By NUPIAO
On June 22, 36Kr broke the news that Taobao Flash Sale has quietly kicked off a soft launch of “Home Banquet” in Chengdu and Shenzhen. We’re talking about bringing five top-tier Chinese Michelin brands right to your doorstep, covering nine physical locations across both three-star and one-star tiers. Early sign-ups include Chao Shang Chao, Xu Jia Cai, Chai Men Hui, Zi Nan, and Wang Ba Yuan Zi. Heavy hitters like Xin Rong Ji and Ru Yuan are slated to join shortly, with phased rollouts expected across Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou before August closes out.
When NUPIAO reached out to Taobao Flash Sale for comment, they kept things tight-lipped until press time. But reps from Shenzhen’s Chao Shang Chao and Chengdu’s Xu Jia Cai gave us a straight nod—this project is definitely live.
A rep at Chao Shang Chao’s MixC location told us the rollout is strictly invite-only for now. You’ll need to land in the gray-test cohort to book, and the only option kicking off is a ¥1,088 four-person set. This beta phase runs through the end of June, and whether they stick around long-term? Still up in the air.
Let’s break down Chao Shang Chao for a sec. They’re globally recognized as the first Michelin three-star spot for Chaoshan cuisine, with their Beijing flagship earning the crown in 2024 and their Shenzhen branch matching that exact standard. They’re all about exclusive Chaoshan private banquets, focusing on rare seafood and traditional techniques, catering to business hosts and wealthy families looking for serious sit-down meals. Offline tickets run ¥800–¥1,500 per head. And no, not every location is jumping in—their Zhengda Plaza branch in Beijing is sitting this one out for now.
Staff at Chengdu’s one-star spot, Chai Men Hui, also confirmed to us that they’re currently co-developing the Home Banquet menu with Taobao. During the beta, only VIPs can reserve directly; regular folks have to apply separately. According to the team running the program, the food ships exactly like standard delivery but moves in heavy-duty, pro-grade thermal gear to lock in temperature and texture. Here’s the kicker: it’s actually a better deal than eating in. Their dine-in sets start at ¥800 per person, while the Home Banquet packs two to six people in for a flat ¥1,088.
Peek at an early Home Banquet menu, and you’ll see a full-course setup: cold appetizers, soups, mains, hot dishes, veggie plates, staples, and dessert. Take the signature main course, priced at ¥588—you can pick between “Gongguan Seafood Jar Braised Pork” or “Signature Green Pepper and Bamboo Shoots Stewed with Paddy Field Softshell Turtle.” Yeah, those aren’t cheap ingredients.
The crew behind the project told NUPIAO the menu is still iterating and will go permanent once dialed in. Also, skip the usual crowded rider chaos. Each order gets a dedicated courier for door-to-door drop-off, so your expensive meal won’t get tossed into a generic bag alongside bubble tea and fries.
Look, the hesitation from Michelin restaurants to even consider delivery makes total sense. Skipping the dining room risks wrecking the plating, temp control, and pacing that earned them those stars. In the delivery ecosystem, any glitch in the chain reflects straight back on the chef’s reputation. Plus, run the numbers on high-end produce, custom packaging, white-glove fulfillment, and platform cuts, and you’ve got a recipe for razor-thin margins.
So what’s pushing these brands into Taobao’s Home Banquet? Two massive waves colliding. On one side, traditional restaurant growth has hit a ceiling. On the other, there’s a screaming demand for upscale home entertaining. Industry analysts tell NUPIAO that as families host more intimate dinners at home, they’re happily paying a premium for convenience without sacrificing quality. Meanwhile, legacy delivery apps have been stuck grinding low-cost fast food for single eaters, leaving a gaping hole in the high-ticket private dining segment. Taobao’s finally filling it.
For Taobao Flash Sale, this is less of a feature update and more of a financial reset. Alibaba’s Q3 FY2026 earnings call laid it out clearly: the instant retail sector, led by Taobao Flash Sale, pulled in ¥20.84 billion—a 56% year-over-year jump with order volume tripling. But let’s keep it real: flooding the zone with cheap meal subsidies is bleeding cash. Upgrading the mix to higher-margin, premium orders is the only way to fix unit economics.
During that same call, Jiang Fan, head of Alibaba’s China commerce division, drew a clear roadmap. They’re still gunning for over ¥1 trillion in transaction volume by fiscal 2028, with a solid target to flip the entire instant retail division profitable by 2029. Premium delivery pilots like Home Banquet are exactly how they plan to get there.
It’s also happening against a backdrop of tighter oversight. Regulators across multiple provinces have recently summoned major delivery platforms to crack down on ghost kitchens, lax license checks, and unauthorized cross-store cooking. Right on top of that, the State Administration for Market Regulation just published draft guidelines banning predatory subsidy wars—no dumping prices below cost, no forcing merchants to foot the bill, and full transparency required for any promotional spend.
How did Taobao Flash Sale respond? They posted an official note backing the new rules, vowing to work hand-in-hand with the industry to keep competition fair and sustainable.
Which brings us to the bottom line. The delivery war has officially shifted from burning cash on coupons to fighting over supply quality, customer segmentation, and actual service standards. But can Home Banquet really balance merchant profitability, user experience, and delivery costs without breaking a sweat? And can they build a scalable, low-waste premium logistics network? Until we see the hard data, it’s still a bold experiment waiting to pay off.
