Banu International Holding updated its prospectus on June 17 as it continues to advance its listing process on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CICC and CMB International are serving as joint sponsors.

Founded in 2001, Banu has become China’s largest premium hotpot brand by revenue. According to Frost & Sullivan, Banu ranked first in China’s premium hotpot market by revenue in 2025. As of June 12, Banu’s directly operated store network covered 57 cities across China, with 200 stores in total, up 132.6% from the beginning of 2023. Its expansion also accelerated each year from 2023 to 2025, with 25 new stores opened in 2023, 35 in 2024, and 44 in 2025.

The updated prospectus showed that Banu’s full-year 2025 revenue reached RMB 2.85 billion (USD 419.9 million), up 23.4% year over year, while adjusted profit reached RMB 320 million (USD 47.1 million), up 88.7%. In store operations, its same-store sales growth rate was 4.8% for the full year, while its table turnover rate reached 3.6 times per day, up about 0.4 times year-on-year.

Behind those numbers is Banu’s longstanding focus on products. The company centers its menu on signature items such as beef tripe and wild mushroom broth. Its beef tripe is prepared using papain-based tenderization technology, which uses an enzyme derived from papaya. The company has also sourced tripe from New Zealand pastures for Chinese diners. Its wild mushroom broth uses mushrooms selected from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and is freshly simmered in stores every day. Through initiatives such as a monthly vegetable refresh program and year-round fresh bamboo shoot supply, Banu aims to offer a fresher, higher-quality hotpot dining experience.

While China’s restaurant industry faces intensifying competition and many brands are caught in price wars, consumers are not simply chasing lower prices. According to Frost & Sullivan, consumers are paying increasing attention to dish quality and ingredient freshness. Health and freshness are becoming new trends in the hotpot industry, pushing the market toward a better balance between quality and price.

Banu’s focus on quality has also helped expand its customer base. Its membership count grew from about 3.7 million at the beginning of 2022 to nearly 20 million in 2026.

On the supply chain side, Banu has built a set of industrialized capabilities around quality control. The company has developed a third-generation supply chain based on three principles: procuring chilled rather than frozen ingredients where possible, choosing natural options over additive-based alternatives where possible, and completing delivery sorting on the same day rather than overnight where possible.

Through a daily delivery logistics network, products move directly from central kitchens to stores nationwide. Each central kitchen has a coverage radius of up to 600 kilometers, enabling 24-hour fresh delivery and more stable ingredient presentation. As of June 12, Banu operated five integrated central kitchens combining production and logistics, as well as one specialized soup base processing plant. Its business covered 14 provinces and municipalities across China.

Banu has also built an integrated digital system covering the entire business process, including procurement and supplier management, central kitchens, warehousing and logistics, employee management, and store operations. Its store inventory management system can track and analyze inventory levels and shelf life for major in-store ingredients. Supported by this system, stores can place orders daily and receive next-day deliveries from central kitchens through logistics scheduling.

At the operational level, this system has brought efficiency gains. Banu’s average monthly sales per square meter rose from about RMB 2,300 (USD 338.9) in 2023 to more than RMB 2,650 (USD 390.5) in 2025. Its store-level operating profit margin increased from 15.2% in 2022 to 24.9% in 2025. Its same-store sales growth reached 4.8%, while inventory turnover days fell 16.3% from 2023 to 2025. The continued expansion of its store network has also helped dilute fixed supply chain costs while maintaining relatively stable quality control standards.

Another point worth noting is that Banu currently has 54 stores in its home base of Henan, while its store network outside the province has expanded to 146 locations nationwide. Compared with 2023, its number of stores outside Henan has grown by 265%. These stores have achieved competitive table turnover and profitability levels, supporting Banu’s case for nationwide replicability.

At present, Banu’s directly operated stores cover first-, second-, third-, and fourth-tier cities. Stores in non-first-tier cities account for 80% of its total, and the store-level operating profit margin in second-tier and lower-tier cities reaches 25.6%. To some extent, this shows that its product-focused value proposition has broad market adaptability and can run across different tiers of China’s market.

Looking further ahead, Banu may also have room to grow overseas, supported by the expansion of Chinese restaurant brands abroad and overseas consumers’ interest in natural ingredients and higher-quality dining experiences.

Before the IPO, Tomato Capital was Banu’s only external institutional investor, holding 7.95% of the company.

Banu said in its prospectus that the net proceeds from the IPO will mainly be used to expand its directly operated store network, improve digitalization in business management and store operations, build its brand, optimize its supply chain, and provide working capital and funding for general corporate purposes.

This article was adapted based on a feature originally written by Stone Jin and published on IPO Zaozhidao. KrASIA is authorized to translate, adapt, and publish its contents.

Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 23, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.