Missing Out on the Brand for Twenty Years: Is "Food City" Zhangzhou Making a Comeback on Pinduoduo's Table?

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Dong Jingyi, Zhangzhou Report

Driving west from Xiamen city center, it’s just over an hour to reach Zhangzhou city.

Here, the food industry’s scale is nearly 170 billion yuan, with more than 600 food companies in Longhai District, 135 large-scale food enterprises, and an annual output value of nearly 50 billion yuan, accounting for about one-tenth of Fujian Province’s food industry.

This is the first “China Food Famous City” in the south, but it has long lived in the shadow of Jinjiang, 100 kilometers away.

Most people think of Fujian snacks first—Jinjiang’s Yake, Panpan, Daliyuan—these names, along with TV advertising’s golden era, have become collective memories for the 80s and 90s. That was Jinjiang’s golden age.

Meanwhile, business owners in Zhangzhou are still quietly expanding factories, waiting by the phone for orders. Hongxiangji’s Shen Xiuying has watched generations of food factories rise in Zhangzhou and told reporters, “Most Zhangzhou bosses only know how to run factories; they work steadily in manufacturing, unlike Quanzhou, where brand awareness is particularly strong.”

Steadiness is a virtue, but it also caused Zhangzhou to miss out on the best twenty years of branding. In the competition with Jinjiang, Zhangzhou’s brands have always been a step behind.

Now, this silence is being broken.

On the Pinduoduo platform, Zhangzhou’s food people have discovered that the rules have changed. In the past, brands relied on time to build, but now products can be seen overnight. The channel advantages Jinjiang brands once had are hard to shake, but a hit product can now open a gap.

Faced with drastic changes in the consumer market, Zhangzhou’s snack industry, with its deep supply chain, is catching up—focusing on product innovation and leveraging new e-commerce platforms to multiply brand visibility. As a new generation of young people takes center stage, Zhangzhou snack entrepreneurs are launching a belated breakout.

In Zhangzhou, Fujian, the foundation of the food industry is pragmatism and perseverance. Local merchants believe more in the simple business philosophy of “good stuff.” This “craftsman spirit” is both precious and heavy in today’s market.

Hongxiangji’s story dates back thirty years. Chen Xuebing’s father, a graduate of Chinese medicine, was always exploring how to incorporate the concept of “medicine and food as one” into food products. At that time, ancestors had already made dried meat, but the idea of “medicine and food as one” was not yet conceived. His father took over this craft from his ancestors, starting from a family workshop, and Hongxiangji took root in Longwen District, Zhangzhou, and has been doing so for thirty years.

Throughout this process, Hongxiangji has remained committed to product quality while seeking market breakthroughs. In 2009, they developed a “beef tofu” product—tofu stuffed with beef, combining plant and animal proteins.

“At that time, this product was popular in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, matching local tastes perfectly, and was in high demand. Customers kept asking us to ship quickly,” recalled Shen Xiuying, general manager of Hongxiangji. Even with many imitators later, no one could replicate their success.

Today, this innovation continues. “We’ve always wanted to combine meat with various fragrances—wine aroma, floral aroma, herbal aroma,” Chen Xuebing revealed. This year, they focus on a “medicinal fragrance” series, directly integrating the concept of medicine and food into products. “We hope that when you open the package, you smell the aroma first, then taste the meat, and also feel healthy.”

Meanwhile, in 2011, another Zhangzhou company, Carlton, was born. Founder “Brother Huo” Huang Qiuping previously ran a food company called “Doma,” which made the most common bread priced at 8 to 10 yuan. But he didn’t want to produce homogeneous products anymore; he aimed to create “leading, industry-leading brands.” So Carlton started from scratch, insisting on quality ingredients and higher prices.

This path was destined to be more difficult. “Why should I pay two more yuan for the same cake?” was a common early question from distribution channels.

But they persisted, starting with raw materials—no use of substitute cocoa fat, only pure cocoa fat; no water, only milk and flour. “From the source of raw materials, we cannot lower standards,” said Hong Xiaoyan, director of Carlton’s e-commerce division.

It took seven or eight years for these efforts to pay off. Platform staff began inviting them to participate in events, and industry peers started paying serious attention to their raw materials and processes. “Before, no one listened when we tried to show our dedication. Now, they’re willing to listen,” Hong Xiaoyan said.

Today, both companies invest heavily in R&D. Hongxiangji has built a 2,800-square-meter R&D center, collaborating with Jiangnan University, Fuzhou University, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, with R&D spending accounting for 3.5% of sales—a very high ratio in the food industry.

Carlton maintains a rhythm of launching new products every two to three months, ensuring continuous iteration. They’ve found that young consumers care more about ingredient lists and are willing to pay for better quality. “As long as you clearly explain the source of raw materials, consumers are willing to bear that cost,” Hong Xiaoyan said.

If products are 1, then channels are like adding a zero after 1. For Zhangzhou snack companies, e-commerce is not just a sales channel but a key tool for quickly sensing market trends, testing new products, and amplifying brand voice.

In 2019, Chen Xuebing decided to go online. Her father assigned her a “general,” and the two recruited talent in Xiamen. In 2021, they officially established an e-commerce company. The start was tough—first-year sales only exceeded 400,000 yuan.

The turning point came in 2023. A salted egg yolk tofu unexpectedly went viral on Pinduoduo. “It surpassed all other products we had listed within a month,” Chen Xuebing recalled. This product performed modestly on other channels but exploded on Pinduoduo.

She believes platform support for big hits is crucial. “If the product is good, they’ll give us significant resources,” she said. More importantly, platform staff participate deeply in co-creation. When chicken breast was popular, staff suggested combining salted egg yolk with shredded chicken, leading to the “Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Shreds” that now ranks among the top three tofu products.

Similarly, Carlton experiences co-creation. Hong Xiaoyan said Pinduoduo staff share trending category keywords, advising them to develop related products. “They see data behind the scenes more accurately than we do, and with their guidance, we develop in that direction.”

For example, young consumers are increasingly interested in “health-preserving” foods, and products like multigrain and grain-based items perform well on Pinduoduo. Carlton developed flavors like black sesame and mulberry, with good market response. “People used to think Pinduoduo was mainly for traditional, third- and fourth-tier users, but that’s a misconception,” Hong Xiaoyan said. “Young people make up a large proportion, and they’re eager to try new things.”

In the eyes of merchants, platform logic is changing. When platforms start creating private labels and offering billion-yuan subsidies, clearly supporting brands, merchants feel more protected. “Even if someone copies our products and sells them cheaper, the platform won’t compare us directly,” Chen Xuebing said.

Meanwhile, online business is also empowering offline channels. Shen Xiuying calculated that 80 million yuan in annual online sales isn’t large compared to hundreds of millions offline, but “its value isn’t just the 80 million—it’s the overall brand tone, visibility, and reputation increase.”

She added that in the past, distributors needed data to negotiate with large supermarkets; now, they can leverage trending product data and brand authorization from e-commerce platforms, making negotiations more effective.

Thus, the growth path for brands has become clearer. “Online provides immediate consumer feedback, which can be shared with offline sales teams for pilot testing; more offline outlets can then carry the brand’s momentum,” Chen Xuebing summarized. “This cycle is running smoothly.”

Although Zhangzhou snack companies are making breakthroughs through new e-commerce channels, the gap with Jinjiang brands remains evident.

“Jinjiang companies’ development logic is different,” Hong Xiaoyan analyzed. “They started out wanting to do a hundred billion yuan business and are willing to spend a hundred billion yuan to achieve it.”

Compared to that, Zhangzhou companies pursue steady growth, building from small to large step by step. There’s no right or wrong—only different paths. But in a rapidly changing consumer market, steadiness often means “slow.”

Slowness can mean missing good opportunities.

Shen Xiuying recalled that in earlier years, Zhangzhou factories rarely had salespeople; communication was mostly via phone. Many small factories sold unbranded “naked goods,” through tourism specialty channels, by weight—they focused on immediate profit per order rather than long-term brand value.

Hongxiangji was one of the earlier brands in Zhangzhou to “go out.” The founder early on expanded into Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, deploying salespeople and setting up offices, gradually deepening market presence. But even then, when Chen Xuebing wanted to develop e-commerce, her father’s first reaction was skepticism. This intergenerational clash reflects the pain of industry transformation.

Therefore, when Yake and Panpan gained fame through TV ads in the 1990s, Zhangzhou factory owners were still focused on production, relying on phone contacts. When high-margin categories like wedding candies and jellies were seized by Jinjiang brands, Zhangzhou companies still concentrated on traditional products like dried meat and pastries.

“Our early layout was always ahead,” Shen Xiuying said, “but brand awareness was still stronger in Quanzhou.”

However, change is happening. Market pressure and the entry of the younger generation are driving it.

“Young people come out with many creative ideas and take their products out into the market,” Chen Xuebing observed. She noted that older entrepreneurs are also beginning to develop brand awareness—though still conservative, “they’re starting to do their own packaging and try e-commerce.”

On platforms like Pinduoduo, Zhangzhou companies have found a differentiated approach to compete with Jinjiang brands. With faster product testing, more flexible strategies, and deeper platform co-creation, they are surpassing in specific categories. Hongxiangji’s salted egg yolk tofu and Carlton’s milk box are products of this strategy.

“Ultimately, in food, what remains is not just your factory but your brand. Factories can be outsourced, but brands can last long-term,” Shen Xiuying said.

This change may be what Zhangzhou snack companies have been waiting for 30 years.