In 2026, after the &#34;Zhao Yiming&#34; and thousands of stores in the snack sector have established their presence, a new model has recently emerged.
In first-tier business districts and core shopping malls in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Nanjing, a new business format called fresh snacks has become the &#34;new queue king.&#34;
However, in reality, fresh snacks are not a new species.
In 2023, when discount snack stores were booming, fresh snacks had a brief period of popularity in the spotlight. Until now, as the previous round of bulk snack industry has fallen into &#34;traffic thirst, profit thirst, and return thirst,&#34; this sector has truly begun to &#34;break out&#34;:
Founded in Shenyang, Yili has nearly 70 stores nationwide to date; Jinli Men from Changsha and Jidu Quan have also exceeded 20 and 60 stores, respectively; in addition, Pu Mama, which has a large layout in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian regions, and the new brand &#34;You·Recommend&#34; created by Mingming Hen Mang.
Unlike traditional offline snack stores and bulk snack stores, these types of stores do not rely on a large number of SKUs or high cost-performance ratios, but emphasize &#34;on-site production&#34;—produced on-site with a short shelf life, consolidating some categories into 3-4 smaller categories, and then achieving rapid turnover.
In these stores, you will find that products are available for tasting, there is service when entering the store, and nuts, dried fruits, and baked goods are packaged in transparent packaging, somewhat resembling a smaller version of the bakery section in Sam's Club or Hema.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/Oyiliw5EGVRpUYBnsO3MeJ6bPWIfynHDFLJKnwmCg9hEkAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/Oyiliw5EGVRpUYBnsO3MeJ6bPWIfynHDFLJKnwmCg9hEkAA/641"/>
Some consumer investors have stated that fresh snacks are &#34;the most eye-catching consumer project&#34; in the past six months, with &#34;every store performing well.&#34; Although the current scale cannot compare with bulk snacks, its expansion speed should not be underestimated. The brand &#34;Jidu Quan,&#34; which was established only a year ago, has already set a goal of &#34;reaching a thousand stores,&#34; and other brands are also rapidly expanding, continuously broadening their reach into more cities.
However, behind the excitement lies an unavoidable issue:
How to solve the supply chain challenges behind the definition of &#34;fresh&#34;? How to transition the food safety inherent in food retail? And how to achieve a balance among short shelf life, scale, and price? The answers remain unresolved.
If these issues cannot be resolved, fresh snacks may quickly go from a trend to just a gimmick.
<h2>1. Consumption Upgrade of Bulk Snacks, Consumption Downgrade of High-End Fried Goods</h2>
Approaching any fresh snack store, you may find it differs from your expectations: it resembles both a snack store and a fried goods store, while also having some attributes of dining. Rather than calling it a fresh snack store, it might be better termed a fresh food store—
Compared to the thousands of stores of discount snack shops that are spread across streets and alleys, it has a maximum of only 300 SKUs, with all products emphasizing freshness and health;
And compared to nut and fried goods stores like &#34;Xue Ji,&#34; it has reconfigured categories such as snacks, baked goods, marinated foods, desserts, and beverages into a more complex &#34;collection store&#34; format
To some extent, the popularity of the fresh snack sector is also derived from these two sectors.
On one hand, over the past two years, snack wholesale stores have rapidly expanded by relying on low prices and a wide variety of products, establishing &#34;affordability&#34; and &#34;variety&#34; as common capabilities in the offline snack industry.
However, as growth potential gradually reaches its peak, the entire industry is transitioning from past scale expansion to a phase of &#34;refined cultivation.&#34; Even so, gross profit margins continue to decline.
As a result, many leading brands have begun to break out of the single boundary of &#34;snacks&#34; and transform into all-category discount supermarkets, launching &#34;money-saving supermarkets&#34; to explore new growth potential through horizontal category expansion.
The emergence of the fresh snack business model is precisely due to the industry's consideration of breaking away from the homogenization and price wars within the snack industry.
For example, Zheng Zhenghuan, the founder of Pu Mama, was once the founder of a regional snack discount brand. He mentioned that the starting point for founding Pu Mama was &#34;to seek breakthroughs and jump out of the price war of discount snacks.&#34;
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O3hQbWggJbvRWFaEgcZdakr4qwZtL57_QVDGnP3umMJ7QAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O3hQbWggJbvRWFaEgcZdakr4qwZtL57_QVDGnP3umMJ7QAA/641"/>
On the other hand, in recent years, brands represented by Xue Ji Fried Goods, Qi Wang Peanuts, and Guo Li Yuan have rapidly risen by relying on freshly made fried goods, bulk formats, shopping mall channels, and explosive single product marketing, while also quietly becoming more expensive.
Earlier this year, &#34;high-end fried goods prices soared&#34; once trended on social media, with Xue Ji being the most mentioned brand. While other brands' sunflower seeds can be bought for ten yuan for a large handful, Xue Ji's sunflower seeds are priced at 23.8 yuan per jin, freshly roasted cashews are nearly 100 yuan per jin, freeze-dried strawberry crisps are 138 yuan per jin, and hand-peeled pine nuts are as high as 218 yuan per jin...
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O5Rty6PiBZpz48_VvI-KBblqX6E0cHob23AOrpRICvQBQAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O5Rty6PiBZpz48_VvI-KBblqX6E0cHob23AOrpRICvQBQAA/641"/>
In fact, Xue Ji Fried Goods has even been referred to by netizens as &#34;the Chow Tai Fook of the fried goods industry,&#34; with year-end bonuses of 100,000 not daring to enter the doors of Xue Ji Fried Goods.
From this perspective, the average transaction price of fresh snacks is generally between 45-55 yuan, which is relatively mild compared to the &#34;assassin&#34; level prices of nut and fried goods stores, making it a kind of alternative.
Moreover, from the consumer end, &#34;fresh, healthy, and low additives&#34; has become the core trend in snack consumption, and the young consumer group is willing to pay for freshness and quality, providing a certain market demand for the fresh snack sector.
This also explains why newly opened fresh snack stores have shown good profitability in a short period.
According to reports from multiple media outlets, the average monthly sales of &#34;Jin Li Men&#34; per store are around 1.5 million yuan, with the best-performing stores achieving monthly sales of up to 4 million yuan; &#34;Pu Mama&#34; has reached a maximum monthly sales of 2.5 million yuan per store
According to reports from &#34;Narrowcast,&#34; the gross profit margin of fresh snack stores is around 30%-35%, with a net profit margin close to 15%. With the traffic effect brought by the current fresh experience, the monthly sales of a single store can reach 2 million yuan. Based on a store area of 200-300 square meters and an investment of 2-3 million yuan per store, it can be averaged that the payback period is 7-9 months.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O5rdhF00lq1dOwXCDlc9bML3Twp3KKuZJGFMR1y9vDCE4AA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O5rdhF00lq1dOwXCDlc9bML3Twp3KKuZJGFMR1y9vDCE4AA/641"/>
<h2>2. From Homogenization to Differentiation, and Back to Homogenization</h2>
If you closely observe brands like Jinli Men, Yili, and Jiduoquan, you will find that although their signs are different, their core is surprisingly consistent: transforming snack stores from mere selling spaces into a collection store with freshly made attributes.
The most core change in these stores is that part of the production and processing of snacks has been moved back to the store, directly bringing the &#34;freshly made logic&#34; that originally belonged to fried goods to the front desk.
Ovens, steamers, and workstations have become important areas in the store, with freshly roasted chestnuts, freshly baked goods, fresh marinated items, and freshly squeezed juices forming the main product structure along with nuts, dried fruits, and jerky.
While discount snack stores and traditional fried goods stores have already fallen into homogenization, competing in scale, channels, and who can push prices to the lowest, fresh snack stores have chosen to compete on time—40% of short shelf-life products with a shelf life of 4-5 days, where the supply chain operates not on a &#34;weekly&#34; basis but on a countdown of &#34;days.&#34;
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OsEDmYj02-8w8anrO8pxR1fdh7U4-OdE346cyPnRGce4UAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OsEDmYj02-8w8anrO8pxR1fdh7U4-OdE346cyPnRGce4UAA/641"/>
To some extent, fresh snacks have broken away from past homogenization and moved towards differentiation in the market. However, this differentiation is relative.
This is because, upon deeper investigation into the fresh snack stores, there exists a &#34;short shelf life, scale, price&#34; impossible triangle, and it is difficult to achieve all three simultaneously.
Some say that these three goals are like three ropes; pulling one tightens the other two, which is not an exaggeration.
A short shelf life means that the supply chain response must be extremely fast, and inventory turnover must be precise; any misjudgment results in real monetary loss. Scalable expansion requires central factories, cold chain networks, and standardized operating procedures, each of which is a heavy asset investment. To maintain relatively affordable prices, costs must be diluted through scale, but scale itself naturally conflicts with the &#34;regional attribute&#34; of short shelf life.
The ultimate result is that, although each company tries to establish differentiation in positioning, their product combinations are almost identical, featuring various nuts, dried fruits, and jerky, with a high degree of overlap in products and prices, and even the products placed at the entrance for trial tasting are the same roasted sweet potato chips
This homogenization has also extended to store design. One example is that Jinli Door's store design sought the company ABCD, which designed &#34;Jiaonai,&#34; to reshape the store's visual system, focusing on a minimalist industrial style. This store style has quickly been adopted by almost all fresh snack brands on the market.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OcX3MZVQ_HXJ2dnjpEvPdRuH8D72ak6W7A3UnmDki-wOEAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OcX3MZVQ_HXJ2dnjpEvPdRuH8D72ak6W7A3UnmDki-wOEAA/641"/>
In other words, these fresh snack stores have merely jumped from one extremely competitive old track to another new track that is about to become competitive, and before they even start to establish their territory, they have already fallen into the trap of homogeneous competition.
Even more exaggerated is that nowadays, offline chains that can break even within 18 months are seen as quality targets by franchisees. The shorter break-even period of fresh snack stores is attracting more and more practitioners. Currently, &#34;Jiduquan&#34; in fresh snacks has already opened for franchising.
<h2>3. Is Fresh Snack Really a Good Business?</h2>
For many players considering or currently contemplating entering the fresh snack track, this business looks lively, but there are many hidden dangers behind it.
The reason is simple: many stores follow a &#34;broad category, narrow product&#34; approach, with SKUs significantly compressed. For many ordinary consumers, they are often accustomed to either a &#34;single product route&#34; or a store that &#34;has everything.&#34;
The products offered by these fresh snack stores do not have much differentiation; they can often be found in other bakeries, and the prices may not necessarily be high. The &#34;middle route&#34; may also lead to consumers not encountering exactly what they want to buy.
Today, fresh snack stores are trying to compensate for this shortcoming through two paths—
One is to rely on sampling, aroma, and the production process to keep customers engaged. In Jiduquan's stores, all products can basically be sampled. Some freshly baked items are constantly restocked, allowing customers to smell the aroma right at the entrance. Many times, customers are first attracted by the smell and sampling.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OZAe0eKUp0vM3w3zRAMW_7J6ZghuImYugaEbLg6FldU_wAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OZAe0eKUp0vM3w3zRAMW_7J6ZghuImYugaEbLg6FldU_wAA/641"/>
But this also means that it is difficult to build a business solely based on low prices and standard shelves like snack wholesalers. Fresh snacks sell not just the products themselves but also need to continuously prove to consumers that they are fresher and worth spending a little more money.
The other is to increase consumption frequency; many fresh snack stores will add high-frequency products such as fresh marinated food, desserts, and beverages.
However, while these products can attract foot traffic, their prices are usually more transparent, and the profit margins may not be as large as imagined. If they do not sell quickly, they can quickly turn into waste.
Whether enhancing service experience or adding high-frequency products, this points to operational capability, innovation capability, and deepening the supply chain
Taking the supply chain as an example, since the products focus on short shelf-life health snacks, all fresh snack stores are currently operating a self-owned product matrix that is frequently iterated and strongly controlled. The logic of deep binding with OEM factories is similar to the supply chain thinking of Sam's Club and Costco: establishing differentiation through deep customization and creating repurchase expectations through frequent new product launches.
However, many domestic snack OEM factories that previously followed a mass-market approach primarily focused on long shelf-life production capabilities. Transitioning from long shelf-life to short shelf-life is not an easy task that can be accomplished overnight.
Therefore, for these types of stores, the challenge is not in producing the products but in whether they can continuously and stably sell the products. The location of the store, customer flow, replenishment rhythm, and supply chain turnover will directly affect whether this business can be established.
More critically, the fresh snack sector is still in its infancy, with the core characteristic being &#34;running the model and local validation.&#34; Based on last year's development, the supply chain challenges of cross-regional expansion have not yet been fully resolved, and the loss issues brought about by short shelf-life products have not been adequately addressed.
The most fatal issue for fresh snacks is the domino effect caused by losses.
In the early stages of the business explosion, these fresh snack stores had good turnover, and losses were within a normal range. Once they are diverted by their own expansion and peers, or when consumers' novelty experiences fade, performance declines, and store losses will significantly increase. Losses directly impact net profit and can extend the originally ideal 7-9 month payback period indefinitely.
In fact, many fresh snacks have already revealed certain problems due to their short shelf-life characteristics.
In January 2026, Jinli Men faced a public relations crisis after media exposure of serious food safety issues at its OEM factory. Although Jinli Men quickly responded and established a special compensation fund of up to 12 million yuan after the incident was exposed, it is difficult to rebuild consumer trust once it has collapsed.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O3_fJBdiWj7y8rnlAUrgUlsb1X6m6BhcyD03gMsDGWbkIAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O3_fJBdiWj7y8rnlAUrgUlsb1X6m6BhcyD03gMsDGWbkIAA/641"/>
This precisely illustrates that the characteristic of &#34;short shelf-life&#34; requires perfection in all aspects: food safety of raw materials, zero pollution in the production process, seamless cold chain connection, and real-time inspection, which is difficult to guarantee completely in reality.
Even if all the above issues are resolved, fresh snacks still face a fundamental paradox: fresh snacks are merely performing freshness.
Looking closely at the bulk products in these stores, they are all sold after being processed from semi-finished products. For example, baked sweet potato fries are made from pre-made sweet potato chips baked in an oven, while ice cream is made from finished milk slurry, and the ingredient list is not indicated on the milk slurry packaging.
An industry insider stated that fresh snack stores actually use a &#34;frozen to fresh&#34; approach, meaning that products are delivered to stores in a &#34;frozen&#34; state from factories or central kitchens and then converted to a &#34;fresh&#34; state for sale within a short period.
When the tide of traffic recedes, this business model and production process, which originally existed, will be re-examined by consumers under the label of &#34;fresh.&#34; Perhaps accepting the reality that it is impossible to open thousands of stores like discount snacks is the best outcome

Fresh snacks are rapidly rising in first-tier cities, becoming a new consumption hotspot. Although their model is not entirely new, fresh snacks attract consumers through on-site production and short shelf life while the traditional snack industry faces challenges. Brands like "Ji Duo Quan" are expanding quickly, aiming for a thousand stores. However, issues such as supply chain, food safety, and price balance still need to be addressed; if not managed, they may shift from a trend to a gimmick

The newly emerging queue king "Fresh Snacks," is it an industry trend or an IQ tax?