---
title: "The Transformation of Braised Food Giants Continues"
description: "This article discusses the challenges faced by China's leading braised food companies, including store closures and declining sales, as they grapple with rising raw material costs and changing consumer preferences. It highlights their strategies to adapt, such as promotional pricing, supply chain optimization, and product diversification."
author: "伯虎团队"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2025-05-17"
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citation: "伯虎团队. “The Transformation of Braised Food Giants Continues.” New Distribution, 2025-05-17. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/the-transformation-of-braised-food-giants-continues-0ea64b96/"
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# The Transformation of Braised Food Giants Continues

> This article discusses the challenges faced by China's leading braised food companies, including store closures and declining sales, as they grapple with rising raw material costs and changing consumer preferences. It highlights their strategies to adapt, such as promotional pricing, supply chain optimization, and product diversification.

**Source** | Bohu Finance
"It could have just robbed me, but it still gave me some duck necks." This seemingly joking remark captures the current situation of the braised food giants.
In the past two years, hashtags like "The three braised food giants close many stores, netizens complain they can't afford to eat" have trended on social media, with netizens self-deprecatingly saying, "Even with a monthly salary over 10,000 yuan, I can't afford duck necks."
Behind the mockery, the braised food giants are having an increasingly tough time.
In 2024, Zhou Hei Ya's revenue was 2.45 billion yuan, down 10.7% year-on-year, with net profit of 98.2 million yuan, down 15%; Juewei Food's revenue was 6.257 billion yuan, down 13.84%, with net profit of 227 million yuan, down 34.04%; Huang Shang Huang's revenue was 1.739 billion yuan, down 9.44%, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 40.33 million yuan, down 42.86%.
Among them, Juewei Food experienced its first annual revenue decline since its listing in 2017, while Huang Shang Huang has seen negative revenue growth for four consecutive years.
A more precise turning point is that in 2022, the net profits of the three braised food giants began to decline significantly. It was also during this period that "braised food is too expensive" began to trend on social media.
**The Rising Price of Duck Necks**
**and Consumers Who Can't Afford Them**
Behind the collective pressure on the braised food giants are increasingly expensive raw materials and continuously rising duck product prices.
According to Huang Shang Huang's disclosure, based on the price fluctuation trend of major raw materials in the first half of 2023, due to a shortage of supply caused by a lack of personnel in the northern raw material supply market after the Spring Festival, the market prices of the company's main raw materials, including duck feet, duck wings, duck necks, and other duck by-products, all rose significantly. Among them, duck feet rose to as high as 37.60 yuan/kg, duck wings to 19.80 yuan/kg, and duck necks to 27.80 yuan/kg.
Zhou Hei Ya also mentioned that in early 2023, against the backdrop of insufficient raw material supply and surging demand, the prices of the company's main raw materials continued to rise, far exceeding the average level of previous years, putting tremendous pressure on costs. According to BOC International data, Zhou Hei Ya's duck neck was priced at 45 yuan/jin in 2012, but by 2023 it had risen to 60 yuan/jin.
Previously, media reported that in early 2022, Juewei Duck Neck raised prices on some products by 5%, and in July of the same year, Juewei again adjusted prices on some categories such as duck feet and squid, with an average increase of 7% to 10%.
In addition to external price increases, the braised food giants' development strategy of focusing on duck products like duck necks has also become a weakness. On one hand, when raw material prices rise, brands have to raise prices accordingly, increasing overall product prices. On the other hand, this provides opportunities for new brands to enter the market.
Meanwhile, the "China Catering Development Report 2022" shows that the top five in the braised food industry—Juewei, Zhou Hei Ya, Zi Yan Food, Huang Shang Huang, and Jiu Jiu Ya—together hold about 20% of the market share. In other words, the braised food market is not highly concentrated, and the giants have not yet formed a dominant market position, leaving many opportunities for new brands.
In 2023, a total of 21,800 braised food-related enterprises were registered, breaking the 20,000 mark for the first time. On one hand, the braised food giants' "can't sell" trended on social media; on the other hand, the braised food industry remains bustling.
New braised food brands like Wang Xiao Lu and Tuo Gu Xia have won with innovative products, while snack brands like Three Squirrels, Bai Cao Wei, and Liang Pin Pu Zi have launched vacuum-packed braised snacks... These unexpected competitors have had a certain impact on the braised food giants.
In a survey of 2,296 responses by Youyisi Report, over 80% of respondents said they had reduced the frequency of buying braised food from chain brands in 2024, with only 3.63% maintaining or increasing their purchases.
**The Transformation of Braised Food Giants**
**Continues**
To address the consumer pain points caused by rising raw material prices, the braised food giants have also launched various measures.
In terms of pricing, they are implementing flexible promotions. Zhou Hei Ya has adopted a "fresh-lock + bulk braised/hot braised two-in-one" store model, offering activities like "second item half price on Wednesdays" and "10 yuan off for community group purchases," while online channels have introduced low-price traffic-generating products like "9.9 yuan freedom to satisfy cravings."
In 2023, a Zhou Hei Ya spokesperson said that the company was using 9.9 yuan new products, 39.9 yuan mix-and-match activities, and a full price range layout to attract new customers and increase repurchase rates.
Juewei Food uses digital analysis of consumer behavior to dynamically adjust pricing, offering offline combination discounts like "three items at 40% off" and "second item half price," while reducing average order value by 10%-15% in its online flagship store. Huang Shang Huang optimizes promotional resources for high-margin products, launches "69 yuan for any 5 items" packages, and closes inefficient stores to concentrate resources.
In terms of supply chain and cost control, Juewei Food adheres to the principle of "meeting production needs and reducing procurement costs," formulating procurement plans at the beginning of each month based on the previous month's actual production and inventory, combined with this month's sales and production plans. A complete procurement system can reduce intermediate links, lower procurement costs, ensure the quality of purchased raw materials, and mitigate the impact of market price fluctuations. At the same time, the company has established an internal control system centered on raw material supplier access procedures, evaluation procedures, and bidding procurement procedures to ensure that purchased materials are of qualified quality, reasonable price, and appropriate quantity.
Zhou Hei Ya, on the other hand, has introduced a strategic procurement window, increasing stockpiling when raw material prices are low to lock in gross margin space. Huang Shang Huang selectively purchases duck by-products, using market fluctuations to lower the weighted average cost.
Furthermore, the braised food giants are diversifying their transformation and expanding scenarios. For example, Zhou Hei Ya previously launched sweet and spicy chicken drumsticks, and Huang Shang Huang has expanded into pre-made dishes and roasted pig trotters, attempting to cover the mid-to-low price market. Juewei Food is piloting a "braised food + milk tea" combination in Changsha, while Zhou Hei Ya is exploring community sub-brands, planning to use bulk hot braised food to appeal to family consumption.
These measures have indeed brought some results. In 2024, despite significant declines in revenue and net profit, the gross margins of the three giants improved to varying degrees.
In 2024, Juewei Food's gross margin for braised products increased by 6.1 percentage points year-on-year to 33.96%, Huang Shang Huang's gross margin increased by 3.93 percentage points to 32.95%, and Zhou Hei Ya's gross margin increased by 4.4 percentage points year-on-year to 56.8%.
It is understood that Juewei and Huang Shang Huang mainly benefited from lower raw material prices, which reduced production costs, while Zhou Hei Ya attributed its improvement to efficiency gains from supply chain integration.
It can be seen that although the three giants' price adjustment strategies have made progress in gross margin and cost control, they have not reversed the declining revenue trend.
Industry observers point out that the industry faces external pressures, and leading companies are actively seeking internal efficiency and cost control opportunities. However, the space to offset declining demand through cost reduction and efficiency improvement is ultimately limited.
In the future, the competitive focus will shift to improving cost-effectiveness and deep supply chain integration. The braised food giants still need to find a new balance between affordable pricing and quality assurance.


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 伯虎团队
- Published: 2025-05-17
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/the-transformation-of-braised-food-giants-continues-0ea64b96/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Qe_86WPPejVKrGm9C1k4ow

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