In-Depth Analysis of the Hong Kong Stock Investment Value of Snack Discount Chain Model: Mingming Hen Mang vs. Wanchen Biology

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The warehouse-style snack industry has experienced explosive growth in China, forming a duopoly pattern of “Wanchen in the North, Mang in the South”. As the two leading players in the industry, Mingming Hen Mang and Wanchen Group respectively submitted listing applications to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2025, marking the official entry of this emerging retail format into the capitalization stage[1][2].

• In 2021, the financing amount in the snack industry reached RMB 3 billion, and further climbed to RMB 4.3 billion in 2023. Continuous capital inflow has promoted industry integration[3]
• Warehouse-style snack stores, relying on the “hard discount” model (direct cooperation with manufacturers, no middlemen, cash procurement), have achieved a price advantage of approximately 25% lower than traditional supermarkets[4]
• The industry’s inventory turnover days are only 11-12 days, significantly better than the 40-60 days of traditional supermarkets, reflecting extremely strong operational efficiency[5]

Against the backdrop of intensified valuation differentiation in the Hong Kong stock consumer sector, the listing of Mingming Hen Mang has filled the capital vacuum of the warehouse-style snack specialty retail format in the Hong Kong stock market[1]. Although there are catering, traditional supermarket, and branded consumer goods companies in the Hong Kong stock market before, there is a lack of pure “hard discount” retail targets, and the scarcity of Mingming Hen Mang is self-evident.

• Mingming Hen Mang: 7,809 net new stores in 2024, with an average of 21 new stores per day[6]
• Wanchen Group: 15,365 stores as of the end of June 2025[7]

• GMV (First Three Quarters of 2025): RMB 66.1 billion, YoY growth of 74.5%[8]
• Inventory Turnover Days: 11.7 days (first half of 2025), better than the industry average[1]
• Net Operating Cash Flow (First Three Quarters of 2025): RMB 2.190 billion[8]

1. Streamlined Supply Chain
   : The vast majority of products are supplied directly by manufacturers, simplifying intermediate links and compressing channel markup rates
2. Scale Bargaining Power
   : The procurement scale of 19,517 stores endows strong bargaining power over upstream manufacturers
3. Digital Operation
   : Has the largest digital team among domestic casual food and beverage specialty stores, building a full-link digital system[1]
4. Advantages in Sinking Markets
   : Approximately 59% of stores are located in county towns and townships, avoiding fierce competition in first-tier cities

Wanchen Biology originally started with edible fungus business and was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange of A-shares in 2021. It began to enter the warehouse-style snack business in 2022, forming the “Haoxianglai” brand matrix through acquisition and integration[9]:

• 2022: Established Nanjing Wanxing Chain and acquired Jiangsu Snack Workshop
• September 2023: Merged four of its brands into “Haoxianglai Brand Snacks”
• October 2023: Acquired Zhejiang snack brand Laopo Daren
• 2024: Revenue from warehouse-style snack business reached RMB 31.790 billion, with a YoY growth of 262.94%[9]

• High Gross Profit Strategy
  : Pursues slightly higher single-transaction profit, with a gross profit margin of 11.4% in the first half of 2025, 2.1 percentage points higher than that of Mingming Hen Mang[6]
• Full Category Expansion
  : Launched “Laiyoupin Discount Supermarket” and “Haoxianglai Full Food Selection”, adding categories such as bakery, frozen food, and daily chemicals[7]
• Deep Cultivation in East China
  : Takes East China as the core market, with revenue/store number accounting for 62%/58% respectively in 2024[9]

✅

• Category Expansion
  : Mingming Hen Mang has launched version 3.0 store model and “Zhao Yiming Discount Supermarket”, adding categories such as general merchandise, daily chemicals, bakery, and frozen food[6]
• Supply Chain Integration
  : Improves gross profit margin through customized cooperation with manufacturers (34% of SKUs are customized products)[3]
• Digital Construction
  : The intelligent retail middle platform system is already in place, which can support multi-category operations

❌

• Gene Differences
  : Mingming Hen Mang started in the county market of Hunan, with the “sinking” gene deeply rooted; Wanchen Group originated from East China and is more adapted to operations in high-tier cities
• Franchisee Structure
  : Almost 100% of Mingming Hen Mang’s stores are franchise stores, and transformation requires coordinating the willingness of a large number of franchisees
• Brand Positioning
  : Consumers have formed the perception of “ultimate cost-effectiveness”, and price increases or category expansion may dilute brand perception

1. First-mover Scale Advantage
   : Leads Wanchen by approximately 4,000 stores, and has formed network effects
2. Barriers in Sinking Markets
   : 66% coverage rate in county-level cities, building channel barriers that are difficult for competitors to enter
3. Digital Capability
   : Data assets transformed from 2.1 billion consumer behavior records[1]
4. Cornerstone Investor Endorsement
   : Participation of Tencent Holdings, Fidelity International, and Temasek brings dual support in brand and capital[1]

• The scale of China’s casual food market continues to expand, and there is still room for improvement in the penetration rate of warehouse-style snack channels
• According to a research report from CITIC Securities, leading warehouse-style snack companies still have more than 50% room for store expansion in the future[7]

• The formula “Return on Investment = Profit Margin × Turnover Rate” is verified in this industry
• The inventory turnover days of 11.7 days are significantly better than traditional retail, reflecting extremely strong operational efficiency

• The “first warehouse-style snack stock” in Hong Kong stocks, filling the market gap
• Endorsement from top institutions such as Tencent and Temasek boosts market confidence

• Price wars among leading enterprises continue, with meager profits for some products
• Increased store density leads to same-store sales decline (same-store sales in the industry generally fell in the first half of 2025)[3]

• The payback period has extended from 1 year in the early stage to an average of 29 months[2]
• The average profit per store has dropped from tens of thousands of yuan per month in the early stage to approximately RMB 5,500 per month[3]

• The warehouse-style snack industry belongs to the “heavy asset, light profit” model, and the valuation logic of the capital market remains to be verified
• Need to pay attention to IPO pricing and subsequent market performance

Based on the valuation model of Wanchen Group by TF Securities (0.69x PEG in 2025, target price of RMB 184.01)[9], combined with Mingming Hen Mang’s higher growth rate and larger scale, it is expected that Mingming Hen Mang will obtain a similar valuation level. However, it should be noted that:

• Mingming Hen Mang’s lower gross profit margin may affect the valuation multiple
• The same-store pressure brought by increased store density takes time to digest

1. The snack discount chain model has investment value in Hong Kong stocks
   , but careful evaluation is required:
   • Mingming Hen Mang has demonstrated the scalability feasibility of the “hard discount” model
   • Profitability continues to improve (net profit margin increased from 1.9% to 3.9%)
   • Positive operating cash flow, with good financial health

2. Mingming Hen Mang can hardly fully replicate the development logic of Wanchen Biology
   :
   • There are fundamental differences in the strategic positioning of the two companies
   • Mingming Hen Mang’s “efficiency-first” model and Wanchen’s “profit-first” model have their own advantages and disadvantages
   • Blind transformation may damage existing competitive barriers

3. Key Indicators to Focus On
   :
   • Same-store sales growth rate (reflects store density saturation)
   • Franchisee churn rate (reflects the stability of the franchise system)
   • Effectiveness of category expansion (reflects the cultivation progress of the second growth curve)

[1] China Securities Journal - “Mingming Hen Mang Passes Listing Hearing, Hong Kong Stocks Welcomes a ‘New Species’” (https://www.cs.com.cn/gppd/ggzx/202601/t20260113_6533081.html)

[2] Nanfang Plus - “One Step Away, Mingming Hen Mang May Become the ‘First Warehouse-Style Snack Stock’ in Hong Kong Stocks” (https://www.nfnews.com/content/EynGXlpd3Z.html)

[3] CBNData - “2025 Retail Industry Review: The Industry Breakout War Begins, Where Will Warehouse-Style Snack Stores Go?” (https://www.cbndata.com/information/294876)

[4] Futu News - “County Snack Stores Brave Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou” (https://news.futunn.com/post/67431647)

[5] Securities Times - “Mingming Hen Mang Passes HKEX Listing Hearing, New Pattern Emerges in Warehouse-Style Snack Track” (https://www.stcn.com/article/detail/3585488.html)

[6] Sina Finance - “Mingming Hen Mang vs. Wanchen Group: Duel of ‘Turnover Rate’ and ‘Profit Margin’ Between Two Warehouse-Style Snack Giants” (https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/stockzmt/2025-11-03/doc-infwcefv1408600.shtml)

[7] Eastmoney - “Mingming Hen Mang Passes HKEX Listing Hearing, Net Profit in First Three Quarters of 2025 Surges YoY” (https://biz.eastmoney.com/a/202601063610545547.html)

[8] The Time Weekly - “Research Report on Wanchen Group (300972)” (https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP202508241733556472_1.pdf)

[9] Post Securities - “Wanchen Group (300972) Outstanding Q4 Performance, Parallel Store Expansion and Format Upgrade in Warehouse-Style Snacks” (https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP202504221660588782_1.pdf)