The traditional stinky dried tofu has completed a "health-oriented" upgrade and is selling well both in China and Southeast Asia.

Recently, Hunan Weiyou Food Co., LTD., which is renowned for its spicy snack foods, announced that its classic product "Chouganzi" has completed a comprehensive upgrade in both formula and production process. This snack, which carries the childhood memories of the post-90s and post-00s generations, has successfully achieved a healthy transformation of "reducing oil, salt and additives" while maintaining its original flavor. After its launch, it quickly received positive market feedback and sparked a purchasing craze in many Southeast Asian countries.

From "heavy flavor" to "light burden", technological innovation opens up new markets

As a classic product in the spicy strip category, Chouganzi has long been a concern for some consumers due to its high oil content, high salt content and additives. In response to the trend of healthy eating, Weiyou Food has established a dedicated R&D team since 2022, in collaboration with the College of Food Science and Technology of Hunan Agricultural University. Through the transformation of biological fermentation and extrusion processes, it has reduced the oil content of its products by 30% and the salt content by 25% while retaining the traditional marinated aroma and chewy texture, and achieved "0 preservatives and 0 artificial synthetic pigments".

We adopted a blend of natural spices and a temperature-controlled slow baking process to solve the problem of flavor attenuation after salt reduction. The R&D director of Weiyou Food disclosed, "The new generation of stinky dry nuts not only retains the characteristics of 'having a marinated aroma when smelled and a chewy texture when chewed', but also better meets modern health standards."

The production line has been comprehensively upgraded, with automation ensuring safety and production capacity

On the production side, Weiyou Food relies on over 30 mu of modern factory buildings and 100,000-level clean workshops in Wangcheng Economic Development Zone, Changsha. It has introduced AI visual inspection systems and fully automatic seasoning production lines to achieve precise control over the thickness, weight, and uniformity of seasoning of each piece of stinky dried meat. At present, the annual production capacity of this single product can reach 3,000 tons, effectively supporting the rapid growth of domestic and international market demand.

Both online and offline markets are heating up in China, with Southeast Asia emerging as a new growth point

In the domestic market, Chouganzi has been continuously penetrating through e-commerce live streaming, convenience stores and campus channels, especially triggering a "nostalgic and healthy" consumption trend among young consumers. Meanwhile, relying on the distribution network established by Weiyou Food in Southeast Asia, this product has successfully entered mainstream supermarkets and e-commerce platforms in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Its "fermented bean products + spicy flavor" caters to local taste preferences, and the repurchase rate has been continuously rising.

Industry Observation: The spicy strip category is moving towards high-end and healthy development

Experts from the China Snack Food Association pointed out that the transformation of Chouganzi is a microcosm of the development of the spicy strip industry. With the improvement of food safety standards and the enhancement of consumers' health awareness, traditional spicy strip enterprises are shaking off the label of "low-end snacks" and moving towards quality and internationalization through technological upgrades, raw material optimization and brand repositioning. In recent years, brands such as "Langlang" and "Cool Weiyou" under Hunan Weiyou Food have simultaneously advanced health reforms, demonstrating an overall upgrading trend in the industry.