On the evening of August 12, Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings Co., Ltd. released its 2026 semi-annual report. For the first half of the year, the company achieved operating revenue of 122.852 billion yuan, up 6.2% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.294 billion yuan, up 30.69% year-on-year.
Yihai Kerry stated that by continuously launching more high-quality products, expanding sales channels and networks, and optimizing its product mix, the sales volume of oil, rice, and flour products in the kitchen food segment grew across all channels. Benefiting from strong demand in the domestic downstream livestock industry, sales growth in the feed raw materials business drove an increase in soybean crushing volume. Combined with a favorable raw material procurement pace, the profit of the oil and fat science business grew significantly year-on-year.
In the first half of this year, the overall recovery of the domestic consumer market was weak. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, total retail sales of consumer goods in the first half grew by only 1.3% year-on-year, with the growth rate in the second quarter slowing from the first quarter, and even turning negative in May. Against this backdrop of consumption pressure, Yihai Kerry's main business maintained stable development, and core operating indicators steadily improved, fully demonstrating the resilience of the grain and oil leader.
Notably, in July, Yihai Kerry announced that its controlling shareholder, Yihai Kerry (Hong Kong) Limited, voluntarily extended the lock-up period for its pre-IPO restricted shares for another year. According to statistics, this marks the fourth consecutive year that the controlling shareholder has voluntarily extended the share lock-up period, demonstrating confidence in the company's future development prospects and high recognition of its value.
Product Matrix Iteration and Upgrade, Expanding New Space for Health-Oriented Development
With the advancement of the "Healthy China" strategy and the gradual popularization of health concepts, consumer demand is upgrading from "eating enough and eating well" to "eating healthy and nutritious." Data shows that China has over 300 million cardiovascular disease patients, over 100 million diabetes patients, and nearly 400 million overweight and obese individuals. Concurrently, with an aging population and the growing demand for personalized health among younger generations, the functional food sector is facing vast development opportunities.
Facing new trends in consumption structure upgrades, Yihai Kerry is solidifying its grain and oil foundation while initiating a strategic transformation from traditional rice, flour, and oil production to nutritionally healthy options. Leveraging its full industry chain, strong R&D capabilities, and large-scale production advantages, the company has launched the health brand "Yihai Kerry Fengyitang," inheriting the concept of Eastern dietary therapy. It has developed a series of health products, including diacylglycerol oil and plant sterol protein milk, to meet consumers' diverse needs for healthy diets.
Beyond product health upgrades, Yihai Kerry has also identified the demand for cooking efficiency in today's fast-paced life, adopting an innovative central kitchen model to provide consumers with time-saving, labor-saving, nutritious, and safe food solutions. To date, central kitchen parks in cities such as Hangzhou, Kunshan, Xingping, Zhoukou, Langfang, Chongqing, and Shenyang have been gradually put into operation, offering differentiated products tailored to local culinary characteristics. Examples include Langfang central kitchen's 18-grain multigrain rice and low-GI fresh rice, Chongqing Fengchu's noodle sauce and hotpot base, Zhoukou Fengchu's student meals, and Kunshan Fengchu's frozen cake series.
Supporting all product innovation and quality upgrades is Yihai Kerry's quality control system that runs through the entire chain. In May this year, Yihai Kerry once again partnered with the Chinese Olympic Committee, becoming the official grain and oil product supplier for the Chinese Olympic Committee from 2026-2029 and the Chinese Sports Delegation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The high-standard quality control requirements honed over two decades of Olympic service experience have been integrated into the company's daily product R&D and production processes.
Meanwhile, the 2026 China Brand Power Index (C-BPI) ranking shows that Yihai Kerry has topped the edible oil brand list for 16 consecutive years, while also ranking first in both the rice and flour categories. Recognition from the market and authoritative institutions is the best testament to the company's product innovation and quality control capabilities. A research report from China Galaxy Securities also noted that Yihai Kerry has a well-established brand matrix, comprehensive channel network, rich product line, and strict quality control. Combined with its advantages in product R&D and scale, the company will benefit from industry improvement as consumer demand steadily recovers.
Customized Matching of Diverse Channel Needs, Strong Alliances to Unlock Growth Potential
As consumer demand becomes increasingly diversified, the demand for differentiated and high-quality products in retail, catering, food processing, and e-commerce channels continues to rise. Yihai Kerry accurately grasps industry trends, relying on its over 80 production bases nationwide, a professional R&D team of over 300 people, and a stringent AIB food safety control system. It deeply engages with the needs of leading retail customers, continuously launching customized specialty products.
Previously, the black bean soy sauce produced by Yihai Kerry's "Wanzhuang" brand for DL.com became a phenomenal hit in the retail industry. Subsequently, the cooperation between the two parties deepened, leading to the launch of customized rapeseed oil and sunflower oil. In addition, customized products like Sam's Club MM multi-enzyme laundry detergent, Sam's Club private-label germ rice, and fresh rice popular on Hema and Dingdong have all received positive market feedback.
From the new product launches in the kitchen food segment disclosed in the semi-annual report, Yihai Kerry is partnering with channels like Sam's Club, Hema, and convenience stores to introduce customized new products covering categories such as grains, flour, noodles, and bento boxes, continuously expanding the boundaries of cooperation. Currently, the company has established long-term, stable cooperative relationships with numerous industry leaders, covering areas such as large supermarkets, chain restaurants, hotel groups, fresh food e-commerce platforms, the food industry, feed production, and daily chemical companies.
Industry analysts pointed out that customized cooperation is essentially a "strong alliance," where channels insight into consumer demand and propose ideas, while Yihai Kerry leverages its comprehensive capabilities in R&D, production, and supply chain quality control. By utilizing channel traffic, the value of individual products is released, thereby further increasing market share.
Deepening Vertical Integration in the Egg-Laying Hen Industry Chain, Building Long-Term Barriers with Standardized Systems
While horizontally expanding product categories and unlocking channel momentum, Yihai Kerry is also deepening its vertical integration in the industry chain, building long-term competitive barriers through an upstream-downstream integrated layout. The egg-laying hen business is a key practice of the company's vertical integration strategy.
Yihai Kerry stated in its investor relations activity records that the current market concentration of the egg-laying hen industry is relatively low. The company's development of the egg business can effectively utilize existing feed raw materials and downstream sales channels, relying on its high-standard food safety management system to provide high-quality egg products to its customers.
From a business synergy perspective, by-products from grain and oil processing can be converted into feed raw materials for laying hens, and the final egg products can reuse the mature nationwide sales channel network for rice, flour, and oil, achieving efficient upstream-downstream linkage. Addressing the industry pain points of an incomplete standard system in the traditional fresh egg sector and the difficulty of ensuring stable quality throughout the process with terminal sampling models, Yihai Kerry officially released the "186 Anxian Egg Production Standard System" at the end of July. This covers five major areas: feed nutrition, breeding biosecurity, quality control, egg collection and sorting, and logistics traceability, comprising 186 detailed standards. Leveraging digital technology applications, quality control has been extended from traditional terminal sampling to full-process traceability.
Notably, this achievement has been evaluated by the China Association of Agricultural Science Societies, which recognized it as "reaching an advanced domestic level overall." It is understood that the company's egg-laying hen business is progressing well, with related egg products now sold through channels such as Tmall, JD.com, Hema, ALDI, catering, and the food industry. As subsequent production capacity is released, relying on multiple advantages in brand, standardization, and supply chain, Yihai Kerry will not only cultivate new profit growth points but also potentially drive the egg industry towards standardization and branding.
From deeply cultivating its core grain and oil business to continuously extending the boundaries of the industry chain and providing more diverse and healthy choices for the national table, Yihai Kerry consistently drives innovation and actively plays a leading role in the industry. Looking ahead, as the consumer market gradually recovers, the company will continue to closely follow the demand for daily meals, refine its supply of high-quality diversified food, and continuously explore new growth opportunities, achieving stable and resilient high-quality development amidst the wave of consumption upgrades.
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