“辣味零食天堂”长沙开店

The first store selling only spicy snacks opened in Changsha, Hunan province, on Saturday, attracting a slew of heat-seeking food lovers.

6月1日，首家纯辣主题零食店“零食很辣”在湖南长沙正式开业，吸引了大批追求“热辣”的美食爱好者。

The Lingshi Henla store — the name means spicy snacks in Chinese — was opened by the snack chain brand Lingshi Henmang. It sells more than 2,200 kinds of spicy snacks, ranging from spicy gluten strips to pork and stinky tofu, making it the store offering the largest range of spicy snacks in China.

“零食很辣”，由知名零食品牌“零食很忙”运营开设，共有超过2200款“辣味”零食，涵盖辣条、肉制品、臭豆腐等品类，是国内目前“辣味”零食品类最全面的零食集合店。

According to market research firm Frost & Sullivan and the China Industry Research Institute, China's spicy snack market increased from 125.7 billion yuan ($17.35 billion) in 2017 to 172.9 billion yuan in 2021. According to research firm Nielsen, 7.57 billion servings of spicy gluten strips, weighing a total of 410,000 metric tons, were sold in the country last year.

据弗若斯特沙利文、中商产业研究院研究数据显示，中国辣味休闲食品市场规模由2017年的1257亿元增长至2021年的1729亿元。同样由研究机构尼尔森发布的数据显示，以面筋辣条为主的调味素零食，在去年全国销量就达到4.1亿公斤、销售件数达到75.7亿件。

Li Bin, the head of Lingshi Henla, said the store aims to inherit and promote the spicy food culture of Hunan and wants to cooperate with more spicy food companies and brands. The store will also try to categorize the different levels of spiciness of its snacks, so that customers can find the ones that suit them best, he said.

零食很辣店长李彬向记者介绍，“零食很辣”门店的目标在于对湖南“辣文化”的传承与传播，并希望借此吸引全国各地更多的“辣”产品厂商来与品牌合作。他表示，未来门店还将基于“辣味”的程度进行细分布局，以便消费者可以购买到最适宜自己的产品。

Yang Xian, 29, from Changsha, bought three bags of snacks when she visited the store on its opening day. "I was totally blown away by the number of different spicy snacks at the store, many of which evoke sweet childhood memories," Yang said. The snacks at the store are cheaper than those sold at regular convenience stores, so she intends to be a regular visitor. It is also very creative and symbolic of the spicy food culture of Changsha and Hunan, Yang said.

来自长沙29岁的杨娴（音译）在开店当天，就到店里买了三大袋零食。她说：“店里种类繁多的辣味零食让我惊呆了，而且其中有很多还让我想起了美好的童年回忆。” 她表示，店里的零食要比普通便利店便宜，所以她准备多来逛逛。她觉得这家店象征着长沙和湖南的辣味饮食文化，非常有创意。

Yu Qiong, 28, from Yueyang, visited the store on Saturday. She said she often bought spicy gluten strips when she was a child and the store reminded her of the "good old days". Yu said she was amazed by the amount and types of spicy gluten strips on sale at the store. Although it was rainy on opening day, there were lots of customers at the store, and people needed to "fight" with each other to buy the snacks, she said.

28岁的于琼（音译）来自岳阳，在6月1日当天也前往了店内打卡。她说自己小时候经常会买辣条吃，而零食很辣让她想起了过去的美好时光。于琼表示店里出售的辣条数量之多、种类之全让她大吃一惊。而且尽管开店当天下起了雨，现场依旧热闹非凡，不少人争相购买着零食。