Source | DT Business Observer From the low-calorie staple "konjac noodles" for fitness enthusiasts to the stress-relief snack "konjac spicy strips" for binge-watching sessions, konjac is taking over young people's shopping carts. Since 2024, konjac's online buzz and engagement have surged. Compared to 2023, total mentions of "konjac" on Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Kuaishou in 2024 rose 191% year-on-year, and Q1 2025 alone reached about 60% of 2023's total. Some have used a pack of konjac spicy strips to "conquer" French professors and classmates, with foreigners repeatedly saying, "You guys China has the best things in the world"; others have stuck to a diet of konjac, potatoes, broccoli, and chicken breast, dropping from 210 jin to 120 jin. This article explores: In today's highly competitive food and beverage industry, why does konjac stand out? Why are young people "addicted" to konjac?
The Konjac Family Takes the Table Together Konjac, as a traditional ingredient, has long been a local specialty on dining tables in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Chongqing. Today, this "earthy lump" from the southwest is appearing in daily life in various novel forms: In snacks, "vegetarian tripe" konjac spicy strips have become a go-to treat for young people; in tea drinks, konjac jelly pearls are cool and chewy, becoming the "crispy boba" in coffee and tea; in light meals, konjac transforms into cold noodles, cold skin noodles, and dumplings, becoming a "fat-loss partner" for fitness enthusiasts. The konjac category performs well in three food tracks: leisure snacks, meal replacements, and tea drink toppings, with major companies placing their bets.
Leisure Snacks: Weilong Konjac Spicy Strips Boost Konjac Snacks Konjac leisure snacks, represented by "konjac spicy strips," are becoming a "money printer" for snack brands. Take listed companies Weilong and Yanjin Pu Zi as examples: In 2024, konjac spicy strips drove Weilong's vegetable products revenue up 59.1% year-on-year to 3.37 billion yuan, accounting for 53.79% of total annual revenue, surpassing seasoned flour products (mainly latiao) for the first time to become the brand's largest category. In the same year, Yanjin Pu Zi's leisure konjac products revenue reached 838 million yuan, up 76.09% year-on-year, and konjac jelly pudding revenue was 301 million yuan, up 39.1%, together contributing over 20% of total revenue.
Meal Replacements: Konjac Enters Main Meals, Boosting Light Meal Dark Horses Unlike leisure snacks, brands like Akuan Foods and Yeren Riji are entering from the light meal segment, processing konjac into noodles, dumplings, rice noodles, etc., subverting consumers' perception of traditional staples. After all, konjac's low-calorie, low-fat, and high-fiber properties give it a natural "diet meal" attribute, fitting young people's weight-loss dietary needs and reducing "market education costs." Akuan Foods launched konjac cold noodles and konjac cold skin noodles in 2023, entering the main meal scene, and established a sub-brand "Mo Xiaobao" in 2024. Yeren Riji, founded in 2018, developed konjac steamed dumplings and konjac wontons, focusing on "Chinese-style, light-calorie, quick staples," with 2024 sales reaching 300 million yuan, of which konjac products accounted for about 85% of total sales. Brands like Keep, Bohe Health, and Baixiang have also developed konjac meal replacement foods.
Tea Drink Toppings: Konjac Jelly Pearls Make Upstream Companies Rich Konjac is not only in snacks and main meals but also in coffee and new-style tea drinks. The popularity of konjac jelly pearls has enriched upstream processing companies—Yizhi Konjac. This brand, which initially made money processing konjac flour, has now independently developed konjac jelly pearls, favored by tea brands like Mixue Bingcheng and Shanghai Auntie. In 2024, Yizhi Konjac's net profit was 87 million yuan, up 64.41% year-on-year, and non-GAAP net profit was 83 million yuan, up 164.7%. According to financial reports, konjac leisure foods and konjac tea drink toppings saw rapid sales growth, becoming important drivers of the company's rapid profit growth. Today, konjac jelly pearls have become a standard topping in new-style tea drinks—such as Heytea's "0-fat crispy boba," Mixue Bingcheng's "crispy boba," and Shanghai Auntie's "big meat," "small meat," "jelly," and "coconut fruit."
How Did Konjac Rise from a Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Specialty? Although konjac has achieved some success in different food sectors, the most profitable is still "leisure snacks." In fact, the rise of the konjac food family is inseparable from the surge in popularity of konjac snacks. China has always been the world's best konjac grower. According to data from the China Konjac Association Planting Committee, China's konjac production in 2020 accounted for 63% of the global total, with Japan, a major konjac consumer, ranking second at 22%. But at that time, there was a lack of ready-to-eat konjac products on the market, and Chinese people were not accustomed to eating ready-to-eat konjac. For a long time, domestic konjac raw materials were largely exported overseas, and China's konjac industry remained at the raw material cultivation and primary processing stage. It wasn't until 2009, when Weilong made a chance discovery at a Chengdu hotpot restaurant, that the fate of konjac snacks took a turn. In the boiling red oil pot, the spicy and chewy konjac slices inspired the Weilong team to develop a snack, and in 2014, they launched their first konjac snack—konjac spicy strips (vegetarian tripe). At that time, latiao products were at their peak, and no one could have imagined that the konjac spicy strip product line would become popular nationwide a decade later, even taking on the "breadwinning" role. From 2019 to 2024, Weilong's vegetable products revenue (where konjac spicy strips belong) grew from 660 million yuan to 3.37 billion yuan, with its share of total revenue rising from 19.6% to 53.8%, while seasoned flour products (latiao) fell from 73.1% to 42.6%. Even more striking is the profitability of konjac spicy strips. From 2019 to 2024, Weilong's vegetable products gross margin rose from 37.2% to 49.5%, peaking at 51.3% in 2023, higher than other products like latiao during the same period. Seeing Weilong making money from konjac spicy strips, more and more brands want a piece of the pie. 2020 was a key year. That year, Weilong led the formulation of the first "Ready-to-Eat Konjac Food" group standard, marking the upgrade of konjac spicy strips from a single item in spicy foods to an independent product category, attracting more brands to enter. Also in that year, China's overall konjac market size exceeded 40 billion yuan, with a ten-year compound annual growth rate of 26%. Subsequently, more and more brands bet on konjac, even chasing Weilong, such as Yanjin Pu Zi. In October 2023, Weilong launched the konjac sub-brand "Little Witch," and Yanjin Pu Zi followed with the brand "Big Devil." In terms of flavor, Yanjin Pu Zi launched sesame sauce-flavored konjac vegetarian tripe, differentiating from Weilong's traditional spicy flavor; in terms of product form, Yanjin Pu Zi pioneered sliced konjac vegetarian tripe, distinguishing it from Weilong's shredded form. Konjac has also brought sweetness to Yanjin Pu Zi. According to calculations by Huatai Research, in 2024, Weilong's market share in the konjac food industry reached 42%, followed by Yanjin Pu Zi at 13%. Research data from Ries Consulting also shows that Weilong has the strongest mind-share penetration in the konjac spicy strip category at 78%, with Yanjin Pu Zi ranking second at 11.3%. Brands like Lai Yifen, Jinzai, Three Squirrels, and Little Raccoon have joined the fray, enriching consumer choices and driving the development of the entire konjac snack industry. In 2024, despite the overall downturn in the snack market, konjac spicy strips continued to sweep the market, becoming one of the few high-growth phenomenal categories. At the Foodtalks Salon during the FBIF2025 Food & Beverage Innovation Forum, Mashangying mentioned that there are few growth categories in leisure snacks, and high-fiber konjac spicy strips are substituting for the latiao category. However, the core driver of category growth is not only brand promotion but also consumer demand. Some netizens joke about konjac spicy strips—konjac uses toxins to protect itself, chili uses burning pain to defend against natural enemies, but humans invented konjac spicy strips, finding joy at the "top of the food chain." So, why do consumers pay for konjac spicy strips?
Why Did Konjac Spicy Strips Become the "Human Cat Treat"? No hit product's success is entirely accidental. The popularity of konjac spicy strips lies in its precise alignment with contemporary consumers' snack needs—delicious, non-fattening, and convenient. On Xiaohongshu, when people mention "konjac spicy strips," they mainly evaluate them in terms of weight loss, taste, and scenarios. As a snack, being delicious is the basic quality of konjac spicy strips. Konjac spicy strips stimulate the brain to release endorphins through the "salty, umami, spicy" flavor, making people "painfully" happy and increasingly addicted. Brands are also innovating new flavors to satisfy different taste buds— Weilong's konjac spicy strips focus on spicy, numbing spicy, and sour spicy flavors, and in 2024 launched limited flavors like spicy crayfish and chili-fried pork, and added a sesame sauce flavor this January; Yanjin Pu Zi collaborated with Liubiju to launch a sesame sauce flavor, and also derived options like cilantro sesame sauce and red oil sesame sauce. No wonder consumers say it's addictive and hard to stop—"Last night I ate five packs in one go, and today I mixed konjac spicy strips with rice. It's really, really delicious, but very spicy."
Besides being "delicious," konjac spicy strips also break the paradox between "delicious" and "non-fattening." Although latiao and potato chips satisfy cravings, their high oil, high salt, and high calories always cause hesitation. The emergence of konjac spicy strips seems to offer a compromise. According to Weilong's flagship store, every 100g of Little Witch vegetarian tripe has only 25.3 kcal, equivalent to 1/6 of an apple, and provides 6g of dietary fiber, allowing consumers not to compromise between "weight loss" and "indulgence." Therefore, konjac spicy strips have become a "less guilty" choice for many when they want a snack. On social media, many people choose konjac spicy strips as their first choice for "cheat meals." However, whether konjac spicy strips are truly healthy is still controversial. Some believe that although konjac is a low-calorie ingredient, the ingredient list of konjac spicy strips is not clean; ingredients like vegetable oil, edible salt, MSG, and spices mean every bite is full of "technology and effort," making it impossible to be truly low-fat. Others feel that compared to traditional snacks, konjac spicy strips at least offer a relatively healthy option. Of course, making konjac spicy strips a true "human cat treat" also relies on the convenient, instant, and small-packaging design. The pocket snack design perfectly fits fragmented scenarios: keep a few packs by the bedside for binge-watching; keep a few in the office for stress relief during work breaks; even a gym bag can hold a few for a post-workout treat. Moreover, one pack of konjac spicy strips is just the right amount for 2-3 bites, satisfying cravings without the psychological burden of overconsumption, allowing consumers to indulge just the right amount.
Final Thoughts Black coffee "scrapes oil," white people food "drops weight," konjac meals "reduce fat"... In this health-conscious year, low-fat foods have completely caught fire. Data from Yimutian Research Institute shows that in 2024, the purchase price of konjac doubled, reaching over 7 yuan per kilogram at its peak, and prices remained high in 2025. Behind the price increase is a combination of reduced supply and explosive demand—upstream, the main production area in Yunnan suffered frost damage, reducing output and raising prices; downstream, konjac snacks, meal replacements, and tea drink toppings all developed simultaneously, pushing konjac, originally less than 3 yuan per kilogram, to the top of the price pyramid. Although konjac spicy strips remain controversial on health issues, consumers have made their choice with real money. We don't know how many people eat konjac spicy strips to lose weight, but there must be many who eat them to satisfy cravings. After all, eating snacks to lose weight may just be psychological comfort, but the joy of eating snacks is real.