Driven by young consumers and the night economy. According to the big data of Red Restaurant, as of February 2025, the consumer population of grilled skewers in China has increased by 13.8% compared to the same period last year. In the barbecue category, the market share of grilled skewers has increased from 57.7% in 2023 to 59.9% in 2024.
In this context, the market size of grilled skewers continues to grow. According to Red Food Big Data, the market size of grilled skewers in China will increase by 9.2% year-on-year in 2024, reaching 154 billion yuan. It is expected that the market size will further grow to 166 billion yuan by 2025.
What are the development trends of the rapidly growing grilled skewer category at present? What challenges will future development face? In order to explore these issues, the Red Food Industry Research Institute and Wildfire Food jointly launched the "Skewer Category Development Report 2025". The following is a partial presentation of the report.
The grilled skewer track continues to expand,
The market size may exceed 160 billion yuan
In recent years, with the continuous growth of demand for grilled skewers, the overall number of grilled skewers stores has shown a fluctuating growth trend. According to Red Food Big Data, the number of grilled skewers stores nationwide gradually increased from 280000 in January 2024 to 350000 in September of the same year, and then slightly declined. As of February 2025, the number of grilled skewers stores has rebounded to 305000, but still increased by 8.6% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of the number of enterprises, according to Qichacha, from January 2024 to February 2025, the registered number of grilled skewers related enterprises in China reached 1203.
In terms of regional distribution, grilled skewers stores have a scale advantage in the East China market, and the number of stores in the Northwest and Northeast regions has grown rapidly. As of February 2025, grilled skewers stores have a significant advantage in the East China market, accounting for as much as 27.2%. Next are the Southwest, Northeast, South China, Central China, and North China regions, where the number of grilled skewers stores exceeds 10% of the total number of stores. In contrast, the number of grilled skewers shops in the northwest region is relatively small, accounting for only 5.4%.
It is worth noting that the number of grilled skewers stores in the northwest region has shown a rapid growth trend, with a year-on-year increase of 11.5%; The growth momentum in the Northeast region is also good, with a year-on-year increase of 9.1%; The North China region also achieved a year-on-year growth of 7.6%. However, despite having the largest number of stores in the East China region, its growth momentum is weak, with a year-on-year increase of only 0.6%. At the same time, the number of grilled skewers shops in the South China region has slightly decreased.
In terms of brand competition pattern, the expansion of grilled skewers brand stores is relatively stable, and regional brands are still mainstream players. From the perspective of the number of stores, the brand with the highest number of stores currently is Crazy Roast Wings. According to Red Food Big Data, as of February 2025, its nationwide store count exceeds 490; Secondly, there is a strong sense of collaboration, with a total of 430 stores.
It is worth noting that currently, most grilled skewer brands still focus on regional development. For example, there are nearly 250 wooden barbecue stores, covering 25 cities; There are more than 100 stores of Dongfangyi Chuan, Guojing Roast Whole Sheep, Mutton Chuan, Dasheng Barbecue and other brands long ago, and the number of stores covering cities is no more than 25.
