How long has it been since you last bought egg tarts at the street-side bakery? 

Over the past year, 87,000 bakeries across the country have closed down. On the other hand, the baking section of Yonghui Supermarket has been crowded with people queuing up - a new product called "True Essence Butter Cream Egg Tart" became a hot item on Xiaohongshu within just a few days of its launch. 

This egg tart is made with the genuine core pastry and filling of the Zhongpin Master series from Zhongpin Egg Tart. It has received a CQC 0-level evaluation and Intertek A+++ certification. This is the latest achievement in the egg tart category to receive dual authoritative evaluations of "clean label". 

In fact, the craze for clean labels has already been in full swing. In November last year, Hema's clean-label egg tarts were launched and sold out immediately, becoming a representative product of self-operated baked goods in supermarkets. While Yonghui's egg tarts have a higher certification level and achieved remarkable performance within just a few days of their launch. But what's being noticed is not just this single egg tart. 

Over the past few years, the competitive landscape in the baking industry has been quietly reshaping: traditional bakeries and supermarket-owned baking sections have moved from "not interfering with each other" to "direct confrontation", and the main battlefield is shifting from street-side stores to supermarket channels. 

In this shift, a key variable emerged - the clean label. It is not only a trend indicator for consumption, but also the core leverage for brands to compete for the "healthification dividend". 

So, why has the clean label become such an important factor? Who are the true enablers in this transformation? 

1

Behind the closure of 87,000 stores:

Who took away the business of the street-side stores? 

With the continuous rise of the health and emotional value trends in the consumer market, the baking industry is also collectively shifting towards quality improvement and scene upgrading. Amid the dazzling new product launch competition, a new trend worthy of deep reflection has been discovered - the places where consumers purchase baked goods are undergoing a significant shift. 

In a consumer survey conducted by iimedia Research in 2024, it was found that 37.7% of consumers would choose to purchase baked goods from offline supermarkets. Supermarkets, bakery specialty stores, and e-commerce platforms have formed a "trinity" situation [1]. And from the perspective of shipment volume, the proportion of baked goods in the retail sector will increase from 12.6% in 2024 to 15% in 2030 [2]. 

The migration of consumption venues behind this phenomenon reveals the polarized situation of the two retail models under the wave of channel transformation. 

The chain bakeries that once dominated the baking consumption market among the Chinese people have seen their appeal to the younger generation of consumers gradually diminish due to brand aging and lack of innovation. Coupled with increased difficulty in supply chain control and rising operating costs, they have become the "underdogs" in the channel competition. Narrow Door Restaurant Eye data indicates that the total number of chain bakeries across the country will decrease by 87,000 in 2025, and 57% of these bakeries will not survive for more than two years [3]. 

On the other side, the supermarkets are actively adjusting their strategies, treating baking as a high-profit and highly attractive category. At the same time, they are enhancing the consumer experience through scene-based displays and immersive marketing, and are also intensively focusing on product freshness and healthiness. 

With the combined power of consumption data analytics and shelf control, they have successfully attracted the public with a series of best-selling products, thus becoming a new frontier in the baking retail industry. 

In this collective upgrade of supermarket baking, Yonghui is one of the players with the most resolute actions and the most attention-grabbing presence. Since initiating the "weight reduction" initiative and supply chain transformation, Yonghui has regarded baking as a core category of its "quality retail" strategy. It has enhanced consumer trust through the "open kitchen and transparent cooking" in its own bakery area, and has reshaped the product structure by increasing the proportion of short-term preservation and healthy concept products. 

Furthermore, Yonghui has also taken the initiative to "push up the bar" in its own bakery product standards. Starting from launching the "100 billion-level reputation product" plan in 2025, and introducing clean-label egg tarts, Yonghui is using a series of highly recognizable best-selling products to redefine the quality boundaries of "supermarket baking". 

The competition between supermarket bakeries and traditional bakeries is, on the surface, a contest of business strategies and a battle of control over the supply chain; at a deeper level, it is the result of changes in the public's shopping habits and the transformation of consumption scenarios. 

People not only desire a pleasant shopping environment, a wide range of product choices, and efficient and convenient one-stop shopping; but also hope that the baking quality can still maintain professionalism and refinement. 

In the future, whether commercial supermarkets and bakeries continue to attract more customers through "open kitchens and transparent cooking" and "freshness", or traditional pastry shops adhere to the "small but exquisite" strategy, in the face of the huge market of 660 billion yuan [4], these two retail models will surely coexist for a long time and continuously improve themselves through competition. 

Over the past year, many supermarket bakeries have vigorously promoted the concept of "quality retail", launching products with high appearance standards, high freshness, new flavors and new scenarios, bringing the quality baking competition to a climax. 

So, in a vast array of SKUs, how can one create a distinctive bestseller? How can one ensure scalability and standardization while still achieving a taste comparable to that of a professional bakery? These challenges precisely provide the fertile ground for the rise of clean labels. 

2

The clean label is not about "subtracting things"

but rather a comprehensive "hard work" approach 

At the same time as the changes in the baking retail scene, there has also been an iterative update of the consumption concepts of baking. 

Nowadays, the criteria by which consumers evaluate baked products are undergoing a fundamental change. "Whether it tastes good" is merely a basic requirement, while "whether it is clean" is becoming a key factor in purchasing decisions. 

The survey shows that "freshness", "nutrition" and "raw material quality" rank second, third and fourth respectively among the factors that consumers consider when purchasing baked goods [5]. Among them, the proportion of attention paid to freshness is already comparable to that of "taste", which ranks first. 

How to make the formula cleaner? How to make the product fresher? Last year, with the implementation of relevant regulations and standards, the clean label, which had been dormant in China for 10 years, finally achieved commercialization. 

The attitude of consumers towards clean labels has also rapidly warmed up. Not only do 92% of Chinese people show clear interest in all-natural ingredients [5], but 71% of them are willing to pay a premium for products with a cleaner formula [6]. 

In the industry sector, regulations, standards and technological innovations are also accelerating the implementation and establishment of the clean label concept. 

The newly released version of the "General Principles for Nutritional Labeling of Prepackaged Foods" (GB28050) last year mandates the display of "saturated fat" and "sugar" content, forcing the industry to optimize its formulas. The new "General Principles for Labeling of Prepackaged Foods" (GB7718) also explicitly prohibits the use of vague terms such as "zero addition" and "no addition". 

The ingredient list should accurately reflect all added components, encouraging enterprises to reduce unnecessary additives and implement a genuine "subtraction" approach. The "Guidelines for the Authenticity Evaluation of Clean Label Foods" issued in October last year provided clear guidance for the industry, covering the entire process from raw material sourcing to production control. 

The development of new ingredients aimed at reducing artificial additives, advanced production processes, and intelligent high-precision baking equipment [7] has enabled the industry to move towards cleanliness from the fundamental level. 

The clean label is evolving from a mere "marketing concept" that is optional, to becoming an indispensable "necessary step" for the industry's health-oriented transformation. 

Just in the first quarter of this year, multiple products such as San Yuan Beijing Yogurt, Haoyi Family Third Generation Thick Hot Pot Base Seasoning, OATLY High-Fiber Oat Milk, Daxiao Cooking Oil, and Kebeijian Potato Chips received clean label certification or authorization, demonstrating a favorable trend of the clean label expanding to all product categories. 

In this sweeping cleaning-up trend that has swept across the entire industry, as a powerful draw tool for the self-operated baking sections of supermarkets and also a top-selling baking category, whether egg tarts can withstand the test of the clean label is increasingly drawing the attention of the industry. 

Whoever can produce "0-level" clean-label egg tarts will prove their true strength in the baking supply chain. And Zhongpin Egg Tarts is the one who submitted the answer first. 

3

A "hidden champion" with an annual production of 1 billion units,

How to be a "powerhouse" in the industry? 

In the "trench warfare" of the baking retail industry, clean-label products have become an indispensable banner. And the key role that can give this banner sufficient appeal actually lies with the supply chain enterprises. 

The huge popularity of "True Core Butter Creamy Egg Tart" has enabled us to identify the hidden champion behind the clean-label double rating - the Mid-Pan Egg Tart. 

You may not have heard of this name, but brands like Goodrich and Baoshifu... all have long queues for their products. The egg tarts sold by these brands are all produced by it. The annual production capacity of medium-baked egg tarts reaches 1 billion pieces, and its market share in the mid-to-high-end bakery and pastry store channels exceeds 70%. In 2023, it also led the drafting of the "Technical Requirements for Egg Tart Production and Processing" group standard. 

It can be said that Zhongpin Egg Tart is undoubtedly the "invisible champion" in this field. 

From serving multiple leading chain bakeries to providing "clean label dual evaluation" products for Yonghui, Zhongpin Egg Tart has continuously delivered high-quality products to the competitors in the market, becoming an unshakable "water supplier" and an innovative "engine" in the baking retail battle. To assume this role, Zhongpin Egg Tart has cultivated at least three outstanding capabilities. 

Firstly, there is the meticulously refined product quality achieved through systematic refinement. The secret to making delicious egg tarts is not achieved by a single technique, but rather through systematic control of the selection of raw materials, formula design, and production processes. 

Zhongpei Egg Tart has invested a large amount of money to customize an intelligent production line with a temperature and humidity fluctuation of less than 0.1% within 24 hours, ensuring the perfect presentation of the 64-layer puff pastry process without any additives. 

After conducting thousands of tests, they identified the optimal "recipe" for 64-layer puff pastry: what is the best combination of flour for extensibility, at what temperature range the butter has the best extensibility, how to precisely balance the ratio of dough to butter, how to control the thickness and number of rolling processes... Thirteen years of accumulation have enabled Zhongpin Egg Tart to have in-depth control over every aspect of "a good egg tart". 

The next aspect is the technical strength. Zhongpin Egg Tart has core advantages in several key processes such as "stabilizing the crust and maintaining crispness" and "baking the crust at both hot and cold temperatures". These technologies not only meet the strict standards of clean labels but also ensure a "superly crispy, superly tender and superly delicious" texture. 

The medium-sized egg tarts are produced through industrialized methods, offering consumers a quality experience that is only available in a few high-end bakeries. This is precisely the core value of it as the "leader brand in the egg tart supply chain". 

The third is flexible adaptability. Whether serving B-end bakery stores or jointly developing C-end best-selling products with supermarket channels, Zhongpin Egg Tarts can provide customized product solutions according to different customer needs. 

In the eyes of Zhongpin Egg Tart, upstream and downstream cooperation is not merely a simple supply relationship; rather, it should be based on a shared understanding of consumer trends, with both parties jointly defining the product and jointly creating value. In fact, Zhongpin Egg Tart is becoming a growth partner for the retail sector. This collaboration with Yonghui clearly illustrates this industry role of Zhongpin Egg Tart. 

Since 2024, Yonghui Supermarket has fully implemented the "quality retail" and "fat transformation" strategies, and clean labels have become an important means to build a differentiated competitive advantage. 

By jointly establishing the top-level standard for "clean label dual evaluation" with Zhongpin Egg Tart, Yonghui aims to convey to consumers the brand perception of "Yonghui = Quality". This is also a concrete manifestation of its practice and promotion of the "Bao Dongla Spirit". 

For Zhongpin Egg Tarts, collaborating with Yonghui can enable the complementary strengths of Yonghui's channel insights and consumer reach capabilities, as well as Zhongpin Egg Tarts' technological research and development and supply chain guarantee capabilities, to create a "value symbiotic entity". 

This move not only created a powerful "traffic engine" for Yonghui's self-operated baking area, establishing a solid brand moat, but also enabled Zhongpin Egg Tart to complete the value loop from B-end to C-end. It transformed the technical barriers at the supply chain end into something that consumers could perceive as "extremely safe" and "clean benchmark". 

Under the deep supply chain collaboration model, the innovative energy stored by Zhongpin Egg Tart will undoubtedly be released more fully and efficiently, helping the industry accelerate its upgrading. 

4

Conclusion

The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline approved by this year's Two Sessions clearly states that efforts should be made to "accelerate the construction" of a Healthy China, and implement the Rational Diet Initiative and the National Nutrition Plan. Clean labels are precisely one of the most important sub-sectors in this health trend. 

Driven by the clean label trend, the healthiness of ordinary food has become an essential option. This will also be a wide-ranging, long-lasting and far-reaching industry transformation. Which brands will reap the benefits of this round of transformation? It will definitely be those that can grasp the "healthiness" consumption trend and at the same time possess the ability to integrate supply chains. 

The emergence of "True Core Creamy Butter Tart" is not only a success of a single product, but also a signal for the entire industry: The clean label is moving from a "concept" to a "standard", from "marketing" to "technology", and from "best-selling product" to "category". 

When supply chain giants have managed to reduce costs to an extremely low level and standardize quality to an extremely high standard through their "annual production of 1 billion units" scale effect, how much room is left for those bakeries without supply chain advantages to survive? 

Reference materials: 

[1] Research data on the development status and consumption behavior of the Chinese bakery food industry, iResearch Consulting Group 

[2] Bakery Industry Development Report 2025, Red Restaurant Industry Research Institute & Mengniu Professional Dairy Products 

[3] 一年关店多达 87000 家，日均关闭店铺 240 家！网红烘焙的黄金时代彻底终结了。 https://m.sohu.com/a/969992225_121948416

[4] China Commercial Baking Equipment Industry Development White Paper (2025-2030), iResearch Consulting Group 

[5] 2025 Annual Asian Consumer Trend Insights, Releedo 

[6] 2025 China Healthy Baking Food and Beverage Consumption Trend Report, Shufei主张 

[7] How can the industrialization upgrade of baking drive industry innovation? https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2025-06-16/doc-infahqyc7435316.shtml?froms=ggmp