Xu Fu's Cross-Border "Captivating Fans" Story

Recently, reporters accompanied parent-child educational families from both domestic and international locations to Dongguan Xujii Food Co., Ltd., located in Dongcheng Street, Dongguan City, for an exploration of “Manufacturing Aesthetics.”

In a modern manufacturing base roughly the size of over 70 standard soccer fields, visitors observed the transparent factory up close, witnessing the efficient and orderly production of products like crispy candies and fruit juice gummy candies. In the egg liquid workshop processing 1 million eggs daily, automated equipment efficiently completed cleaning, disinfection, and separation of egg whites and yolks, turning fresh eggs into popular snacks like Sachima enjoyed worldwide. In the sweet-smelling “Snack Kingdom,” children were filled with curiosity, while parents revisited childhood memories of delicious treats.

Rooted in Dongguan for over 30 years, Xufujii has evolved from a “national snack” that accompanied a generation’s growth into a well-known brand loved worldwide. Its recent viral success with “cross-border sweet feeding” reflects its international popularity: a front desk staff member at a hotel in Milan, Italy, tasted Xufujii’s crispy candies shared by Chinese tourists and couldn’t forget the flavor. When encountering Chinese guests, they proactively asked if they could “buy on behalf,” sparking a wave of online “feeding” by netizens.

Today, Xufujii is not only popular domestically but also exports to over 60 countries and regions. “By 2025, the company’s export business will grow steadily, with products successfully entering mainstream supermarkets in Southeast Asia, North America, and other regions,” said Chen Jiehong, head of strategic growth at Xufujii.

Xufujii’s ability to continuously attract fans worldwide lies in the combination of craftsmanship inheritance and innovative breakthroughs. On the production line, the popular crispy candies are made using traditional techniques with modern upgrades—layering the pastry from 64 to 128 layers; selecting high-quality small white sand peanuts; and implementing precise temperature control, automatic feeding, stir-frying, packaging, and stacking to ensure consistent taste and high cost performance through standardization and intelligent automation.

As consumer markets evolve, new trends such as low-sugar health products, diverse scenarios, and fun aesthetics emerge. Once known for “annual candies,” Xufujii actively adapts to these changes. “The consumption trends in the snack industry are changing profoundly, with increasing demand for health, functionality, and new flavors,” said Sun Xueke, senior director of R&D and application at Xufujii. In recent years, the company has focused on differentiation, scenario-based, and health-oriented products—upgrading classic categories like New Year candies and Sachima with technological and aesthetic innovations to engage young consumers, while also creating a diversified product matrix to meet various consumer needs.

Behind these trends is continuous high-intensity investment in R&D. Xufujii has invested nearly 200 million yuan annually for over ten years, building a professional R&D team of more than 150 members, establishing a joint research center for healthy snacks with universities, and leveraging global R&D resources. The focus areas include reducing sugar and oil, functional nutrition, and medicinal food integration, extending from traditional candies to children’s nutrition and health snacks.

The rising market heat also presents dual challenges of capacity and quality. Xufujii is committed to upgrading to “smart manufacturing.” “Xufujii began its transformation in 2017 and released an intelligent operation blueprint in 2020, fully entering the era of smart manufacturing,” said Wu Lei, general manager of Xufujii Manufacturing Headquarters. In February this year, the new fruit juice soft candy workshop was officially put into operation, introducing AI digital intelligence technology and full coverage of robots, increasing capacity by 30%, and achieving digital monitoring and traceability across the entire process, including ingredient mixing, boiling, flavoring, shaping, and packaging.

To transition from a “national snack” to a “world confectionery,” Xufujii has also developed an industrial tourism project, offering immersive experiences to families, students, and international consumers, along with public classes on food safety and production safety. “We replace traditional advertising with ‘visible craftsmanship,’ allowing young consumers to build brand recognition through experience. The company receives over ten thousand visitors annually,” said Gao Weidong, head of the Xufujii Group Affairs Department.