According to the latest data from JD Super, leisure meat products are currently showing a good development trend with strong momentum. Combined with market research, 'spicy' has become an indispensable flavor. With the upgrading of consumer demand, the spicy meat product market has also taken on a new development look. Cultural Integration: Regional Specialties Go National Sichuan and Chongqing prefer numbing and spicy, while Hunan favors fragrant and spicy... Just as 'each place nurtures its own people,' the differentiated demand for 'spiciness' across regions has also created different specialty products, such as pickled pepper chicken feet represented by Chongqing Youyou, spicy small fish represented by Hunan Jinzai, spicy duck brands Juewei and Zhou Hei Ya from Hunan and Hubei, and Huang Shang Huang from Jiangxi... all of which reflect local food culture. Youyou's pickled pepper chicken feet have sold over 400,000 units on Tmall. However, in recent years, the trend of regional products expanding to the national market has become increasingly evident. Relevant data shows that the seven major spicy food regions in China—Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Jiangxi—account for over 40% of China's migrant labor force. As a food culture, 'spiciness' has naturally been carried to all parts of the country. Coupled with the rapid development of e-commerce channels, this has undoubtedly added momentum to the promotion of regional spicy brands. Hunan-Style Cured Meat Takes the Leisure Path Zhou Bin, general manager of Hunan Yiyang Bajiu Shi Food Co., Ltd., is a beneficiary of this trend. In the past two years, Zhou Bin has been operating a leisure cured meat product. According to him, cured meats from Guangdong and Fujian tend to be sweet. Nowadays, with more young migrant workers, it's hard to find Hunan-style spicy cured meat outside of Hunan. Even if semi-finished products are available, young people are too lazy to do secondary processing. Seeing this business opportunity, Zhou Bin turned Hunan cured meat into a leisure food, making it easy for migrant workers to carry and enjoy across the country. However, tastes vary, and relying on a single spicy flavor is no longer viable. To address this, some companies have adjusted flavors for target markets. Jinzai's small fish fully embodies Hunan's spicy characteristics. 'Hunan consumers can handle more heat than those in Sichuan and Chongqing. Previously, Hunan clients thought our products weren't spicy enough, and market acceptance was poor. So we conducted research and taste tests specifically for the Hunan region, developing an extra-spicy product that received excellent feedback,' explained Lin Nan, deputy director of the technical center at Chongqing Baishiyi Ban Duck Food Co., Ltd. 'China is vast, and it's hard to find a single spicy flavor that suits all markets. Therefore, precision marketing is essential. Zhou Hei Ya's success in going national is due to its rich flavor profile that covers a broader consumer base.' Consumption Upgrade: The Era of Diversification Most mainstream leisure meat product companies were established after 2000, which coincides with the warming of national consumption. According to Tong Miaoqiang, marketing director of Hangzhou Laochu Food Co., Ltd., initially spicy meat products were mostly high-consumption items like beef, pork, chicken, and duck. Later, not only did they vertically extend to duck necks, duck collarbones, duck gizzards, chicken feet, and beef tendon, but horizontally, more categories like spicy small fish and rabbit meat also became popular, directly driving the rise of brands such as Jinzai, Pinpin, Youyou, Zhou Hei Ya, and Juewei. Liangpin Shopzi Launches 'Spicy Ready-to-Eat Abalone' Now, seafood is also becoming a promising segment in the spicy leisure meat market. In October 2017, the Marine Leisure Food Trend Seminar was held in Dalian Zhangzidao, where Liangpin Shopzi and Zhangzidao Group jointly released the new product 'Spicy Ready-to-Eat Abalone.' They stated that after repeated research, they finally settled on 'spicy' from four flavors: numbing spicy, fragrant spicy, original, and charcoal-grilled. This not only signifies high recognition of spiciness in the marine leisure food sector but also indicates that leisure meat products will undergo new upgrades in quality and flavor. Particularly surprising is that some regional companies have begun experimenting with frog, snail, loach, eel, and silkworm pupa as ingredients. Huge Potential: Favored by Capital Markets According to Huang Yaping, market manager of Jiangsu Shejian Gongfu Food Co., Ltd., the current market capacity for the leisure meat products industry is about 200 billion yuan, growing at an annual rate of over 30%. Regarding the development prospects of spicy leisure meat products, Huang Yaping believes the potential is enormous. Unlike bakery products that change rapidly, spicy leisure meat products have a longer life cycle and better align with current young consumers' consumption concepts. Their added value and flavors are more attention-grabbing than traditional products. Moreover, against the backdrop of rapid industry development, spiciness will also move toward more segmented directions, such as numbing spicy, fragrant spicy, pickled pepper spicy, and extra spicy. However, from a flavor perspective, no brand has yet monopolized the national market, which means more possibilities for the entire industry. Spicy beef jerky receives positive market feedback. In recent years, the spicy leisure meat industry has pushed companies like Huang Shang Huang, Youyou, Zhou Hei Ya, and Juewei into the capital market. Several high-quality brands like Jinzai have also received support from investment institutions, presenting a prosperous scene. The spicy leisure meat market is surging beneath the surface. Whether it's the expansion and upgrade of raw materials or the exploration of spicy flavor segmentation, it all signifies innovation and progress for the industry. In an era of nationwide consumption upgrades and internet penetration, high-quality products with strong momentum will eventually stand out after the test of time. The spicy leisure meat industry may be on the verge of a new development phase. Source: Snack Reference (ID: lsck360) -END-