Zhongtai Securities 26Q3 Food & Beverage Preview: Baijiu Accelerates Bottoming; Snack New Channels Resonate with Healthification

Zhongtai Securities released a research report stating that in Q3 2026, the baijiu industry showed significant structural divergence, with the industry as a whole accelerating its bottoming-out process, while the soft drinks market faced pressure on its prosperity, with notable divergence among internal categories. Baijiu consumption returned to rationality, consumers' willingness to stockpile weakened, and buying on demand became the mainstream consumption characteristic. The market performance during the dual-festival peak season presented a dumbbell-shaped pattern, with high-end baijiu overall performing better, the sub-high-end segment under pressure, and regional baijiu achieving structural recovery by relying on banquet and homecoming scenarios. The health-oriented trend in snacks continued, offline snack demand came under overall pressure, the nuts and roasted seeds category continued to show resilience, heavily flavored and high-oil, high-salt categories saw relatively large declines, and foot traffic in traditional supermarkets continued to migrate toward emerging channels such as bulk snack stores.