Juewei Deepens Its Bet on Lujiangnan With More Than RMB 290 Million Across Two Rounds

This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on May 20, 2022.

FoodBud observed in May 2022 that China's table-side braised-food category was attracting heavy operator and investor attention.

Jiuduo Rouduo, described as a leading player in the category, had recently said it had entered IPO tutoring and was aiming to list in 2023. In 2021, it completed a RMB 400 million Series A round from Everbright, at a valuation of about RMB 2.5 billion. Ziyan Baiwei Chicken had also submitted its prospectus and was seeking a listing.

Juewei, one of China's three major leisure-braised-food chains, was also moving aggressively into the category.

Juewei's Lujiangnan Position

According to Juewei's 2021 annual report, its Wangju Capital invested RMB 100 million in Lujiangnan, a table-side braised-food company, for a 10% stake.

By early 2022, Juewei had increased its exposure:

• Wangju Capital's stake rose to 15.2%.
• Another fund within the Juewei system held 10%.
• Shanghai Taoyun, a company formed by people connected to Juewei's investment business, including Wu Huiling, held 3.8%.

Together, Juewei-related parties held 29% of Lujiangnan, with total investment in the project exceeding RMB 290 million.

FoodBud noted that Juewei's minority-investment structure was becoming clearer: a main investment vehicle holds one portion, an affiliated fund holds another, and investment-business leaders also participate. The structure is designed to create stronger coordination and incentives among the parties involved.

Operationally, after Juewei invested in Lujiangnan in 2021, annual transaction volume between the two companies reached RMB 56.495 million, mainly from Juewei supplying products to Lujiangnan.

Store Base And Regional Focus

Juewei's external communications said Lujiangnan had more than 1,000 stores. Data from Narrow Door Canyan showed 769 existing stores, mainly in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

The table-side braised-food category is a key part of Juewei's broader braised-food strategy. Compared with leisure braised snacks, meal-accompaniment braised products have stronger everyday-demand characteristics, a larger consumer base and broader market potential.

FoodBud also noted that competition in meal-accompaniment braised food was still driven more by scaled companies displacing small workshop-style operators than by intense competition among branded chains.

Frost & Sullivan data cited in the article showed that in 2019, meal-accompaniment braised food accounted for 64.26% of China's braised-food market. The segment was forecast to reach RMB 279.932 billion in 2025, with a 2020-2025 CAGR of 11.40%.

Supply Chain Logic

For franchise-heavy chains, FoodBud argued, the business is fundamentally a supply-chain business. That aligns closely with Juewei's core capabilities: by investing in adjacent chains, it can expand the sales scale of its own products.

There are differences between leisure braised food and table-side braised food. Leisure products have higher added value and lighter delivery weight. Table-side braised products are heavier and require larger transport volumes, which affects delivery radius.

Juewei's own coverage radius was described as 300-500 kilometers, while Lujiangnan's logistics coverage radius was about 150 kilometers. Whether Lujiangnan would expand to 300 kilometers would depend on strategic trade-offs.

Lujiangnan's average annual retail sales per store were about RMB 1.2 million, with annual output value of RMB 800,000. One franchisee case showed average daily sales of RMB 3,000 and an average ticket of RMB 35.

Its stores were mainly located in communities and wet markets. Lujiangnan had originally promised to open only one store per township, but later cancelled that rule. A previous rule against opening two stores within 3 kilometers was also changed: stores could be opened if the locations were integrated but belonged to two separate trade areas.

Juewei's Wider Table-Side Portfolio

Across Juewei's three table-side braised-food investments:

• Liaoji Bangbangji was still testing store formats. In 2021 it opened more than 40 new table-side braised-food format stores in over 10 cities. After a mid-year review, it focused on Chongqing and Wuhan to prototype a 2.0 format, with plans to replicate and expand quickly after further refinement.
• Lujiangnan focused on lower-tier markets in Jiangsu and was relatively less affected by the pandemic. Because table-side braised food is a relatively demand-stable category, it was accelerating development at the time.
• The joint venture with Aman focused on an urban chain brand positioned in the mid-to-high-end market. It already had more than 100 and nearly 200 stores in Nanjing, and its single-store model had been tested.

Beyond table-side braised food, Juewei had also invested in hot-braised and new-style braised-food formats, including Shengxiangting, a leading hot-braised-food company.

In 2021, Juewei increased its stake in Shengxiangting to more than 41%. Tencent held 10%. FoodBud noted that if Tencent and Juewei were acting in concert, they had essentially gained control of Shengxiangting, although the company did not need to be consolidated in Juewei's financial statements.

FoodBud's conclusion was that Juewei's capital-market playbook was beginning to show its power across the broader braised-food sector.

Note: IPO ambitions, ownership percentages, investment amounts, forecasts and forward-looking expansion plans are historical as reported in May 2022.