Accelerate the Thousand Stores Plan? Salia's new factory in Guangzhou completed

Recently, Salia’s new factory in China has been completed, seen as a preparation for the “Thousand Stores Plan,” attracting industry attention. The new factory is an expansion of the original Guangzhou plant, located in Huangpu District, Guangzhou, with an investment of over 200 million yuan. It will produce 4,500 tons of pizza, 12,000 tons of sauces, and 13,000 tons of pasta annually. This factory will also be one of Salia’s three core production bases, alongside its Australian and domestic Japanese factories.

According to Hongcan.com, Salia’s decision to increase capacity in Guangzhou is not accidental but a result of its store layout being deeply integrated and precisely matched. Data shows that Salia currently has over 550 stores nationwide, with Guangdong having the most—more than 200 stores. The overall store layout is centered around Guangdong and gradually expanding to other regions.

△Image source: Beijing Salia official Xiaohongshu account

With the completion of this new factory, Salia can better support the expansion of stores in Guangdong and across the country. As Salia President Hideharu Matsutani previously stated, “This is a new factory aimed at increasing the number of stores in China to 1,000. Once the factory is fully operational, store production efficiency will improve.”

Although Salia has announced a goal of 1,000 stores and the number of stores in China continues to grow, the impact on performance has not been significant. According to Salia’s 2025 financial report, by 2025, the number of mainland China stores will have increased by 82 to a total of 497, a growth rate of about 20%. Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing each added 33, 36, and 13 stores respectively. However, the operating profit in these three cities declined—by 23.6%, 27.3%, and 20.3%, respectively.

Salia’s performance fluctuations are related to fierce competition in high-tier cities’ Western restaurant markets. According to the “Western Restaurant Development Report 2025” released by Hongcan Industry Research Institute, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Beijing rank among the top six cities in Western restaurant density nationwide, with more than one Western restaurant per 10,000 people on average.

Faced with increasing competition in high-tier cities, the “Western Restaurant Development Report 2025” further points out that some lower-tier markets have strong dining consumption capacity, and consumers show high interest in Western cuisine, which is an imported food category. However, the supply of Western restaurants in these areas is relatively insufficient and needs further exploration.

In fact, to ease profitability pressures in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, Salia has shifted its focus to lower-tier markets. According to Hongcan.com, by 2025, Salia has opened its first stores in Zhanjiang, Qingyuan, Jiangyin, Yuyao, Taizhou, Zhenjiang, and Tongxiang. However, regarding brand expansion into lower-tier markets, Hongcan Industry Research Institute believes that “a comprehensive investigation of local market conditions, consumer demand, and cultural background is still necessary to better integrate into the local market.”

Overall, the completion of Salia’s new factory in Guangzhou provides important support for its further expansion in the Chinese market. In the future, Hongcan.com will continue to monitor Salia’s new strategies in China.

Author: Hongcan.com Gui Xiang; Editor: Li Tang