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The Bulk Food Business Is Being Reshuffled
Over the past few months, I visited 20 to 30 bulk food distributors and also spoke with operators in supermarkets, community fresh food stores, snack discount formats, and other businesses. Two outcomes are emerging in the frontline market. Some are exiting loss-making contracted sections and shrinking low-productivity stores; others continue to fill out categories and contract dedicated areas, pushing operations down to individual stores, individual cabinets, and individual bins. Snack discount stores continue to divert traffic, and fresh snack brands are accelerating their entry into regional supermarkets. Traditional bulk foods are under simultaneous pressure on space, price, and profit. But the closer I get to the frontline, the more I feel: bulk foods still have opportunities, provided we rethink two things. 💡First, growth must return to everyday household shopping. Consumers' motivation to make a special trip to supermarkets to buy bulk foods is weakening, but fresh food and household traffic remain stable. When customers come to buy vegetables, meat, eggs, and milk, in the same shopping trip they also need breakfast items, family snacks, and festive entertaining foods. The bulk food section should follow the household shopping flow and organize these needs into an assortment that is easy to choose from and easy to pair. Location, assortment, price bands, and in-store experience should all be designed around “how to make customers casually pick up one more bag.” 💡Second, cooperation must move toward category management. In the past, retailers cared about space fees, while distributors cared about location and products. Today, duplicate SKUs, inventory, shrinkage, and fixed costs keep squeezing profits, so both sides need to jointly judge products, allocate actions, and review results. Brand owners provide products and key-node resources, distributors take on assortment building, operations, and terminal services, and retailers provide traffic, scenarios, and store coordination. Only when all three parties sit at the same operating table can the shelf be run as a business. How can household demand be translated into an assortment? How should one choose between cabinet contracting, section contracting, and joint operation? How can hundreds of SKUs improve bin efficiency? How should the Chinese New Year goods business be planned in advance? As bulk foods enter a stage of repositioning, redivision of labor, and recalculation, the industry needs a more focused and in-depth exchange. 🔥 “New Order · New Business” First National Bulk Food Business Conference 📅 October 18–19, 2026 📍 Dongguan, China The conference plans to bring together 300+ bulk food distributors, 100+ retailers, and heads of leading brands. 🔍 Morning of October 18 Field study at “Dongguan Kunji, benchmark for bulk food section contracting”; a special training by Zhang Xuechao will be held concurrently. 🔍 Afternoon of October 18–19 Two industry sessions will discuss the role of distributors, assortment structure, category share, single-bin efficiency, as well as category adjustments and retailer-supplier cooperation after fresh snacks enter supermarkets. Hsu Fu Chi will also systematically break down for the first time the “100% Doubling Model for the Big Chinese New Year Goods Business,” explaining category exclusive sales, scenario creation, product combinations, terminal display, and promotion execution. 🌟See real stores, hear frontline playbooks, and re-sort your own bulk food business. ⬇️Click the product card to learn more about the conference and pre-register.
New Distribution100 Retailers, 300 Distributors to Gather in Dongguan in October!
Supermarket bulk food sections continue to shrink, snack discount stores are accelerating customer diversion, and fresh snack brands are beginning to enter regional supermarkets... The bulk food business is undergoing a round of readjustment. Some are exiting loss-making full-section contracts, while others are reducing low-performing stores; meanwhile, a group of bulk food distributors who have deeply cultivated regional markets for years continue to fill in categories, adjust cooperation models, and extend their operations down to individual stores, individual counters, and individual bins. Next, can bulk food still grow? How should one choose between counter contracting, full-section contracting, and joint operations? How should retailers, distributors, and brand owners redefine their division of labor? Around these frontline questions, an industry conference dedicated to discussing the bulk food business will soon be held in Dongguan. 📅 October 18–19, 2026 📍 Dongguan, China 🔥 'New Order · New Business' The First National Bulk Food Business Conference 🌟 Highlight 1: Industry first: The first industry conference focused on bulk food business models Starting from changes in retail formats, channel relationships, and profit models, it will re-discuss how bulk food should be positioned, how it should be operated, and how it can achieve sustainable growth. 🌟 Highlight 2: Retailers and suppliers gather: 100 retailers and 300 distributors participate together Supermarkets, community fresh food stores, and other retail formats will sit at the same business table with bulk food distributors and leading brand owners. Centered on store needs, category management, and cooperation models, they will exchange bulk food operation solutions for different regions and different store formats. 🌟 Highlight 3: Doubling business: First breakdown of Hsu Fu Chi's 100% doubling model for Lunar New Year goods From category-exclusive sales, Lunar New Year scenarios, product assortment to in-store display and promotion execution, it will explain clearly how to turn Lunar New Year from a single sales node into an important growth opportunity for the whole year. On the morning of October 18, the conference will also arrange a study tour to Dongguan Kunji, benchmark for bulk food full-section contracting, and simultaneously hold a specialized training session for bakery food distributors. 📋 The poster displays the first batch of confirmed participating bulk food distributors, with more participating companies continuously being updated. On October 18–19, bring your store issues, assortment issues, and profit issues to Dongguan, and together let's re-examine the bulk food business. ⬇️ Click the product card to learn more about the conference and pre-register.
New DistributionHaitian Flavouring Acquires Century-Old Hong Kong Brand Amoy Food
On September 10, according to Securities Times, China's leading condiment company Haitian Flavouring (603288.SH) announced the completion of its strategic acquisition of the century-old Hong Kong brand Amoy Food Limited. Through its overseas investment platform Haitian International Investment Limited, it took 100% equity in Amoy Food, with the transaction consideration not yet disclosed. Prior to the deal, Amoy Food was indirectly wholly owned by a company under CITIC Capital. On September 11, Haitian Flavouring opened at RMB 33.80 per share, edging down from the previous trading day's close. The Amoy Food brand originated in Xiamen in 1908 and established a Hong Kong plant in 1929. It is a food brand that has cultivated overseas markets for more than 70 years, with a business covering condiments and frozen dim sum and hundreds of SKUs. Its sales network reaches more than 40 countries and regions, it has production bases in Southeast Asia, a solid foundation in European and American supermarket and foodservice channels, and a mature localized operating team. According to Haitian's 2026 half-year report, the company posted first-half revenue of RMB 16.146 billion, up 6.01% year on year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 4.19 billion, up 7.13% year on year. With competition in the domestic condiment market becoming increasingly saturated, going global has become the core direction for leading players seeking a second growth curve. This acquisition marks a landmark step in Haitian's globalization strategy, using Amoy Food's mature overseas distribution network to fill its shortfall in end-market penetration in Europe and the US and to drive the company from pure product exports toward localized operations. Market analysts note that the acquisition will have limited short-term impact on Haitian's performance, and that its long-term value depends on the effectiveness of subsequent brand synergies and the integration of cross-regional teams and supply chains. #HaitianFlavouring #AmoyFood
New DistributionBiyoute Teams Up with Lingshi Youming and Pu Mama for Multi-format Retail Expansion
On September 7, Biyoute, known as the "King of Supermarkets in Northeast China," announced a strategic partnership with hard-discount snack brand Lingshi Youming and fresh-snack brand Pu Mama. Lingshi Youming is a leading brand in China's hard-discount snack segment, with more than 8,000 stores nationwide, serving 1.3 billion customer visits a year and achieving 30 billion yuan in annual sales. Pu Mama focuses on fresh snacks and has distinctive capabilities such as freshly made bakery items. Under the cooperation plan, Biyoute and Lingshi Youming will jointly open 6,000 "Youming Convenience" stores over the next four years to accelerate expansion in the hard-discount segment, while joining Pu Mama to roll out fresh-snack business formats. Currently, competition in China's value snack retail industry continues to intensify, and regional supermarkets generally face operational pressure from declining foot traffic and aging product categories. This cooperation is a significant attempt by a regional retail leader to enter the snack segment. Biyoute leverages its mature offline network and supply chain in Northeast China, combined with Lingshi Youming's hard-discount product system and Pu Mama's fresh-snack product strengths, to create complementary retail formats. The three parties will deeply cooperate in product procurement, store operations, and regional channel development. With the new "Youming Convenience" brand, they will tap consumer demand in lower-tier markets and explore viable paths for traditional supermarkets to transform into snack discount formats. #HardDiscount #FreshSnacks #Biyoute #LingshiYouming #PuMama
New DistributionPromotions Boost Sales, but Why Should Brands Be More Cautious?
After a promotion ends, with sales growth, sales targets met, and decent ROI, many teams conclude that "the campaign was effective and should be continued." However, an increase in sales does not necessarily mean the brand has truly achieved growth. Promotional sales may include natural sales that would have occurred anyway; consumers may simply be pulling future demand forward; growth in one product may come at the expense of other products in the brand's portfolio; and increased shipments to distributors and stores may not reflect actual sell-through. Therefore, the first step in a promotion review is to break down the components: promotional sales = natural sales + true incremental sales + purchase acceleration + product substitution + channel stocking. What brands should truly focus on is how much of that represents sustainable, profitable true incremental growth. This requires teams to establish a baseline of normal sales, distinguish between orders, shipments, inventory, and point-of-sale sell-through, and observe the continuous changes before, during, and after the promotion—avoiding misinterpreting demand pull-forward and inventory shifts as growth. A comprehensive promotion review should also examine four layers of metrics: the results layer looks at sales volume, sell-through, gross margin, expenses, and inventory; the process layer looks at store participation, distribution, display, conversion, and out-of-stocks; the diagnostic layer assesses customer segments, product mix, promotional mechanics, discount depth, and channel take-up; and the long-term layer observes new customer acquisition, repeat purchases, sales at regular prices, and whether future demand is being borrowed. At the same time, don't just look at the overall average. Only by breaking it down to "product × region × channel × store type × time × promotional mechanic" can you identify where growth is occurring, what conditions it depends on, and whether it is replicable. The review should ultimately lead to four types of actions: keep effective programs, optimize specific issues, pause campaigns lacking incremental sales and profit, and re-validate and replicate those with clear success conditions. AI can help teams consolidate data on sales, sell-through, inventory, expenses, and in-store execution, establish sales baselines, identify performance variations across products, regions, and channels, and quickly generate a draft review report. The brand team remains responsible for business judgment and final decisions. 📅 September 17-18, 2026, Zhengzhou, China, the second session of "AI Bootcamp for FMCG Growth" will focus on real brand operating scenarios, helping teams build promotional review and AI-driven business workflows that can be continuously optimized. Interested parties can first obtain the "AI Implementation Handbook for FMCG Enterprise Decision-Makers," complete an AI application diagnosis for their enterprise, and then learn more about the course details.
New DistributionForecast Sales = Base Sales + Growth Increment - Risk Deduction
Many brands approach sales forecasting by first reviewing last year's sales and then adding this year's growth targets: the marketing department estimates incremental sales from campaigns, the sales department compiles customer orders, the channel department relays distributors' inventory needs, and the supply chain arranges production accordingly. All departments have their rationale, but the final number often does not reflect true market demand. This is because sales targets, distributor orders, brand shipments, and sell-through are essentially four different sets of numbers. Sales targets answer what the company wants to achieve; distributor orders reflect how much inventory customers plan to buy; brand shipments record what the company actually delivers; and sell-through is closer to what consumers actually purchase. Orders may include channel stuffing, stockpiling, and promotion pull-forward, and shipment growth may simply be inventory moving to the channel. Mixing these numbers together distorts the forecast from the start. To do sales forecasting properly, brands should first establish an interpretable baseline model: Forecast sales = base sales + growth increment - risk deduction. Base sales are derived from historical sell-through, seasonal patterns, regional and channel differences, repeat purchase performance, and product life cycle. Growth increments come from new outlets, new product launches, festive peak seasons, marketing investment, promotions, and price adjustments. Risk deductions need to account for stockouts, channel inventory, price fluctuations, competitor actions, and terminal execution. Meanwhile, mature products and new products cannot use the same approach. Mature products have historical patterns to follow; the key is cleaning abnormal data and identifying a stable baseline. New products lack historical references, so they require combining similar products, test launch feedback, terminal coverage, early sell-through, and consumer feedback to continuously adjust the sales range. A truly effective forecast should not be a single number; it should simultaneously form three scenarios: baseline, optimistic, and cautious. Each outcome corresponds to clear business assumptions. When conditions change, the forecast should be adjusted accordingly. In reality, however, sales, order, inventory, and channel data are scattered across different departments. Manual consolidation is time-consuming, and forecasts often become outdated as soon as they are completed. AI can help brands quickly consolidate data, clean anomalies, establish sales baselines, identify regional, product, and channel differences, summarize growth drivers and risk variables, generate multi-scenario forecast drafts, and continuously compare actual results against forecast deviations. The brand team remains responsible for judging whether orders are genuine, whether growth can be realized, whether inventory is healthy, and ultimately how to allocate production and channel resources. On September 17-18, 2026, in Zhengzhou, China, the "FMCG Growth AI Bootcamp" will focus on real brand operating scenarios, helping teams apply AI to data consolidation, sales forecasting, inventory judgment, and business review. The goal is to make sales forecasting no longer a one-time form-filling exercise, but a business mechanism that is explainable, collaborative, calibratable, and continuously updated.
New DistributionDoes Higher Distributor Sales Mean Brands Should Invest More?
Many brands still judge distributors primarily by sales volume. High performers often receive more support in new products, expenses, and personnel; low performers see investment reduced. But sales volume only indicates current sell-through; it cannot fully reflect true operational capability, nor can it answer whether brand resources will translate into sustainable growth. Some distributors achieve high sales due to regional market foundations, historical inventory, or low-priced shipments; others are currently small but possess considerable market space, strong cooperation willingness, and cultivation value. Therefore, brands should not classify distributors by sales alone, but assess five dimensions comprehensively: current contribution, market potential, operational capability, cooperation willingness, and operational risk. Current contribution measures what distributors create for the brand now; market potential measures remaining growth space in the region; operational capability measures whether brand strategy can be effectively executed; cooperation willingness measures whether both sides can invest together; operational risk defines the boundary of brand investment. On this basis, brands can divide distributors into four types. Strategic co-creation partners should jointly plan regional markets with priority access to new products, budgets, and team resources; growth-cultivation partners need capability gap analysis, stage goals, pilot resources, and hands-on coaching to drive growth; stable-maintenance partners should maintain supply and channel order to improve operating efficiency; optimization-adjustment partners require clear rectification cycles and control over expenses, credit, and market risk. After tiering, product, budget, personnel, channel, and data resources should be allocated based on the distributor's regional market opportunity and current performance gap. Market opportunity determines whether investment is worthwhile, performance gap determines needed resources, stage results determine whether to continue investment, and operational risk sets the investment boundary. It should be emphasized that distributor classification is not a one-time exercise. Market space, team capabilities, cooperation willingness, and operational risk all evolve; brands must continuously update distributor profiles and upgrade, downgrade, or reclassify accordingly. 📅September 17–18, 2026, Zhengzhou, China: the second phase of the 'FMCG Growth AI Practical Camp' will focus on real brand operational scenarios to help teams build sustainable distributor tiering and AI workflows. Interested participants can first obtain the 'FMCG Enterprise Decision-Maker AI Implementation Handbook', complete an enterprise AI application diagnosis, and then learn more about the course.
New DistributionWhy Do Big Brands Struggle with New Products?
Many big brands have mature R&D systems, ample marketing budgets, nationwide channel networks, and professional teams. Logically, they should find it easier to succeed with new products. In reality, however, many new products launch with great fanfare and fast distribution, only to gradually lose sell-through after a few months and end up as channel inventory. ⭕️ The problem may not lie with the product itself, but with the established operating system of the big brand. The organization, processes, and evaluation mechanisms of mature brands are typically designed for scale operations; new products, on the other hand, face an unproven market that requires continuous insight, validation, and adjustment. ⭕️ The more experience one has, the easier it is to fall into path dependence. Teams habitually look for opportunities within existing categories, users, and historical data, and the new product eventually becomes an extension of the old product's flavor, packaging, or specifications. ⭕️ Every decision may seem justified, but none start from real demand. Which consumers, in what scenarios, still have unmet real needs? ⭕️ Additionally, the strong channel capabilities of big brands can easily mask the real problems of new products. Distributors stocking products only means the transaction between the brand and the channel is complete. New products also need to enter the right stores, be seen and understood by consumers, and complete the purchase through the combined effect of content, display, staff recommendations, and promotions. The initial shipment does not mean success; retail sell-through is the real vote from consumers for the new product. Advertising and promotions can quickly generate first purchases, but repurchase is what tests product value. If repurchase is insufficient, continuing to increase exposure may only lead to more one-time purchases. Brands need to re-examine product experience, price-value perception, and consumption frequency to determine whether the product promise made before purchase is fulfilled after use. Selling well in one region does not mean it can be directly replicated nationwide. Local success may stem from market foundations, distributor capabilities, or focused resource investment. Brands need to break down the market, consumer segments, product, price, channel, and organizational conditions, first validate in similar markets, and then scale up in stages based on sell-through and repurchase results. 💡 Therefore, big brands failing with new products is often not due to a lack of creativity or resources, but rather to using a system designed for managing mature products to manage a new product that is still full of uncertainty. 💡 The true growth path for new products should be: insight forms a hypothesis, validation eliminates errors, sell-through generates purchases, repurchase confirms value, and replication achieves scale. AI can help teams organize market data, consumer feedback, sales inventory, and point-of-sale information, identify sell-through bottlenecks, analyze repurchase issues, and extract replication conditions from successful samples; brand teams are responsible for judging opportunities, adjusting products, and allocating resources. 👉 On September 17–18, 2026, in Zhengzhou, China, the second session of "FMCG Growth AI Bootcamp" will focus on real business scenarios, helping brand teams use AI to build a growth workflow for new product insight, validation, sell-through, repurchase, and replication.
New DistributionCan't Explain Growth? Brands Need a Marketing Data Map
Many brands' marketing appears busy at every step. Content teams chase trends, media buying teams purchase traffic, e-commerce teams drive conversions, and sales teams expand distribution channels. Each department has its own goals and actions, but these actions often lack connection. Content may generate high engagement, but channels haven't stocked up; media buying drives searches, yet consumers can't find the corresponding product in the store; the marketing department promotes new consumption scenarios, but the frontline still uses old display and sales scripts. The problem isn't that any single department isn't working hard; it's that the brand lacks a shared marketing battle map. A brand marketing data map isn't about cramming more metrics into a report. Instead, it connects eight key elements around the consumer's purchase journey: target audience — consumption scenario — core selling point — content expression — media touchpoint — product portfolio — channel engagement — user retention. This map shouldn't be drawn only during post-campaign reviews; it must be continuously updated as markets, audiences, content, and channels evolve. The real challenge is that consumer feedback is scattered across platforms, while content, media, product, inventory, and frontline information is held by different teams. Relying on manual aggregation is not only time-consuming but also tends to keep the data map stuck in the past, unable to support real-time marketing decisions. This is exactly where AI can help. AI can help teams organize consumer feedback, content assets, media performance, product information, and channel records, reconnect them according to the logic of "audience — scenario — content — media — product — channel," and quickly compare different regions, platforms, and campaigns to identify which combinations are working and where handoffs are missing. For example, when engagement with a certain type of content rises, you can track whether brand searches, product visits, and channel sales change in sync; when sales increase in a particular region, you can trace back to the corresponding audience, content, and frontline actions to determine whether that growth is worth replicating. In this way, the brand marketing data map becomes not a static diagram but a continuously running marketing operating system: before campaigns, plan audiences, content, media, and channels; during campaigns, check whether each stage is seamlessly connected; after campaigns, distill effective combinations and replicate successful practices. 📅 September 17–18, 2026, Zhengzhou, China. The second session of the "FMCG Growth AI Bootcamp" will focus on real marketing scenarios, helping brand teams use AI to build a continuously updated, cross-functional brand marketing data map. Interested readers can first obtain the "AI Implementation Handbook for FMCG Enterprise Decision-Makers," complete an AI application diagnostic for their company, and then learn more about the course details.
New DistributionThe Real Growth Differentiator Is Store Management
With limited budgets, manpower, and time, which stores should investments actually go to? In practice, most manufacturer sales teams often adopt an "equal distribution" approach: the same display policies, similar promotion plans, and uniform visit frequencies. The result is often that significant resources are invested, but only a few stores actually achieve growth. The first step in managing high-potential stores is not to look at who currently has the highest sales, but to determine who is most worth sustained operation. Identifying high-potential stores requires simultaneous observation of five dimensions: market opportunity, operational foundation, operational capability, willingness to cooperate, and growth space. Sales figures can only reflect how much a store is selling now, but cannot fully indicate how much more it can grow in the future. Whether the trade area matches, whether there is category opportunity, whether the store owner is willing to cooperate, and whether the team has execution capability—all these determine whether resource investment can be converted into results. After identification, tiered management is also necessary. ⭕️ Stores with high potential but low performance should be the focus for breakthrough; stores with high potential and high performance are suitable for building benchmarks and replicating experience; stores with limited potential but stable operations should focus on maintenance and stability; stores with low potential and low performance require controlled investment. ⭕️ Store tiering is not about labeling stores, but answering three specific questions: Which stores deserve key investment? What business actions should be configured? How to verify results after investment? ⭕️ Correspondingly, brands need to check distribution, display, conversion, execution, and repurchase in sequence. First look at data anomalies, then verify on-site, lock onto the real operational issues, and finally choose product, display, pricing, promotion, or personnel actions. This is also the core of a "one store, one strategy" approach. It is not about planning different activities for each store, but configuring different actions targeting different bottlenecks, with clear goals, responsible persons, verification cycles, and review standards. 👉 Only by forming a closed loop of "establishing a baseline—finding gaps—developing actions—on-site execution—tracking indicators—reviewing and replicating" can store operations shift from relying on experience to becoming a continuously operable method. What is truly difficult in this process is that as the number of stores increases, data sorting, scoring and tiering, anomaly identification, and solution output become very time-consuming. 💡 This is exactly where AI can add value. AI can help teams batch process sales, distribution, inventory, and store visit data, identify anomalous stores and growth opportunities, and generate diagnostic hypotheses and draft action lists; while the team is responsible for on-site verification, business judgment, resource decisions, and action implementation. 💡 AI processing efficiency, combined with human business judgment, can form truly executable store strategies. 📅 On September 17–18, 2026, in Zhengzhou, China, in the second session of the "FMCG Growth AI Bootcamp", we will focus on real business scenarios to help brand teams transform scattered data into store scoring models, high-potential store lists, tiered management strategies, one-store-one-strategy action cards, and review templates, establishing a sustainable AI-driven operational workflow. Interested friends are welcome to join the "Sales Report AI Toolkit - Community" for pre-registration.
New DistributionWhy Can't We Find the Key Issues Despite All the Data Analysis?
Many brands conduct business analysis every month: sales revenue, target attainment rate, year-over-year, month-over-month, and channel share. The data is abundant, and so are the analyses. But at business review meetings, the team still cannot answer three key questions: Where exactly is the problem? Why did it happen? And what should be done next? ⭕️ The core reason is that business analysis is often stuck at “reporting numbers”: it only reports results — you know how much was accomplished but not why; it only looks at totals — the overall seems on track, but local risks are hidden; it only describes phenomena — you see sales decline but haven’t found the real cause; it only gives direction — without specifying the target, responsible person, and timeline. ❗️ Effective business analysis does not start by opening Excel. The first step is to determine what decision this analysis will support. Then, establish four types of comparisons: targets, year-over-year, month-over-month, and benchmarks. Next, drill down layer by layer across time, region, channel, customer, product, and store to find anomalies in the overall figures, and identify contributors and drags from those anomalies. 💡 When it comes to selecting metrics, more is not always better. Business outcome metrics answer how the final results look; growth metrics indicate trends and sources of increment; structure metrics identify who contributes and who drags; terminal metrics reflect whether stores are actually selling through; efficiency and risk metrics help assess whether expenses, inventory, and resource investments are healthy. Business data analysis is time-consuming not only because of complex calculations. Data is scattered across different systems and files, with inconsistent fields, codes, and statistical definitions. Multiple metrics must be cross-tabulated with dimensions such as region, channel, customer, product, and store. Once anomalies are found, the causes must be validated against frontline business facts. Finally, conclusions, priorities, and concrete actions need to be formed. 📅 On September 17–18, New Distribution will hold the second session of the “FMCG Growth AI Bootcamp” in Zhengzhou. Brand teams can bring their anonymized real business data and run through the complete pipeline on-site — from data organization, anomaly detection, cause validation, to business actions — and produce a real business data analysis report. 📝 It is recommended that leaders of sales, marketing, brand, channel, KA (key accounts), data analysis, and enterprise digitalization bring their core team members and join as a group to truly bring AI into brand operations and team collaboration.
New DistributionBulk Food Distributors Who Only Look at Sales Are Bound to Lose Money!
⭕️As the bulk food business grows, many distributors encounter a common problem: With more SKUs and more display cabinets, sales are not low, but it is increasingly hard to tell which products are actually making money. In the past, when handling just a few brands and a few display cabinets, salespeople could rely on their experience to remember which products sold fast and which needed replenishment. Once you start contracting entire sections, the situation quickly becomes complicated. Cakes, bread, biscuits, candies, jelly, meat products, spicy instant snacks, konjac, puffed snacks... hundreds of SKUs are simultaneously placed in one bulk food section. At this point, simply looking at "how much money this cabinet sold in a month" makes it hard to judge operational quality. 🎈At Xi'an Baiyuanbao, we saw how they took this problem one step further. They look not only at cabinet efficiency, but also at bin efficiency. Suppose a cabinet has 100 bins and generates 10,000 RMB in sales per month. On average, each bin produces 100 RMB per month. ⬇️Products below 100 RMB need further investigation: - Is there a placement issue? - Is the display layout problematic? - Is the price band mismatched? - Does this trade area simply have no demand for such products? If they still don't sell after adjustments, replace them. ❗️Jia Zhongxin put it directly: Best-sellers are never out of stock; slow movers never occupy a bin. Baiyuanbao also looks at per-bin sales together with replenishment frequency. If a product is replenished every week, it shows sustained consumer demand. If it is replenished only once a month, or not at all for a long time, it needs to be reassessed. Stores are also graded by replenishment frequency. ● A-level stores replenished more than 4 times per month can test new and potential products; ● B-level stores replenished 2–3 times per month should focus on proven best-sellers and potential products; ● Stores with lower replenishment rates should prioritize mature best-sellers. After serving more than 4,000 retail outlets, Baiyuanbao can no longer rely on the experience of a few veteran salespeople. 📈So they further broke down performance evaluations into: sales revenue, weekly sell-through, "top 6" in subcategories, and sales profit. Sales revenue carries only about 20% of the weighting. Behind this is a shift: bulk distributors used to focus most on "how much was sold." 📝Today, the more important questions are: Which products are selling? Which bins are producing? Which stores deserve continued investment? Which investments are already eating into profits? ⏳On August 25, we will go to Xi'an Baiyuanbao's warehouse and retail outlets to see on-site how they handle price bands, product assortment, bin efficiency management, and salesperson assessment. If you are currently doing cabinet contracting or section contracting, or planning to expand your bulk business, you are welcome to pre-register for the "Bulk Distributor Contracting Model Research Community." On-site, we will show how a bulk distributor with annual sales of 200 million RMB breaks the rough "selling goods" process down to every store, every cabinet, and every bin.
New DistributionUnderstand the Market, Deconstruct Competitors, and Brands Will Avoid Detours
Many brand teams do not lack market information. Industry reports, channel data, consumer feedback, store visits, competitor launches, and promotional updates pour in every day. 📍 The real problem is that information keeps growing, but judgment isn't getting any clearer. Teams collect a lot of data and analyze competitors extensively, but ultimately fail to answer three critical questions: What is changing in the market? What does this mean for the brand? What actions should be taken next? Effective market insight starts with business questions. Define the analysis subject, time range, and decision scenario, then build an information pool that includes industry, channel, consumer, competitor, and frontline data. Without a specific question, information gathering easily turns into an endless accumulation. When analyzing, you need to understand at least five dimensions at once. ✅ Is there market space? Why do consumers buy? Which channels are driving growth? What is fueling competitor growth? And does the opportunity match the brand’s own resources and capabilities? Looking only at scale, buzz, or competitor actions can lead to one-sided conclusions. Truly reliable insight comes from cross-validation across multiple dimensions. When faced with massive market information, learn to identify “valid signals.” A signal worthy of brand action typically requires four types of validation: persistence, multi-source corroboration, changes in consumer behavior, and business impact. A single promotion, launch, or viral piece of content may be short-term noise; only when competitor moves, resource investment, and continuity mutually corroborate can it signal a genuine strategic shift. Competitor analysis is not simply comparing sales volume, product count, or advertising spend. It’s about choosing the right competitors and dissecting their target audience, product mix, channel layout, marketing playbook, operational efficiency, and resource capabilities. Following the chain of “facts — differences — causes — impact — actions,” you can find opportunities that consumers value but competitors have not fully satisfied, then translate them into product, pricing, channel, and marketing actions. ⭕️ The difficulty is that this work is extremely time-consuming. Materials are scattered, information is noisy, and comparisons are repetitive. Teams spend enormous time on extracting, organizing, classifying, and tabulating. 💡 AI can help teams organize provided or authorized materials, extract key information, complete multi-competitor comparisons in batches, and quickly produce draft insights. But information verification, causal explanation, opportunity judgment, and business decisions must still be done by people who understand the business. 👉 This is exactly the problem that the second session of the “FMCG Growth AI Bootcamp” aims to solve for brand teams. It’s not just about teaching prompts; it’s about running a complete AI workflow on site—from information organization, market insight, and competitor deconstruction to strategy output. 📅 September 17–18, 2026, Zhengzhou, China. Get hands-on practice on site and turn scattered analysis into a sustainable team capability.
New DistributionFor Bulk Food Distributors, the Step Most Likely to Lose Money Is Choosing the Wrong Store
📈 In the past two years, many people doing bulk food store contracts have focused on one metric first: whether the store is big enough. 2000 square meters, 3000 square meters, good location, heavy foot traffic—securing such a store seems to mean scale. ❗️ But once they actually start operating, distributors quickly find that big stores don't necessarily make money. - Some stores look good in sales, but after calculating fixed costs, labor, shelves, and shrinkage, profits are thin; - Some stores are large, but the bulk food section is in a dead corner; - Some stores have several snack discount chain stores nearby, and price competition is impossible. 📍 What kind of store is worth doing is becoming an increasingly important lesson for bulk food distributors. Baiyuanbao has a distinctive aspect. Their bulk food business did not start from large supermarkets. After entering the bulk food sector in 2019, Baiyuanbao initially targeted fresh food stores, fruit stores, and community stores. Many of these stores are only a few hundred square meters, or even around 100 square meters. Since these stores had no established bulk food section, Baiyuanbao invested in display cabinets themselves. If the space was a bit larger, they would set up more than 100 bins; If the space was small, they would switch to vertical display racks; If the surrounding purchasing power was weak, they focused on the 9.9 yuan and around 10-plus yuan price points; If the old city area had more elderly customers, they added traditional pastries; For young communities, they added jelly, spicy instant food, konjac, and other items. 📝 They gradually built up more than 3,000 fresh food stores, community stores, and fruit stores. In total, their bulk food business covers more than 4,000 retail outlets, with about 85% of sales coming from directly operated outlets. This small-store experience was later applied to large stores. Before entering a store, Baiyuanbao first studies the population structure and purchasing power within 1-2 kilometers, then determines the price range and product assortment. Supervisors also draw display plans directly based on the store's situation, specifying which shelves carry which price range and which products. Each store gets its own tailored plan. 📍 “One store, one plan” means the core is not to replicate all stores with a single product assortment. So on August 25, when we visit Baiyuanbao, we want to focus on a key question: ✅ How should bulk food distributors judge whether a store is worth doing? ✅ How to do a 100-square-meter small store? How to do a 500-square-meter fresh food store? ✅ What about large stores of 1,000-4,000 square meters? ✅ How exactly should the product assortment be adjusted for different trade areas, customer groups, and store sizes? ⭕️ In bulk food distribution today, securing the store is only the first step. What truly affects profit is whether the store you secure can actually be operated successfully. ⏳ On August 25, “New Distribution” (Xin Jing Xiao) will organize an in-depth study tour of benchmark bulk food distributors, visiting Xi'an Baiyuanbao. If you are currently doing shelf contracts, store contracts, or planning to expand your bulk food business, you are welcome to pre-register for the “Bulk Food Distributor Contract Model Discussion Community.”
New DistributionFresh Snack Stores Are Becoming a New Variable in Retail
Over the past two years, one of the most closely watched changes in the retail industry has not just been the continued expansion of bulk snack stores, but the emergence of a wave of "fresh snack stores" that emphasize short shelf life, freshly made experiences, and the overall consumer experience. Specialized brands such as Jiduoquan, Yili, Pumama, Puxia Longjiu, and Jinlimen are accelerating store openings; traditional food companies like Three Squirrels, Juewei, Lai Yifen, Bestore, and Youyou have also entered the arena. Meanwhile, brands in bakery, tea drinks, dairy, dining, and local specialties are all attempting to enter this new business format. Fresh snack stores are not a simple product category. What consumers are buying is not just "fresher production dates," but a complete set of perceptible fresh experiences. The trust brought by short shelf life and date transparency, the instant gratification of buying and eating on the spot with small portable portions, the rich choices from cross-category combinations such as bakery, braised foods, dairy drinks, and roasted nuts, and the in-store experience created by sampling, aroma, open displays, and continuous new product launches. Therefore, a true fresh snack business format requires the joint establishment of four layers of capabilities: consumer value, product structure, store scenario, and supply chain. Having only short-shelf-life products or on-site processing is insufficient to constitute a complete business format. In terms of player composition, this sector has already formed multiple entry paths, including transformation from roasted nut stores, extension from long-shelf-life snack companies, cross-border entry from catering, transformation from bakeries, and new startups. Different players have different resources and face different problems. Traditional brands have brand, membership, and supplier bases, but need to rebuild fresh product operation capabilities; emerging brands have more flexible store models, but need to build multi-temperature, high-frequency, and small-batch supply chains from scratch. We reviewed 29 independent brand samples and conducted a breakdown and analysis. Among them, Jiduoquan and Yili have reached the 100-store scale; Pumama, Puxia Longjiu, and Jinlimen form the second tier; more brands are still at the regional validation or single-store trial stage. Fresh snack stores have completed concept validation, but there is still a way to go before truly achieving a scalable model. The focus of future competition is not who opens stores faster, but who can establish a stable balance among freshness, variety, spoilage, and efficiency. In the "2026 China Fresh Snack Business Format Research Report," we further break down the business format definition, operating forms, player landscape, key brands, product structure, supply chain models, and future development trends. Join the "New Distribution FMCG Insider" to view the full report and grasp the latest landscape and key opportunities in the fresh snack sector.
New DistributionWhy Do Top Salespeople Succeed in the Market?
Same products, same policies, same market—why can some salespeople fully develop the market while others just complete their tasks? More often than not, the gap isn't in diligence, but in judgment. An ordinary salesperson sees a store and thinks, "Can I get my products in?" A top salesperson first assesses: Is this store worth investing in? What should be placed? Is there room for future sell-through? When distributor performance declines, most salespeople's first reaction is to push for orders and request restocking. A top salesperson first looks at inventory, SKU structure, number of outlets, and per-store output, then determines whether the issue is inventory, a drop in core SKUs, or the distributor simply lacks the will to develop the market. New product launches are the same. Most salespeople focus on distribution rate. Top salespeople ask: Which channels suit this product better? Which stores are more likely to generate volume? When should we continue expanding distribution, and when should we first address sell-through? It seems everyone is working the market, but what truly separates them are three actions: What information to look at first in a given scenario; How to judge the problem once you see that information; What action to take next after judgment. So what enterprises should really replicate from top salespeople is never just a few scripts, but the underlying "Scenario—Judgment—Action" methodology. The problem is that this experience has been hard to replicate in the past. Many excellent salespeople can do it themselves but can't fully explain why they do it that way. Lessons from a successful distributor negotiation, a new product launch, or a breakthrough at a key store are scattered across daily visits, reviews, and conversations. When turned into training, they often boil down to conclusions like "build good relationships, visit more outlets, and maintain key accounts." The conclusion is correct, but new hires still don't know exactly what to do. Extracting and replicating the experience of top salespeople—this is where AI truly deserves a place in sales management. Give AI access to interviews with top salespeople, visit records, sales reviews, and customer cases. Don't just summarize what they said—keep asking: What happened at that moment? What did you look at first? Why did you make that judgment? What would you do differently in another situation? Then bring multiple real cases together to help enterprises distill recurring judgment patterns and solidify them into standard methods like identifying high-potential stores, diagnosing distributor operations, making new product distribution decisions, and planning customer visits—so more salespeople can become top performers. AI isn't working the market for salespeople; it's transferring the experience from a top salesperson's mind and replicating it to the whole team faster. 📅 Sep 17–18 · Zhengzhou · "FMCG Brand Growth AI Bootcamp" Phase 2. Hands-on instruction on how to embed AI into daily work, turn personal experience into replicable methods, and take AI from "knowing how to use it" to a sustainable business capability for your team.
New DistributionBulk Food Distributors: Time to Recalculate the Exclusive-Area Math
In the past two years, if there's one category where distributors have had the hardest time, it's bulk snack food. 📝 Discount snack stores have pulled a large number of bulk items down to price points like 9.9 yuan and 12.8 yuan, while bulk sections in traditional supermarkets still carry costs such as exclusive-area fees, labor, display cabinets, and shrinkage. If the price is set too high, consumers compare; if it follows the price down, the distributor's own profits can hardly cover the investment. Recently, I spoke with General Manager Jia of Baiyuanbao, and he did the math for me: for many products under the traditional exclusive-area model, a 9.9-yuan price would "definitely lose money," and only at 13.8 or 15.8 yuan would there be enough margin to cover costs. Now that snack stores have already driven prices down, how much longer can the traditional exclusive-area model hold up? 💡 In Xi'an, Baiyuanbao offers a new solution. The company entered bulk food in 2019, and in seven years reached 200 million yuan in sales, covering more than 4,000 retail outlets. It started with fresh food stores, fruit stores, and community stores, growing from small shops of around 100 square meters to large stores of over 2,000 square meters. About 85% of bulk food sales come from directly operated outlets. ⭕️ In 2024, after entering large stores, it innovated a model called "Exclusive Zone." On the surface, it looks very similar to exclusive-area: Baiyuanbao still manages the entire bulk food section—investing in display cabinets, curating products, designing price bands, and participating in staffing and promotions. But the most critical accounting has changed. The supermarket no longer takes a large fixed fee upfront; instead, it earns from product price differences. Inventory management now involves the store again; procurement participates in product selection; and store managers and owners have begun to care about how well this bulk section actually performs. While taking charge of products and operations, it also re-engages in the business outcomes. Baiyuanbao's own responsibilities have also become heavier. Because it can no longer rely on high prices to cover fixed costs, it must actually sell products. So the team began managing price bands, product assortments, weekly sell-through, and per-bin efficiency. If a display cabinet originally sold 5,000 yuan per month, they find ways to get it to 10,000 yuan within two months; among 100 bins, any bin that isn't efficient gets constant adjustments in product, placement, and price until they find products that better suit consumers. This case makes us think: as fixed costs can no longer sustain the traditional exclusive-area model, how should supermarkets and distributors reallocate profits, inventory, and responsibilities? 🎈 On August 25, "New Distribution" will organize an in-depth study tour of a benchmark bulk food distributor, visiting Baiyuanbao in Xi'an. - On-site breakdown of the "Exclusive Zone" model and store presentation; - See how different trade areas assemble product assortments and set price bands; - How "one store, one assortment; one bin, one efficiency" is implemented; - Recalculate investments in labor, display cabinets, promotions, and inventory as part of a single business equation. ⬇️ If you are currently doing bulk food cabinet contracting or exclusive-area operations and hope to go further in large-store cooperation negotiations while also refining small-store operations, you are welcome to pre-register for the "Bulk Food Distributor Contracting Model Discussion Community." On August 25, we go to Xi'an to break down this math face to face.
New Distribution"After Over a Decade in Bulk Food, I Suddenly Don't Know What to Do"
Snack stores have driven prices down to 8.8 yuan and 9.9 yuan, while supermarkets still charge slotting and display fees, and the costs of staff, warehousing, and delivery continue to rise. In the past, a few brands and a few display cabinets were enough to make money. Now, if you want to take on a whole-district contract, you have to add products, supply chain, and a team, and there is no certainty when the investment will be recouped. In recent years, we have seen the same shift across multiple regions: fewer and fewer distributors are doing bulk food, and the ones that remain are looking for new ways to grow. 👉 The questions people care about are already very specific—with stores, salespeople, and a delivery network, how can you turn these resources into a bulk food business that can grow sustainably? 💡 In Xi'an, we found such an example. Baiyuanbao started with 3,000 community stores and fresh food stores, and over seven years grew its bulk food business from zero to 200 million yuan. Today it covers more than 4,000 retail outlets, with 85% directly served and delivered by its own sales team. Facing the same low prices at snack stores, changes in supermarket traffic, and declining bulk food margins, why has Baiyuanbao been able to turn bulk food into a new growth pillar? How did it select stores from its existing retail network, build its product portfolio, organize its team, and eventually build a bulk food business worth 200 million yuan? ⭕️ On this study tour, we will focus on four things: First, how to select suitable stores for bulk food from existing community and fresh food stores; Second, how to shift from single-brand supply to full-category portfolio assembly; Third, how to build business, warehousing & delivery, and service teams that match more than 4,000 retail outlets; Fourth, how to start from one display cabinet and gradually scale bulk food to 200 million yuan. 💡 On August 25, Xin Jingxiao, together with Tameng, organized a study tour to Baiyuanbao Trading, where they will deconstruct its "specialty model" approach, product mix, and retail operation methods. 👉 If you are interested in Baiyuanbao's bulk food "specialty" approach, you are welcome to join the "Bulk Food Distributor Contracting Model Discussion Group" for pre-registration.
New Distribution10 Bulk Food Distributors, Now Only 3 Remain
"Two years ago, there were 10 bulk distributors in our area; now only 3 remain." A distributor remarked during a recent market visit. Over the past few years, snack discount stores have expanded rapidly, while traditional supermarkets continue to face declining foot traffic. Prices for bulk goods have been dropping, yet costs for labor, shrinkage, display cabinets, and distribution remain. Many bulk rack and section operators are caught in the same dilemma: if they price too high, sales stall; if they cut prices, profits evaporate. But despite the challenging market, a number of distributors remain active and continue to grow. Xi'an Baiyuanbao is one such example. ⭕️ In seven years, it grew its bulk business from zero to nearly 200 million yuan, covering more than 4,000 retail outlets, of which about 3,000 are fresh produce stores, community stores, and fruit shops. About 85% of sales come from direct distribution to these outlets. ⭕️ What's more noteworthy: at a time when section contracting is becoming increasingly difficult, Baiyuanbao has made a comeback into large supermarkets of over 1,000 square meters, developing an "exclusive section" model. ⭕️ Zero fixed fees, returning the partnership to a supply-purchase relationship: stores buy at supply prices and retain reasonable margins; Baiyuanbao provides display cabinets, plans price zones, organizes products, designs layouts, and arranges replenishment and promotions; store buyers and managers re-engage in product adjustments and daily operations. ⭕️ At the same time, it adheres to "one store, one plan; one bin, one efficiency." The core principle: bestsellers never run out of stock, and slow movers never occupy display space. How does this model work in an actual store? How do you assort products for different trade areas? How do you manage "one bin, one efficiency"? How do you calculate profits after staff, cabinets, tasting sessions, and promotional investments? 👉 How exactly does this business work? On August 25th, the "New Distribution" National Benchmark Distributor Deep Study Tour will visit Xi'an Baiyuanbao. Attendees will tour warehouses, visit stores, and analyze product assortments, focusing on: - How to execute "one store, one plan; one bin, one efficiency"? - How to ensure bestsellers stay stocked and slow movers are quickly phased out? - How to design the "exclusive section" model so both stores and distributors remain profitable? - How to achieve efficient management across 4,000+ outlets and 120+ sales staff? 💡 If you are currently operating bulk racks or sections, or wish to re-evaluate your store partnership model, you are welcome to join the "Bulk Distributor Contract Model Discussion Group" for pre-registration for the study tour and to learn about the specific itinerary and registration details. 📅 August 25th · Xi'an 📍 National Benchmark Bulk Distributor Deep-Study Tour 🔥 Registration is now open. Seats are limited. Contact the New Distribution team to secure your spot.
New DistributionHenan Supermarkets: Far More Than Pangdonglai
When it comes to supermarkets in Henan, many people's first reaction is Pangdonglai. However, from the perspective of a brand looking to enter the market, focusing solely on Pangdonglai is far from sufficient. As of August 2026, the New Distribution FMCG Insider has surveyed 25 sample regional supermarkets in Henan, covering 18 prefecture-level cities in the province. These include cross-regional networks such as Pangdonglai, Dazhang, Xiyahemei, Wandelong, and Dennis, as well as city-level leaders like Wanguoyuan, Huanle'aijia, and Baixingliangfan, along with numerous commercial nodes deeply rooted in county markets. The true characteristic of Henan's supermarket landscape is not a single enterprise covering the entire province, but the long-term coexistence of a "provincial network + city champions + county nodes." Zhengzhou is home to a variety of retail formats, including Dennis, Xianfeng Life, Huayu Baijia, Nongfu · Mr. Liu, and Taoxiaopang, making it ideal for new product trials, brand showcasing, and headquarters partnerships. Luoyang has Dazhang; Xinyang has Xiyahemei; Nanyang has Wandelong; Zhoukou has Wanguoyuan; Zhumadian has Huanle'aijia and Xiyingmen; Puyang has Baixingliangfan. Many of these regional companies may not be well-known nationally, but they enjoy strong consumer loyalty, supply chain capabilities, and outlet coverage locally. What is more noteworthy is that these regional supermarkets have not stood still. Over the past year, while Xianfeng Life, Huayu Baijia, and Taoxiaopang continued to expand, Wanguoyuan, Huanle'aijia, and Baixingliangfan have been undergoing continuous renovation. Fresh food, prepared food, bakery, private brands, and in-store services have been strengthened, and regional retailers are shifting from simply "selling goods" back to the core of product strength and operational efficiency. The above represents only some of the core findings from this research. Join the FMCG Insider to view the full version of the "Map of Regional Supermarkets in Henan."
New DistributionPinduoduo Launches 'Fastest Delivery by Tomorrow'
On August 10, Pinduoduo launched a core entry point on its homepage for "Fastest Delivery by Tomorrow," covering categories such as fresh fruits, groceries, and daily necessities. Previously, this label mainly appeared on product pages or in search results; now upgraded to a first-level entry, it signifies that the platform is elevating fulfillment speed from a product selling point to a traffic entry. Customer service stated that for items bearing a "Delivery by Tomorrow / Day After Tomorrow" commitment, if not delivered on time, consumers can receive at least a 3-yuan no-threshold voucher, except under special circumstances. In January this year, Pinduoduo had already teamed up with large warehouse and distribution service providers to launch shared warehouses, using a "storage + fulfillment" solution to support nationwide next-day and day-after-tomorrow delivery. This entry upgrade is a concentrated presentation of its warehousing and distribution capabilities on the consumer side. However, "Fastest Delivery by Tomorrow" still means fulfillment by the next day, which differs from the minute-level delivery championed by Meituan Flash Shopping, JD Seconds, and Taobao Flash Shopping. The platform has not confirmed any food delivery plans either. In the short term, Pinduoduo is more likely to compete for incremental market between traditional e-commerce and instant retail by leveraging low-price supply and reliable delivery windows. #Pinduoduo #InstantRetail
New DistributionWhy Can't Millions of Terminal Stores Beat Sam's Club, Hema, or Pangdonglai?
Despite years of deep cultivation in China, why can't Yonghui and RT-Mart beat Sam's Club? The beverage industry now agrees that growth is increasingly difficult, with pressure felt across the entire chain from brands to distributors to retailers. From 2025 to now, Pin Yin Hui has visited over 500 non-chain retail stores, and more than 40% of owners reported significant declines in beverage sales.
品饮汇观察Mom-and-Pop Stores Are Disappearing in Droves
A recent trip home revealed a neighborhood convenience store bustling with customers, but the owner revealed they were closing and selling off stock. The invisible competitors—online retail, instant delivery, and community group buying—are eroding the business of traditional small shops, which once thrived on information asymmetry, proximity, and product access. As these advantages vanish, the old business model is failing, though the community consumption scene remains, just with new players and rules.
张雨薇The Internal Friction Between Private Label and Procurement: Ten Directors Won't Fix It
In a meeting, tensions hit a low point for the third time. The procurement director pushed a display adjustment plan to the center of the table, saying, 'We've spent three years maintaining this prime shelf space, and the original brand pays us millions in annual support. Why should your private label SKU take up two facings?' The private label lead countered, 'Why? Because this SKU has a gross margin 14 points higher than the brand product in the same spot after three months, because company strategy requires private label to lead this category, and because the boss decided at the start of the year that private label should have dedicated displays.'
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