For the first time at the national level, the scope of prefabricated dishes was defined, but the controversy about prefabricated dishes continued.
Recently, green tea restaurants, old aunts, old ducks and other stores have been exposed by the media to use prefabricated dishes, but they have not made it clear to consumers. The reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society contacted a number of involved stores in Hangzhou. The green tea restaurant said that it had removed the prefabricated dishes from the store. The old aunt responded that only some dishes used prefabricated dishes, but the old duck set did not respond.
Do catering enterprises use prefabricated dishes, and if they use prefabricated dishes, will they make it clear to consumers? () The relevant person in charge responded that the dishes in Guangzhou restaurant are all fresh and fried, and no prefabricated dishes are used; The person in charge of Guangzhou Lianxianglou Co., Ltd. said that the store did not use prefabricated dishes, so it did not make a corresponding express statement; A number of green tea stores in Guangzhou said that the company’s headquarters has carried out research work on the regulations related to prefabricated dishes recently introduced. If prefabricated dishes are used in the future, it will be made clear to customers and indicated on the menu.
Green tea restaurant, old uncle, old duck collection
I used prepared dishes, but said the menu would not be clear.
With the introduction of the new regulations, will catering enterprises clearly indicate the use of prefabricated dishes to consumers? According to Zhejiang Satellite TV, on March 21, the reporter followed the market supervision department to investigate the kitchen of the "old uncle" restaurant in Hangzhou. The staff of the three West Lake Plaza stores, namely, the old uncle, the green tea restaurant and the old duck restaurant, all said that the menu would not indicate the prepared dishes, and the restaurant would not take the initiative to tell customers whether the prepared dishes were used.
The above-mentioned names are all well-known catering enterprises.
Old uncle is a Chinese fast food brand, which was listed on the New Third Board on February 22 this year. By the first half of 2023, old uncle had 402 stores. In the first half of 2023, his revenue was 800 million yuan and his net profit was 45.0366 million yuan.
Green tea restaurant focuses on Chinese fusion dishes. From 2021 to 2022, it went public in Hong Kong for three times, but it ended in failure. By 2021, there were 236 green tea stores. In 2021, green tea revenue was 2.293 billion yuan and net profit was 114 million yuan.
The old duck collection is a new brand launched by grandma’s family in 2020, focusing on Hangzhou old duck pot. As of March 2 this year, there are 24 stores in the old duck collection, which are concentrated in Zhejiang Province.
On March 22nd, the staff of West Lake Plaza, a green tea restaurant, responded to the reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Agency that the prefabricated dishes had been removed from the shelves, and the staff said that they would give feedback to the company on how to make the prefabricated dishes clear to consumers, and the follow-up would be improved; On March 23, the staff of the old aunt’s West Lake Plaza store told the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society that only some dishes in the store were prefabricated dishes; On the same day, the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society called the old duck set West Lake Plaza store several times, but the phone could not be dialed.
Many catering enterprises in Guangzhou deny the use of prefabricated dishes.
Green tea Guangzhou store said that if prefabricated dishes are used, they will be marked.
How about the use of prepared dishes in catering enterprises in Guangzhou? If the dishes are prepared, will they be marked on the menu? The reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society visited many stores of green tea catering in Guangzhou.
The manager of Lefeng Square Store of Green Tea said that there are no dishes served directly by heating in the store, but the sauces or ingredients needed for some dishes will be prepared in advance. The person in charge of the store in Mayflower Square, a green tea restaurant, said that the store did not use prefabricated dishes. For the media exposure of the dish of green tea in Zhejiang store, the kitchen used prefabricated dishes. The person in charge said that his store did not have this dish. "There may be different dishes in different regions."
If pre-cooked dishes are used, will it be made clear to customers? The person in charge of several stores of green tea catering said that the company headquarters has carried out research work on the regulations related to prefabricated dishes recently introduced. If prefabricated dishes are used in the future, it will be clearly indicated to customers and indicated on the menu, and it will be improved according to the store’s own situation.
In addition, the relevant person in charge of Guangzhou Restaurant said in an interview with Nandu Bay Finance Agency that the dishes in Guangzhou Restaurant are all fresh and fried, and no prefabricated dishes are used; The person in charge of Guangzhou Lianxianglou Co., Ltd. said that the store did not use prefabricated dishes, so it did not make a corresponding express statement. As of press time, Cai Lan Hong Kong-style Dim Sum and Guangzhou Time-honored Investment Holding Co., Ltd. did not reply.
General administration of market supervision
Expect catering businesses to publicize the use of prefabricated dishes.
If catering enterprises use prefabricated dishes, do they have to make it clear to consumers?
On the evening of March 21st, the State Administration of Market Supervision, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Health and Wellness Commission jointly issued the Notice on Strengthening the Safety Supervision of Prepared Vegetables to Promote the High-quality Development of the Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Notice).
According to WeChat official account, the official of "City Talk", the person in charge of the relevant departments of the General Administration of Market Supervision said that promoting the use of prepared dishes in catering is an important measure to protect consumers’ right to know and choose, and to respond to social concerns. At present, consumers are generally concerned about the use of prefabricated dishes in catering, and expect catering businesses to publicize the use of prefabricated dishes.
After the release of the Notice of the six departments,
Pre-cooked dish concept stocks opened actively.
In the secondary market, the concept stocks of prefabricated vegetables were active at the opening, but they opened higher and went lower. According to the data, as of the close of March 22nd, the concept board of A-share pre-cooked dishes fell by 1.57% as a whole, of which () rose by 2.84%, and (), () and () followed, while (), (), Guangzhou Restaurant, () and New Hope fell, and () closed down by 4.66%.
It is worth noting that the pork concept stocks closed down by 2.5%, but () was the daily limit at the opening, and rose by 5.81% at the close of the day. (), () and other stocks fell.
observe
The development challenges of the prefabricated vegetable industry include
People are worried about adding preservatives to prefabricated vegetables.
Looking back on 2023, the development of the prefabricated vegetable industry was accompanied by controversy. In February 2023, "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Doing a Good Job in Promoting Rural Revitalization in 2023" was released, which clearly stated that "cultivating and developing prefabricated dishes."
Under the background of the country’s strong support for the prefabricated vegetable industry, some consumers are worried about the safety of prefabricated vegetables. In September last year, Nandu reported that on social platforms, many parents explicitly opposed the introduction of prepared dishes into the campus. Some parents would send meals to their children at noon, saying that "a prepared dish doesn’t want children to eat", and some parents wondered, what is a prepared dish?
In November of the same year, Ma Yun was introduced into the field of prefabricated vegetables after the storm of prefabricated vegetables entering the campus. Although Chen Wei, a former assistant of Ma Yun, denied the rumor, on the day of the news, the concept plate of A-share prefabricated vegetables ushered in a sharp rise, which proved that the prefabricated vegetable industry had attracted much attention in the capital market.
For this reason, on March 21, six departments issued the Notice. Among them, the person in charge of the relevant departments of the General Administration of Market Supervision pointed out that the challenges faced by the prefabricated vegetable industry include people’s worries about adding preservatives to prefabricated vegetables and inconsistent standards.
How to make consumers eat healthily and feel at ease? The person in charge said that it is more in line with consumers’ expectations to stipulate that no preservatives are added to prefabricated dishes. At the same time, it is necessary to promote the use of prefabricated dishes in catering to protect consumers’ right to know and choose.
Merchants need to answer truthfully.
Consumer inquiries about goods
Li Xiaoyi, head of the e-commerce legal department of Shanghai Landy (Guangzhou) Law Firm, told Nandu Bay Finance Society that whether restaurants should voluntarily disclose whether they use pre-cooked dishes is related to consumers’ right to know and choose.
Li Xiaoyi said that the provisions of the existing laws on consumers’ right to know and choose are mainly in the Consumer Protection Law and the Implementation Regulations. The provisions on the right to know in the Consumer Protection Law generally stipulate that consumers have the right to know the real situation of the goods they buy and use, and may require operators to provide information related to the service content. According to this article, it can be seen that the law is not detailed enough to stipulate whether merchants must disclose whether they use prepared dishes, but it requires merchants to truthfully answer consumers’ inquiries about the contents of goods or services. In other words, if the consumer explicitly asks whether the dishes made by the merchant are pre-cooked, the merchant needs to give a true and clear reply, otherwise it will be suspected of infringing on the consumer’s right to know, choice and even false propaganda.
Li Xiaoyi said that Article 9 of the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, which was recently promulgated but implemented on July 1, 2024, also made it clear that operators should provide consumers with real and comprehensive information about goods or services in an easy-to-understand way. More about whether the catering industry needs to disclose specific services, we should look back at the current industry standards or norms. "In this case, if consumers care about this issue, they can ask the merchants in advance before consumption, take the initiative to understand the dishes and make a choice."
Cheng Gang, Secretary-General of Guangdong Catering Service Industry Association, told Nandu Wancaishe that at present, this is not a mandatory requirement, and some catering enterprises are also confused about how to inform them. Next, the relevant state departments should also make specific explanations on this piece. "I think the Notice has its progress, but I think it is far from being mandatory now. Now we are in a transitional period and exploratory period, and we need to reach a consensus before we can have further requirements for enterprises at the legal level. "
The definition of prefabricated dishes still needs further popular science education.
The standard system of prefabricated vegetables should be further improved.
The Notice mentioned that "prepared dishes are also called prepared dishes". Cheng Gang said that this definition was first put forward by Guangdong, focusing on the word "dish". Prepared dishes are both a dish and a delicacy. The reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society noticed that in addition to the clear definition of prefabricated dishes, the Notice also excluded staple foods and dishes made by the central kitchen from the scope of prefabricated dishes by way of examples, such as quick-frozen noodle rice food, convenience food, box lunch, and mixed rice.
Cheng Gang said that the "Notice" puts more emphasis on the content of "what is not a prepared dish". According to the standard, what businesses are encouraged to express is actually the packaged prefabricated vegetables produced by SC factory, while the central kitchen processing of catering enterprises is actually called pre-processing. "SC factory and central kitchen are two different types of production units. The former can be simply understood as a food processing enterprise, which can be oriented to C-end, with retail channels and circulation, but the latter belongs to internal circulation without external channels, that is to say, the central kitchen can only be circulated to subordinate stores of catering enterprises. The central kitchen has two large branches, social catering and group catering. "
However, if the central kitchen uses prefabricated dishes, how should this be defined? If catering enterprises use prefabricated dishes and carry out secondary processing, is it still a prefabricated dish? Or maybe the prefabricated dishes just play the role of an auxiliary material. How should the corresponding dishes be classified? Regarding the above-mentioned problems, Cheng Gang said that the promulgation of the Notice is very timely, but it is also necessary to continue to optimize the definition of the prepared dish system, and then it should be further clarified.
"In the industry, the distribution of chain restaurants is actually in the form of internal circulation. In fact, this has existed for a long time and is the normal operation mode for catering enterprises to ensure food safety and the stability of production technology standards." Cheng Gang said that in his view, in fact, many catering enterprises do not use prefabricated dishes, but the popular science about the definition of prefabricated dishes is not well popularized, and merchants have no clear concept about it.
Cheng Gang said that the promulgation of the "Notice" is definitely beneficial to the long-term development of the pre-cooked dish industry, because it will exclude some enterprises that are not in the category of pre-cooked dishes. He believes that it is necessary to further carry out special research, formulate a more scientific and accurate standard system, and draw a reasonable line between prefabricated dishes and on-site cooking when such packaged foods at the C end are applied in catering.
Cheng Gang emphasized that the initial intention of developing the pre-cooked vegetable industry is to solve the problem of extending the space-time radius of agricultural products, extend their life cycle, expand their sales radius, and even help rural revitalization. "Before, parents were worried about the insecurity of prefabricated dishes, but we stressed that prefabricated dishes were produced in accordance with the food safety standards of the food industry for production enterprises, and the standards were higher than those of the catering industry, so I think prefabricated dishes are safer. For example, the incident of withholding meat from plum vegetables at the 3.15 party was actually the fault of some manufacturers, so we cannot deny the prefabricated vegetable industry. "
