Zheshang: The trend of fresh snack industry is rising, moving from single store verification to nationwide layout.

Zheshang released a research report stating that fresh snacks are a typical path for the retail industry to shift from price competition to value competition, in line with the trends of health, experience, and emotion. The report suggests paying attention to Juewei Food Co., Ltd. (603517.SH), YouYou Foods (603697.SH), and BUSYMING (01768). If the single-store model of fresh snack stores is successfully implemented and national replication is initiated, it is expected to bring new performance growth. Zheshang's main points are as follows: What are fresh snacks? Fresh snacks are a new type of snack retail format with "freshness+high quality-price ratio+zero preservatives" as the core product logic. It relies on a short supply chain, transparent production, and a reduced SKU to present categories such as freshly baked, cold desserts, and fresh marinated snacks at bulk prices, balancing quality and efficiency to meet consumers' dual needs for health and immediate experience. How is the trend of snack consumption evolving? The current trend in snack consumption is undergoing a profound transformation from "satisfying hunger" to multidimensional drivers such as "emotional value+sensory experience+health demands". According to the White Paper on the New Trend of Snack Consumption in China in 2026, taste and texture are still the primary factors for consumers in their purchases, while health attributes have risen to the fourth consideration dimension (36.7% share), with 67% of consumers willing to pay a premium for health labels. The market size of fresh snacks in China has grown from less than 5 billion yuan in 2020 to 18 billion yuan in 2025, with an average annual compound growth rate exceeding 40%, and is expected to grow significantly to 40-50 billion yuan in 2026, with a year-on-year growth rate of up to 100%. What is the current competitive landscape in the fresh snack track? The current fresh snack track is in its early stages, forming a diverse landscape of regional benchmarking and emerging brands breaking through. Market participants can be broadly categorized into three types: 1) Regional native brands: represented by companies such as Jinlimen, Jimaduoquan, Pumama, and Yili, these brands have unique differentiating features and have quickly established themselves in the track and started cross-regional expansion; 2) Listed companies: such as Juewei Food, YouYou Foods, etc., with core strengths in mature supply chain systems, high brand awareness, and financial strength, the business model of fresh snack stores is still in the validation stage, and is expected to form the ability for large-scale replication in the future; 3) Cross-border players: represented by brands such as Cha Yanye Se, BUSYMING, their advantages lie in existing traffic bases and channel resources. What is the competitive logic of fresh snacks compared to bulk snacks and Sam's Club? 1) Compared with bulk snacks: In the background of the mature integration period of bulk snacks and profit narrowing due to price wars, fresh snacks are driving the industry from "price wars" to "value wars"; 2) Compared with Sams Club: Different from the large packaging and suburban locations of Sams Club, fresh snacks cover young people's instant consumption scenarios with a "small packaging+high frequency+strong experience" model, forming a competitive advantage. How can fresh snack stores achieve large-scale replication? The path to large-scale replication of stores relies on three main support points: 1) Short supply chain: after product validation and volume production, the brand quickly coordinates factories for large-scale production, forming a supply chain elastic closed loop from "R&D trial production - volume conversion production"; 2) High turnover rate: driving repeat purchases with key products, improving consumption frequency through continuous taste iterations, and short protection attributes driving high-speed inventory turnover; 3) Fast new rate: implementing a "wide product category, narrow product" strategy, with some brands maintaining a monthly product iteration rate of around 20%. Risk warning Store expansion falling below expectations, intensifying industry competition, food safety issues, etc.