Marketplace Briefing: Temu wants to sell you a steak now

The move has sparked plenty of dismay online. Influencers have gone viral filming themselves cooking Temu steaks. One creator, who goes by @lifewithrekina, reviewed ribeye steaks from Temu as part of a paid sponsorship with the e-commerce company. The post has racked up more than 1.7 million views since she praised the steaks in February. Commenters were more skeptical. “I don’t even buy clothes from Temu and y’all buy MEAT from there?!?!” one user wrote. “i really hope they paid u millions cuz no amount of money would make me eat a steak from temu,” another user said. “do yall know ur healthcare ain’t free?” another wrote. 

But behind the jokes is a bigger story about where Temu is headed next. Since 2024, Temu has focused on expanding its business beyond the “direct from China” model of shipping small packages via air cargo by building out domestic warehousing in the U.S. and recruiting more domestic sellers. Temu is increasingly trying to remake itself into more of an everything marketplace stocked by local merchants, U.S. inventory and recognizable brands. Food, including steaks, is part of that strategy. 

“It’s not like they’re shipping steaks from China,” said Juozas Kaziukėnas, an independent e-commerce analyst. “They’re getting it from local sellers.”

“With the addition of local sellers, Temu’s marketplace now offers more than 700 categories, from footwear to furniture to food,” a Temu spokesperson said in a statement. “Food is one of the newer additions, and food sellers on the program are U.S.-based businesses fulfilling from U.S. inventory. We don’t break out category-level data publicly, but food has grown quickly since launch and includes everything from pantry staples to specialty and regional brands.”

Temu, a subsidiary of its Chinese parent PDD Holdings, launched in the U.S. in late 2022 and quickly became one of the country’s most downloaded shopping apps by offering ultra-cheap goods shipped directly from Chinese factories and merchants. The e-tailer expanded quickly, fueled in part by an expensive marketing blitz that included a splashy Super Bowl ad urging U.S. consumers to “shop like a billionaire.” That strategy helped push Temu to the top of Apple’s list of most-downloaded free apps in the U.S.

Temu’s early success also depended heavily on the de minimis exemption, which allowed packages valued under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free with minimal customs scrutiny. But after the loophole was closed last year for all goods originating from China and Hong Kong, cross-border retailers like Temu and Shein faced a major challenge. Suddenly, the economics that made it possible to ship cheap products individually from China to American consumers became far less attractive. 

The company has ramped up recruitment of U.S.-based sellers, pushed merchants to store inventory in domestic warehouses and broadened its assortment across hundreds of categories. Earlier this year, Temu also introduced a Shopify integration, allowing merchants to list products directly on the marketplace.

Search Temu’s “Food & Grocery” section, and shoppers will find a weirdly eclectic mix of pantry staples, beverages, imported snacks, sweets and frozen foods, including seafood and cuts of meat from U.S.-based sellers. Some listings appear to come from resellers offering Costco and Walmart products at marked-up prices. Others come from smaller specialty merchants. 

Among the most prominent is The Grumpy Butcher, a New York-based frozen food company selling steaks, chicken wings and prepared meals through Temu. And despite the internet’s collective skepticism, the reviews on Temu are largely positive, with an average rating of 4.6 stars across The Grumpy Butcher’s 61-item selection. 

Its items are reasonably popular. The Grumpy Butcher has sold more than 13,000 items on Temu since it joined the platform, according to Temu listings. (The earliest review Modern Retail could find was left in early June of last year.) The company’s 6-pack of sirloin steaks alone has sold over 2,200 units to date. Temu drove more than 12% of The Grumpy Butcher’s online sales within five weeks of launching on the platform, according to a blog post on Temu’s website. Today, the platform accounts for 20% of The Grumpy Butcher’s total e-commerce sales, Temu told Modern Retail. The Grumpy Butcher did not respond to a request for comment. 

The Grumpy Butcher isn’t alone. California-based Asian grocery chain 99 Ranch Market uses Temu to sell pantry staples. Family-owned Hogs Heaven Pork Rinds, a regional Southern brand based in Georgia, also sells its signature pork rinds on the platform. 

Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean Temu is about to become the next Instacart. Most of the food products are frozen or shelf-stable, not fresh groceries meant for same-day delivery. Buying steaks on Temu still feels a little surreal. This is, after all, the same app that got American consumers hooked on knockoff gadgets and suspiciously cheap leggings.

“Temu is synonymous with cheap items from China,” Kaziukėnas said. “It looks bizarre, because I still have this old view of what Temu was.”

Temu’s expansion into food mirrors the growth of Temu’s sister company Pinduoduo, according to Sky Canaves, principal retail analyst at eMarketer. Pinduoduo gained massive traction in China by focusing heavily on food and agricultural products. Like Temu, Pinduoduo cuts out intermediaries between suppliers and consumers, allowing Pinduoduo to offer heavily discounted food that attracted millions of users in rural and smaller cities. 

“Ever since Temu launched in the U.S., I’ve been waiting for them to do something with food,” Canaves said. “This move harkens back to the origins of Pinduoduo in China, and that’s an app that has long provided a platform for smaller entrepreneurs, farmers and agricultural businesses to sell their products across China.”

Despite predictions that the end of de minimis would cripple the company, Temu appears to be stabilizing. Temu’s parent PDD Holdings recently reported that quarterly revenue growth accelerated during the holiday period, suggesting the business is regaining momentum after several rocky quarters tied to tariff changes and trade pressures. Kaziukėnas said that by the time de minimis disappeared, Temu had already grown large and recognizable enough to survive the upheaval.

As he put it, “Losing that benefit and increasing some prices still didn’t completely ruin the value proposition to customers.”

What I’m reading

• GameStop offers to buy eBay for $56 billion. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Amazon is opening its global logistics network to all businesses. (Reuters)
• Amazon is testing a hybrid AI-powered search experience that blends Rufus chatbot summaries with traditional product results. (The Information)

What we’ve covered

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• Amazon joins Google-backed shopping effort, suggesting a shift in AI strategy
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