Sichuan-style player acquires Hunan-style brand, Tianwei Food kicks off its first cross-cuisine M&A

Weizimei "Joins Hands" with Zhongju High-tech, and Tantanxiang Recently Switched to Tianwei Food, Completely Ending Its Solo Journey

Weizimei belongs to the hot pot base sauce track and is the first step for Zhongju High-tech to make up for the short - board in its compound seasoning strategy. Tantanxiang, on the other hand, is Tianwei Food's first battle in crossing from Sichuan - style seasonings to Hunan - style seasonings.

Tianwei Food's "swallowing" this can of chopped peppers is regarded as a wind vane for the M&A wave in the compound seasoning market by insiders and outsiders: Cross - category layout has become the new direction for the development of compound seasoning enterprises.

In recent years, the growth rate of the basic condiment industry has continued to slow down, and Sichuan - style seasonings have risen and led the compound seasoning market. The intention of industry leaders to cross into the Hunan - style seasoning sub - track is self - evident.

Fundamentally, the ceiling of the Sichuan - style seasoning track is looming, and players of all sizes are worried. Regional leaders such as Jixiangju and Weizimei have successively found backers, and the anxiety about industry expansion continues to ferment.

Tianwei Food's foray into the chopped pepper field also shows that it is building a full - category strategy for compound seasonings, opening up a wider range of consumption scenarios, and transforming into a national comprehensive condiment giant.

Sichuan - style Seasonings Swallow Hunan - style Seasonings

Last week, Tianwei Food (603317.SH) did something big. It plans to increase the capital of its wholly - owned subsidiary, Sichuan Ruisheng, with its own funds of 422 million yuan to purchase 60% of the equity of Hunan Tantanxiang Food Technology Co., Ltd. through it.

This is Tianwei Food's first cross - cuisine and cross - flavor M&A, and the core driver comes from the long - term high prosperity of the Hunan - cuisine track.

Data on the demand side shows that by the end of 2025, the scale of Hunan - cuisine full - service restaurants nationwide will reach 113,000, corresponding to a full - scenario catering scale of 184.2 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 9.3%, far higher than that of Chinese full - service restaurants and the overall condiment market.

With the increase in the store chain rate and the standardization of the kitchen, seasonings such as chopped peppers and fish head sauce, and compound seasonings have become necessities.

The application scenarios of Hunan - style compound seasonings are not limited to catering stores. Driven by the demand in group meals, pre - made dishes, and the "one - sauce - makes - a - dish" trend in the C - end market, the market penetration rate of chopped pepper products has been further improved.

The chopped pepper category has low public attention but is a high - profit sub - track. According to public information, the net profit margin of chopped pepper products is generally in the range of 15% - 20%, and Tantanxiang's net profit margin in 2025 is 19.5%, far higher than that of Sichuan - style compound seasonings, basic soy sauce and other products.

Currently, the chopped pepper track is relatively fragmented. There is neither a national leader nor a national brand, the standardization level is low, and there is huge room for the integration of leading brands.

Previously, state - owned assets had already laid out the Hunan - cuisine chopped pepper track. At the end of 2021, Zhuhai state - owned assets took control of Lameizi and brought the industrial chain of orange slices and chopped pepper sauce under its wing.

In 2025, the market scale of the entire Hunan - cuisine industry chain will exceed 600 billion yuan, the scale of the chopped pepper track will be 12.86 billion yuan, and the overall scale of Hunan - style compound seasonings will be 29.2 billion yuan, with a year - on - year increase of 13% - 15%, outperforming the average annual growth rate of 4% - 6% of basic condiments in the long run. It is one of the few sub - tracks with continuous double - digit growth.

The Growth of the Main Business Has Reached Its Peak

By acquiring Tantanxiang, Tianwei Food has achieved a dual - array of Sichuan - style and Hunan - style compound seasonings, which is essentially a strategic choice due to the growth of its main business reaching its peak.

In 2025, the revenues of the company's hot pot base sauce, recipe - style seasonings, and sausage and bacon seasonings were 1.229 billion yuan, 1.767 billion yuan, and 288 million yuan respectively, with year - on - year decreases of 2.85%, 0.23%, and 12.46% respectively. The company's overall annual operating income decreased slightly by 0.79% year - on - year, and the net profit attributable to the parent company decreased by 8.79% year - on - year, highlighting the growth pressure.

Compared with building a Hunan - style compound seasoning production line from scratch and creating a brand from the ground up, merging with a mature leading enterprise can greatly improve efficiency. Judging from past data, independently building a complete Hunan - style compound seasoning industry chain, covering aspects such as raw material planting, production, brand, channels, and marketing, takes about 3.5 years in total.

Acquiring the control of Tantanxiang can bring double benefits. In the short term, the high - profit chopped pepper business will be consolidated into the financial statements, directly increasing the profits of the listed company. In the long run, Tianwei Food's full - category strategy will be implemented, getting rid of its dependence on a single Sichuan - style flavor.

Secondly, it lies in the complementary channel structure. Tantanxiang's advantages are concentrated in the C - end supermarket and online channels. After the acquisition, it can make up for the short - board of Tianwei Food's retail channels. At the same time, Tantanxiang can use Tianwei Food's channels to enter the B - end market.

Ending the Solo Journey

In the chopped pepper track, Zhuhai state - owned assets and Tianwei Food have taken action one after another, but in different ways.

Zhuhai state - owned assets' acquisition of the control of Lameizi is aimed at the entire pepper industry chain, the supply of food ingredients in the Greater Bay Area, and the layout of the pre - made dish supply chain, making it an agricultural platform under the Zhuhai state - owned assets.

Tianwei Food's acquisition of 60% of the equity of Tantanxiang is entirely driven by performance. The transaction has bound a cumulative performance commitment of 150 million yuan from 2026 to 2028 and locked in the tenure of Peng Fengxiang, the founder of Tantanxiang, to ensure stable operation.

Peng Fengxiang had previously planned for Tantanxiang to go public independently. In 2022, when the company's sales scale exceeded 300 million yuan, he proposed to work hard for five years to reach an annual sales scale of 800 million to 1 billion yuan and a post - tax net profit of over 150 million yuan, meeting the core requirements for listing on the A - share main board. In 2023, Tantanxiang was included in the Hunan listing reserve resource pool.

However, in 2025, Peng Fengxiang, who was 61 years old, changed his tune, lowering the company's development goals. He aimed for a short - term sales scale of 600 million yuan and a long - term sales scale of 1 billion yuan, and at the same time planned to gradually transform into an investor himself.

His core perception also changed - he publicly stated that listing was not the ultimate goal, and further standardizing operations and efficient management were the ultimate goals.

Unexpectedly, just one year later, he handed over the control of the company he founded to others.

This article is from the WeChat official account “Banma Consumption” (ID: banmaxiaofei), author: Chen Xiaojing, published by 36Kr with authorization.