---
title: "Freshly stir-fried dishes as a key focus of restaurant promotion, how pre-made dishes can rebuild trust"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/282259478.md"
description: "Guangzhou fresh food retail stores have launched multiple pre-prepared dishes, allowing consumers to cook easily. Pre-prepared dishes gained attention during the pandemic, but public trust in them is low. The controversy began in September 2025 when Luo Yonghao criticized Xibei for using pre-prepared dishes and demanded that businesses transparently inform consumers. A national standard draft for pre-prepared dishes has been released, and the industry urgently needs to rebuild trust"
datetime: "2026-04-09T23:09:11.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/282259478.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282259478.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/282259478.md)
---

# Freshly stir-fried dishes as a key focus of restaurant promotion, how pre-made dishes can rebuild trust

In a fresh food retail store in Guangzhou, the freezer displays dishes such as spicy grilled Qingjiang fish, stir-fried yellow beef, spicy stir-fried meat, and Kung Pao chicken. These dishes include ingredients like meat, celery, green peppers, sauces, or garlic, and consumers can simply follow the cooking steps on the packaging to enjoy them.

A consumer named Kento (pseudonym) from Foshan is one of them. Initially, he only learned about prepared dishes occasionally through news notifications. Two or three years ago, he was assigned to work in Motuo, Tibet for a period of time. Due to its remote location, logistics were challenging, and a friend sent him prepared dishes like sauerkraut fish and perilla frog, which made him realize that prepared dishes can gather different cuisines, allowing him to taste dishes from the Greater Bay Area even in Motuo. Now, he often buys prepared dishes from various fresh retail platforms, saying, "I just cut open the packaging at home, throw it in the pot, and after following the instructions to cook for three to five minutes, I can enjoy dishes just like those from restaurants. The taste may not be exactly the same, but it certainly saves a lot of time."

This emerging field of prepared dishes gained widespread attention during the pandemic, and discussions about it have intensified after the pandemic restrictions were lifted, especially following the dispute between well-known influencer Luo Yonghao and the founder of Xibei, Jia Guolong, in September 2025. In February of this year, a draft for public consultation on national standards for prepared dishes was released. As one of the industries nurtured and developed by the state, what is the value of prepared dishes? Why does the public almost shudder at the mention of "prepared dishes"? What concerns do consumers have? How can trust in the industry be rebuilt?

Luo Yonghao sparked a dispute over prepared dishes, which subsequently affected multiple restaurant brands.

Kento began to pay attention to the field of prepared dishes in the second half of 2022. He told reporters from Southern Metropolis Daily that the controversy surrounding prepared dishes has been particularly intense in recent years. In discussions, people often mention "the right to know," meaning that businesses should proactively inform consumers which dishes are prepared. "Many prepared dish vendors do not proactively inform consumers, the taste is very much like prepared dishes, yet they charge so much, which is not worth it."

This heated debate over prepared dishes began in September 2025. On September 10 of that year, Luo Yonghao posted on Weibo criticizing Xibei, claiming that almost all of Xibei's dishes were prepared and overpriced. Luo also expressed on Weibo his hope that the government would promote legislation to require restaurants to indicate whether they use prepared dishes. The next day (September 11), Xibei's founder Jia Guolong held a press conference, stating that none of the dishes Luo Yonghao had were prepared, and that Xibei's dishes were not prepared either, firmly stating that he would sue Luo Yonghao.

At the same time, Jia Guolong opened the kitchens of 370 stores nationwide. After several media outlets visited the kitchens, it was discovered that some ingredients in Xibei's kitchens had varying shelf lives, such as organic broccoli with a shelf life of 24 months and frozen sea bass with a shelf life of 18 months, further igniting controversy, with netizens on social media jokingly saying "seeking hammers will get hammers." However, the kitchen tour event was only maintained for two days before being suspended, as many stores revealed that the open kitchen affected normal operations and could pose food safety risks Despite Jia Guolong repeatedly emphasizing that prefabricated technology is not the same as pre-prepared dishes, on September 15, 2025, Xibei issued an apology letter stating that it would adjust the central kitchen's pre-processing technology to on-site processing at the stores as much as possible. Additionally, it is communicating with upstream suppliers to shorten the shelf life while ensuring food safety and inventory turnover.

On January 11 of this year, Xibei held a meeting in Hohhot, where it revealed that it would close 102 stores nationwide at once, accounting for 30% of the total. On January 15, Jia Guolong stated in his social media that the store closures would be completed in the first quarter of this year and reiterated that Xibei does not serve pre-prepared dishes.

Thus, this back-and-forth war of words is nearing its end in a tangible form.

This controversy over the "right to know" about pre-prepared dishes has also affected several restaurant brands, including Green Tea and HeFu LaoMian. Following the initial dispute between Luo Yonghao and Xibei regarding pre-prepared dishes, on September 18, 2025, media reported that Green Tea restaurants removed the "No Pre-prepared Dishes" sign from their stores. In January of this year, netizens also revealed that a bowl of noodles priced at 29 yuan at HeFu LaoMian was made by squeezing the seasoning packet into the bowl and then pouring hot soup over it. Both Green Tea and HeFu LaoMian have not responded to the respective incidents.

However, the official WeChat account of HeFu LaoMian published an interview article with founder Li Xuelin in 2024. Li Xuelin stated that the dishes at HeFu LaoMian are uniformly produced and delivered by a central kitchen and do not belong to pre-prepared dishes, while most brands in the market are primarily supplied by third-party pre-prepared sources.

Li Xuelin also mentioned that, at present, many consumers have certain biases against pre-prepared dishes. From the perspective of developed countries globally, pre-prepared dishes and standardized central kitchen products represent a more advanced production method. Especially in terms of ensuring food safety, improving production efficiency, and stabilizing output, they are more advanced and reliable than traditional methods. Many global restaurant chain giants have achieved "thousands of store chains" relying on a complete central kitchen output and supply chain system.

"Freshly Stir-Fried" has become a key focus of restaurant promotion, with menu classification being the main direction.

The "right to know" about pre-prepared dishes reflected by Kento is more concentrated in offline dining establishments in the C-end. A Beijing citizen, Lin Yao (pseudonym), has also learned about pre-prepared dishes through news accounts in recent years. She is quite distressed that sometimes when ordering takeout, the dishes seem like pre-prepared dishes, which are not tasty and lack wok flavor, stating, "Many consumers are not actively trying pre-prepared dishes but are forced to consume them."

A reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily visited several well-known restaurant brands in Tianhe, Guangzhou, and found that many restaurant enterprises are first focusing on clearly indicating pre-prepared dishes, with brands like Chef Fei, Tai Er Sour Fish, and Jiumaojiu prominently promoting the term "freshly stir-fried" in their stores.

Menu labeling is a major direction for indicating pre-prepared dishes. The official mini-program of Tai Er Sour Fish shows that the brand categorizes its dishes into four types: A represents fresh ingredients made on-site; B represents dishes containing frozen ingredients made on-site; C represents dishes containing pre-processed ingredients made on-site; D represents dishes containing cooked ingredients made on-site.

Additionally, the Hunan cuisine brand Nonggengji, which originated in Shenzhen, also makes clear indications on its menu. According to the menu published by the Nonggengji account, the store offers a total of 45 products, of which 34 are made on-site, 10 are semi-finished ingredients from the central kitchen or sourced externally made on-site, and 1 is an externally sourced dish The menu also explains the restaurant's freshly made, semi-finished ingredients, central kitchen, and externally sourced finished products. Freshly made items include freshly cut and prepared dishes, pre-cut and prepared dishes, and raw ingredients prepared on-site; semi-finished ingredients mean that raw materials are processed into semi-finished products through techniques such as blanching, frying, marinating, and stewing at the central kitchen or with partner suppliers, then preserved and delivered under controlled temperatures for on-site cooking at the restaurant; central kitchen/external finished products mean that cooked items are plated or reheated for serving at the restaurant.

In a building in Tianhe, Guangzhou, the Nonggengji takeout station is located here. A reporter from Nandu Bay Financial Media learned from Nonggengji's official customer service that this brand has not opened any dine-in stores in Guangzhou, which means that currently, Nonggengji only supports takeout orders in Guangzhou. This takeout store in Guangzhou has a sign stating "No pre-made dishes for takeout, false claims will incur tenfold penalties," with delivery personnel waiting to pick up orders and shelves displaying ingredients such as eggplants and eggs.

Earlier, Laoxiangji released a 677-page, 200,000-word "Laoxiangji Dish Traceability Report" in April 2024, categorizing its dishes into freshly made, semi-prepared, and reheated pre-prepared categories, which is very similar to the dish classification later introduced by Nonggengji.

A reporter from Nandu Bay Financial Media previously contacted several well-known catering companies, including Guangzhou Restaurant and Laowan Club, regarding related issues, but had not received a response by the time of publication; a representative from Lianxianglou responded that the store does not use pre-made dishes; Nonggengji's official customer service stated that the company is currently focused on its own development and is not prepared to accept media interviews at this time.

In recent years, the C-end share of pre-made dishes has gradually increased, with major fresh retail platforms selling them.

Pre-made dishes are commonly supplied to both B-end and C-end. Pre-made dishes supplied to B-end restaurants may not be recognized by consumers as pre-made, which is one of the reasons for the recent controversies surrounding pre-made dishes. Fresh retail platforms sell pre-made dishes directly to C-end consumers, allowing them to choose whether to purchase. This is another direction for the supply of pre-made dishes.

A research report from Guohai Securities in 2022 pointed out that the largest demand for the pre-made dish industry comes from the catering industry, accounting for 80%. Snack fast food restaurants, chain stores, takeout-focused restaurants, rural kitchens, and group meal canteens are the main scenarios for the application of pre-made dishes. With trends such as smaller households, pre-made dishes are increasingly reaching the C-end. The report also indicated that it is predicted that by 2026, the share of pre-made dishes in the C-end will grow from 20% in 2021 to 30%.

Fresh retail platforms such as Meituan Xiaoxiang Supermarket, Hema, Dingdong Maicai, and Pupu all sell pre-made dishes to consumers. For example, Xiaoxiang Supermarket sells dishes like shredded potatoes with minced meat and double peppers, cold fresh steamed chicken in lotus leaves, and cold fresh spare ribs in black bean sauce. The merchant pages will indicate basic information, ingredient/nutrition tables, etc., such as shredded potatoes with minced meat and double peppers containing minced pork and shredded potatoes, which can be cooked immediately after opening the bag and is ready to eat in 3 minutes, with a shelf life of 4 days and requires refrigeration.

Recently, a reporter from Nandu Bay Financial Media visited a Hema Fresh supermarket in Guangzhou, where the freezer displayed dishes like spicy grilled Qingjiang fish. Taking this dish as an example, it contains grilled fish packets, broth packets, spicy grilled fish sauce packets, hot pot rice noodles, vegetable packets, gluten packets, and spicy grilled fish chili packets, with a shelf life of 8 days, and the product packaging also includes instructions for consumption According to a report from Southern Metropolis Bay Finance, Hema launched "Quick Dishes" around 2018, focusing on large dishes that consumers find time-consuming and labor-intensive. Recent innovative ready-to-eat dishes introduced by Hema include winter-spring rice with shepherd's purse and cured meat, stir-fried noodles with dried tofu and malan head, Sichuan-style beer duck, and grilled pepper bass, allowing consumers to easily recreate various local specialty "hard dishes" at home.

From the Central Document No. 1 to the national standard draft for public consultation, food safety standards and transparency requirements are being upgraded.

Behind the controversy surrounding pre-made dishes is the reality of a gradual increase in the number of related enterprises.

According to Tianyancha, as of March this year, there are over 75,000 existing pre-made dish-related enterprises in China. From 2020 to 2025, a cumulative addition of over 37,000 related enterprises is expected. The growth rates of pre-made dish-related enterprises from 2021 to 2025 are as follows: -143.4%, -68.2%, 61%, 54.7%, and 25.6%. This indicates that from 2023 to 2025, the number of pre-made dish-related enterprises in China is on a gradual growth trend, with the highest growth rate in 2023.

In terms of regional distribution, Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu rank in the top three, accounting for 12.4%, 11.1%, and 9.4% of the total number, respectively. Regarding registered capital, enterprises with registered capital of less than 1 million yuan account for the largest proportion at 46.2%, while those with registered capital of over 10 million yuan account for 12.9%.

In February 2023, pre-made dishes were first included in the Central Document No. 1, stating in the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Doing a Good Job in Key Work for Comprehensive Rural Revitalization in 2023" that it is necessary to enhance the standardization and normalization level of clean vegetables, central kitchens, and other industries; and to cultivate and develop the pre-made dish industry.

In March 2024, six departments of the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice titled "Notice on Strengthening Food Safety Supervision of Pre-made Dishes and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which clarified the definition of pre-made dishes. The controversy surrounding Jia Guolong repeatedly emphasized that Xibei is not a pre-made dish is also based on this definition.

On February 6 of this year, the National Health Commission released an announcement on its official website, publishing the "National Food Safety Standard for Pre-made Dishes" (draft for public consultation), with the consultation period ending on April 8 of this year. This draft retains and supplements the definition of pre-made dishes from the "Notice" and also clarifies that the following foods do not fall under the category of pre-made dishes: staple foods, clean vegetables, ready-to-eat foods, and dishes made in central kitchens.

According to the draft for public consultation, pre-made dishes are products made from one or more edible agricultural products and their products, using or not using seasonings and other auxiliary materials, without adding preservatives, and processed industrially (such as mixing, marinating, rolling, shaping, frying, roasting, boiling, steaming, etc.), packaged with or without seasoning packets, and can be consumed after heating or cooking. It does not include staple foods, clean vegetables, ready-to-eat foods, and dishes made in central kitchens.

The drafted national standard document mentions that preservatives must not be added during the production and processing of pre-made dishes. If food additives other than preservatives are used, the necessity of the process should be fully assessed, ensuring that they are not added unless necessary At the same time, the use of food additives should not reduce the nutritional value of the food itself, nor should it cover up food spoilage and quality defects in the food itself or during the processing. Food additives should not be used for the purposes of adulteration, counterfeiting, or forgery.

The draft national standard for prepared dishes also sets requirements for the production process, nutritional quality, packaging, labeling, business processes, and product indicators of prepared dishes. For example, production enterprises should reasonably set the product shelf life, which should not exceed 12 months; when restaurants use prepared dishes, they are encouraged to inform consumers about the usage of prepared dishes with different processing methods according to relevant regulations, to help consumers understand related information.

Rebuilding trust in prepared dishes requires transparency and standardization in the industry chain.

During this year's National Two Sessions, prepared dishes also became a topic of proposals from committee representatives. Huang Xiufen, a representative of the National People's Congress and chairman of Guangdong Yabei Agricultural Products Co., Ltd., told reporters from Southern Metropolis Daily that the introduction of the draft national standard for prepared dishes marks the transition of the prepared dish industry from "barbaric growth" to a new stage of "standardized development," and is a golden opportunity to promote agricultural industrialization and increase farmers' income.

Huang Xiufen stated that prepared dishes are essentially a profound transformation of "agricultural industrialization," moving the food processing stage from distant factories in large cities to county towns and townships at the production site. This means that more of the value-added portion of agricultural products can remain in the counties, benefiting the farmers involved. "This doubled profit should not only belong to processing and sales enterprises but should also be reasonably returned to farmers who provide high-quality raw materials."

In addition, Huang Xiufen analyzed from frontline observations that the current development of prepared dishes in China should address the challenges of connecting "small production" with "large standards," the shortcomings of the cold chain in the "last mile," and should establish a closer and more reasonable "linking farmers to farmers" mechanism, as well as gain consumer trust.

She explained that the national standard for prepared dishes has raised higher requirements for raw materials, processing, and preservation, which undoubtedly benefits the long-term development of the industry. However, for many small and micro enterprises and cooperatives, establishing a complete set of testing, quality control, and traceability systems involves high initial investment and compliance costs, which may pose certain transformation pressures in the short term. Additionally, many agricultural product production areas still lack adequate cold chain infrastructure, leading to frequent "breaks in the chain," which affects the quality and efficiency of raw materials reaching factories.

Huang Xiufen also observed that past discussions about "technology and hard work" reflect market concerns about the safety and health of prepared dishes. Rebuilding trust requires transparency and standardization throughout the entire industry chain.

Planning: Wang Ying

Coordination: Chen Yangkai

Reporting: Southern Metropolis Daily · Bay Finance reporter Feng Jiajun

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