Largest food retailers in China revealed

China’s food retailers have witnessed immense growth over the last few years. The major players have enjoyed fast-growing sales, thanks to the increasing number of middle class consumers with more purchasing power coupled with the rapid expansion of both domestic and international food retailers in the country.

With exceptional sales in the food retail market, China is expected to achieve steady growth with an estimated CAGR of 11.17% over the next three years, to reach an estimated value of RMB25,982 billion (US$3842 billion) by 2020.

Some of the top food retailers in China as determined by BizVibe are:

• Lianhua
  Lianhua is one of the largest food retailers in East China, currently runs over 4,330 supermarkets and convenience stores mainly in the east region of China. Since 2013, Lianhua has established its own online retail platform “Lianhua Yigou”, providing food grocery and home delivery service mainly in Shanghai area.

• Yonghui
  Yonghui currently owns over 500 supermarkets in 144 cities. Yonghui is also one of the leading food retailers for online-to-offline commercial business. In January 2014, Yonghui launched its e-commerce platform “YH Wei store”, providing food and retail and home delivery service in Fuzhou. In 2015, Yonghui sold 10% of its stock share to JD.com for RMB4.3 billion.

• China Resources Vanguard
  China resources Vanguard is one of the top and largest supermarket groups in China. Now China Resources Vanguard owns over 5,000 outlets under multiple brands including Vanguard, Tesco China, Suguo, Vivo, Legou Express, Vango, BLT, Lenonardo and Huarun Tang. Its annual sales turn over reached RMB104 billion yuan in 2014. In June 2015, China Resources Vanguard launched its online food and grocery shopping platform EWJ.com.

• RT-Mart
  Established in Taiwan, RT-Mart is now one of the leading food retailers in China, operating over 320 hypermarkets in mainland China. In 2011, RT-Mart merged with French supermarket brand Auchan and later re-launched a new food retail company named Gaoxin Retail. Currently, 68% of RT-Mart food retailing businesses are in third and fourth tier cities.

• Nonggongshang
  Nonggongshang was founded in 1994. Now it operates over 2,500 big and small outlets under brand names Nonggongshang supermarket, Haode convenience stores and Kedi convenience stores mainly in Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu region. Nonggongshang’s total annual sales is around RMB20 billion.