Ziyan Food Commits 150 Million Yuan as Two-Year Investment Total Passes 1.3 Billion

Ziyan Food has made a fresh 150 million yuan commitment, pushing its total external investments over the past two years past 1.3 billion yuan, according to a report by 36Kr. The move marks the latest step in an aggressive capital deployment by one of China's best-known marinated snack producers.

The spending spree comes against a stark operational backdrop. The company has closed more than 1,600 stores, 36Kr reports, a contraction that has forced management to look beyond its core business for growth.

What is driving the pivot?

Ziyan Food built its name on braised and marinated snacks — a category that boomed alongside China's convenience-food retail boom but has since become fiercely competitive. Store closures at the scale reported by 36Kr signal that the traditional expansion playbook, built on adding retail outlets, has run out of room.

The company's answer has been capital. With more than 1.3 billion yuan deployed across external investments in two years, Ziyan Food is effectively using its balance sheet to buy exposure to sectors beyond marinated food. The latest 150 million yuan commitment, reported by 36Kr, continues that pattern.

36Kr characterizes the strategy as a cross-sector self-rescue — a company whose core retail footprint is shrinking deliberately repositioning itself through investment rather than organic growth.

Why does the 150 million yuan matter?

The newest commitment matters for two reasons. First, it confirms the investment program is ongoing rather than a one-off response to weak results. Second, it shows Ziyan Food still commands the resources to fund external bets even while closing stores at scale.

A company simultaneously shutting more than 1,600 outlets and deploying nine figures into outside ventures is making a deliberate trade-off. It is trading physical retail density for portfolio breadth, redirecting capital from storefronts into deals.

That trade-off carries risk. Diversification away from a core competency has a mixed record among Chinese food companies, and the marinated snack category's slowdown that pressured Ziyan Food's store network could equally pressure the sectors it is now investing in.

What comes next?

The question for investors and industry watchers is whether the 1.3 billion yuan already deployed begins to generate returns that offset the contraction in the core business. The pace of future store closures, and whether the company announces further commitments beyond the 150 million yuan just reported, will signal whether this is a controlled repositioning or a retreat under pressure.

For China's broader prepared-food sector, Ziyan Food's trajectory is a case study in how mid-sized category leaders respond when store-expansion models saturate. As 36Kr's reporting indicates, the marinated snack giant has chosen investment-led diversification as its route out — a bet that two years and 1.3 billion yuan yuan have already been placed on.