China's High-Protein Snack Sales Grew 14.1% in H1 2026

China's online sales of high-protein snacks grew +14.1% to CN¥ 6.75 billion in the first half of 2026 on mainstream e-commerce platforms, according to Moojing Market Intelligence, with air-dried beef still the main form, while among snacks as a whole the products sold on emotional selling points grew fastest of the five selling-point dimensions, at +30.9%.

This article covers the third chapter of the full report, which looks first at high-protein snacks and then at the selling points on which China's snack products compete, from flavour and texture to the emotions and occasions they are sold on.

Key figures

• CN¥ 6.75 billion: online high-protein snack sales, H1 2026
• +14.1%: high-protein snack sales growth on H1 2025
• +30.9%: snacks sold on emotional selling points, the fastest-growing of five selling-point dimensions
• +18.7%: texture, the fastest-growing personalisation selling point, ahead of quality at +9.7%

Method and scope: observed online sales on mainstream e-commerce platforms in China, January to June 2026 against the same months of 2025, from Moojing Market Intelligence; not the total market. Selling points are Moojing's classification of products by the claims they make, so one product can carry several and their sales overlap.

How big is China's online high-protein snack market?#

China's online high-protein snack sales reached CN¥ 6.75 billion in the first half of 2026 on mainstream e-commerce platforms, +14.1% on the same months of 2025, according to Moojing Market Intelligence, which is faster than snacks as a whole, and air-dried beef remained the main form in which Chinese shoppers bought their protein snacks.

The report reads the segment's growth as the result of two things happening together, a widening range of occasions on which protein snacks are eaten and more refined health labels on the products themselves, and both are visible in the selling points that high-protein snacks carry.

Exhibit 11. Source: Moojing Market Intelligence, observed online sales on mainstream e-commerce platforms in China, January 2025 to June 2026, by month. Not the total market.

What are high-protein snacks being sold on?#

Health claims such as low-salt, low-sugar and low-calorie grew sharply on high-protein snacks in the first half of 2026, according to Moojing Market Intelligence, and the occasions for eating them widened beyond fitness and meal replacement to snacking at home, while camping and in the office.

We believe the combination matters, because a high-protein snack that also carries a low-salt or low-sugar label can be sold to a much wider group of people than those buying for fitness alone, and the growth of home, camping and office snacking suggests that this wider group is already buying. The report also finds that low-temperature slow cooking and fresh-cut techniques are emerging as promising innovations in how the products are made, which gives brands a way to differentiate a meat snack on process as well as on its ingredients.

Which selling points carry China's snack sales?#

Personalisation and ingredients are the selling points that carry the most sales in China's online snack market, according to Moojing Market Intelligence, while snacks sold on emotional selling points grew fastest of the five selling-point dimensions in the first half of 2026, at +30.9%, so that emotional and scenario claims are opening new room for growth.

The five dimensions are personalisation, ingredients, scenarios, health and emotional value, and because a single snack can make claims in more than one of them, their sales overlap and cannot be added together, although each dimension is measured the same way in both years, so their growth rates can be compared.

Exhibit 15. Source: Moojing Market Intelligence, observed online sales on mainstream e-commerce platforms in China, H1 2026 on H1 2025, sales growth by selling-point dimension. A product can carry several selling points. Not the total market.

What is driving personalisation in snacks?#

Flavour and form dominate the personalisation selling points of China's snacks by sales, according to Moojing Market Intelligence, while texture, at +18.7%, and quality, at +9.7%, led growth in the first half of 2026, as consumers favoured a better core product over added extras.

Personalisation is the largest of the five dimensions, and within it flavour and taste and form and packaging carry the most sales, which is what one would expect of a category in which most products are bought first for how they taste. What the growth rates add is a sense of where shoppers are now paying for improvement, since texture and quality both grew well ahead of flavour and taste, and we read that as consumers asking more of the core product and less of the novelty around it.

How are emotional and scenario claims opening new growth?#

Emotional and scenario claims are opening new growth space in China's snack market, according to Moojing Market Intelligence, with sensory stimulation leading the emotional traits in the first half of 2026 and behavioural scenarios growing ahead of festival scenarios, while holiday gifting and instant consumption were the two engines of growth among the occasions snacks are sold for.

Sensory stimulation leads because eye-catching, textured and interactive products help brands create buzz, and we believe a snack that is fun to open, share or film has an advantage wherever products are discovered through content. The rise of behavioural scenarios ahead of the festival occasions fits the wider pattern in the report, in which products tied to a specific moment in the day are the ones creating growth in a market that is otherwise buying fewer snacks.

What does this mean for snack brands?#

High-protein snacks grew +14.1% in the first half of 2026 on scenario diversity and refined health labels, and among snacks as a whole the fastest growth came from emotional selling points, at +30.9%, according to Moojing Market Intelligence, while texture and quality led the personalisation claims that carry the most sales.

For a brand planning a snack for China, we believe the selling points in this chapter are the most practical part of the report, because they show which claims shoppers are paying more for, and the answer in the first half of 2026 was a better core product, a clear health label and a reason to buy it for a particular moment. The previous article in this series, on China's online snack market in H1 2026, covers the categories and hero products behind these claims, the full report carries the selling-point exhibits, including the high-protein map and the emotional and scenario map, and our China FMCG and food and beverage market intelligence page sets out what else we cover in the category.