Beef tallow ≥ 60%, Red sour soup base ≥ 80%, Tomato content ≥ 75%: This year, Yonghui's hot pot season turns "freshness" into verifiable numbers.

The winter solstice hasn't even arrived, yet supermarkets are already in a fierce battle for hot pot season. On 10 month 23, Yonghui installed a custom-made giant hot pot at its Chengdu Wenhua Plaza store, officially kicking off this year's hot pot season. What competitors should really analyze isn't the number of new SKUs added, but three key moves: listing exact ingredient content on broth labels, reorganizing store shelves around "one full hot pot meal," and showcasing sourcing bases from three major regions directly to customers. The hot pot business is shifting from competing on price to competing on freshness that can be verified.

First, consider this signal: Supermarket hot pot stalls are no longer selling "ingredients"—they're now selling "solutions."

The Cover News made a call on this round of hot pot season that I think is spot-on: supermarket hot pots are officially in.Era of SolutionsSupply chain refinement and scenario creation are the two core pillars for breaking through.

Words don't come out of thin air. In recent years, supermarkets have followed the same playbook for hot pot season: set up promotional displays, discount frozen meat rolls, and offer bundle savings. The result? Severe homogenization, no memorable flavors, shrinking margins, and customers who take advantage of deals and leave without returning. This year, the tide has turned. While the at-home hot pot market continues to grow, competing on low-priced frozen meat rolls is no longer effective. Shoppers are increasingly scrutinizing whether the meat is truly sliced from whole cuts and how fresh it is.

Yonghui's strategy this time directly addresses this pain point. The official keywords cover three dimensions:Product strength built on Chaoshan fresh-cut meats and customizable soup bases, a one-stop solution across seven key scenarios, and a supply chain network connecting production bases in Hunan, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang.Build a solid product first, organize the inventory efficiently, and rely on our upstream base to back it all up.

II. Product Strength: Freshly Cut Chaoshan Ingredients Lead the Way, with Six Custom Broths Turning "Freshness" into Numbers

Let's start with the meat. What do hot pot lovers fear most? Blended meat, water-injected meat, and marinated meat. This year, Yonghui has taken...Chaoshan Fresh-Cut SeriesPlaced in the most prominent position: Long Ribs, Tender Meat, Fresh Sliced Lamb Trio, and Whole Family Platter of Grain-Fed Beef. The standard script is:Whole-cut meat, never reassembled, no water injected, no processingFarm-to-store cold chain and低温 aging to lock in meat aroma. We source from Ujumqin sheep, a geographically indicated breed, with core products carrying GI certification.

The adjacent Custom Rolls collection expands the price range, offering Australian Wagyu beef rolls, original-cut beef rolls, Australian lamb rolls, Da Zhuang Yuan Sichuan pepper beef rolls, and Ujimqin original-cut mutton rolls. From everyday essentials to premium upgrades, there's something for every budget.

But the real highlight this year is the soup base. Yonghui has built a matrix around two core lines: "Authentic Flavors" and "Original Tastes." Anchored by four regional styles—Sichuan-Chongqing spicy, Yunnan-Guizhou sour-spicy, Northern-style hot pot, and Cantonese clear broth—it also features international flavors like Tom Yum, Japanese Sukiyaki, and Korean kimchi stew. Six signature custom bases take center stage: Sichuan Spicy Beef Tallow, Qiaotou Chongqing Authentic Spicy, Yumeng Guizhou Red Sour Soup, Grassland Red Sun Beijing-Style Lamb Scapula, Baishanzu Nine-Mushroom Broth, and Youyan Youwei Fresh Tomato Granules.

A flavor matrix isn't unique; what sets it apart is that the content levels are printed directly on the packaging.

These three numbers look small but pack a punch. In the past two years, consumers have been educated by "tech and tricks" to scrutinize ingredient lists when buying sauces. Instead of repeating "premium ingredients" 100 times on your poster, tell them exactly how much beef tallow and tomato you use."Fresh" and "great taste" are subjective claims that cannot be verified, whereas content levels can be cross-checked.Whoever turns vague claims into hard metrics wins trust first.

3. Scenario Power: Seven interconnected zones create a seamless shopping journey, letting customers grab a basket and start browsing immediately.

What was it like to hunt for a hot pot meal at a hypermarket? The soup base was in the condiment aisle, sliced meats in the refrigerated section, tripe and duck intestines in the frozen goods area, vegetables in produce, beer in beverages, and you even had to search the home goods aisle for a pot and disposable tableware. By the time you finished your round trip, your legs were sore—only to realize you'd forgotten the dipping sauce on the way home.

Yonghui's organizational logic this year has shifted: it no longer starts from "categories," but rather fromWhat do you need for a hot pot?Departure: Seven scenarios set up in-store.

Products across different temperature zones are still stored according to their specific requirements, but by placing them adjacent to one another and unifying the theme, they are woven into a single shopping journey. This shift reflects a change in consumer decision-making: customers are no longer comparing prices or specifications item by item; instead, they are evaluating"What meat pairs with this broth?" "What's missing from this hot pot meal?"Once customers shift from buying individual items to purchasing solutions, cross-sell rates and average order value naturally increase.

The selection is extensive enough to truly justify "one-stop shopping": tripe, white and black千层 (hundred-layered tofu skin), crispy duck intestines, and pig aorta are cooked using papain enzymatic technology and flash-frozen with liquid nitrogen for a signature crisp, chewy texture. For those who don't eat beef or lamb, we offer customized fresh-sliced hot pot chicken and medicinal soup. The seafood section features live South American shrimp, mantis shrimp, abalone, yellow catfish, and oysters, plus a seafood platter, roe-filled tube squid, roe-rich razor clams, and thin-cut black fish fillets without starch. Beyond the staples of leafy greens and mushrooms, we also serve highland sweet baby cabbage, fried wonton skins, snow fungus, and dried Gongcai vegetables. To cut through the richness, enjoy herbal tea, 100% coconut water, sour plum craft beer, and aged tangerine peel plum wine. We've even provided disposable tableware and tissues.

Offline experiences are just as important. After the opening ceremony, flagship stores will host large-scale tasting events, while all national locations will run unified tastings and interactive "Happy Chopsticks" sessions for new products. Let customers taste first, then buy. New items can be intimidating when customers decide in front of a cold display case—but once they take a bite, that barrier disappears.

4. Supply Chain: Leveraging Hunan, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang to build a "Direct-from-Source" network

It's not just about the products or scenarios on the front end; what determines long-term success is the network behind the scenes. This year, Yonghui's upstream moves in the meat and poultry sector have been unusually aggressive:

plus the unveiling with CP Group in Meishan, Sichuan on 10/22Egg Production Farm(300 million egg-laying hens across the entire industry chain, ultra-short shelf life of just 12 days, and 90 quality checks). From poultry to sheep, cattle, and eggs, Yonghui is transforming "direct sourcing" from a slogan into a physical network spanning key production regions. Direct sourcing, custom development, geographic indication certification, end-to-end cold chain logistics, and comprehensive quarantine compliance—this may sound straightforward, but each component requires significant investment in both time and money.

Looking at the industry, these companies have actually taken different paths:

There's no right or wrong, but Yonghui's path is the heaviest and hardest to copy. Anyone can replicate store displays and rearrange shelves in a day or two; however, building ranches, bases, custom products, and cold-chain logistics takes far more than a single quarter. Official data released earlier supports this: cumulative sales of items related to Yonghui's "Premium Hotpot Party" have exceeded 3 billion yuan, with beef and mutton sales growing year-over-year by approximately 50%. Heavy investment is paying off by strengthening the foundation.

5. Four Key Takeaways for Regional Supermarkets

Let's be real: the scale of the three major bases is something regional supermarkets can't replicate, nor should they try. But within Yonghui's approach, there are four tactics you can adopt directly.

This hot pot isn't just about tripe and fatty beef. The transformation logic of supermarkets over the past few years boils down to this same pot: shifting from arbitrage to truly managing products, experiences, and upstream supply chains. Whoever shortens their chain, delivers fresher goods, and stands up to consumer scrutiny will keep the heat alive this winter.