Despite mounting public skepticism and reputational risks exposed by recent controversies, China’s pre-cooked meal industry is scaling rapidly. Fueled by shifting demographics, labor constraints, and government policy support, as of 2025, more than 25 provincial governments have issued local policy frameworks to encourage industry development and standardization.
The sector is expected to exceed RMB 750 billion by 2026. However, this drive for cost efficiency and scale is clashing with consumer demands for transparency and freshness. Brands are navigating this trade-off and trying to capture share in the future.
A new pre-cooked meal controversy triggered a nationwide debate
On September 10, 2025, Luo Yonghao, a Chinese entrepreneur and influencer, publicly criticized Xibei, a prominent mid-to-high-end restaurant chain, for allegedly serving pre-cooked meals.
Xibei denied the claims via open letter and livestream, but its attempt at clarification inadvertently exposed operational details that validated consumer concerns. The backlash from the initial accusation was swift and was likely compounded by the unsuccessful livestream. The exposed operational details validated consumer concerns.
The backlash from the initial accusation was swift and was likely compounded by the unsuccessful livestream, which exposed operational details that validated consumer concerns. In the aftermath, daily revenues reportedly dropped by RMB 1 to 3 million. Some stores’ overall performance even declined by up to 10%. This incident sparked a broader national debate on the role of pre-cooked meals in China’s restaurant industry.
Paradoxically, while public scrutiny intensifies, the industry itself is actually booming. China’s pre-cooked meal market reached RMB 485 billion in 2024 (up 33.8% YoY). It is forecast to exceed 617 billion RMB in 2025 and surpass one trillion RMB by 2026, reflecting a CAGR of over 20%.
Why are pre-cooked meals in China so controversial?
The legacy of food safety scandals eroded trust
In a market that is still maturing in terms of regulatory enforcement and supply chain transparency, Chinese consumers remain deeply cautious. A long history of food safety scandals has left a lasting imprint on public trust.
Against this backdrop, pre-cooked meals face heightened scrutiny. Media exposés of unsanitary conditions in small-scale kitchens have only reinforced the widespread belief that convenience foods are of low quality, unsafe, and deceptive. As the most visible and rapidly growing segment, pre-cooked meals have naturally become the focal point for this deep-seated distrust.
Significant differences between industry standards and consumers’ general perceptions
In March 2024, the Chinese National Health Commission issued the “Notice on Strengthening Food Safety Supervision of Pre-cooked Meals and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Industry.” The document clarified the concept of a pre-made meal for the first time. It states that pre-washed vegetables, semi-finished products, and finished meals processed by central kitchens and distributed to chain restaurants’ own outlets are excluded from the scope of “pre-cooked meals.”
However, in most consumers’ eyes, any dish not prepared on-site, especially meals relying on frozen ingredients or reheat-and-serve packets, should be considered a “pre-cooked meal.” What consumers truly seek is the authentic, freshly cooked experience with that “wok hei” flavor, the genuine taste and warmth that comes straight from the kitchen.
Deceptive “freshly cooked” claims
The most acute backlash occurs when restaurants advertise “freshly cooked” meals but serve reheated, pre-cooked items, often at premium prices. Chinese consumers view this as a violation of their right to transparency and choice, and generate strong negative emotions of being deceived. In response, the government has called for stricter labeling practices, though enforcement remains uneven.
Restaurants like Xibei may technically comply with regulatory definitions of pre-cooked food. However, they commit a logical misstep in brand communication by ignoring the consumer’s definition of “freshly cooked.” In the public eye, any food reheated from sealed packaging, no matter how standardized or safe, is pre-cooked. When this semantic disconnect is revealed, consumers don’t just feel confused; they feel deceived.
Importantly, the consumer’s logical calculation varies by brand positioning. Take Saizeriya, for example. It’s a long-standing chain that openly markets its use of pre-cooked ingredients. Its value proposition is centered on affordable convenience, and its low prices and radical transparency reinforce consumer trust. By contrast, Xibei positions itself as a mid-to-high-end dining experience, where consumers implicitly pay for freshness and quality. For brands like Xibei, the use of pre-cooked components undermines their core brand promise in the eyes of their target audience, even if operationally justified.
In this context, brands that fail to recognize and bridge this definition gap risk eroding consumer confidence, not because of the ingredients themselves, but because of the perceived betrayal of brand values.
What’s driving the growth of China’s pre-cooked meals despite the backlash?
Societal driver: Smaller households, busier lives
China now has over 240 million single adults, many of whom live in cities and cook infrequently. Urbanization, rising incomes, and smaller household sizes are changing consumption patterns. One- or two-person households increasingly opt for convenient, portioned meals that save time and reduce waste.
Additionally, younger consumers, especially “打工人” strivers or hustle workers, cite “no time, no skill, no motivation” as reasons for adopting pre-cooked options. Pre-cooked meals fit the demands of China’s rising “lazy economy” and “homebody culture.”
Economic driver: Lower costs, faster service
For restaurant operators, the shift to central kitchens offers a compelling business case. Labor expenses often account for more than 30% of total operating costs. This can be significantly reduced through streamlined, chef-free operations. Pre-cooked meal components also dramatically shorten meal preparation times. In many cases, this reduces kitchen workflows from 17 minutes to just 5. This acceleration not only improves table turnover and customer throughput but also enables restaurants to reduce their kitchen footprints and allocate space to revenue-generating areas. As a result, operators can boost their profit margins by an estimated 6% to 8%.
More importantly, standardized production and centralized logistics free Chinese restaurant chains from dependence on highly skilled chefs, which was a long-standing barrier to scalability in traditional Chinese cuisine. This evolution enables faster geographic expansion, greater brand consistency, and improved operational efficiency across locations.
Government policies driver
The Chinese government views the pre-cooked meal sector as a strategic link connecting agriculture, food processing, and urban consumption. It directly supports national priorities, including rural revitalization, modernization of the food supply chain, and growth in domestic demand.
Structural tension in China’s pre-cooked meals: efficiency vs. authenticity
The Xibei incident revealed a fundamental contradiction in China’s evolving food economy. While local governments and industry leaders promote pre-cooked meals as the future of scalable dining, many Chinese consumers continue to prefer and expect meals that are freshly prepared on-site. This Chinese cultural emphasis on freshness, craftsmanship, and transparency remains at odds with the operational opacity of centralized kitchens.
Forward-thinking brands are reintroducing trust through radical transparency. One increasingly popular solution is to livestream the restaurant’s kitchen operations in real-time.
These livestreams, displayed both on in-store monitors and mobile apps, showcase everything from hygiene practices to cooking workflows. While this doesn’t reveal the ultimate origin of ingredients, it showcases hygiene standards and the final cooking process, rebuilding a sense of transparency and craftsmanship that consumers crave. By exposing the behind-the-scenes process, brands not only restore consumer confidence but also gain valuable marketing traction.
Navigating China’s pre-cooked meals industry
- Despite consumer backlash, China’s pre-cooked meal sector is experiencing accelerated growth. It was driven by policy support, changing demographics, and rising restaurant costs.
- Deep-rooted food safety anxieties and cultural expectations around freshness continue to challenge public acceptance and brand trust.
- The Xibei incident underscores a structural tension between efficiency and authenticity, revealing the risks of operational opacity and consumer deception.
- Brands that embrace transparency, such as Saizeriya’s honest labeling and real-time kitchen livestreams, are pioneering a trust-first path to scale.
- As the industry matures, success will depend not only on cold-chain logistics and cost control but also on narrative: delivering convenience without compromising the emotional, cultural, and sensory expectations of “real cooking.”
