This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on December 11, 2023.
Radar Finance reported that Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet, once one of China's rare foodservice brands with more than 20,000 outlets, has seen its store count fall sharply from a reported peak of more than 25,000 to 11,619 stores in less than three years.
The brand's rise was unusually fast for a snack chain. Founder Chen Chuanwu established Wenzhou Baiyun Food Co. in 1995, initially producing and distributing frozen foods. In 2000, the company opened its first Zhengxin snack shop in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, selling items such as oden, sausages and fried chicken.
A major pivot came in 2012, when Zhengxin cut 90% of its menu and focused on its breakout chicken cutlet and a small number of popular meat skewers. In 2013, it formally opened to franchising. By July 2017, Zhengxin had passed 10,000 stores.
In 2018, Zhengxin Group launched its "Forest Plan" and set a target of 100,000 stores. At that time, it said it had 45 operating regions nationwide and more than 80,000 employees. Public company figures cited by Radar Finance said Zhengxin sold more than 720 million chicken cutlets in 2018; at RMB10 per piece, that would imply more than RMB7.2 billion in annual chicken-cutlet revenue alone.
On November 22, 2019, Zhengxin Group held a large celebration at the Jinggangshan scenic area to mark passing 20,000 stores. Actor Huang Bo, the brand's spokesperson, attended. By March 2021, Zhengxin said it had more than 25,000 stores, three times KFC's China store count and six times McDonald's, with one-third directly operated.
According to Narrow Door Foodservice Eye data cited by Radar Finance, Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet had 11,619 stores nationwide at the time of publication. That means the chain had lost more than 10,000 stores in under three years, shrinking by more than half from its reported peak.
The decline pushed Zhengxin back below its September 2018 store count of 15,165, leaving it only modestly above its 2017 milestone of 10,000 stores.
The topic also drew heavy social-media attention. By publication time, the Weibo topic "Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet is being abandoned by young people" had attracted 120 million views and more than 100,000 interactions. Another topic, "Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet has closed nearly 10,000 stores in three years," also gained attention.
Some franchisees said the brand had lost its earlier franchise dividend. Others complained that actual franchise costs were far higher than those shown on the official website, and that stores were required to renovate every three years or exit.
Zhengxin Group also operates Zhengxin Burger, Zhengxin Hand-Shaken Tea and Zhengxin Roasted Duck Neck. But their scale is small compared with the flagship chain. Narrow Door Foodservice Eye data cited in the article showed 22 Zhengxin Burger stores, 10 Zhengxin Roasted Duck Neck stores and only 2 Zhengxin Hand-Shaken Tea stores.
For most foodservice chains, reaching 10,000 stores is already unusual. Radar Finance noted that only a limited number of China foodservice brands, including Mixue Bingcheng, Juewei Duck Neck, Wallace and Luckin Coffee, had exceeded 10,000 stores at the time. Wallace, Juewei Duck Neck, Mixue Bingcheng and Luckin reached that milestone in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023 respectively; Zhengxin had done so in 2017.
The company behind the brand is Shanghai Zhengxin Food Group Co., Ltd. Tianyancha data cited by Radar Finance showed that the company was established in January 2006, with Xia Chunlei as legal representative and registered capital of RMB45.454546 million. Of its 14 branches, only 3 were still active, while the others had been deregistered.
Radar Finance pointed to several causes behind the downturn:
The fried chicken market remained large. Data cited in the article said China's fried chicken market exceeded RMB300 billion in 2021 and was expected to reach RMB413.4 billion in 2024, with annual growth of about 10%. But the low barrier to entry meant Zhengxin faced competition not only from other chicken-cutlet chains such as Zhenghao Dada Chicken Cutlet, Big Face Chicken Cutlet and Di Yi Jia Chicken Cutlet, but also from skewer and fried-snack vendors.
Food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng told Radar Finance that Zhengxin had some value-for-money advantages, but that the same model exposed weaknesses in food safety, service systems and customer stickiness. He said the brand had not matched the industry's shift toward higher-quality development and more upgraded consumer demand.
Store density was another issue. Zhengxin's franchise promotion reportedly promised territorial protection: no additional franchise store within 300 meters on busy commercial streets and no franchise store within 500 meters in other areas. But brand-monitoring data from Jihai cited by Radar Finance showed that in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities, where more than 50% of Zhengxin's stores were located, over 30% of stores were within 500 meters of an existing store. In fourth-tier cities, the share exceeded 37%.
The broader chicken-cutlet category also cooled. Jiemian News reported that Di Yi Jia Chicken Cutlet fell from about 1,000 stores in 2021 to just over 300, while Jili Chicken Cutlet, a sister brand of Axiang Rice Noodles that had gained traction during the pandemic, had only 7 stores remaining.
For operators, the Zhengxin case underlines a familiar risk: scale can create purchasing and brand advantages, but excessive density and weak store controls can turn that scale into internal competition and brand erosion.
Radar Finance also summarized several food safety incidents involving Zhengxin franchise stores.
On August 18, 2022, Bailu Video reported that a netizen exposed a Zhengxin store employee trimming toenails while standing on an operating table. The store owner later said surveillance footage confirmed the behavior, the employee had been dismissed, and customers who had purchased from the store that day could request refunds with proof of purchase.
About one month later, market regulators in Zhuzhou, Hunan conducted special food-safety inspections of Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet stores in the area and found issues including workers wearing jewelry, personal items mixed with food ingredients, incomplete supplier documentation and poor in-store hygiene.
In October 2022, the Fangshan District Market Supervision Administration in Beijing disclosed that a Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet Beijing Shouxiang Catering Center store had violated rules because food-processing tools and utensils were not dedicated to specific uses. Regulators issued a rectification notice.
In November 2023, just before the store-closure topic trended, another food-safety issue emerged. According to a notice from the Zhangjiajie Yongding District Market Supervision Administration, regulators received a report at 10:40 a.m. on November 8 that a mouse had appeared in the operating area of a chicken-cutlet store in Yongding District. Officials verified that the store was a Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet franchise, sealed the store on site and opened an investigation.
Radar Finance also noted that on the Black Cat Complaints platform, Zhengxin Food had accumulated 376 complaints by publication time, including 21 new complaints in the previous 30 days. Complaints included foreign objects in food, undercooked chicken cutlets, stomach discomfort after eating, insufficient portions, stores appearing closed despite accepting orders and poor service attitude.
Industry observers cited by Radar Finance argued that Zhengxin may have prioritized store count over store quality during its rapid expansion. The result was weaker store management, recurring food-safety incidents, declining service quality and poorer consumer experience, all of which damaged brand image and word of mouth.
Note: Store targets, market forecasts and forward-looking figures are historical statements from the 2023 source article.