The Chengdu Sugar Fair has always been regarded as a barometer for the food industry. At the 2026 Sugar Fair, New Distribution observed a stark contrast: on one side, collective anxiety over difficult sell-through, high inventory, and chaotic pricing; on the other, the bustling booth of Yanjin Shop's Damowang, where distributors clustered to inquire and eagerly place orders. In today's market, it's not that there are no products to choose from, but that it's increasingly difficult to select products with true certainty of success. This contrast at the Sugar Fair is a signal worth the industry's attention. The latest certification data from Frost & Sullivan may provide the answer: Damowang's Sesame Sauce Konjac Tripe has been the national sales leader for three consecutive years. This result is not easy to achieve in today's snack market. The market is not short of hit products; every year, products sell well for a while, but when the hype fades, what remains for distributors is often inventory piled up in warehouses. From a hit product to a big single product, and then to leading category sales for three consecutive years and becoming the definer of the konjac snack category, Yanjin Shop's Damowang has successfully navigated the konjac track. How did they do it? Creating a Blue Ocean in a Red Sea: Why Sesame Sauce Flavor Is the Right Answer The rise of konjac snacks is inevitable. Over the past decade, Chinese consumers' criteria for "what to eat" have been quietly shifting—from "tasty" to "healthy." Low-fat, guilt-free, and high satiety: konjac perfectly aligns with this demand curve. Data confirms this judgment: the konjac category market size is approximately 10 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 20%, attracting more than 30 brands to enter. But behind the bustle, this track has quietly walked into a dead end. "There are many new products in the market, but most look the same," said a distributor from East China who has been in the snack category for years and has seen too many konjac snacks—red oil spicy flavors, similar packaging, similar price points. Brands are all competing on the same flavor, the track is growing, but consumers have no need to switch, and distributors have no reason to change. Homogenization is not just a problem of intense competition; it's that flavor innovation in the entire category has stalled. The emergence of Damowang broke this deadlock. It truly found a blue ocean in the red sea. And the entry point it chose was sesame sauce flavor. Behind this choice is a clear consumer logic. The pairing of sesame sauce and tripe has long been repeatedly validated by Chinese consumers in the hot pot scenario—"dip tripe in sesame sauce" is a classic combination etched into countless people's taste memories. What Damowang did was not to create a new demand out of thin air, but to migrate this table-validated pairing into a snack scenario that can be eaten anytime. The demand was already there; no one had seriously addressed it. The collaboration with Liubiju made this answer even more certain. Liubiju's sesame sauce has centuries of heritage. Partnering with them for a ten-year strategy is not just leveraging marketing; it's using the credibility of a century-old brand to anchor the "authentic sesame sauce" mindshare. When consumers pick up this product, their first impression is not "another new flavor" but "this sesame sauce flavor is reliable." It's worth noting that Damowang's Sesame Sauce Konjac Tripe has received authoritative certifications from Frost & Sullivan as the "pioneer of konjac tripe" and from Shangpu Consulting as the "pioneer of sesame sauce konjac tripe"—these are not just honorary labels but market confirmations of its category pioneer status. After accumulation, at the end of 2025, at the "Seeking Flavor on the Central Axis · First Sesame Sauce Flavor Innovation Competition," Damowang's Sesame Sauce Konjac Tripe won the Quality Benchmark Award and the special title of "King of Sesame Sauce Konjac Tripe." In the konjac track highly homogenized with red oil spicy flavors, Damowang is the first to seriously pursue sesame sauce flavor and the first to successfully establish the rich-flavor route. The value of this rich-flavor track goes beyond the success of a single product. In the konjac category, this direction was previously almost blank. By opening this track, Damowang has taken the lead in defining the coordinates—consumer mindshare anchors, channel display logic, and competitive benchmarks for followers will all unfold within these coordinates. This is the true meaning of finding a blue ocean in a red sea. From a Hit Product to a Product Matrix: How Damowang Achieved the Leap to Category Definer In the snack industry, hit products are not scarce. What is truly scarce is a brand that can go from a hit product to a big single product, and then to defining a category track. These three steps are leaps of completely different magnitudes, and most brands stop at the first step. Damowang has reached the third level. Entering the market with sesame sauce flavor validated that the demand is real. Sesame sauce, as a traditional Chinese flavor, has a consumer base of nearly 1 billion people, making it one of the most widely covered local flavors, suitable for all ages and regions. The sustained sell-through of the classic sesame sauce konjac tripe also proves that this demand is not a flash in the pan. But Yanjin Shop did not stop there—it saw not just the opportunity of a single product, but the opportunity of a category track. To go from a big single product to a category definer, relying on one product is not enough; it requires a product matrix to systematically cover consumption scenarios and truly establish this rich-flavor track. Thus, the product matrix was extended. Garlic Sesame Sauce Konjac Tripe was the first step of validation. Building on the classic sesame sauce, it adds garlic aroma, making the flavor more distinct and targeting young consumers seeking differentiated experiences. After launch, it won the International Taste Award and the iSEE Global Taste Award. Market feedback proved one thing: the sesame sauce mindshare has been established, and consumers are willing to accept new flavor combinations on this basis; the extension logic is valid. The newly unveiled Skewer King Sesame Sauce Konjac Tripe at this year's Sugar Fair goes even further. Using konjac shreds as the carrier, it extends from the snack scenario to skewer and barbecue consumption moments. The new form corresponds to new scenarios, covering consumer groups that were previously untouched. Behind the two extensions is the same logic: not educating the market from scratch, but following consumer scenarios based on the established sesame sauce mindshare. Each new scenario opened adds a growth fulcrum. Product life cycles are not waited for; they are designed. From a single product to a matrix, Damowang has not only enriched its product line but also built a sustainable growth moat for itself—each new product accumulates deeper consumer assets for the brand and makes the mindshare of "Damowang Authentic Sesame Sauce Konjac Tripe" harder to replace. From hit product to big single product, from big single product to category definer, Damowang has successfully traversed this path. Three Consecutive Years at the Top: Redefining What "Truly Worth Betting On" Means From hit product to category definer, Damowang has achieved a brand-level leap. But brand leaps cannot be separated from channel recognition—behind every box of goods is the real bet made by distributors. Distributor Mr. Ma from Shandong has been representing Yanjin Shop since 2020 and is one of the earliest distributors to follow Damowang's pace. Talking about the development over the years, he said directly: "Damowang is one of the few brands that have truly succeeded in recent years. They really understand the market, unlike many manufacturers still using old methods for channels." In the past, distributors selected products based on policies and gross margins—how much rebate the brand gives and how much profit space there is were the core criteria. But today, this logic has failed. New products flood in every day, but fewer and fewer can truly take off. Choosing the wrong one can mean slow sell-through and strained cash flow at best, or inventory piling up and losing money at worst. No matter how high the gross margin, if it doesn't sell, it's a loss; no matter how good the policy, if sell-through doesn't keep up, it's inventory risk. "Today, we must select products from the consumer's perspective," Mr. Ma said. The new selection criteria revolve around several core questions: Do consumers recognize this product? Will they come back to buy again? Does the brand have the ability to continuously empower, and can it deliver on its promises? This set of standards seems simple, but products that can truly meet all of them are rare. Under these standards, Damowang has provided answers that make distributors willing to keep betting. On the consumer side, the sesame sauce flavor hits a real need, leading to natural sell-through at the terminal and stable repurchase. Mr. Ma has witnessed the entire process of Damowang going from a category newcomer to three consecutive years of sales leadership. In his view, the core of Damowang's success lies in the product itself—"the taste is indeed the best in its class"—consumers are willing to buy and buy again; that is the foundation of everything. On the brand side, Yanjin Shop's approach has also given distributors confidence. After the product became popular, they concentrated resources on explosive promotion, signed Wang Yibo as spokesperson, and provided terminal tactics guidance; when launching new products, they promised after-sales support to protect distributor interests—"Not making me lose money is the best guarantee for distributors," Mr. Ma said. This is his core criterion for judging whether a brand is reliable, and Yanjin Shop has delivered. It is the simultaneous fulfillment of both ends that allows distributors to make real bets rather than just tentative distribution. This is also the true meaning of Frost & Sullivan's certification of three consecutive years of national sales leadership. It is not just a sales ranking, but the result of countless distributors' real bets and consumers' sustained repurchases. Standing in this position for three consecutive years is not luck, but a set of strategies that fit today's market logic and continue to deliver. Distributors' product selection coordinates have changed, from looking at policies and gross margins to looking at whether consumers recognize the product and whether the brand can continuously empower. Under these new coordinates, Damowang has clarified for the industry what kind of product is "truly worth betting on." Conclusion From entering the konjac track with sesame sauce flavor, to systematically covering consumption scenarios with a product matrix, to sustained bets from distributors and sustained repurchases from consumers, every step Damowang takes is supported by clear underlying logic. This era is not short of hit products; it lacks big single products that can transcend cycles. It is not short of entrants; it lacks brands that can define category tracks. What Damowang has achieved is precisely the latter—it has not only produced impressive sales figures on the konjac track but also opened a new track of rich-flavor snacks through category innovation, built a sustainable growth moat with a product matrix, and rebuilt distributors' confidence in product selection with real sell-through data. And Yanjin Shop's ambition is clearly not limited to this. At this Sugar Fair, New Distribution also observed new product movements in Yanjin Shop's soy product snack series—Spicy Tofu and Black Pepper Veggie Steak have made appearances. On the soy product track, the same logic is being replicated: find category gaps, innovate flavors, and build long-term products. From konjac to soy products, from sesame sauce konjac tripe to spicy tofu and black pepper veggie steak, the ceiling that Damowang has opened may just be the beginning.