Residents dine out in a restaurant in the Nanqiang Street of Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 11, 2023. The street, located in downtown Kunming, has seen a robust recovery of the nighttime economy. Tourists here can experience local food culture and nightlife of Kunming.(Photo: Xinhua)

China's food and beverage market has shown signs of a fast-lane recovery, with a number of A-share listed catering firms reporting growth in their first-half net profits. Observers said this shows that the consumption recovery is gaining momentum and will help drive economic growth this year. 

The booming Chinese consumer market led to a recovery of leading retail enterprises in the first half, with some major companies in the catering sector moving from losses into profits. 

Top Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao released its interim report on Tuesday, which showed that revenue rose 24.6 percent year-on-year to 18.9 billion yuan ($2.59 billion). Net profit reached a record 2.26 billion yuan.

China Quanjude Group realized a net profit of 27.92 million yuan, a growth of 118.28 percent year-on-year, its interim report showed. 

Tongqinglou Catering also achieved a rapid recovery. The China Time-honored brand had first-half revenue of 1.08 billion yuan, up 45.2 percent, and net profit was up almost 590 percent to 146 million yuan.

Top Chinese hotpot chain Xiabuxiabu Catering turned the tide. It posted a loss of 278.2 million yuan in the first half of 2022, but this year it made a profit of 2.12 million yuan.

The fast recovery of top catering companies was expected, as the economic recovery this year has contributed to the recovery of the catering industry, and the top catering brands should have the fastest growth rates considering their own brands and the scale effect, Zhu Danpeng, a veteran analyst of the food industry told the Global Times on Tuesday.

China's services industry has great potential. With the development of technology, China's services industry has been developing rapidly, with new business models that further released consumption potential, Zhou Rong, a senior researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times. 

Observers said that the companies' success is coming just not from higher in-store revenue but also innovation in online stores and semi-finished dishes. Semi-finished dishes are an important innovation in the catering industry, and they can also revitalize the rural economy, stimulate domestic demand, and promote employment, said Zhu.

In the first seven months of the year, the total revenue of the catering industry reached 2.86 trillion yuan, up 20.5 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China's consumer market has shown other bright spots this summer. For example, China's summer box office revenue had surged past 20 billion yuan ($2.78 billion) as of 10 pm on Saturday, a new record high for summer box office sales in the country, exceeding the figure for 2019. 

On July 31, the State Council, China's cabinet, issued 20 measures to restore and expand consumption, which are bringing new impetus into China's rapidly recovering food industry.

Global Times