Snack Firms' 2026 Interim Results: Wanchen and Mingming Busy Post Combined Revenue of RMB 79.83 Billion

Snack-related listed companies, including Wanchen Group, Mingming Busy, Three Squirrels, Liangpinpuzi, and Laiyifen, recently disclosed their interim results for the first half of 2026, showing divergent performance across business models.

The two volume-based snack channel operators continued their growth momentum. Wanchen Group and Mingming Busy together generated revenue of RMB 79.83 billion in the first half, with combined net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 3.45 billion. Discount snack stores have become an important incremental channel for various brands, while their low-price model has also squeezed the profit margins of brands' original channels.

Mingming Busy reported first-half revenue of RMB 44.997 billion, up 60.0% year on year; interim profit of RMB 2.24 billion, up 155.4%; and a gross margin of 11.5%, 2.2 percentage points higher than the 9.3% in the same period of 2025. Wanchen Group posted revenue of RMB 34.836 billion, up 54.26%, with its core discount snack business contributing RMB 34.521 billion, up 54.49%; net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 1.21 billion, up 156.58%; and gross margin was 12.85%, up 1.44 percentage points year on year.

As of the end of June 2026, the two companies' combined store count exceeded 50,000, with networks covering all 31 provincial-level regions in China. Mingming Busy had 26,405 stores, and Wanchen Group had 23,802 stores. In July, Mingming Busy disclosed that its signed store count exceeded 30,000.

According to Wanchen Group's investor relations record released on September 1, the domestic snack and beverage market is valued at RMB 3 trillion to 4 trillion, with the discount channel's GMV share still low. The company said existing stores continued to see positive revenue growth and no diversionary decline. Wanchen had slowed store openings in the first half of 2025 due to rapid expansion in the second half of 2024, then accelerated in the second half as same-store performance stabilized, maintaining flexible opening pace with no fixed schedule. Mingming Busy added 4,457 net new stores in the first half.

Branded snack makers showed clear divergence. Laiyifen's first-half revenue was RMB 1.812 billion, down 6.60%; net loss attributable to shareholders was RMB 92 million, widening year on year, mainly due to lower sales and gross margin, with revenue affected by new business channels and reduced income from new models. As of the reporting period end, Laiyifen had 2,968 stores, including 2,650 franchised and 318 directly operated, down 726 from the end of 2025.

Three Squirrels reported first-half revenue of RMB 5.28 billion, down 3.61%; net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 249 million, up 79.94%. During the period, revenue from third-party e-commerce platforms was RMB 3.326 billion, accounting for 63.0% of total revenue; offline distribution revenue was RMB 1.545 billion. As of the reporting period end, the company had 262 offline stores, generating RMB 262 million in revenue.

Liangpinpuzi achieved first-half 2026 revenue of RMB 3.145 billion, up 11.18%, with net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 16.1944 million, turning profitable. E-commerce accounted for 48.15% of total revenue, the highest among its sales channels. The company operated nearly 2,000 offline stores, mainly in core business districts and communities. In its financial report, Liangpinpuzi noted that China's snack food industry has a relatively low entry barrier, numerous participants, high product homogeneity, and intense competition, facing multiple changes including shifting consumer trends, the impact of discount snack models, and the rise of fresh snack formats.