(Yicai) June 17 -- Chinese sportswear brand Biemlofen has recently entered into a strategic agreement with Japanese outdoor label Snow Peak and its South Korean operating partner Gamsung to take over the management of Snow Peak’s business in China. However, an industry consultant has described the move as ‘risky,’ citing intensifying competition in the country’s increasingly crowded outdoor market.

Biemlofen will oversee Snow Peak’s operations in China, including the Japanese brand’s apparel, camping equipment and coffee businesses as well as the core Snow Peak Apparel clothing line from South Korea, according to the agreement. It will also hold the production license for Snow Peak Apparel in China.

Biemlofen’s move into the outdoor segment represents a bet on the premium outdoor market at a time when its core business is facing pressure and competition in the outdoor sector has become increasingly fierce, said Cheng Weixiong, a footwear and apparel brand strategy consultant. In his view, the expansion is a risky diversification move that could stretch the Guangzhou-based company’s limited resources.

Biemlofen, which specializes in golf sports and casual wear, was founded in Guangzhou in 2003 by Wenzhou entrepreneur Xie Bingzheng. Its stores are primarily located at airports, high-speed rail stations, golf courses, shopping malls and outlet channels. The firm listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in December 2016. In 2023 it indirectly acquired ownership of the global trademark rights for “CERRUTI 1881” and “KENT&CURWEN.”

The company has been grappling with declining profits despite steady revenue growth. Biemlofen’s net profit plunged 29.5 percent last year from the year before to CNY550 million (USD81.3 million) while revenue climbed 7.7 percent to CNY4.3 billion (USD636.2 million), according to the firm’s 2025 financial report. Biemlofen has reportedly set a target of generating CNY5 billion in revenue from Snow Peak over the next 10 years, equivalent to more than 10 times the company’s total revenue last year.

The ambitious goal reflects Biemlofen’s confidence in its positioning, a company insider told Yicai. Biemlofen’s core brand targets the premium market and has maintained growth for more than a decade, with a compound annual growth rate of over 20 percent. Snow Peak is also positioned as a high-end brand, and its customer base has a high degree of overlap with Biemlofen’s own consumers.

Premium outdoor brands including Arc'teryx, Salomon and Descente have already achieved significant market penetration in China, and competition has shifted from capturing new demand to fighting for existing customers, Cheng said. Even Arc'teryx’s growth has begun to show signs of slowing, according to first-quarter financial results released by owner Amer Sports.

Snow Peak has been operating with multiple licensees for many years, but has never succeeded in building significant scale or brand influence in China, Cheng said. Simply changing the operator is unlikely to produce dramatic growth in the short term.

The number of outdoor sports participants in China has topped 400 million, according to the Report on the Development of China’s Outdoor Sports Industry (2024-2025) released earlier by the Sports Economy Department of the General Administration of Sport of China.

And total outdoor sports consumption surpassed CNY1 trillion (USD147.9 billion) last year, according to a report released by the School of Sports Leisure and Tourism at Beijing Sport University and the China Institute of Sport Development‌.

Editor: Kim Taylor