Recently, there have been incidents of tainted shrimp and egg stir-fry in school lunches in Shanghai, sparking widespread attention from parents and society. The implicated supplier, Shanghai Green Express Industrial Development Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Shanghai Green Express”), won 27 projects in a short month, providing services to over 500 schools. This lunch contamination scandal not only revealed safety hazards in school food but also raised suspicions about the capital behind the supplier and the bidding process.
According to a report from China Youth Daily, parents of a primary school in Putuo District revealed that on September 15th, the school lunch was urgently replaced with bread and drinks because the “shrimp and egg stir-fry had a foul smell.” A parent in Xuhui District also confirmed that their child complained about the shrimp in the lunch smelling bad, and the school later distributed bread as compensation.
Facing media inquiries, the implicated supplier Shanghai Green Express maintained a tough stance. Time Weekly tried contacting the company multiple times, but no one answered. On September 18th, a reporter from the publication managed to reach Ge Junfeng, the legal representative of Green Express, who immediately hung up upon learning the reporter’s identity. 21st Century Economic News attempted to contact the Shanghai Market Supervision Administration several times, but the phone line was always busy, making it difficult for the public to get updates on the incident.
Negative reviews about Shanghai Green Express have a long history. Following the tainted shrimp incident, complaints about Green Express’ food on social media surged, with parents generally expressing concerns about “too much fried food,” “poor taste of dishes,” and “students not getting enough to eat.”
However, these complaints seem to have had little effect on Green Express’ business expansion. According to Qichacha data, in August alone, Shanghai Green Express aggressively won 27 projects, providing cafeteria catering services to 70 primary and secondary schools in Shanghai. In a bidding process for a school affiliated with Shanghai Caoyang No.2 Middle School, Green Express stood out with the highest score of 85.80 and secured the project.
As of September 18th, Tianyancha data shows that Shanghai Green Express has won a total of 101 projects this year. In January 2024, Shanghai Observer reported that Green Express’ business covered over 500 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens in 16 districts of the city, serving over 500,000 meals a day, making it one of the largest nutrition meal suppliers in Shanghai.
Behind the substantial business scale of Green Express, there are numerous legal disputes. Tianyancha data reveals that as of September 18th, Green Express faced up to 39 public court notices, involving disputes such as “liability conflicts affecting service providers,” “labor contract disputes,” and “infringement of life, physical, and health rights.”
A sentence from a 2023 court ruling exposed the chaos in Green Express’ labor management. The ruling disclosed that Green Express had transferred a cleaner, who had worked for only seven days, to become a noodle maker. The next day, the cleaner was injured by an operating noodle pressing machine.
Qichacha shows that the company’s founder, Zhang Guohua, served as the general manager, but the current legal representative is Ge Junfeng. The current chairman of Green Express is Tao Xi, who previously worked as the financial director of COFCO Corporation and was the former president of New Hope Liuhe. Ge Junfeng himself is also a partner of Health Investment, a company under How-Sen Investment.
The investigation into this food safety incident ultimately led to a deeper level of capital network exposure. According to a report by Time Weekly, based on information from Tianyancha and the Hong Kong Companies Registry, the shareholders of Shanghai Green Express are Green Express Foods, Limited, with board members including Wang Hang, ALEX TIANLI ZHANG, and Chen Yunyi.
Confirming the details, Wang Hang is the Vice Chairman of the well-known Chinese enterprise New Hope Group and a founding partner of Health Investment. Chen Yunyi serves as the executive director of Health Investment. The official WeChat public account of Health Investment previously listed Green Express as one of its “investee companies.”
Moreover, among the partners of Beijing Health Investment Management Center (Limited Partnership), there are wholly-owned subsidiaries of New Hope Investment Group Co., Ltd. The ultimate beneficiary of New Hope Investment Group Co., Ltd. is the widely recognized entrepreneur, Liu Yonghao.
This hidden capital chain demonstrates that this seemingly ordinary school food supplier has close connections to top agricultural and food giants in China.