When you got home from work, you glanced at the self-heating hot pots and instant noodles stockpiled in the cupboard, but after giving it some thought, you decided to have a hot meal instead.

So you open your phone and order a takeout meal of fish-flavored shredded pork over rice.

In reality, there’s no real difference between the two choices—you still haven’t escaped the clutches of pre-packaged meals.

Old Players, New Arena: A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity Emerges

Driven by both the pandemic and rising consumer demand, ready-to-cook meals have become a hot commodity in both the B2B and B2C markets.

From large hotel chains to small takeout shops, ready-to-cook meals have become the go-to solution for cutting costs and boosting efficiency, saving the entire food service industry from the brink of collapse. Young people who can’t cook also love the amazing experience of whipping up a pot of spicy crayfish in just five minutes.

Quick Tip: How Do Pre-Cooked Meals Cut Costs and Boost Efficiency?

According to calculations by the research department of China International Capital Corporation (CICC), a 20-square-meter restaurant specializing in takeout—with an average of 80 orders per day and an actual average order value of 35 yuan—saw its ingredient costs rise from 30% to 36% after adopting pre-prepared meals. However, reductions in labor, rent, energy, and operational costs offset this increase in ingredient costs, ultimately boosting the restaurant’s overall takeout profit margin.

△ Image source: iiMedia Research

Data shows that in 2021, China’s pre-cooked meal market reached 345.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.8%. This year, the market is projected to reach 419.6 billion yuan, up 21.3% year-on-year. Following this trend, the pre-cooked meal market is expected to surpass 1 trillion yuan by 2026.

However, the pre-cooked meal sector did not reach its peak immediately upon entering the market; it first entered China in the 1990s alongside McDonald’s and KFC, and its current surge can be seen as a resurgence fueled by the trends of the times.

In the post-pandemic era, ready-to-cook meals serve as a perfect vehicle for integrating the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors in agriculturally developed regions. Their value lies not only in extending the value chain of agricultural byproducts but also in integrating resources across R&D, production, warehousing, cold chain logistics, and distribution. This drives technological innovation among related enterprises, creates jobs, and consequently stimulates consumption and economic growth.

“Thin-shelled rice” is a specialty dish from the Chaoshan region of Guangdong that is deeply loved by diners. However, the dish requires multiple steps—including “removing the husks,” “soaking and rinsing,” “pounding the rice,” “draining the rice,” “removing the shells,” and “packing into baskets”—making its preparation far from simple.

To bring this distinctive dish to more dining tables, Yanhong Town decided to process it into ready-to-cook meals. Local inheritors of the "thin-shelled rice" intangible cultural heritage have implemented innovative measures in both the processing and preservation/packaging of the product.

First, steam equipment has replaced the traditional gas stoves as the primary cooking apparatus. This not only preserves the traditional production methods but also makes the process more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Production efficiency has increased by 50%, better meeting the demand for thin-shelled rice raw materials as the market for pre-packaged meals expands.

Second, by utilizing liquid nitrogen flash-freezing and skin-pack vacuum packaging technology, the rice can be frozen to -100°C within five minutes. This maximizes the retention of the rice’s freshness and minimizes compression and deformation during packaging.

Thanks to these preservation and packaging technologies, the shelf life of thin-shelled rice ready-to-cook meals can reach 15–21 days, and frozen storage can extend up to 12 months, making it possible for thin-shelled rice to appear on dining tables across the country.

Connecting farm fields on one end and urban dining tables on the other, prepared meals have become a new channel for farmers to increase their income and achieve prosperity, providing significant momentum for rural industrial revitalization.

However, where there is opportunity, there is competition. Who will ride the wind the farthest depends on these four factors:

• A solid foundation in raw materials or processing infrastructure

• Leadership from major food enterprises

• Comprehensive local production and distribution capabilities

• Rapid cold-chain storage and logistics capabilities

Two cities stand out for possessing all four of these advantages: Guangdong and Shandong.

Discerning Guangdong Sets Industry Standards

Guangdong is one of the frontrunners in the prepared meal sector.

Thanks to its early start and rapid expansion, Guangdong has accumulated extensive experience in central kitchen construction, product development, cold-chain logistics, financial insurance, food safety, and technical support, maintaining the top spot in the national industry index.

As soon as it sensed the emerging trends in new consumption, Guangdong began to strategize and mobilize, marshalling the province’s resources to systematically advance the development of the prepared meal industry. This process can be divided into three phases:

Research Phase: Starting in 2020, Guangdong organized relevant enterprises to conduct field research on the pre-cooked meal industry in Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and other regions. That same year, it hosted the “Future Food” symposium to conduct in-depth studies.

Pilot Phase: In October 2021, during the 6th China Food Expo, Guangdong hosted the Central Kitchen (Pre-cooked Meals) Summit to explore and advance the pre-cooked meal industry; in November, it held the Provincial Pre-cooked Meal Industry Development Conference and released 18 key technological achievements in Guangdong’s pre-cooked meal sector.

Acceleration Phase: At the end of 2021, Guangdong launched the 2022 Guangdong Pre-cooked Meals Double Festival Marketing Campaign, followed three months later by a symposium on the high-quality development of the pre-cooked meals industry...

Driven by the provincial government, prefecture-level cities have also joined the effort: Foshan established a Pre-cooked Meal Industry Alliance, while Shantou expanded its modern agricultural industrial park... A cluster of pre-cooked meal enterprises has rapidly formed along the eastern coast, linking together a largely complete industrial chain.

To sustain this “hot development,” one must also learn to engage in “cool-headed thinking.” A major source of confidence in Guangdong’s firm resolve to develop ready-to-cook meals stems from the influence of Cantonese cuisine. Its long history and unique flavors have endowed local ready-to-cook meals with profound cultural significance rooted in Southern Guangdong.

Preserving the fresh, delicious taste is a major challenge when transforming Cantonese cuisine into ready-to-cook meals. Guangdong residents, who have always placed extremely high demands on freshness and flavor, have set even stricter requirements for the processing technologies used to develop high-quality, distinctive ready-to-cook meals.

From March to July of this year, Guangdong successively introduced regulations such as the “10 Measures for Pre-cooked Meals” and “5 Local Standards for Pre-cooked Meals.” Through provincial-level coordination, the province has established a comprehensive institutional framework and construction standards—spanning R&D platforms, industrial clusters, brand marketing, talent development, regulatory standards, and financial support.

In the "Guangdong Province Regulations on the Promotion of Cantonese Cuisine," issued at the end of July, Guangdong also emphasized the need to strengthen the cultivation of pre-cooked meal brands. At the same time, it incorporated talent development for the pre-cooked meal industry into the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" initiative, striving to transform the skills of Cantonese cuisine masters into refined craftsmanship and promote them globally.

The regulation further proposes increasing policy support for R&D in the prepared food industry, establishing research and technology transfer projects, promoting collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutions, encouraging enterprises to develop prepared foods based on local GI-certified agricultural products and other distinctive specialty products, supporting Cantonese culinary masters and star-rated “Cantonese Chefs” in participating in the development of prepared foods, and strengthening the coordinated development of traditional Cantonese dishes and prepared foods.

Perhaps the spirit of pioneering exploration is deeply ingrained in their DNA; Guangdong is both highly motivated and remarkably efficient when breaking new ground.

From building platforms to attracting talent, Guangdong—leading the pack—has not rushed for quick results. Instead, it has integrated experience into practice, setting an industry benchmark for China’s ready-to-cook meal sector.

The “discerning” people of Guangdong have shown everyone that when it comes to ready-to-cook meals, we must not only ensure they are delicious but also prepare them with care.

Well-prepared Shandong’s Zhucheng Seizes the Opportunity

Known as the “vegetable basket” of China, Shandong had 8,448 prepared meal enterprises by the end of 2021, accounting for 12.51% of all such enterprises nationwide and ranking first in the country.

On February 22, Shandong Province established the Pre-cooked Meal Industry Alliance in Zhucheng, officially entering the sector.

Zhucheng, a small city that may seem obscure at first glance, is actually a hidden powerhouse in the prepared meal industry.

As the birthplace of the integration of trade, industry, and agriculture, as well as agricultural industrialization, local enterprises in Zhucheng have been involved in the prepared meal sector for as long as 30 years.

If we define ready-to-cook meals broadly, Zhucheng Foreign Trade produced a ready-to-cook meal called "Bone and Meat Connected" as early as 1987; if we take a narrower definition, the company had already developed quick-cook dishes such as Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork and Kung Pao Chicken by 2014.

After three decades of ups and downs, Zhucheng has seized new opportunities with the rise of the ready-to-cook meal industry.

In terms of the foundation of the food processing industry, Zhucheng is home to 556 prepared meal manufacturers. The products they produce and develop span 40 major categories, over 400 subcategories, and more than 1,000 varieties. Among the dozen or so listed companies nationwide involved in the prepared meal sector, two are based in Zhucheng: Delisi and Huifa.

However, compared to other cities aspiring to become the “Pre-cooked Meal Capital,” Zhucheng lacks the geographical advantages of a coastal location or a position within an economic hub—it doesn’t even have high-speed rail access. So where does Zhucheng’s competitive edge lie?

Zhucheng lacks none of the four key development factors: raw materials, production and sales capacity, warehousing and logistics, and leading enterprises.

As previously mentioned regarding leading enterprises, in terms of raw materials, Zhucheng was designated a “Pilot County for High-Quality Development of Animal Husbandry” in 2021 and has been a major national exporter of live pigs for 16 consecutive years. Alongside broiler chicken production, these two sectors are recognized as the hallmarks of the local livestock industry.

In terms of production and sales, Zhucheng is home to a vast number of food machinery processing and trading enterprises. There are over 600 companies engaged in core production, covering the vast majority of categories such as tumbling and slicing. The city also places great emphasis on technical cooperation and R&D, with key product categories accounting for over 80% of the national market share.

Warehousing and logistics represent Zhucheng’s standout strengths. Every food processing enterprise in the city has established its own technologically advanced smart warehouse. Furthermore, excluding company-owned vehicles, the city boasts 13,000 cold-chain logistics vehicles in the commercial sector alone—more than sufficient to meet the transportation infrastructure needs of the prepared meal industry.

The barrier to entry for the prepared meal industry is not low; the most critical factor is alignment with local industrial resources.

No one can accurately predict the next big trend, but before it arrives, the only thing we can do is stay grounded and wait for the right moment with thorough preparation.

Will the market descend into chaos once regulations are relaxed? A blue ocean turning into a red ocean in the blink of an eye

As of 2022, there were over 72,000 enterprises whose names or business scopes included terms related to prepared meals, such as “frozen foods, prepared meals, pre-packaged foods, semi-finished foods, ready-to-eat foods, and pre-washed vegetables.”

In such a crowded market, disorderly competition often leads to “bad money driving out good,” thereby compressing product value and profit margins.

The blue ocean turns into a red ocean in the blink of an eye, bringing with it a series of doubts and issues—such as poor taste, lack of healthiness, and low corporate profitability.

Due to the distinct regional characteristics and flavor preferences inherent in prepared meals, coupled with technical and cost constraints such as cold-chain logistics, these products have a significantly limited consumer market radius.

Looking back at the production stage, central kitchens require extremely high wastewater treatment capacity and specific environmental conditions during operation, making them unsuitable for investment in all regions.

For the ready-to-cook meal industry to break through the current impasse, it must clearly define its positioning, establish industry standards, and intensify R&D efforts to highlight the company’s strengths within the supply chain, integrating these advantages into market development and operational strategies.

Just as Guangdong has established a comprehensive regulatory framework, and just as Zhucheng has systematically integrated local resources,

In today’s fast-paced era, ready-to-cook meals represent a choice driven by the pursuit of efficiency and convenience. However, expanding market acceptance and broadening consumer demand will require technological innovation and supply chain optimization to address the challenges of “taste” and “health.”