Short Weight Found at Bulk Snack Stores: The Blind Spot of a 50,000-Store System

Short weight has been discovered one after another at stores of major Chinese bulk snack chains. In Hebei Province, four slices of beef jerky purchased by a customer weighed in at 64.58 yuan at the store. When reweighed after returning home, it was equivalent to 17.29 yuan. In Henan Province, a bill of 111 yuan was reweighed at 64.8 yuan. The difference reached nearly double.

According to Huxiu, the bulk stores with red signs that have spread across towns and cities were implicated. Their parent companies, Mingming Henman and Haoxianglai, issued apologies. They established a dedicated fund to compensate ten times the difference for products with weighing errors. Market supervision and administration departments in various regions have also launched investigations. Inspections are underway in Baotou, Yuncheng, Yancheng, and other cities.

Short weight discovered at bulk snack stores, with price differences reaching nearly double

This case is not merely an operational error. Behind it lies the rapidly expanded franchise model and pressure on per-store profits. It has exposed a structural problem: loss of control over the weighing process.

Background of the Short Weighting Found at

Bulk Stores

It started with consumers reweighing their purchases. The in-store display differed greatly from the value on their home scales. The issue spread on social media, and similar complaints emerged across regions.

The initial response from supervisory authorities was swift. In Baotou, 284 electronic scales were inspected. Except for one that had not been verified, no tampering was found. Spot inspections in Yinchuan and Zhenyuan County also found no large-scale fraud. The existence of so-called rigged scales was not substantiated.

Even so, consumer distrust did not subside. This is because shortfalls occurred even without deliberate tampering. The companies’ apologies and promises of compensation underscored the seriousness of the situation. Mingming Henman announced a mechanism to compensate upfront. Haoxianglai also announced similar measures.

The Structure of Cost Shifting Created by

Profit Pressure

The bulk snack industry has grown rapidly. In 2025, the market size was about 223.4 billion yuan, up 72% year on year. The combined gross merchandise value share of the two companies, Mingming Henman and Wancheng Group, exceeded 75%. A de facto duopoly has been formed.

As of the end of 2025, Mingming Henman had 21,948 stores. Wancheng Group had 18,314 stores. The two giants’ franchised stores together exceeded 50,000. That means there is a store on the street corner of almost every county.

While expansion continued, per-store earnings thinned. According to the prospectus, average monthly sales per store in the first half of 2025 were 300,700 yuan. Average monthly net profit after operating expenses was only about 5,500 yuan. The revenue structure was 99.2% dependent on supply to franchisees. Franchise fees and system usage fees combined accounted for less than 1%.

Haoxianglai’s average monthly gross merchandise value per store also declined. It fell from 412,000 yuan in 2024 to 382,000 yuan in 2025. The industry’s overall markup rate was compressed to between about 18% and 36%. End retail prices are 20% to 30% lower than those at traditional general supermarkets. Low prices are both a weapon for attracting customers and a burden.

Rent, labor costs, and logistics costs are rigid and difficult to reduce. If selling prices are raised, price-sensitive customers will leave. Making up the shortfall at the weighing stage becomes a nearly cost-free profit channel. Even a difference of a few yuan per transaction adds up with hundreds of transactions a day. Some see it as becoming a non-negligible source of income.

Loss of Control Over Store Density and

Deterioration of Per-Store Revenue

At the root of the profit squeeze is the loss of control over store density. Officially, a 500-meter trade area protection was promised. In reality, there are areas where stores of the same brand are densely clustered at intervals of just over 200 meters. Customer dispersion is serious, and the investment payback period has lengthened.

The fragility of human contact has also become apparent. Reporting at multiple stores in Guangzhou found stores staffed by a single employee. The same person handled the register, restocking, and display arrangement. In such solo staffing, a double-check mechanism does not function. It can be assessed that the probability of weighing errors increases.

The causes of error in a single electronic scale are varied. Improper operation by staff and lack of daily calibration are cited. System recognition errors may also be involved. It is said that more hidden incentive mechanisms may also be at work. The problem has shifted from the malice of a few street vendors to a bias on the scale of tens of thousands of stores.

The concept of the fair scale was a prescription from 30 years ago. It involved placing a calibrated scale at the market entrance. It countered opportunism on the sellers’ side through third-party monitoring. Now, the fair scale has been incorporated into the accounting system. It is linked to the back-end information infrastructure and monthly reports from franchisees. Even so, it was insufficient against systematic bias on the scale of ten thousand stores.

Inspections for Rigged Scales and Corporate

Countermeasures

Inspections by supervisory authorities revealed a loss of control over management of the entire system. No large-scale tampering was found. The main causes were cited as non-standard operation and lack of calibration. The absence of a double-check mechanism in the weighing process was also pointed out.

The two companies’ responses shift weighing from a human task to system management. Mingming Henman will uniformly deploy standard weights to all stores. It announced an operation to calibrate them every day before opening. It said it will activate a scale monitoring system for stores nationwide. Weighing information for each order will be sent back to headquarters. It will be made traceable and tamper-proof.

Haoxianglai’s response follows almost the same framework. It pledged upfront compensation through a dedicated fund. Weighing errors will be compensated at ten times the difference. It will combine constant monitoring with information traceability. It demonstrated a stance of not ending with mere lip service to zero tolerance.

As a reference case, tactics in the gold buying industry were cited. In Nanning, 9.28 grams of gold became 8.35 grams after a transaction. The shrinkage exceeded 10%. The use of non-standard scales and melting without prior explanation was called into question. The commonality is seen as exploiting information asymmetry and opaque processes.

The restaurant industry’s kitchen visibility program was also referenced. It is an initiative to make kitchens visible through video surveillance. It reduced information asymmetry regarding food safety. However, visible transparency alone cannot cover blind spots. It can be assessed that if ambiguity in standards remains, it will become a loophole.

How Rebuilding Trust Will Shape the

Industry’s Competitive Landscape

The bulk snack market is projected to exceed 600 billion yuan in 2029. As scale continues to expand, the weight of each weighing will increase. Whether a company has a weighing management system covering the entire process will become a competitive condition. It is seen that companies will be divided into those that gain an advantage by rebuilding trust and those that are abandoned.

The technical focus is traceability and tamper resistance. Weighing information is sent back to headquarters and records are kept. Calibration is operated on a daily basis. Standards are unified through the deployment of standard weights. A mechanism that does not depend on human work is required.

The institutional focus is the effectiveness of trade area protection. The gap between the promised 500 meters and the reality of just over 200 meters is large. Managing the pace of store openings will determine per-store earnings. Revising cost-sharing in the franchise model is also seen as becoming an issue.

Editorial Opinion

In the short term, the deployment of standard weights and the activation of the monitoring system are seen as changing operations at franchised stores. If pre-opening calibration and transmission to headquarters take hold, improper operation may decrease. It is assessed that reweighing by consumers will spread and the operation of compensation in case of violations will draw attention.

In the long term, transparency in weighing management is seen as becoming a competitive condition for the bulk retail format. Companies equipped with recording and traceability for the entire process may gather trust. It is assessed that companies unable to keep records will find it difficult to survive on price competition alone.

The remaining issue is seen as whether errors and intent can be distinguished. How to compensate for the lack of double-checking under solo staffing is also being questioned. It is assessed that how to ensure the effectiveness of protected trade areas is being questioned.

References

• ” 好想来赵一鸣“缺斤短两”，没问题 ”, by 超聚焦 — 虎嗅网, 2026-09-08T12:44:16.000Z (ARR)
• Source URL: https://www.huxiu.com/article/4889612.html?f=rss