Why Yonghui Superstores’ fresh food counter quietly sets its own rules

At Yonghui Superstores, the fresh food counter is more than a row of chilled trays - it is the core product that keeps shoppers lingering, buying, and coming back. A look at how the chain’s fresh offering is designed, priced, and run on the ground.

Reviewed: ad hoc news Software & Services desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-18, 12:38. Details in the imprint.

At Yonghui Superstores’ fresh food counter, the first impression is smell and color before price - steamed buns giving off warm yeast, bright choy sum stacked high, iced fish glistening in steel trays. This fresh counter is the chain’s real product, the stage where Yonghui tries to win shoppers’ weekly routine.

How Yonghui designs its fresh counter

Walk into a typical Yonghui store and the fresh food counter usually claims the front left or right, not the back wall, so customers meet vegetables, meat, and cooked dishes before detergents or snacks. Yonghui highlights this positioning itself, describing fresh goods as the “core” of its supermarket model on company materials.

The counter is broken into clearly zoned islands - leafy greens and roots in misted racks, a butchery section with on-demand cutting, tanks for live seafood in coastal locations, and a row of ready-to-eat dishes in heated trays. The idea is simple: one path, several chances to buy something that has to be eaten today.

What the fresh counter actually offers

The offer is broader than a European deli. Shoppers can pick live fish and have it cleaned, choose marinated meats, or grab braised dishes and stir-fried vegetables sold by weight, often packed into plastic boxes within seconds. That speeds up family meal planning - protein, sides, and soup can be assembled in one stop.

In fresh produce, the counter works like a stage for seasonal specials. When citrus is in, oranges and mandarins form bright pyramids; when hot pot season starts, there are mountains of cabbage, mushrooms, and tofu right at the corner. Prices are printed big, quality notes smaller, but the freshness is meant to be visible without reading.

Pricing, promotions, and pain points

Yonghui leans heavily on promotional pricing at the fresh counter, especially in vegetables and fruit, using large tags and end-of-aisle bins to signal daily or weekend specials. That strategy is common in China’s grocery market, where fresh items anchor price perception across the whole basket.

For shoppers, this can feel satisfying when tomatoes or greens are noticeably cheaper than at a wet market or rival chain. It can also be frustrating on days when specific items run out early or when the most attractive discount applies only to smaller, visually less appealing stock.

Digital tools around the counter

In newer Yonghui formats, the fresh food counter is tightly interwoven with digital tools. Shoppers scan QR codes on shelf labels to check origin information for vegetables or meat and to see whether an item is eligible for additional app coupons tied to membership.

Online-to-offline services hinge on the same counter. App orders placed in the afternoon rely on staff at the fresh section to pick and pack vegetables, meat, and ready meals before riders collect insulated bags. The counter becomes not just a physical display, but a picking hub for the store’s local delivery radius.

How it feels to use in daily life

In practice, the fresh counter’s appeal is tactile and social. Shoppers watch fish being weighed and cleaned, argue politely over which batch of greens looks better, and glance at whatever the person ahead is buying. Noise from chopping and the whirr of wrapping machines give the area a busy, purposeful feel.

At quieter hours, the counter feels more like a tidy, chilled gallery of options. Staff members rearrange trays so dishes look full, spray water over leafy vegetables, and sometimes offer small samples of fruit. The experience is less about browsing product descriptions and more about trusting eyes, nose, and the staff’s quick judgement.

Where Yonghui’s fresh counter falls short

Despite its strengths, the fresh counter is not perfect. Popular items can sell out before evening, so late commuters sometimes face half-empty trays, tired herbs, or a scaled-down selection of cooked dishes. For a product that defines the brand, inconsistency in the last hours of the day is noticeable.

Packaging is another sore spot. Many items are still wrapped in multiple thin plastic bags or disposable boxes, especially cooked dishes and cut fruit. For environmentally conscious shoppers, the counter offers convenience but also a small pile of packaging waste after every visit.

Why this counter matters to Yonghui’s strategy

All told, Yonghui’s fresh food counter is not just a retail department but a strategic product - the physical expression of the company’s promise to be a fresh-focused supermarket, and the piece rivals watch closely when they benchmark price and quality.

Shares of Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd (CNE0000019B0) trade on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, giving investors direct exposure to how well this fresh-led supermarket model holds up in a brutal, digitally charged Chinese grocery market.

Key facts on Yonghui’s fresh food counter

• Product: Yonghui fresh food counter
• Manufacturer: Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd
• Category: Software/Service/Subscription (in-store service)
• Launch: Gradually developed since the early 2000s as Yonghui expanded its fresh-focused supermarkets
• RRP / Price: Variable - per kilogram pricing for fresh produce, meat, and prepared dishes, with frequent time-limited promotions
• Availability: Core feature in Yonghui’s full-format supermarkets across mainland China
• Target group: Urban households who prioritise fresh ingredients and convenient ready dishes for daily cooking
• Highlight / USP: Strong focus on visible freshness and live preparation, with broad choice from raw vegetables to cooked meals in a single counter area

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.