Shuanghui Development has issued an apology following a recent controversy over substandard pork. On May 28, a formal apology statement bearing the company's red seal quickly became a trending topic online.
The day before, when news broke online about a subsidiary's pork failing a quality inspection, the major meat processor—which boasts 22,400 distributors nationwide, processes over 2 million tons of meat products annually, and slaughters more than 26 million hogs per shift—did not immediately apologize. Instead, it stated that lincomycin is a veterinary drug permitted in livestock farming and is not a mandatory inspection item for pork leaving slaughterhouses. The company also claimed it has been monitoring lincomycin risks in recent years without detecting any residue.
In late May 2026, Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co.,Ltd. faced a significant test. According to a report, a notice on the Heilongjiang Provincial Market Supervision Administration's website indicated that pork products from its subsidiary, Wangkui Shuanghui Beidahuang Food Co., Ltd., failed a random inspection, with lincomycin levels exceeding the standard limit by 37.5 times. Shuanghui Development stated it took the matter seriously and immediately formed a task force to conduct a comprehensive inspection.
An analyst noted that capital markets have zero tolerance for food safety incidents. This failed inspection directly triggered market panic, severely testing the company's brand reputation. As an industry leader, having substandard products from a subsidiary reach consumers not only erodes consumer trust but also raises serious public doubts about its much-touted quality control system. Furthermore, it exposes systemic vulnerabilities in supply chain management. The fact that problematic pork could pass through multiple inspection layers and enter supermarkets suggests significant failures in the company's procurement verification and raw material testing processes.
As of the market close on May 28, Shuanghui Development's stock price was 24.72 yuan per share, with a slight increase of 0.16%, bringing its total market capitalization to approximately 85.65 billion yuan.
The apology statement from Shuanghui Development on May 28 indicated that from October 2025 to the present, its Wangkui subsidiary conducted 5,892 batches of lincomycin tests, and regulatory authorities conducted 3 batches, all concluding as qualified. Additionally, internal testing across all its slaughterhouses totaled 38,900 batches, with 8 batches tested by regulators, also all deemed qualified.
If the results were "qualified," why apologize? It is important to note that Shuanghui's apology was specific. The statement expressed deep regret for the trouble caused to consumers and the public by "the incident"—referring explicitly to the Heilongjiang market regulator's announcement about excessive lincomycin residue in pork from the Wangkui subsidiary.
This is not a play on words but a matter of logic. From the apology statement, it is clear that Shuanghui Development informed the public that all internal tests at its slaughterhouses were "qualified." So, what about the Heilongjiang regulator's random inspection?
According to reports, the Heilongjiang Market Supervision Administration released its 7th food safety sampling bulletin for 2026. The sampling involved 3,022 batches of food, with 2,950 qualified and 72 unqualified, resulting in a 97.62% pass rate. The main issues were concentrated in six categories including heavy metals, pesticide and veterinary drug residues, and microbial contamination.
Among the unqualified samples was the pork product from Wangkui Shuanghui Beidahuang Food Co., Ltd., with a lincomycin content of 7700 μg/kg, exceeding the ≤200 μg/kg limit by 37.5 times. The involved company questioned the authenticity of the sample, but the regulatory authority ultimately rejected this objection.
Revisiting Shuanghui's initial statement that "lincomycin is a permitted veterinary drug and not a mandatory inspection item," several questions arise: What are the permitted dosage limits? Which party is responsible for oversight and inspection? What impact does excessive veterinary drug residue have on subsequent food processing? As of the publication deadline, Shuanghui Development had not responded to these questions. However, in the final paragraph of its May 28 apology, the company promised to strengthen source control, increase testing frequency, and improve full-chain traceability management across all its slaughterhouses, welcoming supervision from all sectors of society.
The company's red seal is affixed, and "all sectors of society" will indeed be watching.
Shuanghui Development's performance leads the domestic industry by a significant margin. Data shows that from 2021 to 2025, its annual revenue was approximately 66.8 billion yuan, 62.7 billion yuan, 60.1 billion yuan, 59.7 billion yuan, and 59.5 billion yuan, respectively. Net profit attributable to shareholders was about 4.87 billion yuan, 5.62 billion yuan, 5.03 billion yuan, 4.99 billion yuan, and 5.11 billion yuan, respectively. While 2025 revenue was 7.34 billion yuan lower than in 2021, net profit was 239 million yuan higher.
Overall, Shuanghui's performance is the envy of the industry. A look at peers reveals: Shandong Longda Meishi Co.,Ltd. reported revenue of 10.02 billion yuan with a loss of 736 million yuan in 2025; Zhejiang Huatong Meat Products Co.,Ltd. had revenue of 8.07 billion yuan with a loss of 136 million yuan; Shandong Delisi Food Co.,Ltd. reported revenue of 3.15 billion yuan, turning a marginal profit of less than 5 million yuan in 2025 after two consecutive years of losses; Shanghai Bright Meat Group Co.,Ltd. reported revenue of 22.13 billion yuan with a loss of 132 million yuan.
Reviewing Shuanghui Development's operational strength, its main business is slaughtering and meat processing, with primary products being fresh pork and packaged meat products. It operates over 30 modern meat processing bases and supporting industries across 18 provinces, with an annual meat processing capacity exceeding 2 million tons and a single-shift annual hog slaughtering capacity of over 26 million head. While production is primarily self-operated, the company also uses contract manufacturing for some new products to meet needs for product structure adjustment and new product development.
In 2025, Shuanghui Development spent approximately 21.9 billion yuan on "hog" procurement, about 10.1 billion yuan on "fresh and frozen meat," and a higher amount of 42.1 billion yuan on "auxiliary materials, packaging, and other supplies."
The company claims to possess "world-class" hog slaughtering and cold-cutting production lines. After a hog boards this modern "ship," it is transformed into over 200 product varieties, categorized into carcasses, halves, cuts, bones, by-products, and small packages. These products reach consumers through a multi-channel sales network including authorized stores, supermarkets, farmers' markets, community fresh food stores, community group buying, instant retail, and food service, achieving what the company emphasizes as precise consumer reach.
The consumer end remains highly sensitive to food safety concerns, which is why Shuanghui's May 28 apology quickly became a hot topic.
Reports cited the Heilongjiang Market Supervision Administration, explaining that lincomycin is a lincosamide antibiotic produced by Streptomyces, which inhibits bacterial protein synthesis and is effective against most Gram-positive bacteria and some anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria. According to national food safety standards, the maximum residue limit for lincomycin in pork muscle is 200μg/kg. The cause of excessive levels could be increased dosage to control disease rapidly during farming or failure to observe the withdrawal period, leading to超标 residue in products sold.
The report noted that for the unqualified samples found, the Heilongjiang authority has instructed local market regulators to investigate, trace product flow, urge companies to take measures such as removing and recalling不合格 products, and依法查处 any violations found.
A food industry analyst commented that while Shuanghui applies technologies like智能化和数字化 relatively thoroughly in its farming processes, this incident serves as a reminder that作为行业头部企业和上市公司, it should demonstrate responsibility and commitment,坚守食品安全.
In its 2025 annual report, Shuanghui Development acknowledged that the meat processing industry is a crucial link between upstream livestock farming and downstream meat consumption, vital to national livelihood and characterized by a vast market.
According to national statistical data, from 2015 to 2024, China's total meat production grew from 87.5 million tons to 97.8 million tons, with an average annual growth of 1.18%. Per capita meat consumption increased from 26.2 kg to 38.1 kg, averaging 4.54% annual growth. Data shows that in 2025, China's output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry exceeded 100 million tons, reaching 100.72 million tons, an increase of 4.09 million tons or 4.2% year-on-year. In terms of scale, the meat industry is in a stable development phase. With rising living standards and changing consumer观念, the industry is transitioning from scale expansion to a high-quality development stage driven by branding, quality, and health.
High-quality transformation is the goal. The keyword "quality" appears 50 times in Shuanghui Development's 2025 annual report.
From a policy perspective, in recent years, the state has continuously strengthened food safety supervision of slaughtering enterprises. Regulations require slaughterhouses to have inspection personnel, facilities, and quality management systems commensurate with their production scale to improve quality and safety management. This compels slaughtering enterprises to continuously strengthen control over procurement, production processes, product inspection, and other links,完善食品安全管理体系, ensuring product quality and safety.
Shuanghui Development pointed out that intelligentization is an important future direction for slaughtering enterprises. By introducing advanced automated equipment and intelligent management systems, enterprises can achieve precise control, efficient operation, and real-time monitoring of the production process, enabling full-process traceability from hog arrival, quarantine, slaughter, and分割 to cold chain distribution. This can not only improve production efficiency and reduce labor costs but also enhance product quality and safety. Whether this "intelligent slaughtering" is already applied in operations or remains at the conceptual stage is a question Shuanghui Development had not responded to by the May 28 publication deadline.
However, according to an analysis by an economist, the "intelligent slaughtering" mentioned in Shuanghui's 2025 report is not a pipe dream but is already underway. Reports indicate that Shuanghui's Luohe slaughterhouse completed a 500 million yuan intelligent upgrade in 2020, introducing robotic arms for precise cutting, AI cameras for real-time monitoring, automated conveyor belts, and other equipment. It also collaborated with an automation research institute to design nine intelligent modules, integrating MES and ERP systems. Post-upgrade,屠宰劳动效率 increased by 15%, with annual labor cost savings of about 5.6 million yuan. The time from slaughter to分割上市 for a hog was reduced to 13 hours. Furthermore, in 2024, Shuanghui expanded five slaughtering bases in Henan and Shandong, adding an annual capacity of 2 million head. In the first half of 2025, it automated three meat processing bases in Jiangsu and Hubei. However, intelligentization currently represents "point breakthroughs" rather than "comprehensive coverage," primarily in core bases like Luohe. Whether regional subsidiaries like Wangkui Shuanghui Beidahuang have undergone同步升级 remains questionable. While intelligentization can solve production efficiency issues, it cannot automatically replace quality control over upstream raw materials—which is precisely the暴露点 in this incident.
Information shows that Wangkui Shuanghui Beidahuang Food Co., Ltd. was established on January 25, 2008, with a registered capital of 50 million yuan. Its legal representative and chairman is Ma Xiangjie. Shuanghui Development and Heilongjiang Beidahuang Meat Industry Co., Ltd. hold 75% and 25% shares, respectively. The company is described as "occupying an important position in the meat industry in the Heilongjiang region." In 2024, its revenue reached 1.56 billion yuan, ranking fifth among Heilongjiang meat enterprises and入选 the province's top 100 private enterprises list.
Shuanghui Development's 2025 annual report shows that Ma Xiangjie, aged 54, serves as director and president, with terms starting on August 22, 2018, and December 26, 2017, respectively, with no termination date indicated. His remuneration for 2025 was 5.91 million yuan.
A crisis public relations expert noted that the fact that the legal representative of the involved subsidiary is the listed company's president, Ma Xiangjie, and that the objection was rejected by regulators, reflects a lack of top-level control at Shuanghui. It suggests that senior executives exercised insufficient oversight over subsidiary food safety, that group internal control over控股企业 is superficial, and that there are governance loopholes involving脱节的权责 and失效的风险管控.
In 2021, an open rift between 81-year-old founder Wan Long and his 52-year-old eldest son Wan Hongjian, culminating in the latter's removal, caused market震动. In August 2024, 84-year-old Wan Long stepped down as chairman, and his 51-year-old younger son Wan Hongwei officially took over. However, company revenue has declined for five consecutive years since its 2020 peak of 73.86 billion yuan. The second generation faces a challenging task in maintaining the龙头底盘 and achieving a "high-quality transformation."
An analyst believes Shuanghui's core advantage lies in its unparalleled scale效应 and全产业链布局. As an industry leader, its强大的渠道渗透率 and brand recognition form a deep competitive moat. For future development, Shuanghui should focus on breaking路径依赖, not merely satisfying itself with high dividends and存量博弈. It should tilt resources towards building a transparent全链条溯源机制, proactively increase the self-inspection frequency of non-mandatory items to rebuild trust, and simultaneously accelerate product structure高档化 and intelligent transformation to fundamentally扭转消费者对老牌肉企 being "large but not strong"的刻板印象.
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