Brand trust is the most important thing.

Text | Reporter Hu Nannan from China Entrepreneur

Editor | Mina

Header image source | Interviewee

“Quality consumption will definitely continue to heat up.” Shanghai Laiyifen Co., Ltd. President Yu Ruifen said in an interview with China Entrepreneur. She also repeatedly emphasized the importance of quality and value for money.

As a veteran in the food industry with over 20 years of experience, Yu Ruifen started from a snack shop in 1999 and pioneered the development model of chain leisure snacks. In 2016, Laiyifen successfully listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming the first snack stock on the main board, and Yu Ruifen is known as the “Queen of Snacks.”

However, in the past two years, competition in the snack sector has become increasingly fierce, with mass retail snack brands vying for territory and price wars intensifying. As a leading company in leisure snacks, Laiyifen has had to actively embrace change amid industry shifts—on one hand, shifting from direct sales to franchising in channel layout. As of June 2025, its franchise stores reached 1,584, accounting for half of total stores. On the other hand, while maintaining a high-quality, health-oriented core brand, Laiyifen acquired a community retail brand, “Yang Chanjiji,” in 2025 to expand into community stores. Through multi-brand strategies, it aims to meet consumers’ demand for high-cost-performance products.

Meanwhile, serving the “elderly and children” remains a key focus. “We will definitely focus on products for the elderly and children because Laiyifen has always served consumers from ‘having teeth’ to ‘no teeth,’” she said. This year, she has prioritized health for children, the silver economy, food and medicine homology, rural revitalization, and has provided continuous advice on children’s food health for four years.

Recently, Yu Ruifen was interviewed by China Entrepreneur on topics including offline consumption innovation, pain points in children’s snacks, and how AI can empower supply chains.

Below is the interview content:

Quality consumption will definitely continue to heat up

China Entrepreneur: After listening to the government work report, what is your biggest impression? Which keywords in the report give you more confidence in this year’s leisure food and consumer market?

Yu Ruifen: Listening to the government work report on-site this year was very inspiring. Over the past year, China’s various development indicators have achieved solid results that are hard-won, especially with GDP surpassing 140 trillion yuan, showing a stable economy and strong resilience and vitality of China’s economy. This gives us entrepreneurs full confidence and motivation.

China Entrepreneur: What measures will Laiyifen take next?

Yu Ruifen: First, we need to understand the big trend of “Healthy China 2030.” From last year’s advocacy for nationwide weight loss and healthier, longer-living diets, quality consumption will continue to heat up, especially post-pandemic, as consumers pay more attention to health, eating less but better and more refined. Therefore, Laiyifen will leverage its 26 years of supply chain experience to enhance the pursuit of global quality and healthy living to the extreme.

Currently, consumers are more frugal, rational, and pragmatic. So, we must focus on three aspects: 1. delivering excellent value for money, 2. providing high cost-performance, 3. creating emotional value.

On one hand, by leveraging our over 20 years of supply chain strength, we aim to maximize value for money. Among our 1,300 products, 27.7% meet the “five lows” standards—low sugar, low fat, low calories, low salt, and low GI—and we plan to quickly increase this to 50% within six months, then gradually reach 100% in 1-2 years. This is a major project involving quality improvements across R&D, production, packaging, and processes. Recently, we’ve started to truly develop healthy, high-quality products in dozens of items, such as seasonal limited editions, fortified high-calcium proteins, or black series with nutritional labels, clearly marked on packaging.

Source: Visual China

Over the years, we’ve built a solid supply chain foundation, but we haven’t fully communicated the value to consumers. This is a huge opportunity for us. When consumers see and truly understand that they are eating healthier and more nutritious products, they will support our brand because trust in the brand is the most important thing.

On the other hand, in the past year, we also made strategic acquisitions. We want to strengthen both value for money and cost-performance. In 2025, we acquired a community retail brand called “Yang Chanjiji,” positioned as “good quality, low price—come indulge at Yang Chanjiji.” It is a community lifestyle store 4.0, aiming to be a good neighbor for community consumers, offering one-stop shopping for fruits, cold drinks, beverages, milk, buns, etc. About 30-40% are fruits and fresh foods, and 60-70% are leisure snacks.

These two brands complement each other—one emphasizes value for money, the other emphasizes cost-performance. Of course, Laiyifen’s own brands will also add more high cost-performance products. Maximizing both value for money and cost-performance is essential to meet more consumer needs.

Additionally, emotional value is important. For example, our franchise stores are designed to make consumers feel happier, especially through product packaging that is more lively. We have an IP called “Yizi,” which was broadcast on children’s channels for several years starting in 2017-2018, consistently ranking high, bringing emotional value to consumers. We are even planning to launch some blind box products, combining food with cartoons, and are working to innovate in this area.

Children’s food faces major standard gaps

China Entrepreneur: You’ve been focusing on children’s health for years. What pain points do you see in the current children’s food industry? What specific standards do you hope to see implemented soon?

Yu Ruifen: I’ve been advocating for children’s food health for four years. Last year, I emphasized raising awareness among children about healthy eating, hoping that food education can be integrated into school curricula. This year, I continue to call for more detailed standards for children and adolescents aged 3-18, with age-specific grading and segmentation.

When I first raised this, I saw data showing that among children aged 6-17, the rates of obesity, overweight, early puberty, and malnutrition reached 19.7%. As a mother, this data is very alarming. As an entrepreneur in the food industry for over 20-30 years, I feel responsible to do something for public health and consumer well-being. So, our own brand must take proactive steps.

Currently, the biggest pain points in children’s food are the lack of standards, regulatory difficulties, and parents’ inability to distinguish quality. There are about 230 million minors aged 3-18 in China, but there are no dedicated standards for children’s food, so companies often follow adult standards. Some products are labeled as children’s but don’t meet any specific children’s standards (because they don’t exist). Of course, some proactive companies may have standards, and some packaging is very cartoonish, but inside, they may still be high-sugar, high-oil products. There are also products claiming zero additives or non-fried, but whether they truly meet these claims is uncertain. Surveys show that 85% of parents are worried and confused about these issues.

Therefore, I suggest implementing national standards for minors’ food as soon as possible, including age-specific grading. Different age groups should have different standards. Once segmented, children’s products must meet children’s standards, and adolescent products must meet youth standards. I believe this will lead companies to produce according to standards, and those that meet standards can clearly indicate this on packaging, so parents and children can easily understand what they are buying.

China Entrepreneur: Will children’s food become a key business area for Laiyifen in the future?

Yu Ruifen: We will definitely focus on “elderly and children” products. Laiyifen has always served consumers from “having teeth” to “no teeth.” In recent years, we launched a children’s brand called “Baby Yiyi.” For the elderly, we will gradually improve products and consider creating an independent brand later.

Any brand’s most important asset is brand strength

China Entrepreneur: How does Laiyifen apply AI in supply chain management?

Yu Ruifen: Although Laiyifen is composed of many small stores, behind it is a powerful information system supporting our digital management. Over the years, we’ve been implementing AI initiatives. For example, we are working on digital and AI technologies to achieve a complementary push-pull model in stores. We haven’t fully realized this yet—sometimes products are in the warehouse but out of stock in stores, or a product sells well in-store but the warehouse doesn’t know. We are exploring how to use AI to make our data more precise and smarter, and we are actively developing in this area.

China Entrepreneur: As the “14th Five-Year Plan” begins, what goals do you set for Laiyifen at this new starting point?

Yu Ruifen: This year, I hope to rally the entire team’s strength—people, goods, and venues—to strengthen the brand image of “Healthy quality, choose Laiyifen first.” Any brand’s most critical asset is brand strength. Only by continuously building trust in the brand within consumers’ minds can we unlock greater market potential. So, at the start of the “14th Five-Year Plan,” we will focus on high-quality development, preparing for “Healthy China 2030,” and making our contribution to a better life for the people.