Haidilao raised hotpot prices 6% as China reopened — a Weibo storm forced them back down

Haidilao, China's famous hotpot chain, shut its dining rooms in late January 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak closed the country. When it reopened in the middle of March, customers found menu prices had jumped by around 6% — and they said so, loudly. Weibo filled with outrage at the increases, and diners threatened to boycott the company, their anger sharpened by weeks of lockdowns, travel restrictions and rising worries about jobs and incomes.

A few days into the storm, Haidilao buckled. It issued an apology and restored prices to pre-closure levels, then offered discounts of up to 31% on takeaway orders to win customers back. Analysts told the South China Morning Post the episode pointed to the outbreak's side-effect: strong downward pressure on prices that looked likely to persist, with China's headline inflation dropping for a second straight month in March after January's eight-year high.

Haidilao was not alone in the misreading. Xibei, another Chinese chain, begged for sympathy about pandemic losses, then raised prices — and ran into the same wall of consumer pushback, forcing a U-turn of its own.

The 6% increase landed on customers whose incomes and jobs felt precarious after weeks of lockdown — the worst possible moment to reprice.

Hotpot is a social, price-checked everyday meal in China, so menu changes are visible and comparison-friendly in a way that hides a reprice nowhere.

Weibo's boycott threats gave the anger a public venue with immediate scale, turning a menu tweak into a national story within days.

Rivals were cutting prices for the same reason Haidilao raised them — collapsed demand — making the increase look opportunistic rather than necessary.

Value perception is set by whatever your customer is living through. In a lockdown economy a 6% rise reads as gouging, and the reversal costs more than the increase ever earned.

The company apologized, restored all prices to pre-closure levels, and put takeaway orders at discounts of up to 31% to rebuild goodwill. The South China Morning Post reported China's headline inflation falling for a second consecutive month in March after an eight-year high in January, underscoring the deflationary mood that made the increase such a misstep. Xibei's simultaneous retreat showed the whole sector had misread what reopening customers would tolerate.