Statistics indicate that as of July 20, among A-share listed food and beverage companies that have disclosed their 2026 interim performance forecasts, 19 are projecting favorable results. This group comprises 13 companies expecting profit growth and 6 anticipating a turnaround to profitability.
The food and beverage sector combines essential demand attributes with high-frequency consumption characteristics, making it one of the more resilient segments within the broader consumer field against economic cyclical fluctuations. In the first half of this year, bolstered by a series of policies aimed at stimulating consumption and expanding domestic demand, the domestic consumer market continued its positive trajectory. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first half, total retail sales of consumer goods reached 24.8722 trillion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.3%. By consumption type, retail sales of goods amounted to 22.0467 trillion yuan, up 1.1% year-on-year, while catering revenue totaled 2.8255 trillion yuan, rising 2.8% year-on-year.
The stable operation of the overall consumer market has provided robust fundamental support for the earnings recovery of the food and beverage sector.
Examining the performance of specific companies reveals varied growth paths among several industry leaders in the first half. ChaCha Food Co., Ltd. expects its net profit for the first half to range between 240 million yuan and 265 million yuan, marking a year-on-year surge of 170.75% to 198.96%. The company attributed this significant increase to higher sales revenue and a reduction in the procurement cost of sunflower seed raw materials during the period.
CITIC Niya Wine Co., Ltd. forecasts a first-half net profit of 7.5 million yuan to 10.9 million yuan, translating to a staggering year-on-year growth of 1,016.90% to 1,523.23%. The company stated that its operating performance improved through a combination of measures to increase revenue and reduce costs while enhancing efficiency. This involved expanding large-scale group purchase clients to boost profit sources and strengthening cost and expense control to lower costs, leading to improved profitability in its main business.
In its performance forecast, Xiangpiaopiao Food Co., Ltd. indicated that, influenced by the timing shift of the Spring Festival and improved dealer confidence during the reporting period, it expects to report a net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 10 million yuan to 12 million yuan for the first half, achieving a turnaround to profitability compared to the same period last year.
An industry expert noted that the performance improvement in the food and beverage sector during the first half was primarily driven by the synergistic effect of several factors. The recovery in terminal consumer demand directly boosted revenue growth, while declining raw material costs effectively expanded profit margins. Furthermore, product premiumization and iterative upgrades, coupled with refined channel operations, enhanced the comprehensive competitiveness of companies in capturing market share. These factors, supporting one another, collectively established a solid fundamental basis for the sector's positive performance.
It is noteworthy that policy developments are opening up broader growth space for the industry. On July 13, the "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") was officially approved and implemented. The Plan explicitly states that by 2030, the overall scale of the consumer market will continue to expand, the household consumption rate will increase significantly, the consumption of goods and services across society will grow rapidly, and total retail sales of consumer goods will reach approximately 60 trillion yuan, with consumption playing a stronger role in driving economic growth.
Regarding promoting the expansion and upgrading of goods consumption, the Plan mentions steadily increasing the consumption of daily goods. It aims to promote agricultural product consumption, increase the supply of green, organic, specialty, superior, new, and geographically indicated agricultural products, and facilitate precise connections between production, supply, and marketing. It also calls for innovating the production of distinctive food products, developing nutritious and healthy snacks, beverages, health foods, and foods for special dietary uses, and cultivating a group of traditional advantageous food production regions and local characteristic food industries.
Industry insiders view the implementation of the Plan as a milestone. A chief food and beverage analyst at a securities firm stated that this marks China's first national-level special five-year plan focused on expanding consumption. Its significance lies not only in stabilizing growth in the short term but also signifies that consumption will re-emerge as the core driving force of economic growth over the next five years. For the food and beverage industry, the Plan does not simply stimulate consumption; instead, it propels the industry into a new stage characterized by simultaneous demand improvement and structural upgrading through three main avenues: increasing household income, optimizing the consumption environment, and upgrading the consumption structure.
From the perspective of the current industry fundamentals, food and beverage consumption overall still faces certain pressures. At the index level, as of the close on July 20, the CSI Segmented Food & Beverage Industry Theme Index has retreated approximately 62% from its 2021 high, placing the sector's valuation at a historical low.
An investment advisor from a securities firm commented that the intensification of national policies to promote consumption is driving the industry's shift from discounting for low growth to pricing in certainty premiums, and from broad-based stimulus to precise empowerment.
In the view of the aforementioned industry expert, listed food and beverage companies, leveraging financing empowerment from the capital market, continuously enhancing brand effects, increasingly solid economies of scale, and progressively improving supply chain systems, have constructed a more stable "moat" compared to ordinary enterprises. This equips them with the core capability to navigate through economic and industry cycles. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, the overall performance of listed companies in the sector is expected to remain relatively stable, allowing them to occupy more favorable competitive positions during the industry's bottoming-out and recovery process.
Overall, catalyzed by the combined forces of demand recovery, cost improvements, and policy dividends, the food and beverage sector is entering a window for dual repair in both valuation and earnings. With the implementation of the Plan, the certain trend of expanding domestic demand will provide long-term growth momentum for the sector, and the opportunities for bottom-fishing in leading industry enterprises are gradually becoming clearer.
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