ShanghaiApril 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Meet Fresh, a leading brand in Chinese-style desserts, unveiled its new store image at the Shanghai Sun Moon Light Center Plaza. Xu Weilun, CEO of CFB Group, noted that this comprehensive store image refresh is one of CFB’s swift initiatives following Meet Fresh’s integration into the CFB system in early April. It also marks CFB Group’s official entry into the Chinese-style dessert track, taking a significant step in the “Great Enjoyment” category to continuously cater to diverse consumer needs and scenarios. Under this new strategic layout, the total number of stores across all brands under the group has surpassed 2,500.
Going forward, leveraging CFB’s systematic capabilities in consumer insights, digital operations, and multi-brand management, Meet Fresh will strengthen its core value of “Sixty-Year Heritage, Handcrafted with Heart” while delivering a dessert experience that is lighter, more innovative, and more personalized for consumers.
From Enjoyment Upgrade to Category Expansion: Why CFB Chose Meet Fresh
Against the backdrop of ongoing consumption structure differentiation, the food and beverage industry is shifting from “functional satisfaction” to a balance of “experience and emotional value.” Particularly among younger demographics, the focus has quietly moved from “meeting basic needs” to “expressing emotions and lifestyle,” driving categories like desserts, tea drinks, and ice cream to form a cross-scenario “hedonic consumption belt.” Meanwhile, the market exhibits new structural characteristics: on one hand, high emotional value categories boast stronger brand appeal; on the other hand, consumption frequency and decision-making efficiency have become key variables influencing growth. Striking a balance between “high experience” and “high frequency” has become a critical challenge for dessert brands.
CFB Group has formally taken strategic control of Meet Fresh, becoming its largest shareholder and fully managing its operations. Leveraging the mature operational system of DQ, the No. 1 brand in China’s made-to-order ice cream chain sector, CFB has expanded its presence in the food and beverage track, achieving a comprehensive layout in the “Great Dessert” category. This move covers high-growth segments including the approximately 400+ billion yuan made-to-order ice cream market, the nearly 700+ billion yuan dessert market, and the 1,160+ billion yuan cake and bakery market, with a total addressable market size of around 2,300 billion yuan. CFB Group’s total store count has surged to 2,500, unlocking dual dividend opportunities from the integration of the Great Enjoyment track and the group’s value leap.
Category Coronation: CFB Ascends from Ice Cream Leader to Cross-Category Pioneer in “Great Enjoyment”
DQ, under CFB Group, is the No. 1 brand in China’s made-to-order ice cream chain sector. According to Euromonitor International data, DQ has maintained a market share exceeding 30% for consecutive years, with over 1,800 stores. In 2025, DQ achieved double-digit growth year-over-year in revenue, profit, and same-store sales, with the proportion of young customers surpassing 70%, solidifying its absolute leading position in the ice cream category.
With the acquisition of Meet Fresh, CFB Group has completed a critical strategic leap. It has expanded from its core strength in made-to-order ice cream into the realms of Chinese-style sweet soups and traditional desserts, establishing a dual-core category structure of “ice cream + desserts.” This provides comprehensive support for the group to deploy across more consumption scenarios and paves the way for future entry into the light health and wellness route, offering nourishing dessert options for wetter, colder weather or specific wellness needs.
From an industry scale perspective, this strategic layout will also open up significant growth space for CFB. In 2025, China’s dessert market size has already exceeded 700 billion yuan. Combined with the approximately 400 billion yuan made-to-order ice cream market and the roughly 1,160 billion yuan cake and bakery market, the total track size CFB touches reaches about 2,300 billion yuan. Additionally, with the integration of Meet Fresh, the group’s store count has increased from approximately 1,850 to around 2,500. The dual-brand drive of “DQ + Meet Fresh” will create stronger synergies in city coverage and expansion capabilities.
From Traditional Desserts to Light Enjoyment: Meet Fresh’s Systematic Upgrade
Amid the shift in consumer habits towards “lighter burden, higher frequency, personalization, and high emotional added value,” and with the empowerment of CFB Group, Meet Fresh is undergoing a systematic upgrade encompassing brand, product, and consumption scenarios.
At the brand level, Meet Fresh centers on “Sixty-Year Heritage, Handcrafted with Heart.” This six-decade-old tradition of craftsmanship adheres to the belief that “flavors are born in time” — taro is stir-fried, steamed, and then loosened in sequence, slowly becoming glutinous over an hour; taro balls rest for two hours for that perfect texture; red bean soup simmers for two hours, allowing the beans to naturally soften; Guangxi rock sugar water steeps for three hours to reveal its amber hue; and grass jelly is aged for three years, slowly developing its fragrance before being brewed.
At the product and menu level, Meet Fresh’s upgrade focuses on “lighter burden and more personalization”: by streamlining SKUs from approximately 45 to 25, it reduces consumers’ choice overload. Focusing on core items lowers decision-making costs; introducing different milk base options and a “less sweet” option aligns with health trends; launching smaller portion sizes lowers the trial barrier and increases repurchase frequency; and offering flexible combinations allows consumers to customize toppings, enhancing the personalized experience.
At the consumption scenario level, Meet Fresh uses seasonal and scenario-based products to naturally position different items in specific contexts, transitioning from traditional dine-in desserts to a “light enjoyment” consumption model covering afternoon tea, casual socializing, and other time slots. Meanwhile, the store design increasingly showcases a rustic new Chinese style, evoking “Under the Eaves, Amidst the Hearth’s Glow.” CFB has created a replicable, high-quality, and memorable new-generation store design for Meet Fresh, utilizing three core elements — original intent, utensils, and nature — to restore the handmade feel and convey a warm, healing, and heartwarming experience.
CFB Platform Driving Force: Acting as a Growth Engine for Sub-Brands
As a multi-brand food and beverage group driven by consumer insights, CFB Group CEO Xu Weilun stated that CFB’s competitiveness lies not only in its brand portfolio but also in its systematic operational capabilities. Meet Fresh’s store model has also been optimized. While preserving the handmade preparation of core ingredients, the kitchen workflow has been redesigned, reducing the kitchen area from 40 square meters in many stores to 20 square meters. Equipment costs have also been optimized using the group’s scale advantages. The total investment per store will be reduced by 25% to 450,000 yuan, and the average payback period for a single store can be lowered to a healthy level of around one and a half years. From a long-term brand-building perspective, this represents a more rational store model.
Rather than allowing individual brands to develop independently, CFB Group emphasizes leveraging a mature operational system to accelerate different brands on this platform. Utilizing digital intelligence systems and organizational synergy, CFB quickly translates precise consumer insights into executable actions, forming a closed loop of “insight-innovation-execution” from product development to store rollout, marketing, and channel coordination. This is a crucial foundation for maintaining growth, ensuring that innovation truly translates into sales growth. DQ’s sustained position as the No. 1 ice cream chain brand is a classic demonstration of CFB Group’s core capabilities.
In an increasingly segmented industry development trend, the key to enterprise growth lies in understanding consumer changes and the ability to translate insights into concrete actions. This capability enables the group to amplify the value of acquired brands. Empowered by the CFB system, Meet Fresh will have greater opportunities to achieve more efficient and scaled growth in the dessert track.
As industry competition moves from “single brands” to “occupying consumption scenarios,” CFB, through the integration and revitalization of Meet Fresh, has incorporated Chinese-style desserts into its “Great Enjoyment” strategic system, outlining a clearer development space for Meet Fresh. For consumers, this means they can easily enjoy the delightful experience of desserts in more scenarios, supporting a diversified lifestyle.