Do the three leading braised snack giants each have their own respective troubles?

Recently, the topic "One jin of duck neck can be exchanged for one jin of beef and one jin of pork ribs" on social platforms has become a trending search, triggering a large number of netizens to complain about the price of marinated snacks. The latest financial reports disclosed by the three leading marinated snack giants seem to provide another vivid observation perspective — these enterprises are still trying to find a balance between product prices and corporate performance.

01

Is "high price" the original sin of poor sales?

Complaints about the high price of marinated snacks on online platforms have a long history. On Xiaohongshu, a platform where young women gather, posts complaining about "marinated duck neck price traps", directly calling out a certain marinated snack brand "Are you out of your mind?", and stating "It's not that consumers have no money, they just don't want to be taken for a ride" often get thousands or even tens of thousands of likes.

The latest media reports and related trending topics undoubtedly provide another outlet for the majority of netizens to vent their emotions. On Weibo, which is famous for its timeliness and a large number of influencers, many influencers and netizens have posted sharp comments or straightforward messages one after another.

According to a field test conducted by China News Finance on food delivery platforms on August 21, the discounted price of a large box of Zhou Hei Ya duck neck (300g) is 34.5 yuan, which is about 57.5 yuan per jin. Compared with the data in September 2023, the same specification of fresh-locked duck neck was sold for 42 yuan (about 70 yuan per jin) at that time — although the price has dropped slightly in three years, one jin still costs nearly 60 yuan.

The discounted price of a large portion of signature duck neck of Juewei Food is 22.8 yuan (280g), about 40.7 yuan per jin; the discounted price of a large portion of black duck duck middle wings is 26.9 yuan (300g), about 44.8 yuan per jin; the discounted price of a large portion of Huangshanghuang spiced marinated duck neck is 30.9 yuan (320g), about 48.3 yuan per jin.

According to the "2025 Survey on Consumer Behavior and Preference of Marinated Snacks" released by Redcatering Industry Research Institute, consumers who accept a single marinated snack consumption of 20 to 30 yuan account for the highest proportion, reaching 42.7% (the largest proportion of the statistical sample). Consumers who accept a single per capita consumption of 60 yuan or more account for 7.9%. When the price of marinated snack products rises by more than 10%, 47.2% of consumers will reduce their purchases (the largest proportion of the statistical sample).

After sorting out, the price has indeed become an important reference affecting the purchase decision of consumer groups. According to the current price of marinated snack giants, it does discourage many consumers to a certain extent. Of course, besides the price, this survey from Redcatering Industry Research Institute also clearly shows another important discouraging factor — "heavy taste, which does not meet health needs".

High prices and non-compliance with the healthy consumption trend are all reasons for the poor sales of marinated snacks, but this cannot explain why in the past years, under the same price (or even higher) and the same taste/formula, the three marinated snack giants all expanded wildly and their performance once soared; the only reasonable explanation is that new "predators" keep breaking into the marinated snack track.

Public data shows that by the end of 2025, there have been more than 55,000 bulk snack stores across the country, and Mingming Mangmang and Wanchen Group alone have nearly 40,000 stores. These stores are full of all kinds of marinated snacks such as duck neck, duck wings, chicken feet, and phoenix claws, and the prices are very attractive.

For consumer groups sensitive to prices, the above-mentioned popular stores spread all over the streets and alleys of the country have diverted the passenger flow of the three marinated snack giants to a certain extent. In addition, Wangxiaolu's tiger-skin phoenix claws are supplied through multiple online and offline platforms & channels, as well as Shengxiangting's hot marinated snacks and short-baked products in a large number of fresh snack stores, all of which have become broad competitors of the three marinated snack giants.

Under the pincer attack of "internal troubles and external aggression", the performance of Juewei, Zhou Hei Ya and Huangshanghuang has shown their respective characteristics of pressure.

02

The three marinated snack giants have all handed in their interim reports

On August 21, the three marinated snack giants collectively disclosed their 2026 interim reports. Zhou Hei Ya's revenue during the period was 1.461 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.5%; Juewei Food's revenue was 2.515 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.82%; Huangshanghuang's revenue was 1.226 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.53%. At first glance, except for Juewei, the other two giants are in a very good situation?

Not really! Zhou Hei Ya's attributable net profit to shareholders of the parent company was 91.496 million yuan, a year-on-year decline of 15.2%, and the net profit margin dropped from 8.8% in the same period of the previous year to 6.3%; Huangshanghuang's fresh product revenue plummeted 14.65% year-on-year to 510 million yuan; Juewei Food's attributable net profit to shareholders of the parent company fell 23.16% year-on-year to 135 million yuan, and the non-recurring profit and loss deducted net profit plummeted by 40.08%.

The three giants "each have their own hard-to-read scriptures". Of course, Juewei, the leader with the largest revenue scale, is indeed in a more severe situation. Facing the situation of "both volume and price falling", Juewei Food also responded to the decline in performance:

"Affected by factors such as intensified industry competition and the release of short-term investment in store renovation and adjustment, the company is still in a strategic adjustment cycle, and its operating performance in the first half of the year is under pressure. The decline in operating revenue is mainly caused by the decrease in sales volume during the reporting period."

Affected by the combined impact of the upward shift in raw material cost center and the increase in channel proportion, Zhou Hei Ya's gross profit margin in the first half of 2026 was 54.7%, 3.9 percentage points lower than the 58.6% in the same period of the previous year. At the same time, affected by factors such as channel expansion, its sales and distribution expenses increased by 24.9% year-on-year during the reporting period.

Huangshanghuang said that in response to the market price fluctuation trend of main raw materials, the company continues to implement the strategic reserve management of main raw materials, pays close attention to the price changes in the raw material market, and increases procurement efforts when the market price is low to gradually reduce the weighted average cost of some main raw materials.

Although Huangshanghuang is the only enterprise among the three giants that has achieved double growth in revenue and profit, from the perspective of splitting the business structure, in addition to the 14.65% decline in fresh product revenue mentioned above that requires the company's attention, the growth of the company's performance is mainly supported by the acquired targets.

Public information shows that in the second half of 2025, the company acquired Fujian Lixing to enter the freeze-dried food track, which contributed significant revenue increment after being consolidated in the first half of 2026. It only relies on extensional expansion to temporarily cover the decline of its main business. The continuous shrinkage of the traditional marinated snack main business cannot be ignored.

In addition, the number of Juewei's stores has dropped from the peak of 15,950 at the end of 2023 to 10,272 in April 2026, closing more than 5,200 stores in two years; Huangshanghuang's stores have decreased from the high of 4,497 in 2023 to 2,898 in the first half of 2025; Zhou Hei Ya closed 785 stores in 2024.

The change in the number of stores of the three giants can also intuitively show the industry pressure they are facing. The strategic contraction of offline channels may be a last resort, which also forces the three giants to keep seeking changes to achieve breakthroughs.

For example, Huangshanghuang has entered new tracks such as freeze-dried food through mergers and acquisitions, taking a diversified development route. According to the interim report data, freeze-dried products now account for 23.23% of the company's total revenue;

Juewei Food takes store renovation and adjustment as its core business strategy, promotes the upgrading of the "all-time, multi-scenario" one-stop integrated store model, trying to transform from a single marinated snack store to a mixed format. It says the company will steadily promote the renovation and adjustment work in combination with the pilot results and actual operation situation;

Zhou Hei Ya vigorously develops channel business. In the first half of the year, the proportion of online channel revenue increased from 13.9% to 16%, and the offline channel proportion increased from 4.7% to 12.2%. It penetrates into sinking scenarios such as bulk snack stores and membership supermarkets through the dealer network, trying to break through the scenario restrictions of directly-operated stores;

……

Will the second-half report cards of the three marinated snack giants meet market expectations?

Let's wait and see!

References:

Cover image source: Baidu AIGC

The Dusk of the 10,000-store Empire: The Three Duck Product Giants Have Collectively Become "Tears of the Times" - Star Horizon

Are Duck Products Not Selling Well? The "Three Duck Product Giants" Disclosed Their Interim Reports - China News Finance

Why Are Duck Products Not Selling Well? Zhou Hei Ya, Juewei and Huangshanghuang's Interim Reports Are Collectively Cold, 57 Yuan per Jin of Duck Neck Drives Young People Away - Sina.com

Duck Products Can't Be Sold! The Performance of the Three Giants Zhou Hei Ya, Juewei Food and Huangshanghuang Is Differentiated - Jiemian News

"2025 Marinated Snack Category Development Report" Released: Market Size Growth Slows Down, Generation Z Becomes the Main Consumer Group - Redcatering Industry Research Institute

This article is from "Learn a Little Economics Every Day", authorized by 36Kr for release.