BEIJING: With on-site preparation, minimal additives and short shelf lives, freshly made snacks are winning over health-conscious consumers and reshaping the retail landscape in Changsha, Hunan province.
At a bustling downtown shopping mall, customers throng a retail store where they can see a wide selection of snacks and beverages — from spicy beef and sauce-braised duck to Swiss rolls, fruit juice and milk tea — being prepared or assembled, offering an immediate dose of trust.
As items keep flying off shelves, the staff rush to restock and customers stay put, unwilling to miss the next batch of freshly made snacks and drinks.
Such scenes have become commonplace in Changsha’s commercial districts since last year, with the experience of freshness, offered by retail chains such as Kinglomo and JidoPlus, emerging as the city’s signature souvenir.
Many tourists now make these fresh snack stores their final stop, some even bringing empty suitcases to stock up on local delicacies. For those running out of room, the stores offer convenient delivery services.
Liu Entong, 22, from Harbin, Heilongjiang province, said she stopped by a Kinglomo store twice during her two-day visit.
“The store looks nice and the prices are affordable. The drinks are all freshly made in front of your eyes,” she said, adding that they also taste great.
Niu Wanhao, 26, another shopper, said the wide selection of snacks prepared on-site seemed like a safer and healthier option compared with packaged items. “I don’t have to worry about preservatives or other additives,” he said. Chen Jing, director of the consumption promotion division of the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province, said the revenue from snacks earned by the province in 2025 surpassed 150 billion yuan ($22.2 billion). Three major item categories — spicy gluten sticks, processed fish and marinated delicacies — each accounted for more than half of their respective national market share, Chen said. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
