In recent years, pre-packaged meals have been circulating in the Chinese catering industry, with a poor reputation. Recently, internet celebrity entrepreneur Luo Yonghao posted a complaint about the well-known Chinese chain restaurant Xiabuxiabu being “all pre-packaged meals,” sparking a backlash from Xiabuxiabu, leading to a heated online exchange between the two parties. The topic quickly became a hot search trend, with more catering companies being called out, and the three major Chinese state media outlets stepping in to make statements. Analysts believe that the frequent food safety issues under the Chinese Communist Party’s governance are the responsibility of the authorities, and the current online battle targeting enterprises is suspected of diverting the focus of social contradictions.
On September 15th, at least five news pieces related to the well-known chain restaurant Xiabuxiabu were trending on Weibo, with “Xiabuxiabu apologizes” ranking at the forefront.
Many other chain stores have also been questioned for using pre-packaged meals, with hashtags like #WhyIsNoOneEatingAtTaiErSauerkrautFish# trending on September 15th.
On September 14th, an article titled “The Scam of ‘Soup’ on the Table: How Well-Known Catering Brands such as Xiabuxiabu, Yoshinoya, Stubborn Head, and Micun Harvest Your Wallet with Powder Packaged Soup Ingredients” by Caitong Social Current Affairs Prism was published, putting several renowned dining establishments in the spotlight.
The controversy started when Luo Yonghao posted on Weibo on September 10th, saying, “It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at Xiabuxiabu. Today, after getting off the plane, I had a meal with my colleagues and found that almost everything was pre-packaged meals, and still so expensive, it’s really disgusting.” He urged authorities to mandate restaurants to disclose whether they use pre-packaged meals.
At 53 years old, Luo Yonghao previously founded Smartisan Technology to manufacture smartphones, accumulating a huge debt of 824 million yuan, later transitioning to live-streaming e-commerce. Xiabuxiabu, originating from Inner Mongolia, was founded in 1988 and currently operates nearly 400 branches across China.
In response to Luo Yonghao’s post, Xiabuxiabu’s chairman Jia Guolong held a press conference on September 11th at the Beijing Zhongliang Xiangyun Xiaozhen store where Luo Yonghao dined, stating that out of the 13 dishes ordered by Luo Yonghao and others, none were pre-packaged. Jia Guolong also threatened to sue Luo Yonghao. Xiabuxiabu announced that starting from September 12th, all their outlets nationwide would open their kitchens to the public, allowing consumers to view the preparation process of any dish. They also published the detailed preparation process of the “13 dishes ordered by Luo” online.
Media outlets from various regions subsequently visited local Xiabuxiabu stores for interviews, uncovering additional issues. For example, a head chef confirmed that some dishes were leftovers; broccoli from children’s meals had a shelf life of two years; and a leg of lamb was produced in September of the previous year, with a shelf life of three more days, and so on. Luo Yonghao then announced a reward of 100,000 yuan to gather “evidence” of Xiabuxiabu using pre-packaged meals.
Xiabuxiabu’s chairman Jia Guolong repeatedly emphasized the distinction between pre-processing and pre-packaged meals, noting that pre-processing involves advanced processing, while pre-packaged meals are finished products.
In March of last year, the Chinese state market supervision administration issued a notice, defining pre-packaged meals as pre-packaged dishes that undergo industrial pre-processing and can only be consumed after heating or cooking. Dishes produced in central kitchens are not classified as pre-packaged meals. “The Paper” cited official experts stating that meals distributed from central kitchens are not considered pre-packaged meals, highlighting a significant gap between this definition and the common public perception that pre-packaged meals refer to packaged and pre-processed food, making it difficult for the public to accept.
The Xiabuxiabu-related discussions have dominated Weibo hot searches in recent days. After opening their kitchens for just two days, Xiabuxiabu announced on the internal platform on the 14th that store kitchen tours would be temporarily suspended.
On September 12th, Jia Guolong mentioned in a media interview that the damage to Xiabuxiabu was evident. Their revenue had directly decreased, with a daily loss of 1 million yuan on September 10th and 11th, and an expected daily loss of 2 to 3 million yuan from September 12th onwards.
On the evening of September 13th, Luo Yonghao posted on Weibo stating that the Xiabuxiabu matter could come to a close.
Red Star News reported on September 14th that screenshots of Xiabuxiabu founder Jia Guolong’s statement in a certain industry group had been leaked. Jia Guolong expressed, “I handled things in the wrong way, and I’ll change. The cooks revolve around the eaters. What can we do to make it better?”
However, the three major Chinese Communist Party media outlets, People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and CCTV News, intervened successively. People’s Daily published a commentary on September 14th claiming that the pre-packaged meals issue “is about consumers’ right to know, not just about a particular company but also about the healthy development of the industry,” and so on.
For a long time, due to the Chinese authorities’ inaction, China has experienced frequent food safety incidents, such as toxic food, tainted milk powder, and recycled cooking oil. In recent years, the authorities have been promoting pre-packaged meals, which suddenly became an investment hotspot from 2021. In February 2023, pre-packaged meals appeared for the first time in a document issued by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee. The officials also pushed for pre-packaged meals in schools, facing strong public opposition. Parents in many areas were concerned about the preservatives in pre-packaged meals harming students’ health, leading to the “Bring Your Own Lunch” trend.
Despite the delayed introduction of official national standards for pre-packaged meal food safety by the Chinese authorities, the pre-packaged meal industry has rapidly expanded with policy support from the Chinese government. According to the “2024-2025 China Pre-packaged Meal Industry Development Blue Book” published by iMedia Consulting, the mainland China pre-packaged meal market reached 485 billion yuan in 2024, a 33.8% year-on-year growth.
On overseas platforms, many netizens question the sudden expansion of the pre-packaged meal industry, suspecting that behind it are the red privileged elite ( video ). Netizens state, “The pre-packaged meal market is too lucrative, and the elites won’t overlook such significant economic benefits. There is no reason for the sickle not to harvest the crops when they have the power; they will do it.”
Current affairs commentator Li Lin told Epoch Times that China’s food safety issues, known to all, are the result of the long-standing inadequate supervision and corruption by the Chinese authorities. In recent years, the authorities have vigorously promoted pre-packaged meals, but without effective safety standards, and even if there were standards, they were not properly implemented or turned into a tool for punishment.
Li Lin said that China’s internet is strictly controlled by the authorities, and the emergence of such sensational topics often involves deliberate arrangements by the Chinese Communist Party to divert the focus of current political, economic, and social contradictions. This time is likely no exception.