Sanku Maots’Ai Invests RMB 200 Million in Smart Factory
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Sichuan Sanku Maots’ai Brand Management spent RMB 200 million on a 22,000-square-meter automated plant to support international store expansion across more than 20 countries.
The investment delivers an annual production capacity exceeding 40,000 tons of specialized broths and seasoning bases, anchoring a store network that spans 300 cities.
Announced this week in October 2026, the industrial manufacturing setup underpins the chain’s move to scale standardized Sichuan maocai across China and global markets.
Centralized bases replace skilled kitchen labour
The company strips complex cooking tasks out of franchised outlets by manufacturing core seasonings centrally. Stores receive shelf-stable or cold-chain flavor packs, including traditional beef-fat hot pot bases, ginger-lemon broths and tomato profiles, eliminating the need to employ specialized chefs on site.
Kitchen staff complete operational training in six days. Headquarters supplies pre-portioned seasoning packets while local franchisees manage raw ingredients, basic assembly and front-of-house service under strict workflow templates.
Digital systems link store-level ordering directly to central warehouse inventory, standardizing recipes across disparate markets where culinary skills vary widely. Cold-chain freight agreements and pre-cleared customs documentation handle international replenishment.
The fast-casual race to cut store payrolls
Fast-casual Chinese dining chains are racing to strip out back-of-house labor costs to survive tight retail margins and rapid store rollout schedules.
For shopping mall landlords and commercial operators, chef-free formats sharply lower exhaust ducting and grease-trap buildout expenses. Operators can open in smaller footprints with cheaper utility loads, compressing payback periods even in high-wage overseas hubs.
The operational risk sits squarely in the cross-border supply channel. When an overseas franchise relies entirely on proprietary soup bases shipped from Sichuan, any regional customs hold-up or cold-chain disruption halts dining room service immediately, leaving zero room for local ingredient improvisation.
Building out from regional Sichuan roots
Founded in 2008, Sanku Maots’Ai built its initial domestic footprint on quick-service maocai, a single-portion Sichuan stew closely related to traditional hot pot. Domestic operations expanded through low-cost franchise packages across lower-tier Chinese cities before the company restructured its back-end infrastructure.
The RMB 200 million plant commitment marks a formal shift from basic regional franchising to an industrial supply model engineered for export compliance and container-load distribution.
Franchise teams are now adapting baseline menus for individual overseas territories, balancing standardized Sichuan spice levels against local dietary rules while keeping core factory deliveries unchanged.