A wave of consolidation is sweeping China’s fast‑growing bulk‑snack (量贩零食) sector, forcing regional players to choose between sale, strategic tie‑ups or painful retrenchment. On 28 February a mid‑sized chain, ZeroFood Select (零食优选), announced a deep strategic partnership and joint‑venture with Hong Kong–listed Huitongda Network (汇通达网络, 09878.HK), a sign of the new survival tactics adopted by smaller brands.
ZeroFood Select, founded in 2019 in Changsha — a cradle of the bulk‑snack boom — operates roughly 2,800 outlets across more than ten provinces in central and southern China. The chain has raised little outside capital since inception, recording only a single 2024 funding round from Wujie Innovation Capital, and its management is now leaning on Huitongda’s platform to accelerate penetration into lower‑tier towns and villages.
Huitongda bills itself as an industrial‑internet supplier to China’s down‑market retail channels. Its network reaches 21 provinces, over 26,000 townships and more than 251,000 registered retail members, making it a natural distribution partner for a chain that needs faster, cheaper access to smaller localities. The tie‑up also suits Huitongda, which has seen revenue pressure after strategic shifts and is expanding into hard‑discount retail with its newly launched ZheZheFeng brand.
The alliance is emblematic of a broader industry realignment. Backed by patient capital and aggressive roll‑out strategies, a pair of national groups — the conglomerate centered on the Snack Busy brands (零食很忙/鸣鸣很忙) and Wanchen Group (万辰集团, owner of Good4U/好想来 and others) — now control more than 70% of the market. China’s bulk‑snack retail market ballooned from about RMB 7.3 billion in 2019 to RMB 129.7 billion in 2024 (roughly $1.0bn to $18bn), and nationwide store numbers reached about 50,000 by September 2025.
The business model helps explain the pressure on smaller players. Bulk snack retail is a low‑margin, high‑turnover format that depends on scale to squeeze profits out of volume, efficient logistics and tight inventory turns. Leading groups are moving beyond resale into private‑label manufacturing, using data from thousands of outlets to commission exclusive SKUs and lift margins — a strategy mid‑tier chains often cannot replicate.
Market dynamics are shifting again as the big players evolve their store formats into one‑stop discount supermarkets. Wanchen and Snack Busy have each rolled out broader discount supermarket concepts, betting that adding groceries and daily essentials expands addressable markets in county and township areas. Industry analysts estimate the single‑format store ceiling at roughly 67,000 nationwide, but a successful pivot to full‑category discount supermarkets could lift the ceiling to 80,000–100,000 stores.
For regional brands the options are narrowing. Some, like the attempted but failed acquisition of iSnack (爱零食) by larger groups last year, have looked for buyers; others, such as ZeroFood Select, are seeking industrial partners to access distribution and procurement scale. Absent either a niche strategy, superior supply‑chain efficiency or a compelling private‑label offering, many will struggle to attract franchisees or secure the capital needed to compete.
Investors are watching closely but remain cautious. Huitongda’s stock slid for two trading days after the ZeroFood Select tie‑up was announced, reflecting scepticism that platform‑retailer alliances will immediately resolve thin margins or Huitongda’s recent revenue slide. Yet the strategic logic is clear: platforms with deep down‑market reach can monetise distribution by aggregating smaller chains, while listed retail groups gain credibility with franchisees and better access to capital.
The bulk‑snack sector is moving from an early era of rapid store roll‑outs to a middle phase defined by product differentiation, deep penetration into lower‑tier markets and tighter supply‑chain control. The ultimate winners will be those that combine scale, logistics sophistication and the ability to design attractive, exclusive products. For everyone else, the next two years will likely be a race to find partners, buyers or narrow local strongholds.