GUOQUAN continues to refine its store model as it pushes forward with its ambition to become a "community central kitchen."

On August 17, GUOQUAN released its 2026 interim results. Revenue for the first half reached RMB 3.947 billion, up 21.8% year-on-year, while core operating profit climbed 18.3% to RMB 225 million.

However, gross margin slipped from 22.1% in the same period last year to 21.5%, and net margin also eased from 5.9% to 5.4%.

As of the end of June, GUOQUAN operated 12,198 stores, having opened 997 new outlets and closed 365 during the first half, for a net addition of 632 stores. Meanwhile, the company has completed the upgrade of 684 locations to its large-store format.

More notable than the growth figures is the company's adjustment to its full-year store opening target. The latest interim report shows GUOQUAN now aims to end the year with more than 13,100 stores and a net increase of over 1,534 outlets, roughly 1,400 fewer than its initial target at the start of the year.

The company still expects its store closure rate to remain below 4%, but it has explicitly stated that new locations in the second half will predominantly adopt the large-store model.

Rather than continuing to push into lower-tier markets, GUOQUAN is packing more into its existing outlets. During the first half, the company launched 139 new hotpot and barbecue SKUs, while also adding NFC juices, craft beer, and specialty tea drinks to its offerings.

Among these initiatives, "Guoquan Farm" stands out as a new business line aimed at extending into higher-frequency family food consumption. It leverages online product selection and livestreaming to drive traffic, covering items such as fruit, fresh produce, eggs, and frozen desserts that fall outside the traditional hotpot and barbecue core assortment.

In the first half, Guoquan Farm generated RMB 240 million in paid GMV across all channels, up more than 600% year-on-year, with golden pillow durian pulp, durian mille crepe cake, and salted duck eggs emerging as signature products.

The value of the farm business lies not just in adding a new product category, but in using higher-frequency items like fruit and fresh produce to draw consumers back into stores, where they can then generate additional spending on hotpot and barbecue items.

But this growth from new categories comes with a cost. GUOQUAN's gross margin fell 0.6 percentage points to 21.5% in the first half. The company directly attributed this to the lower margins on non-traditional hotpot and barbecue products such as golden pillow durian pulp, as well as rising raw material costs.

Meanwhile, large-store renovations have also pushed up expenses: selling and distribution costs rose 24.6% year-on-year in the first half, which the company said includes new store conversion expenses.

For now, GUOQUAN remains intent on broadening its boundaries. Beyond township large stores and community large stores, the company had 96 camping-related outlets in operation during the first half, and it plans to continue advancing its Guoquan stir-fry concept. Overseas, Hong Kong will serve as a pilot market for store operations.

In the second half, it will still open stores, but the key metric for this round of expansion is no longer just store count.

As GUOQUAN transforms from a hotpot and barbecue ingredients retailer into an ever-larger "community central kitchen," the ability to consistently lift revenue per existing store through a broader product mix, while keeping the margin pressure from new categories and large-store expansion under control, will matter more than opening an extra thousand locations.