Overview

Be&Cheery, known in China as Baicaowei (百草味), is a Chinese packaged-snack brand headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The brand was established in 2003 and developed around the sale of convenient snack foods, initially building recognition through products such as nuts, dried fruit, preserved fruit, meat snacks, baked goods, and related gift assortments. Its name is associated with a broad, everyday assortment rather than a single product category, allowing the brand to serve routine snacking, family sharing, gifting, and seasonal consumption occasions. Be&Cheery participated in the rapid expansion of China's modern snack market. Its growth was supported by packaged formats, nationwide logistics, e-commerce distribution, and product combinations designed for online retail. The brand became particularly visible through digital commerce and direct-to-consumer sales, where shelf-stable foods could be marketed through promotions, bundled assortments, festival gift boxes, and convenient home delivery. Its portfolio has included nuts and seeds, dried and preserved fruits, meat jerky and other meat products, confectionery and baked snacks, and selected ready-to-eat foods. In 2020, PepsiCo announced the acquisition of Hangzhou Haoxiangni Food Co., Ltd., the company associated with Be&Cheery. The transaction brought the brand into PepsiCo's portfolio and strengthened PepsiCo's presence in China's rapidly growing convenient-snack sector. After the acquisition, Be&Cheery remained a consumer-facing snack brand while becoming part of a global food-and-beverage group. The brand's ownership and corporate context therefore differ from its earlier period as an independently developed Chinese snack business. Be&Cheery's positioning is centered on accessible, packaged Chinese snacking with a broad assortment, recognizable local-market identity, and distribution suited to both online and offline retail. Its principal market is China. Publicly available information in the supplied materials does not establish a complete current product catalog, detailed international footprint, current executives, or standalone financial results for the brand. Such information should not be inferred from PepsiCo's consolidated reporting.

History

Be&Cheery was established in 2003 in Hangzhou and developed as a Chinese snack business serving a market increasingly shaped by packaged convenience foods, modern retail, and online commerce. Rather than concentrating on one narrow category, the brand assembled a wide range of shelf-stable and ready-to-eat products. Nuts, seeds, dried fruit, preserved fruit, meat snacks, baked foods, confectionery, and gift assortments formed the core of its consumer proposition. The brand's development coincided with the expansion of China's e-commerce ecosystem. Packaged snacks are well suited to online merchandising because they can be shipped without the cold chain required by many fresh foods, sold in bundles, and promoted through seasonal campaigns and platform discounts. Be&Cheery used this environment to increase consumer reach and build a recognizable direct-to-consumer presence. Product variety also enabled the brand to address several occasions, including individual snacking, office consumption, family sharing, holiday gifting, and travel. The business became associated with Hangzhou's expanding consumer-internet and food-retail economy. Its brand model combined local-market product development with standardized packaging and distribution. The emphasis was on familiar flavors and convenient formats, while the range allowed consumers to purchase both single items and mixed selections. The supplied material identifies Cai Hongliang as the founder, but does not provide a reliable source URL or a complete account of the company's early corporate structure; that attribution should therefore be independently verified before being treated as definitive. A major turning point came in 2020, when PepsiCo announced its agreement to acquire Hangzhou Haoxiangni Food Co., Ltd., the company associated with Be&Cheery. The transaction placed the Chinese snack brand within PepsiCo's global portfolio and gave PepsiCo a stronger position in China's local snack market. It also changed the brand's corporate context: Be&Cheery was no longer best described as an independent private snack company, but as a brand operated within or owned by a PepsiCo-controlled business structure. Since the acquisition, Be&Cheery's public identity has continued to center on packaged snacks for the Chinese market. Its broad categories remain more important to the brand than a single flagship item. Public information supplied for this dossier does not establish a definitive current list of manufacturing sites, international markets, senior brand executives, standalone revenue, or post-acquisition organizational changes. PepsiCo's consolidated financial disclosures should not be presented as Be&Cheery-specific financial data without a clearly attributable source.

2020
Acquisition by PepsiCo announced
[1]PepsiCo to acquire Be&Cheerypepsico.com
PepsiCo announced an agreement to acquire Hangzhou Haoxiangni Food Co., Ltd., the company associated with Be&Cheery.
2003
Brand established
Be&Cheery, known in China as Baicaowei, was established in Hangzhou and began developing a packaged-snack business.

Products and positioning

A broad, accessible Chinese packaged-snack brand focused on convenient everyday eating, sharing, gifting, and digitally enabled retail.

Snack foods
Nuts and seeds
A core Be&Cheery category comprising packaged nuts and seed products intended for convenient individual consumption, sharing, and gift assortments. The category fits the brand's emphasis on shelf-stable foods and online-friendly multipacks.
Snack foods
Dried and preserved fruit
The brand's fruit range includes dried and preserved formats, with dried mango identified among its recognizable offerings. These products provide portable, ready-to-eat alternatives to fresh fruit and are commonly suited to both everyday snacking and gifting.
Savory snacks
Meat snacks
Be&Cheery has sold meat jerky and related packaged meat snacks, including pork jerky. These products extend the portfolio beyond plant-based snacks and reflect the brand's broad Chinese snack assortment.
Packaged foods
Baked and assorted snacks
The broader portfolio has included baked goods, pastries, confectionery, and mixed snack selections. These products help the brand cover sharing occasions, holiday consumption, and bundled online purchases alongside its nut, fruit, and meat ranges.

Controversies

2025
Be&Cheery Operator Fined for Substandard Pea Snack Made Under Commission
China Youth Net reported that a sample of garlic-flavored crispy small peas commissioned for production by Hangzhou Haomusi failed inspection. The Qiantang District Market Supervision Administration fined the company 60,000 yuan and confiscated more than 17,000 yuan in illegal gains and the remaining products. The report did not specify which indicators failed. Status: administrative penalty. Entity involved: Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co., Ltd.
Source

Brand decisions

2020
PepsiCo acquisition of Be&Cheery parentM&A
Background
Be&Cheery had become an established Chinese packaged-snack brand with a broad assortment and strong relevance to the country's expanding convenient-snack market.
Action taken
PepsiCo announced an agreement to acquire Hangzhou Haoxiangni Food Co., Ltd., the company associated with Be&Cheery.
Aftermath
The acquisition brought Be&Cheery into PepsiCo's portfolio and strengthened PepsiCo's presence in China's local snack segment. The supplied material does not establish detailed post-transaction operating changes or standalone financial results.
Source

Recent events

Unconfirmed
Baicaowei ranks first in Tmall's food and beverage brand-strength list[7]百草味位列天猫食品饮料行业品牌力榜单第一tech.china.com
Baicaowei ranked first in the food and beverage category in Tmall's 2021–2022 TOP Brand Strength list.
Unconfirmed
Baicaowei wins annual outstanding brand marketing case award[8]百草味荣获年度杰出品牌营销案例大奖eeo.com.cn
Baicaowei won the annual case award at the 2021 ITA Marketing Conference for its 2021 Chinese New Year goods festival marketing case, “卖年货”.
2021.08.13
Reported2021.08.13
Brands terminate partnerships with Zhang Zhehan[9]多个品牌终止与张哲瀚的合作finance.sina.com.cn
On the evening of August 13, Wahaha and more than 20 other brands announced that their partnerships with Zhang Zhehan were terminated immediately or had expired.
2020.06.01
Reported2020.06.01
Regulators approve PepsiCo’s acquisition of Baicaowei[10]监管机构批准百事收购百草味finance.sina.com.cn
PepsiCo announced that Chinese government regulators had approved its acquisition of Baicaowei. The article also reports that the transaction had completed.
2020.06.01
Reported2020.06.01
PepsiCo completes acquisition of Baicaowei[10]监管机构批准百事收购百草味finance.sina.com.cn
PepsiCo announced that its acquisition of Baicaowei had closed. The article states that the transaction had received Chinese government regulatory approval.
2020.02.23
Reported2020.02.23
PepsiCo announces acquisition of Baicaowei[11]百事公司宣布收购百草味tech.sina.com.cn
PepsiCo announced that it would acquire Baicaowei, a snack brand owned by Haoxiangni Health Food, for $705 million.