Hongcan Partner and CMO Liu Yiyi: The barbecue market size will exceed 280 billion yuan by 2026

Question AI · Why is the barbecue market scale growing while the number of stores is declining?

On March 24, the 2026 China Catering Industry Festival and the 35th HCC Global Catering Industry Expo, co-hosted by the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry and Hongcan Network, opened at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. During the “2026 China Barbecue Development Forum,” the “Barbecue Industry Development Report 2026” was officially released. Liu Yiyi, partner and CMO of Hongcan, provided a detailed interpretation of the report.

△ Liu Yiyi, partner and CMO of Hongcan

She stated that from 2021 to 2026, the overall trend of the barbecue sector is upward, with the market size reaching 268 billion yuan by 2025, an increase of 4.3% compared to 2024. According to estimates from the Hongcan Industry Research Institute, the barbecue market size is expected to exceed 280 billion yuan in 2026.

At the same time, due to intensified competition in the catering market, the number of barbecue stores nationwide is showing a trend of rising first and then falling from 2023 to 2026. As of February 2026, the number of barbecue stores nationwide had dropped to 409,000, a decrease of 20.9 percentage points compared to September 2024, indicating that competition in the barbecue sector remains very fierce.

Additionally, Liu Yiyi analyzed the characteristics of the barbecue sector from multiple dimensions.

In terms of regional distribution, the East China region has the most barbecue stores, accounting for 27.1%. However, in terms of density, the Northeast region has the highest concentration of barbecue stores, with an average of 5.46 barbecue stores for every 10,000 people. The sinking market is the main battlefield for China’s barbecue sector, accounting for 56.9%.

Regarding user demographics, barbecues are primarily favored by the young consumer group aged 18 to 35. In terms of gender, male consumers account for a higher percentage at 52.2%, with a preference for skewers, while females prefer grilled meat.

From the perspective of consumption scenarios, social gatherings and late-night snacks are the two main scenarios for barbecues. At the same time, barbecues are also expanding into lunch and dinner, outdoor camping, relaxation, and leisure scenarios. Nowadays, it is possible to find barbecue items like grilled wings or grilled pig trotters in fast food, formal dining, and other contexts.

Finally, looking ahead at the future development of the barbecue industry, Liu Yiyi shared several trends: the barbecue sector will develop in a direction that balances cost-effectiveness and quality, with taste and quality remaining the core elements of consumer focus; regional characteristics will serve as an important driving force for innovation in the barbecue sector, and regional specialty barbecue categories will continue to thrive in 2026.

Author: Hongcan Editorial Team