The probiotic pickled vegetable product invested in by Jack Ma is adopted by both Haidilao and Kuafu Fried Skewers.

Recently, in Shanggao, Jiangxi, three names - Yanzhongtian, Kuafu Fried Skewers, and Taobao Flash Sale - appeared simultaneously at a press conference with the theme of the first launch of the "Fresh and Crispy Pickled Cabbage Series Rice Bowls". This is also the first time that Yanzhongtian has revealed its Jiangxi factory to the outside world since its establishment nearly three years ago.

The core flavor of pickled cabbage rice bowls lies entirely in that mouthful of pickled cabbage. Kuafu Fried Skewers daringly entrusts the soul of the rice bowl to a pickled vegetable brand that was established in 2023 and has hardly carried out mass communication before. This choice is worth inquiring into.

What's even more talked about is that there stands a remarkable figure behind this brand - Jack Ma. It is reported that Yanzhongtian is a brand under the "180cm Agricultural Technology Group", a technology - agriculture group invested by Jack Ma, and it mainly deals in probiotic - fermented vegetables.

Why would a tycoon in the e - commerce industry invest in a pickled vegetable brand?

A Contrast, A Business

The story of Yanzhongtian dates back to a few years ago.

On Teachers' Day in 2019, when Alibaba was celebrating its 20th anniversary, Jack Ma stepped down as the chairman of the Alibaba Board of Directors and handed over the baton to then - CEO Daniel Zhang. However, this doesn't mean that Jack Ma completely retired. In the following years, his focus shifted more towards agriculture and education.

Since October 2021, Jack Ma has embarked on a global agricultural inspection tour. His footsteps have covered countries such as the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, and Nepal. Meanwhile, he has also had in - depth exchanges with some overseas research institutions and agricultural companies. The idea of making pickled vegetables originated from one of his trips to Japan.

Yu Ting, the CEO of 180cm Food Technology, once revealed that when Jack Ma was traveling in Japan, he found that the Japanese are very particular about pickled vegetables. They eat pickled vegetables with a shelf - life of less than 15 days and even prefer fresh pickled vegetables.

This forms a sharp contrast with the domestic pickled vegetable market. Pickled vegetables are a common dish on the Chinese dining table, suitable for porridge or rice. However, their reputation has not been ideal - they are high in salt, contain nitrite, and have a shelf - life of one or two years, and have long been labeled as unhealthy.

The contrast is a business opportunity. In 2023, 180cm Food Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. was registered. Its business scope includes food sales, food production, agricultural scientific research and experimental development, vegetable cultivation, etc. Yanzhongtian is a brand under this company, specializing in healthy pickled vegetables.

According to the official website of Qichacha, Yu Ting, who used to be an athlete, is the beneficial owner of 180cm Food Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd., holding 7.71% of the shares. In addition, many enterprises hold shares in the company. Among them, Hangzhou Dajingtou No. 22 Culture and Art Co., Ltd. is the second - largest shareholder, with a shareholding ratio of 9.14%. One of the shareholders of this company is Zhang Jing, and the other is Jack Ma, who holds 99.9% of the equity in this company.

Shareholder information of 180cm Food Technology; Image source: Qichacha official website

Shareholder information of Dajingtou; Image source: Qichacha official website

Making Pickled Vegetables with the Logic of Making Yogurt

What Yanzhongtian wants to do is neither complex nor easy. In order to remove the old label of "high - salt and unhealthy" from pickled vegetables, Yanzhongtian has adopted a new approach - using probiotic fermentation technology and making pickled vegetables with the logic of making yogurt.

In terms of technology, the enterprise has introduced the research result of the team led by Xie Mingyong, the director of the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology at Nanchang University, the "Direct - inoculation Probiotic Fermentation Technology", which has won the second - class award of the National Science and Technology Progress. It is said that this technology can replace high - salt pickling.

Yanzhongtian has revealed that by replacing traditional high - salt pickling with direct - inoculation fermentation technology, the fermentation cycle can be shortened to 48 hours, with no nitrite generated and no high - salt wastewater discharged, and the salt content can be controlled below 2%. Pickled vegetables produced with this fermentation technology have a rich taste, and there is no need to worry about the health risks caused by high salt in traditional pickled vegetables.

Yu Ting also explained in an interview with the outside world that Yanzhongtian has very strict control over fermentation. In the early stage of fermentation, probiotic strains with strong enough vitality are used to effectively inhibit the growth of miscellaneous bacteria, so there is no need to add a lot of salt for preservation as before. The reason for using so much salt in the past was that the means of controlling strains were limited at that time.

After the technology is established, the next step is to transform the technology into industrial production capacity.

Public information shows that Yanzhongtian's first self - owned factory in Kunming is equipped with probiotic fermentation vehicles and fully automatic filling equipment, which can realize processes such as automatic vegetable cleaning and cutting, fully automatic mixing, constant - temperature fermentation, and automatic filling. After the factory is put into production, the monthly production capacity is 600,000 boxes of Yanzhongtian's boxed live - bacteria products and 1 million bags of bagged products.

Efforts have also been made at the raw material end. Considering that fresher vegetables have fewer miscellaneous bacteria, in order to better guarantee the health value of products during the fermentation process, Yanzhongtian has planting demonstration stations in many places such as Yunnan, Gansu, Hebei, and Zhejiang to provide fresh vegetable raw materials for the factory.

In 2024, Yanzhongtian launched its first "Direct - inoculation Probiotic Fermented Vegetables" product, claiming that each serving contains more than 10 billion active probiotics when leaving the factory.

Up to now, the company's probiotic products cover purple cabbage, kohlrabi, cabbage, and yellow - heart cabbage, and the product matrix is constantly expanding.

Quietly Capturing the B - end, Appearing on the Menus of Haidilao and Waipojia

After the products are mature, Yanzhongtian has accelerated its actions with a clear goal: Target the B - end first.

Why?

Pickled vegetables are naturally supporting roles. It is too difficult for consumers to directly pay for a pack of "healthy pickled vegetables" that costs dozens of yuan. However, restaurant kitchens are different - they have a large demand and a stronger need for product stability and differentiation.

Therefore, co - branding, customization, and co - creation of new products have been carried out intensively.

Last year, Yanzhongtian and Liubiju jointly launched the "Probiotic Small - leaf Pickled Cabbage", which combines Liubiju's six - hundred - year - old traditional pickled vegetable craftsmanship with Yanzhongtian's probiotic fermentation technology. This year, it cooperated with Manwei Light Food. The latter upgraded most of the dishes with raw purple cabbage in its stores to Yanzhongtian's probiotic - fermented purple cabbage...

In January this year, Huaxiaoxiao and Yanzhongtian jointly developed and officially launched the "Huaxiaoxiao Probiotic Crispy and Refreshing Pickled Cabbage Xinjiang Fried Rice Noodles Series".

In February, Haidilao added Yanzhongtian's probiotic purple cabbage to its condiment bar. And the core ingredient of the Sichuan - style pickled fish hot pot launched earlier is also Yanzhongtian's "Fresh and Crispy Pickled Cabbage King".

Image source: Screenshot from Xiaohongshu APP

In March, 280 stores of the wooden - barrel rice brand Yong Dachu simultaneously launched the "Yanzhongtian Probiotic Pickled Cabbage" series of dishes on the Taobao Flash Sale platform. The chain mixed - rice noodles brand Banfen Jun launched the "Yanzhongtian Probiotic Pickled Cabbage and Minced Meat Mixed Rice Noodles".

In May, the new products of Kuafu Fried Skewers' Fresh and Crispy Pickled Cabbage Series Rice Bowls were launched. Manhan Dacang, a high - end instant food brand under Uni - President, launched its signature pickled cabbage beef noodles, and the probiotic - fermented pickled cabbage used all comes from Yanzhongtian.

There are also many familiar names on its customer list: Miyuechao Korean Rice Bowls, Waipojia... According to Jiemian News, Yu Ting revealed that the B - end business accounts for nearly 80% of Yanzhongtian's overall revenue.

A pickled vegetable brand has quietly penetrated into restaurant kitchens.

Healthy "Pickled Vegetables", Not Only Yanzhongtian is Betting on It

In a broad sense, pickled vegetables, pickled mustard tuber, and pickled vegetables all belong to "pickled foods". Although there are certain differences in their production methods, raw materials, and flavors, in the public's perception, these three are relatively similar foods. The core reason why consumers are willing to pay for them lies in the "rice - accompanying" attribute given by saltiness and sourness. Therefore, there is a certain substitution effect among these categories.

Moreover, the pain points of pickled vegetables such as pickled mustard tuber mainly focus on the health risks brought by the production process.

For this reason, in the past few years, many enterprises have been making relevant attempts around the health - oriented development of pickled foods.

As early as 2021, Liubiju launched pickled vegetables with 25% less salt, including multiple products such as Spicy Cucumber, Crispy Fresh Melon, and Sesame Shreds. Last year, Liubiju and Yanzhongtian co - created the "Probiotic Small - leaf Pickled Cabbage" and carried out multiple product sales and displays through top live - streamers.

Image source: Screenshot from Taobao APP

Fanshaoguang, which mainly deals in Sichuan - style convenient side dishes, announced in November 2025 that it would upgrade the formulas of its ace products such as Stir - fried Mushrooms, Stir - fried Bamboo Shoots, and Stir - fried Enoki Mushrooms, achieving a salt reduction of more than 48%. The enterprise also proposed to move from "simple salt and burden reduction" to "comprehensive healthy diet and nourishment", deeply integrate microbial fermentation technology with the concept of homologous medicine and food, and start a new era of healthy diet and nourishment for side dishes 4.0.

Fuling Zhacai, the "first stock of pickled mustard tuber", is also promoting the salt - reduction and health - upgrade of pickled mustard tuber. It has launched the "Wujiang Light - salt Pickled Mustard Tuber Series" products, which retain the traditional flavor of pickled mustard tuber while enhancing the health attributes of the products.

According to the news from "Fuling Release", the relevant person in charge of Fuling Zhacai Group said that Fuling Zhacai also plans to develop healthy new products such as cold - chain, short - shelf - life, and probiotic pickled mustard tuber. In the future, it will integrate the characteristic agricultural product resources of Fuling through the concept of "a healthy meal", develop pickled mustard tuber shredded pork, polygonatum pickled mustard tuber sauce, and compound seasonings, and expand the catering and household consumption scenarios.

Jixiangju's "Healthy Pickled Vegetables" series uses lactic acid bacteria natural fermentation technology, with no nitrite detected. It emphasizes low - salt and high - fiber, and is suitable for household side dishes and light - food matching.

Enterprises are aiming at product health - orientation, mainly to cater to the changing consumer demand. Nowadays, consumers' choice logic has changed. Light burden is no longer a personal preference but an important factor driving decision - making. Deploying healthy products is not only about expanding sales channels but also about striving for pricing power - giving products a higher sense of value in addition to meeting basic functions.

Since everyone understands the principle, there will naturally be many people wanting to grab a share of the cake. For Yanzhongtian, the number of competitors will gradually increase.

Is This Road Easy to Walk?

However, it may not be easy to make healthy pickled vegetables well.

Firstly, it is the product pricing. More advanced production processes often mean higher investment, and these costs are hard not to be reflected in the final selling price.

For example, a pack of Yanzhongtian's probiotic purple cabbage with 6 boxes of 70 - gram packages is sold for nearly 50 yuan, which is equivalent to nearly 60 yuan per catty. Another product, the Fresh and Crispy Pickled Cabbage King, made from small - leaf mustard, is a bit cheaper but still much more expensive than traditional products. A 300 - gram package is sold for more than 10 yuan. On Taobao, with the same amount of money, one can buy 1 - 2 catties of traditional small - leaf mustard pickled cabbage.

The cost pressure comes not only from raw materials and processes but also from the hidden cost of logistics.

Yu Ting revealed in an interview with "20 She" that in order to ensure that the active probiotics are in the best state when they reach consumers, Yanzhongtian uses the fastest express delivery method. He also said that ordinary logistics cannot guarantee a constant low - temperature environment, which may lead to the inactivation of probiotics or product deterioration. Logistics is not only one of Yanzhongtian's biggest costs but also crucial for maintaining the high quality of products.

At the 15th China Pickled Vegetable Food International Expo, Jixiangju exhibited its new pickled vegetable products with a health - oriented concept - the cold - chain Sichuan pickled vegetable series. At the expo, Jixiangju also said that this series of products uses processes such as fresh vegetable pickling and lactic acid bacteria natural fermentation and is transported through cold - chain logistics.

Overall, the cost of making such healthy pickled vegetables is not low. However, consumers do not have a strong sense of value for such products. It is quite challenging to get consumers to spend more than ten yuan on a pack of pickled vegetables. As for the B - end, although restaurants have a large demand, their bargaining power is stronger, and the profit margin left for producers may not be very optimistic.

Besides the price, there is also a problem of perception. In recent years, enterprises have been busy promoting the health concept, throwing out concepts such as homologous medicine and food and dietary therapy one after another. However, few can really make consumers have a clear perception of health.

Of course, some enterprises have begun to try the transparency strategy - opening