Want Want China Holdings

Want Want China Holdings Limited (中国旺旺控股有限公司), commonly known simply as Want Want (旺旺), is a Chinese snack-food and beverage company and one of the most recognizable consumer brands in Greater China. The business traces its roots to the Tsai family's food operations in Taiwan in the early 1960s, when founder Tsai Eng-meng took over a small canned-food business. The modern Want Want brand was built around rice crackers (米果) and a distinctive cartoon mascot, and the company expanded into mainland China in the early 1990s, where it became a mass-market staple sold through a vast distribution network reaching small towns and rural shops as well as urban supermarkets. Want Want's product range spans rice crackers and senbei-style snacks, flavored milk and dairy drinks, hot-snack and puffed products, candies, and a growing portfolio of beverages. Its flagship offerings include Want Want rice crackers, Want Want flavored milk, and the 'Wangzai' (旺仔) sub-brand, whose mascot is one of the most familiar images in Chinese retail. The group also diversified into media and other investments through the broader Want Want Group, though the listed company focuses on food and beverages. Want Want China Holdings is publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the ticker 0151.HK. The Tsai family remains the controlling shareholder, and Tsai Eng-meng is the group's best-known figure and long-time chairman. The company operates large manufacturing bases across mainland China and sells through distributors, wholesalers and modern retail channels. It is positioned as an affordable, high-recognition mass-market snack and beverage brand, with strong equity in nostalgia and family-oriented marketing. In recent years Want Want has faced slower growth in China's mature snack market, rising competition from both domestic and international brands, and shifting consumer tastes toward healthier products. The company has responded with new product launches, packaging refreshes, and expansion of its beverage and higher-value snack lines, while continuing to lean on its iconic mascot and brand heritage.

Want Want's origins lie in Taiwan in the early 1960s, when Tsai Eng-meng took over a small canned-food business inherited from his family. The company initially struggled, but Tsai repositioned it around rice crackers (米果), a product with deep roots in East Asian snacking culture. The 'Want Want' (旺旺) brand and its cartoon mascot were developed to give the product a memorable, family-friendly identity, and the brand grew steadily in Taiwan through the 1970s and 1980s. The decisive turning point came in the early 1990s, when Want Want became one of the first Taiwanese food companies to invest heavily in mainland China. Establishing manufacturing in China allowed the company to serve a vast and rapidly growing market at low cost. Want Want built an extensive distributor network that reached beyond major cities into county towns and rural areas, making its rice crackers and flavored milk widely available and turning the brand into a household name across mainland China. Through the 1990s and 2000s Want Want expanded its product portfolio from rice crackers into flavored milk, puffed snacks, candies, and other beverages, and the 'Wangzai' (旺仔) mascot became one of the most recognized commercial images in China. The group also diversified beyond food, with the broader Want Want Group investing in media, including the China Times media group in Taiwan, though the listed food and beverage business remained the core. Want Want China Holdings was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, giving the group access to public capital markets while the Tsai family retained control. The company invested in large-scale manufacturing bases across mainland China and continued to rely on its deep distribution reach as a competitive advantage. In the 2010s and 2020s Want Want faced a more challenging environment: China's snack market matured, competition intensified from both domestic challengers and international groups, and consumers increasingly favored healthier and premium products. The company responded with new product development, packaging and brand refreshes, and expansion of its beverage lines, while continuing to leverage its iconic mascot and nostalgic brand equity. The Tsai family remains the controlling shareholder, and Want Want remains one of the most recognized food brands in Greater China.

• 1992

  Want Want begins large-scale investment and manufacturing in mainland China, expanding its rice cracker and snack business.

• 1962

  Tsai Eng-meng takes over the family's small canned-food business in Taiwan, the origin of the Want Want group.

• Want Want China Holdings lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under ticker 0151.HK.

Affordable, high-recognition mass-market snack and beverage brand with strong nostalgia and family-oriented marketing equity.

• Want Want rice crackers

• Want Want flavored milk

• Wangzai (旺仔) snacks and drinks

• Unconfirmed

  Reported2026.08.15

  Want Want chairman calls Q2 performance a 'major operating crisis'[1]旺旺董事长将二季度业绩定性为「重大经营危机」163.com

  Want Want Group chairman Tsai Eng-meng sent an internal letter to all employees in early August calling the April-June performance shortfall a 'major operating crisis', attributing it to insufficient product innovation, unchanged distributor cooperation, customer loss and declining distributor profits; China Want Want issued a profit warning on July 26 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange citing slowing traditional wholesale channel sales and rising promotion and staffing costs.

• 2020.06.16

  Reported2020.06.17

  China Want Want releases fiscal 2019 results[2]中国旺旺发布2019财年业绩tech.sina.com.cn

  China Want Want released its results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, reporting revenue of RMB 20.0945 billion, down 3% year over year, and net profit of RMB 3.65 billion, up 5%.

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1. 1旺旺董事长将二季度业绩定性为「重大经营危机」163.com
2. 2中国旺旺发布2019财年业绩tech.sina.com.cn