Source | 整点消费 ID | ZDXFBA Author | 整点消费
On November 24, China Want Want Holdings Limited ("China Want Want") disclosed its interim results for the six months ended September 30, 2025. During the reporting period, China Want Want's total revenue was RMB 11.108 billion (RMB, same below), an increase of 2.1% compared to the same period last fiscal year; profit attributable to equity holders was RMB 1.717 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7.8%. Regarding this performance, China Want Want stated in its financial report that, driven by new products and new channels, the company's sales volume increased by nearly double digits year-on-year. However, due to higher unit consumption costs of imported whole milk powder and palm oil, the gross margin declined, coupled with an increase in overall operating expenses, ultimately leading to a decline in net profit. Decline in Dairy and Beverages, Growth in Rice Crackers and Snacks Besides sales growth, China Want Want's specific category performance was also "mixed." In the first half of fiscal year 2025, China Want Want's dairy and beverage category accounted for approximately 53% of total revenue, while rice crackers and snacks accounted for approximately 46%. Notably, during the reporting period, the dairy and beverage business, which accounts for the majority of China Want Want's revenue, showed a declining trend. By specific product, China Want Want's dairy and beverage category (including flavored milk, ambient yogurt, lactic acid drinks, ready-to-drink coffee, fruit juice drinks, sports drinks, herbal tea, and milk powder) achieved revenue of RMB 5.9413 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 1.1%. This was mainly due to a low single-digit decline in revenue from Want Want Milk, but revenue from beverages and other categories increased by nearly 40% compared to the same period last fiscal year. Compared to the decline in dairy and beverages, China Want Want's rice cracker category (including sugar-coated rice crackers, savory rice crackers, fried snacks, and gift packs) and snack food category (including candies, ice products, snack cakes, jelly, beans, nuts, and others) both recorded growth. Among them, the rice cracker category's revenue in the first half of fiscal year 2025 grew by 3.5% year-on-year (with sales volume growing by mid-single digits), reaching RMB 2.13 billion, achieving growth across all channels in mainland China, with double-digit growth in emerging channels and rapid growth in snack discount chain channels. The snack food category achieved revenue of RMB 2.9402 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2025, a growth of 7.7% compared to the same period last fiscal year, with sales volume achieving low double-digit growth. Further breakdown: The ice products subcategory, benefiting from the advancement of core strategies and performance in emerging snack discount chain channels, coupled with unusually hot weather in the first half of fiscal year 2025, recovered to growth with a mid-double-digit growth rate; snack cakes, beans, jelly, and other categories achieved mid-single-digit growth, while candies grew by low single digits. From this, it is clear that China Want Want's star products such as Want Want Milk and gift packs are gradually losing momentum. Driven by New Products and New Channels Notably, China Want Want emphasized the excellent performance of new products and new channels in every segment. At the new product level, China Want Want stated: "In the first half of fiscal year 2025, the Group's new products performed outstandingly. Revenue from new products launched in the past five years accounted for a mid-double-digit percentage of total Group revenue, and revenue from new products launched in fiscal year 2025 already accounted for a low single-digit percentage of Group revenue; becoming an important engine for the Group's revenue growth." Moreover, in the first half of fiscal year 2025, among the components of China Want Want's revenue, new product revenue in the three major categories accounted for nearly double digits to double digits of each category's revenue. Specifically, new product revenue in the dairy and beverage category accounted for nearly double digits of that category's revenue, with new products such as yogurt, chocolate milk, banana milk, daily milk, and extra-thick milk each achieving revenue exceeding RMB 10 million. In the beverage subcategory, new products performed prominently, with new product revenue accounting for nearly 50% of the beverage subcategory's revenue. Among them, "Want Want AD Calcium Milk" achieved nearly RMB 80 million in revenue, accounting for about 30% of the beverage subcategory's new product revenue; "Want Want Lactic Acid Bacteria Drink" accounted for 20% of the beverage subcategory's new product revenue. Meanwhile, new product revenue in the rice cracker category accounted for a double-digit percentage of that category's revenue. Additionally, thanks to the rich variety of snack food products and comprehensive development in both traditional and emerging channels, new product revenue in the snack food category accounted for nearly a quarter of the snack food category's revenue. At the channel level, China Want Want stated in its financial report that in the first half of fiscal year 2025, the Group continued to maintain excellent performance in emerging channels such as e-commerce and OEM, with emerging channel revenue achieving good double-digit growth, and emerging channel revenue accounting for over 10% of total Group revenue. For example, in the snack food category, the snack cakes subcategory and the beans, jelly, and other subcategory, due to their good performance in emerging channels and formats such as e-commerce and snack discount chains, and the launch of a dazzling array of new products, maintained growth trends in the first half of fiscal year 2025, both achieving mid-single-digit growth; while the candy subcategory overall achieved low single-digit growth, its revenue in new formats and channels such as snack discount chains and e-commerce achieved double-digit growth... It is worth noting that although over 90% of China Want Want's revenue and business activities are conducted in China, in the first half of fiscal year 2025, its overseas revenue achieved low single-digit growth year-on-year, with good growth momentum in regions such as Japan, India, and Africa. Declining Profits According to China Want Want's financial report, during the reporting period, the gross margin for rice crackers increased from 41.8% in the same period last year to 43.1%; the gross margin for dairy and beverages decreased from 50.3% to 47.8%; and the gross margin for snack foods increased from 44.3% to 45.3%. Due to the large proportion of dairy and beverage revenue, China Want Want's overall gross margin decreased by 1.1 percentage points compared to the same period last fiscal year, to 46.2%. China Want Want stated that although unit consumption costs for some bulk raw materials and packaging materials such as white sugar, gelatin, and base paper decreased, the increase in unit consumption costs for imported whole milk powder and palm oil offset the positive impact of the aforementioned decreases, still causing the Group's gross margin to decline. At the same time, in the first half of fiscal year 2025, the Group's overall operating expenses (distribution costs and administrative expenses combined, same below) increased by 10.6%, mainly due to the Group's internal organizational optimization and restructuring since the second half of fiscal year 2024, which set up various business divisions by product category, leading to increased promotional expenses for new channels and new products. In the first half of fiscal year 2025, China Want Want's average number of employees was approximately 39,044, a decrease of 530 compared to the average number in the year ended March 31, 2025. Total compensation in the first half of fiscal year 2025 was RMB 2.3636 billion, an increase of RMB 147.3 million, or 6.6%, compared to the same period last fiscal year. In fact, not only China Want Want, but the entire food industry is facing enormous operational pressure this year, especially at the net profit level. Therefore, it remains to be seen how the industry will escape the "low-price competition" trap in the future. However, in this process, major brands still have more confidence and risk resistance, accelerating the elimination of outdated production capacity in the industry.