Perspective on Anjoy Foods Group (02648) Interim Report: Steady revenue growth, strategic combination creates long-term value.

In this fast frozen industry which combines the characteristics of "blue ocean" and "red ocean", Anjoy Foods Group (02648) is revealing its new growth logic to the outside world with its first half-year report after listing on the Hong Kong stock market. On August 25, Anjoy Foods Group released its 2025 half-year report, which is the first interim report released by the company after becoming the only "A+H" listed company in the domestic fast frozen food industry. In the first half of the year, Anjoy Foods Group achieved a revenue of 7.604 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.80%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 676 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 15.79%. Looking through the financial report, Anjoy Foods Group's profit decline is mainly due to "external factors" and "internal factors" as follows: On the one hand, the increase in prices of some raw materials has put pressure on the company's cost side. During the period, the company's sales costs increased by 5.8% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in sales and the increase in procurement prices of raw materials such as crayfish and fish paste, and the increase in sales costs undoubtedly had a certain impact on the company's gross profit margin, which decreased by 3.5 percentage points year-on-year to 19.9%. On the other hand, the phase of strategic adjustment requires continuous investment which also puts pressure on the company's profit. In the first half of the year, Anjoy accelerated product iteration and category upgrade on the product side, and deepened channel potential on the channel side, all of which require continuous financial support, and the entry into the frozen baking track through the acquisition of Ding Weitai will also incur one-time expenses. From the performance of the above core financial indicators, it is not difficult to find that although this semi-annual report of Anjoy Foods Group is not a remarkable "report card", it is indeed a high-quality "answer sheet" full of new growth ideas. Although the frozen industry has huge development space with a market size exceeding a trillion level, the industry has entered a mature and competitive stage, with market growth rate dropping from high-speed growth to single digits. According to Frost & Sullivan's prediction, the global frozen food industry is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 6.0% from 2024 to 2029. As the era of industry expansion comes to an end, the era of "fine cultivation" begins, and the competition between companies has gradually shifted from "price wars" to comprehensive competition of product capabilities, channel capabilities, and brand capabilities. In this development context, Anjoy Foods Group's strategic adjustment is not a passive defense, but a manifestation of the company's forward-thinking route as a leading player in the industry - that is, during the industry's entry into a mature period, the profit "pain" caused by the company's phase of investment is the preparation for today's dormant state and the anticipation of tomorrow's soaring. With both brand power and channel power, the continuous release of growth momentum Taking a comprehensive look at the company's half-year report, Anjoy Foods Group's "growth" is mainly reflected in the continuous increase in frozen ready-to-eat dishes and the steady growth of new retail, e-commerce, and special retail channels. Looking at it separately, on the product side, during the period, Anjoy Foods Group continued to optimize its new product development strategy focusing on "timely follow-up on the B end and upgrade on the C end", as well as its competitive strategy based on "competition-oriented, channel-oriented, counter-oriented". For example, on the packaged product series, the company continued to create miniaturization and stripeization for the flagship product Lock Fresh Pack series, moving towards high-end development; in terms of hotpot ingredients products, besides promoting general products like fried tiger skin eggs, the company also developed series products such as tender fish balls, crayfish, and fish paste around the resources of Honghu Anjing fish paste, enriching its product line. At the same time, taking the B-side baking machine channel product, such as volcanic stone sausage, as a sample, the company upgraded and launched the C-end "MeatDD Sausages series", realizing category upgrade and product structure optimization. On the channel side, while actively promoting channel sinking and extending to lower-tier markets, Anjoy Foods Group also embraced large B (special communication) customers and new retail customers, tapping into channel potential. For example, the company explicitly embraced customized in-store cooperation with traditional supermarkets such as Walmart, Metro, and RT-Mart, as well as new retail channels such as Hema Fresh, during this peak season. It can be seen that the growth of Anjoy Foods Group's frozen ready-to-eat dishes and the growth of new retail channels are related to the company's strategic layout mentioned above. From a deeper perspective, this is also a forward-thinking move towards the company's higher development stage. On the one hand, in terms of product structure, Anjoy Foods Group can not only reduce its reliance on a single category by enriching its product line, enhancing the company's risk resistance, but also create self-owned brand names such as "Anjing" and "Lock Fresh Pack" through category upgrades, form brand premiums, and enhance the company's long-term profitabi...