--- title: "China Chain Store & Franchise Association Peng Jianzhen: The \"takeout war\" erodes the survival foundation of the catering industry" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/282481116.md" description: "At the 2026 China Chain Catering Summit, Peng Jianzhen, president of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, pointed out that the catering industry is facing severe challenges, with the growth rate of catering revenue slowing down in 2025, and the industry is undergoing a major reshuffle. Data from Meituan shows a slight decrease in the number of catering merchants, with a significant increase in closed businesses. Peng Jianzhen believes that while the takeaway war and price wars benefit consumers in the short term, they erode the industry's innovation capacity and survival foundation in the long run. The association will advocate for platforms to stop large subsidies to support the healthy development of the catering ecosystem" datetime: "2026-04-13T03:30:13.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/282481116.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282481116.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/282481116.md) --- # China Chain Store & Franchise Association Peng Jianzhen: The "takeout war" erodes the survival foundation of the catering industry IT Home reported on April 13 that the CCFA New Consumption Forum - 2026 China Chain Catering Summit was held in Shanghai from April 7 to 9. During the main session of the summit on the morning of April 8, Peng Jianzhen, president of the China Chain Store and Franchise Association, delivered a keynote speech. Peng Jianzhen stated that the catering revenue reached 5.79 trillion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%, **but the growth rate has significantly slowed, and the industry is shifting from incremental expansion to stock game**. IT Home noted that the catering white paper released in cooperation with Meituan by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association shows that by the end of 2025, there were approximately 7.47 million catering merchants included in the Meituan system, a slight decrease of 0.1%. At the same time, the number of merchants marked as closed in the Meituan system reached 3.39 million in 2025, an increase of 9.4% compared to 2024 (among the 3.39 million merchants that exited, 23.8% opened and exited in the same year, and 41.3% of the businesses opened in 2024 and exited in 2025). Peng Jianzhen believes this indicates that beneath the stable total, **the industry is undergoing a brutal reshuffle**. Nearly two-thirds of the exited merchants operated for less than two years, with many new players being squeezed out of the market during their experience accumulation period due to fierce competition. Meanwhile, influenced by factors such as platform subsidy wars, the overall prices in the industry have entered a downward range, which has largely constrained the healthy growth of the industry's scale. Peng Jianzhen pointed out that last year's "takeaway war" and the recurring price wars, while providing short-term benefits to consumers, have long-term implications that erode the industry's innovation capacity and survival foundation. Peng Jianzhen stated that in response to the impact of platform wars on physical merchants, the China Chain Store and Franchise Association conducted extensive research in July 2025 on how merchants were forced to bear subsidy amounts leading to profit declines and normal operations being affected, and timely issued an initiative to **advocate for platforms to stop large subsidies**. Subsequently, the association also participated in discussions with relevant departments multiple times, actively providing feedback on coordinated development policy suggestions. In the future, the association will continue to align with national policies to promote the healthy development of the catering ecosystem ### Related Stocks - [03690.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/03690.HK.md) - [MPNGY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MPNGY.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [KFC China grows on delivery boom but faces tighter margins](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284813463.md) - [Will you soon be ordering takeout food via AI? Starbucks and Little Caesars launch apps on ChatGPT.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284243631.md) - [Happy Belly Food Group's Yolks Breakfast Signs 15 Unit Area Development Agreement for Alberta | HBFGF Stock News](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284194391.md) - [BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse Celebrates National Burger Month with New Premium Wagyu Burger | BJRI Stock News](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284770432.md) - [How to play the K-shaped economy in the restaurant sector](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284231936.md)