ABOUT US
OUR STORY
1999: LIKE A TINY SEED OF CHILLI...
The story of Dezhuang resembles the life cycle of chilli.
A tiny seed, rooted in the humble ground, which turns into a lush plant as high as its ambitions, and points to
the sky. That’s how everything started. In 1999, the
future founder of the brand Dezhuang, Mr. Li Dejian,
opened his first hot pot restaurant. One of the many in
the big city of Chongqing, but apparently moved by
stronger ambitions. That small seed was getting ready
to reach the sky.
2003: PUTTING DOWN ROOTS AS ROBUST AS OUR VALUES
By this year, the business has grown becoming the Dezhuang Group, a complex ecosystem of subsidiaries
at every level of the production. What was meant to be a food service-centred business, shortly after
developed its own brand of products (mainly hot-pot base mixes) with a clear positioning: becoming the
leaders in the Chongqing-styled hot pot industry and promote the hot pot culture – and, more broadly, the
Szechuanese cuisine. This must be achieved by “always offering the finest ingredients”.
2005 - 2009: FROM A SEED IN THE GROUND TO A DELICACY ON YOUR SHELF.
In 2005 the Group had completed its first Agricultural Production Base, achieving a complete traceability system for all core ingredients (spicy and fragrant chillies together with tingling Szechuan peppercorns among all). Two years later Dezhuang is recognized as a national key leading enterprise in agricultural industrialization. Later in 2009, Dezhuang set up China’s first automatic production line (two in total by the year 2019).
It’s poetic how the brand, grown as a tiny seed and become a rich plant, now puts so much passion in its products, taking care of them from the moment they are planted, till the moment they enter your houses as food condiments.
2017: Setting the standard for spiciness
After 7 years of work side-by-side with our team of experts, Chairman Li Dejian developed a clearer and more consumer-friendly pungency degree scale that received an official patent. In 2018 the Li’s Spicy Degree has been adopted by the City of Chongqing as the local standard to quantify the degree of spiciness in packaged products, and today many brands are adopting the same standard for their productions.
2018: The pathway to the world
As the roots go deeper and leaves grow broader, a small vase can no longer contain Dezhuang’s big ambition.
In 2018 the Group embarked in a joint venture with Gianluca Luisi and a team of international Chinese food enthusiasts with the main purpose of internationalizing the brand. From this union was born Dezhuang International - with the ambition to spread the culture of the Szechuan cuisine worldwide.
Soon after launching this program, Dezhuang is awarded as 2018 China’s Top Ten Overseas Hotpot Brands.
2019 to TODAY: The pathway to your hearts and 20 years of satisfactions.
Remember that single, tiny seed mentioned before? Now it’s a beautiful cornucopia adorned with ripe fruits.
The single restaurant opened 20 years ago in Chongqing today is a complex ecosystem with its own production and processing chain, and that counts over 1000 restaurants, 600+ products, and speaks more than 10 languages.
Since 2019, Dezhuang has received several awards:
→ Gold Award for the Top 10 Catering Brands in 2019
→ Model Enterprise of National Commercial Integrity Construction Pilot Work
→ Class AAA of Chongqing’s Harmonious Labor Relations
→ Dezhuang’s “Huge Hot Pot” – chosen to represent the city of Chongqing in the Second China International Import Expo and awarded the “Guinness World Record” title for the world’s bigger hot pot in 2019.
