Ranking of Chinese Food and Beverage Companies by Overseas Revenue
The above information is collated based on the annual reports of the enterprises. In addition, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (Yili) did not directly disclose its overseas revenue. Yili's revenue in 2023 reached 126.179 billion yuan, and the company's overseas business revenue increased by 10.08% compared with the previous year. Westland Dairy's revenue exceeded 1 billion US dollars in 2023, which means that Yili's overseas revenue may exceed 7 billion yuan.
One of the most notable examples of Chinese food brands going global today is undoubtedly Aice, a brand under Mengniu. In 2023, Mengniu’s overseas revenue reached RMB 4.28 billion, with Aice being one of the key contributors. In the first half of 2024, Mengniu’s overseas revenue grew to RMB 2.352 billion, accounting for approximately 5.26% of total revenue — a year-on-year increase of over 10% compared to RMB 2.121 billion in the first half of 2023. Aice has firmly secured the No.1 spot in market share for ice cream in Indonesia and ranks No.2 in the ready-to-eat ice cream market in the Philippines. It stands out as a truly localized brand success story in international expansion.
Another relatively successful Chinese food brand abroad is ChaCha, which generated RMB 516 million in overseas revenue in 2023. Its products are now sold in nearly 50 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Other Chinese food and beverage companies with significant overseas revenues include Moutai (RMB 4.35 billion in 2023), WH Group (approximately USD 17.5 billion in 2023, largely from its acquisition of Smithfield Foods), and Tsingtao Brewery (RMB 717 million in 2023). However, most of these outbound efforts rely on acquisitions or distributor-based sales targeting overseas Chinese communities, rather than true localization.
Overall, for most Chinese packaged food companies, global expansion is still in its early stages. Few have achieved the level of deep localization and brand integration seen in Aice’s case.