For four straight years, it’s been No. 1 nationwide—what’s the secret behind how this company turned shrimp dumpling into a booming business?

Ask AI · What strategies has Daxieji used to stand out in the shrimp paste dumpling (xiahu) segment?

From hot pot side dishes to a national household favorite, how did xiahu make a comeback?

In the world of food ingredients, a national mega-selling product is taking shape.

According to data from Majangying’s offline retail monitoring network, in Q4 2025, sales revenue in the xiahu category grew sharply by 56.9% year over year. The growth rate ranked first among all subcategories of frozen foods. In Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan, and Guizhou—five provinces—xiahu has even replaced beef meatballs, becoming the local hot pot ingredient “hot pot ball” TOP1 category.

From a niche hot pot dipping ingredient to a “national mega-selling product,” the breakout of the xiahu category is, on the surface, the result of consumer choices; in reality, it stems from the continuous maturity of the industrial chain.

On this golden track of rapid rise, whoever controls a stable, high-quality, and efficient supply chain holds the key to defining the future of the category.

1. The xiahu category explodes, with growth rates leading the frozen-food market

Xiahu is entering the spotlight as a star product in the dining ingredients sector at an astonishing growth rate.

According to data from Majangying’s offline retail monitoring network, in Q4 2025, sales revenue in the frozen foods category grew by 6.5% compared with the same period last year. It is already one of the faster-growing categories among fast-moving consumer foods. Within this, the xiahu subcategory leads the entire frozen-food market with a growth rate of 56.9%. In terms of sales volume, it also surged dramatically—up 60.6% year over year.

Such momentum isn’t limited to the retail end. Research shows that in the hot pot market, 52.2% of consumers prefer choosing xiahu as a hot pot ingredient, and the ordering rate of xiahu has risen—from being ranked 7th or 8th in 2018—to now consistently staying in the TOP3, just behind tripe and duck intestines. According to estimates by authoritative institutions, China’s xiahu food market size in 2026 is expected to reach 17.31 billion yuan.

And for a category to achieve explosive growth, it’s inseparable from the leadership and push of leading enterprises.

Just recently, Beihai Daxieji Food Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Daxieji”) was recognized by a market research institution, Shangpu Consulting Group, as the brand with the #1 xiahu sales volume nationwide for four consecutive years. Previously, it also received dual recognition from Frost & Sullivan: “#1 xiahu sales volume in China” and “China’s #1 xiahu brand.”

As a leading enterprise, Daxieji’s certification as “#1 in nationwide sales for four consecutive years” indicates excellent brand performance and industry leadership. But Daxieji is not only ahead in scale and sales—its standards are also ahead.

In 2023 and 2024, Daxieji spearheaded the drafting of China’s first leading-level group standard “Xiahu” and the national recommended standard “Frozen Xiahu,” respectively, filling gaps in industry standards and paving the way for the category’s sustainable development.

When it comes to its own development—how to anchor on the xiahu category and make it bigger and stronger? Daxieji’s core strategy is: focus on the xiahu mega-selling product. On one hand, it deeply cooperates and co-creates with B-end catering clients; on the other, it continuously expands C-end consumption scenarios, driving xiahu into home dining tables.

At the B-end, Daxieji replaces “just ingredient supply” with “xiahu solution” services. To date, it has served more than 60k restaurant brand outlets. Well-known hot pot chain brands such as Zum Zum, Peijie, Haoyu, Zhu Guangyu, Xiong Miaolai, Weila, and Shengxiangting are among its customers.

Taking Xiong Miaolai as an example: its deep cooperation with Daxieji has set a benchmark case for “product co-creation” in the catering industry. The two sides jointly launched their first xiahu product, “Sunflower Fish Roe Xiahu,” five years ago. It went on sale and instantly sparked the market. Over five years, it has sold nearly 60k servings, laying a foundation of trust for long-term cooperation.

After that, cooperation kept deepening—from co-branding to co-creation, from production to marketing. Through methods such as origin-tracing live streams of shrimp sources and brand-linked marketing, they continued to close the distance with consumers, and market feedback was enthusiastic. Among them, the “Rose Cheese Black Tiger Shrimp Xiahu” launched in 2024 exceeded 90k orders in just three days, with GMV over 25 million yuan.

And at the C-end, Daxieji keeps expanding consumption scenarios such as family gatherings, quick meals, and outdoor camping. It has launched xiahu-category products including “Big-Home Xiahu,” “Jiu Wu Pure Shrimp Pa(=shrimp patty),” and “Xiao Duo Duo Shrimp Meat Sausage,” among others. It also entered mainstream e-commerce platforms, community group-buying platforms, and offline networks such as supermarkets and wet markets, making good xiahu truly part of users’ three meals a day.

2. From supplying ingredients to delivering solutions, Daxieji isn’t satisfied with just selling products

The massive demand unleashed on both BC ends is both an opportunity for category development and a pressure test for supply chain companies—forcing enterprises to continuously strengthen their competitive moat.

How to respond more precisely to different needs from B-end customers in terms of new product launches, efficiency, and customer acquisition? And how to meet C-end consumers’ expectations for health, deliciousness, and convenience all in one? That will be the focus of this round of competition for upstream enterprises.

First, take the B-end. Still using Daxieji as an example: at the just concluded “Liangzhilong · 2026 14th China Ingredients E-commerce Festival,” it highlighted and launched three big breakout-product plan packages, responding directly to various pain points faced by hot pot catering merchants in their operations.

The founder of Fei Fei Shrimp Village once said that a brand must have several “hit products,” i.e., so-called mega-selling products. This is also true in the hot pot industry. When hot pot competition weeds out the less competitive and keeps the best, “ingredients are king.” A sufficiently good single product can become the most important factor in retaining customers.

The first plan Daxieji rolled out this time is a co-branded hit product package targeted at leading catering chain brands.

“Sunflower Fish Roe Xiahu” and “Rose Cheese Black Tiger Shrimp Xiahu,” co-developed with Xiong Miaolai; “Five-Flavor Little Lobster Xiahu,” co-created with Zhu Guangyu Hot Pot Restaurant; and “Noah’s Sea Fish Roe Xiahu,” offered with Weila Little Hot Pot… Once these co-branded products were released, they unlocked sales in the millions and even tens of millions. At the end of last year, many hot pot stores rolled out “a bite of whole green shrimp xiahu.” Thanks to its differentiated features—“half of it is whole shrimp meat, and one bite lets you eat three shrimp”—it also sparked considerable buzz.

When serving chain catering customers, Daxieji follows a “one order, one plan” and “flexible production” approach, enabling it to match a store’s customer demographics and differentiated menu needs to the maximum extent possible.

Red Meal Network learned that when Daxieji collaborated with well-known listed companies in China’s hot pot industry upon their first-time launch partnership, to meet the other party’s near-rigorous standards, it carried out “a full overhaul” of shrimp-peeling factories and production lines. Ultimately, it built an “hundreds of millions” scale single product: the signature large-granule xiahu. This deep response—from starting with demand, to R&D and production—is something most supply chain companies are unable to do.

The second and third plans are more universal, targeting hot pot stores of different sizes. In fact, whether it’s a chain brand or a standalone outlet, they commonly face issues such as difficulty in launching new items, product homogenization, and ineffective launches caused by weak promotion plans. Daxieji keenly detected these needs and introduced two plan packages: the “Stuffed-Heart Xiahu” series and the “Four Seasons Fresh Xiahu” menu.

The Stuffed-Heart Xiahu series, as Daxieji’s new product line promoted in 2026, represents the brand’s another bold innovation focused on product value and the user experience. This series combines the value perception of “fresh-sliding texture” with the convenience of “meatball ease.” With high value perception and a strong experiential feel, the fresh-sliding skin wraps a full-bodied filling with multiple flavors. One bite delivers—“fresh and bouncy on the outside, and explosive with a burst of juice on the inside.” Meanwhile, it’s ready to use right after opening the bag, eliminating the need for manual rolling into balls, which can significantly improve a store’s speed of getting food out.

The Four Seasons Fresh Xiahu menu is designed with the entire xiahu category in mind, creating innovative products that match what’s in season and best for the time. Inspired by the four seasons, it cleverly combines xiahu, pork xiahu, beef xiahu, fish xiahu, and lobster xiahu, etc., along with seasonal ingredients from each season. It designs multiple series of xiahu products—mountain-and-rural style, refreshing type, nourishing type, and warm-and-comforting type—corresponding to consumers’ dietary preferences across spring, summer, autumn, and winter. This can effectively solve the problem that hot pot stores may have “busy seasons that aren’t truly busy.”

Launching new products is just the first step; what troubles many restaurant owners more is that after a launch, they don’t know how to market it—leading to ineffective new product introductions. To address this, Daxieji provides a complete set of marketing solution packages, covering product recommendations, visual merchandising materials, standard scripts, and promotion across channels—supporting catering clients’ sales from every angle.

As Yan Dongsheng, founder of Peijie Chongqing Hot Pot, commented: Daxieji is a supply chain company that is especially “good at understanding customers.” “They not only provide us with high-quality xiahu, but also give us a series of support during the new product promotion stage. Daxieji isn’t a mere product-selling supplier; it’s a supplier that can provide customers with a customized overall xiahu solution.”

3. Focus on xiahu, deeply cultivate the industrial supply chain—go deeper and broader

As a young company founded only 5 years ago, Daxieji has grown rapidly into an industry leader in a short time, gaining the trust of both BC-end clients—thanks to its determination to achieve “one centimeter wide, one thousand meters deep” in the xiahu segment.

“Going deep” is a big phrase. When applied to a supply chain enterprise, it means continuously pioneering and cultivating the chain consisting of production, finished-output handling, and logistics. This is exactly what Daxieji values: not a trade supply chain that “buys cheap, sells expensive, and profits from price differences,” but an industrial supply chain integrating procurement, R&D, production, and sales.

On March 17, Daxieji Food’s Zhangzhou industrial park officially signed contracts and kicked off operations. Located in Zhangzhou, Fujian—China’s core production area for black tiger shrimp—the park has not only strong resource endowments, but also a mature “breeding-processing” industrial cluster with comprehensive supporting facilities. Daxieji CEO Zhai Yantao said that the factory is expected to achieve 15k tons of shrimp meat capacity and 10k tons of xiahu capacity in 2026.

As early as 2021, Daxieji invested 500 million yuan to build and launch a plant in Beihai, Guangxi—centered on a high-quality production region of South American white shrimp. The built factory covers 88 mu of land, later expanded to 98 mu, making it currently the largest xiahu production base in China.

After the Zhangzhou factory is completed, it will form a two-plant production layout with the Beihai factory. The scale increase improves efficiency, allowing Daxieji to serve more customers with more high-quality and more cost-effective products.

On the technology and quality control front, Daxieji is also at the forefront of the industry. Red Meal Network learned that throughout the entire chain—from raw material selection, processing and production, to logistics transportation—Daxieji has established strict standards, building a quality barrier.

Raw material side: Leveraging the production advantages of South American white shrimp, it is based in Beihai, Guangxi domestically, and establishes four shrimp source bases overseas—Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Ecuador—ensuring “the best raw materials are selected,” and “shrimp are harvested fresh all the way,” to secure year-round stable supply of xiahu.

Production side: In collaboration with R&D institutions, it has developed intelligent equipment such as automated shrimp peeling machines. After fresh shrimp are loaded, within one second it can remove the head, shell, and shrimp vein—highly standardized. During the processing stage, it uses a “salt-soluble protein freshness-locking” process to ensure that xiahu’s “nutrition doesn’t get lost and the flavor stays fresher.” In the quality control stage, multiple inspection checkpoints are set up to guard xiahu from the source.

Logistics side: Relying on HuaDing Cold Chain’s digital services, temperature is precisely maintained below -18℃. From warehousing, to transport, to delivery, it maximizes quality assurance. The logistics network connects 2,800 county-level cities nationwide, with the fastest half-day delivery—fast and stable.

While continuously strengthening the xiahu category, Daxieji’s business scope has long expanded to the entire sliding-type (xiahua) product category, including beef xiahu, pork xiahu, chicken xiahu, fish xiahu, lobster xiahu, chia seed clam-fish xiahu, and others. It can be said that Daxieji is currently building an entire “xiahu world” with xiahu at its core.

This is determined by the underlying capabilities Daxieji has gained by deeply cultivating the industrial chain.

When Liu Xiaohong, president of Daxieji, was interviewed by the media, she said: “Any meat can be made into xiahu.” These production processes are very similar. Daxieji can reuse its xiahu production system and operating experience to expand from a single-product factory into multiple xiahu product factories, achieving both scale growth and efficiency improvements.

Conclusion

As xiahu grows from a niche hot pot ingredient into a national big category, its market potential is being reassessed. Behind this are the ongoing deep cultivation and market development efforts of a number of leading enterprises. Supply chain companies represented by Daxieji, through innovating themselves and improving industry standards, are bringing higher-quality xiahu to an ever-growing number of hot pot restaurant outlets and onto more family dining tables.

This article was originally published by Red Meal Network (ID: hongcan18). Author: Ke Yule; Editor: Fangyuan. Cover image source: TuChong Creative. Supporting images provided by Daxieji; used with authorization by Red Meal Network.