Pet Fresh (派特鲜生) was founded in early 2025 by Hou Yi, the entrepreneur who created Hema (Freshippo) for Alibaba and built it into China's most influential new-retail chain. The concept was a fresh pet-food brand combining online DTC with physical stores offering made-to-order fresh pet meals, retail products, and a 'pet-friendly' social space. In May 2025 Hou Yi raised US$25 million (roughly ¥180 million) in angel funding for the venture.
The plan was ambitious: 100 stores in Shanghai, a discount retail model, livestream e-commerce, and fresh pet food priced at ¥11-12 per 100g. The reality was far harsher. China's fresh pet-food penetration was only about 5%, far too small for a chain. Online industrial brands sold fresh food at ¥4 per 100g — less than half Pet Fresh's price. The social-space concept was not a repeat-purchase driver; pet owners can visit a park for free. And pet food is a planned purchase, not an instant-delivery need — the '30-minute delivery' advantage that built Hema did not apply.
By November 2025 Hou Yi admitted in an interview that the offline stores were losing heavily and would all close within one to two months. The total lifespan from first store to full offline exit was about nine months. Only a small online operation would remain. Hou Yi's own assessment: 'The biggest lesson is that my understanding of this industry was not deep enough. Looking at the data on the surface, I thought I understood, but after getting into it, many of my plans were naive.' He said he would return to fresh food, the business he knows.
Raised ¥180M for fresh pet-food chain, but 5% penetration and ¥11-12 price vs ¥4 online killed it; stores shut in 9 months.
Fresh pet food had 5% market penetration — too small an audience to support a chain of physical stores with premium rent and staffing costs.
Pet Fresh's fresh-food price of ¥11-12 per 100g was nearly three times the online brand price of ¥4 — consumers had no reason to pay a premium for a store they rarely visited.
The pet-friendly social space was a traffic gimmick, not a repeat-purchase driver — pet owners do not need a paid venue to spend time with their pets.
Hou Yi's Hema expertise in fresh logistics and instant delivery did not transfer to pet food, a planned, low-frequency category where speed has no value.
A founder's greatest asset — confidence in a proven playbook — becomes the greatest liability when a new category has different fundamentals. Hema's advantages were irrelevant to pet food.
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