3%, surpassing the provincial average and establishing emerging markets as new growth drivers. The catering market demonstrated vigorous activity across all regions.
The Jiangsu Catering Association mobilized over 400 key catering enterprises across 13 cities to launch nearly 100 special Spring Festival meal packages, including classmate reunions, family-parent-child meals, homecoming feasts, and family reunion dinners, with average discounts reaching 30%. In collaboration with Meituan, a dedicated section titled "Taste of Jiangsu Reunions, Family Feasts for Togetherness" was created, offering exclusive dining voucher packages worth 188 yuan to further stimulate consumer enthusiasm.
Smaller reunion dinners for 3-6 people accounted for 62% of total bookings, while refined set meals for 2-4 persons saw sales surge 85% year-on-year, reflecting modern smaller household preferences. Bookings for reunion dinners were made significantly earlier, with private rooms at popular restaurants fully reserved 15 days in advance. Lunchtime and off-peak evening reunion dinners accounted for nearly 40% of bookings, indicating a trend toward more relaxed dining options.
This year, "Enjoying quality meals at home" emerged as a new trend, with demand for home-delivered catering experiencing explosive growth. The province launched over 1,000 types of "Hundred Counties, Thousand Flavors" gift boxes featuring ready-to-heat classic dishes such as squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, stewed lion's head meatballs, simmered eel, Nanjing salted duck, and Wuxi spareribs, with orders increasing 3.2 times year-on-year. Private chef services and customized home banquets grew rapidly, with order volume rising 200%, allowing ordinary families to enjoy intimate and secure reunion dinners through master chef home visits and live cooking demonstrations, continuously activating new consumption potential through scenario innovation.
"Celebrate the New Year in Jiangsu, where flavors abound" became the main theme of Spring Festival consumption. Regional Jiangsu cuisines including Huaiyang, Su-Xi, Jinling, and Xuhai styles saw sales increase 18% year-on-year, dominating dining tables. Local delicacies such as Yangzhou morning tea, Huai'an eel dishes, Nanjing duck blood vermicelli soup, Suzhou rice cakes, and Yancheng's "Eight Bowls" feast gained widespread popularity. Time-honored restaurants like Maxiangxing, Liuliuju, and Songhelou witnessed overwhelming patronage, with New Year gift boxes and prepared food gift sets each generating sales exceeding ten million yuan. Traditional techniques, classic flavors, and established brands became the most trusted choices for Spring Festival consumption. Across the province, "Taste of Jiangsu" promotional activities were held simultaneously, introducing local specialties into commercial districts, scenic spots, and households.
The 2026 Spring Festival also highlighted healthier, simpler, and more civilized dining practices in Jiangsu. Concepts such as "less oil, salt, and sugar" and "small-portion dishes, half-portions, and combination plates" became widely adopted, with over 70% of consumers choosing to order according to need and customize portion sizes to avoid waste. Catering enterprises actively participated in the civilized dining initiative by providing free takeaway services, offering clean plate rewards, and displaying reminders about reducing food waste, resulting in a 60% year-on-year decrease in Spring Festival dining waste. Health-conscious demand continued to rise, with orders for nourishing soups, seasonal vegetables, and light meals increasing 45% year-on-year, making safe, healthy, and comfortable dining an important priority.
The integration of zodiac culture and catering consumption emerged as a distinctive feature during the Year of the Horse. Catering establishments throughout the province introduced themed meal sets such as "Instant Success Banquet," "Leading the Way Family Feast," and "Vigorous Reunion Dinner," incorporating horse-related auspicious elements into dish names, presentation, tableware, and dessert designs. These visually appealing and ceremonial experiences proved highly popular among families and younger demographics. Horse-year limited desserts, zodiac pastries, and creative custom presentations became social media hotspots, demonstrating how the combination of catering and cultural innovation made reunion dinners not only delicious but also visually attractive, festive, and memorable.
Strong tourism activity in Jiangsu during the Spring Festival significantly boosted catering demand, with the combination of food, scenery, and culture proving particularly powerful. Areas around popular attractions such as Confucius Temple, Pingjiang Road, Dongguan Street, Hao River, Santai Mountain, and Yancheng witnessed surging restaurant patronage, with customer flow increasing 30% year-on-year. Yangzhou morning tea, Huai'an intangible cultural heritage feasts, Suzhou garden dining, and Nanjing Changle Square became must-experience activities for visitors. Various locations organized food streets, intangible cultural heritage markets, and folk snack exhibitions, allowing tourists to savor Jiangsu flavors while appreciating local culture, achieving a harmonious blend of scenery and cuisine that made cultural tourism catering the largest contributor to Spring Festival consumption growth.
Jiangsu's Spring Festival dining sector fully embraced digitalization, shifting from offline queues to online reservations. Platforms like Meituan, Dianping, and Douyin accounted for 65% of reunion dinner bookings, with online table reservation, advance ordering, and group purchase packages becoming standard. Numerous time-honored and branded restaurants adopted live streaming to promote tables and sell New Year goods, featuring live cooking demonstrations and real-time host explanations, achieving an online order conversion rate exceeding 40%. The widespread adoption of digital yuan payments, Spring Festival consumption vouchers, and spend-and-save offers made transactions more convenient and discounts more substantial, effectively driving in-store consumption.
Spring Festival consumption displayed increasing rationality, with branded, chain, and standardized services becoming preferred choices. Revenue from branded chain restaurants across the province grew 15.6% year-on-year, outperforming the industry average, as consistent quality, standardized service, and transparent pricing gave consumers greater confidence in family gatherings and friend meetups. Simultaneously, wedding banquets, birthday celebrations, casual get-togethers, and business entertaining witnessed full recovery, with hotel banquet halls and specialty private rooms in high demand. Household consumption, social gathering expenditure, and ceremonial spending collectively drove Jiangsu's catering sector to sustained growth.
Throughout the 2026 Spring Festival, Jiangsu's catering market maintained safety, order, environmental friendliness, and warmth. Catering enterprises strictly implemented food safety responsibilities, widely adopting ingredient traceability, open kitchen visibility, and communal serving utensils to ensure protection from source to table. Economical dining, eco-friendly packaging, and rational consumption became social norms, while rejecting wild game and practicing civilized dining gained broad acceptance. Through countless safe, reunion, and heartwarming meals, Jiangsu presented the most welcoming, orderly, and lively Spring Festival dining experience.