"Pre-made food war" escalates! Luo Yonghao raises five sharp questions, Xibei urgently revises apology letter

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An open debate about pre-prepared dishes ignited by internet celebrity entrepreneur Luo Yonghao has simultaneously caused a stir in China's restaurant market and capital market.

The latest update is that on the afternoon of September 15, Xibei Catering Group issued an apology letter and promised that before October 1, 2025, several core products such as children's meals, roasted lamb skewers, and hand-shredded pepper chicken will be gradually adjusted from centralized kitchen pre-processing to on-site preparation at stores. The apology letter stated, just as Xibei's founder Jia Guolong promised to customers: "Meals should revolve around cooking for the customers, whatever customers say is best is what we’ll do. Even if the customer mistreats us a thousand times, we always treat the customer like a first love.”

Luo Yonghao quickly fired back, issuing five questions: “How did customers mistreat you? You labeled all your customers as an online mafia, so who is mistreating whom? What about the promise of absolutely no pre-prepared dishes? The tax difference of passing off pre-prepared dishes as non-prepared, do you want to disclose it to the public?”

The apology letter was soon retracted and reissued by Xibei, with the word “mistreat” in the phrase “the customer mistreats us a thousand times” placed in quotation marks.

On the same day, the A-share pre-prepared dish concept sector surged, with Delisi hitting an up limit, Sanjiang Shopping also hitting an up limit intraday, and other stocks such as Guolian Aquatic and Huifa Foods rising sharply. The ongoing fierce exchange between Luo Yonghao and Xibei founder Jia Guolong, as well as Luo's follow-up questions on social media after Xibei's apology, kept the issue in the spotlight.

The uproar began with a Weibo complaint by Luo Yonghao on September 10 and quickly escalated into a public discussion on standards and transparency for pre-prepared dishes across the entire restaurant industry. According to Jia Guolong, the controversy has directly led to a precipitous decline in Xibei’s customer traffic, with daily revenue losses reaching millions of yuan on some days.

From Weibo Complaint to Founder’s “Slip of the Tongue”

The incident began on September 10, when Luo Yonghao publicly accused Xibei Restaurant on social media of serving “almost all pre-prepared dishes, and so expensive,” calling it “disgusting.” The harsh criticism quickly went viral online. Xibei founder Jia Guolong immediately countered, insisting “Xibei doesn’t have a single pre-prepared dish,” and announced the opening of all store kitchens nationwide to prove his innocence, also stating he would sue Luo Yonghao to protect Xibei’s reputation.

Facing the threat of a lawsuit, Luo Yonghao declared readiness for a fight and offered a reward of 100,000 yuan for more evidence. This post trended on social media hot searches, bringing significant reputation risk to Xibei, which was already facing industry-wide revenue pressures.

The core of the controversy lies in the fundamental disagreement over the definition of “pre-prepared dishes.” Jia Guolong explained that only dishes fully cooked in the central kitchen, frozen, and then reheated at the stores count as pre-prepared dishes, while semi-processed ingredients (such as slicing or blanching) that are finished by stir-frying in the store are not considered pre-prepared. In contrast, Luo Yonghao and many consumers believe that as long as ingredients are pre-processed in the central kitchen, whether fully cooked or semi-finished, they should all be regarded as pre-prepared dishes.

The key turning point occurred on September 14. According to Red Star News, screenshots of Jia Guolong’s comments in an industry group leaked out, in which he on one hand admitted "the response was wrong," said he would "learn from Pang Donglai," but in the latter part called Luo Yonghao “an online blackmouth” and said he’d lead staff to “face off” against him.

These comments angered Luo Yonghao, who responded:

“He called me an online mafia, that’s terrible, how am I bad? ‘Even if the customer mistreats me a thousand times, I treat the customer as my first love,’ I am your customer, aren’t I? Why are you so nice to other first loves, but so mean to this one?”

Luo Yonghao stated: “Do you remember the 100,000 yuan reward for clues about pre-prepared dishes? The next day, they themselves said reporters could come, and national media did get footage. Who provided this information? It was their own company. In this case, I want to bring 100,000 yuan in cash in a kraft envelope and hand it personally to their company headquarters. Media interested in documenting this, please DM me.”

Soon after, in the early morning of September 15, he posted again, inviting Jia Guolong to a livestreamed face-to-face dialogue, saying this would help clarify facts and contribute to the healthy development of the pre-prepared dish industry.

At noon on September 15, Xibei issued an apology letter. Xibei said that to meet the needs of customers and provide a better experience, it would try to move as much of the centralized kitchen pre-processing work as possible to on-site store preparation. By October 1, 2025, all Xibei stores nationwide will complete the following adjustments:

1. All Xibei dishes cooked with soybean oil will switch to non-GMO soybean oil.

2. The beef sauce for the children’s meal "Eat Up Beef Rice" will be stir-fried fresh in stores.

3. The beef patty in the children’s meal will be made fresh in stores.

4. The children’s cod sticks will be made with freshly cut large yellow croaker, fried and roasted in stores.

5. Roasted lamb skewers will be cut, skewered, and roasted fresh in the store.

6. The semi-finished pork ribs in the pork ribs sauerkraut dish will be switched to raw ribs, stir-fried fresh in stores.

7. The meat in the crispy meat bun will be switched to raw meat, stewed fresh in stores.

8. Hand-shredded pepper chicken will be made with raw chicken, boiled fresh in stores.

9. The pumpkin puree in the oat and millet porridge will be replaced with porridge cooked in-store with fresh pumpkin slices added.

It's noteworthy that the apology letter was retracted and re-released soon after, with the word “mistreat” in “customers mistreat me a thousand times” now in quotation marks.

Even with the quotation marks, netizens still found the phrasing hard to accept or understand.

Luo Yonghao also responded to the previous apology: What did customers mistreat you about? You labeled customers as an online mafia—so who’s mistreating whom? What about the false claim of “absolutely no pre-prepared dishes”? What about the tax difference for disguising pre-prepared dishes, why not talk openly to the public about it?

Just earlier, Luo Yonghao posted on Weibo: The boss of Huayu Hua has already apologized to me, we can move past this, since it was just a side episode. The serious topic is still about why restaurants must guarantee consumers’ right to know when using pre-prepared dishes.

The Controversy Has Impacted Business, Daily Revenue Down Millions

This intense public opinion war has had a real effect on Xibei’s daily business.

According to confirmation by 21st Century Business Herald reporters, Jia Guolong revealed internally that on September 10 and 11, daily revenue at Xibei’s stores across China declined by 1 million yuan each day, and the loss for September 12 might reach 2–3 million yuan.

The report added that customer flow at Xibei has continued to be under pressure these past two days. The restaurant industry has already been facing challenges in recent years; according to media reports, as of May 2025, Xibei’s revenue had already entered a decline phase.

What Exactly Is a “Pre-prepared Dish”?

Regarding issues relating to pre-prepared dishes, People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and CCTV News have all voiced their positions.

On September 14, People’s Daily Weibo posted a comment saying that this issue has triggered national attention, not just because it concerns daily dining, but also the consumer’s right to know; not just about one company, but about the healthy development of the industry. Among the heated discussions, instead of taking sides, it’s better to take the right stand: reach consensus amid disputes, seek governance strategy in hot debates. How to more clearly define pre-prepared dish standards? How to reduce information asymmetry? How to maintain food quality while providing convenient service? The three questions in the pre-prepared dish debate are worthy of reflection.

On September 14, CCTV News also published an article stating that regulatory agencies had in fact issued notices last year, clearly defining pre-prepared dishes, which foods are not considered pre-prepared, etc.

According to a notice jointly released in March 2024 by six bodies including the State Administration for Market Regulation, China officially defined "pre-prepared dishes" for the first time: Pre-prepared dishes (also called pre-prepared cuisines) are processed from one or more edible agricultural products and their products as raw materials, using or not using seasonings and other ingredients, no preservatives, processed industrially in advance (e.g., mixing, marinating, tumbling, shaping, stir-frying, deep-frying, roasting, boiling, steaming, etc.), with or without a seasoning packet, and meeting storage, transportation, and sales requirements as indicated on the product label. These are pre-packaged dishes that need to be heated or cooked before consumption.

This definition clarifies the industry’s boundaries by exclusion. The following products are NOT considered pre-prepared dishes:

Staple food products: Frozen rice and flour foods, instant foods, box meals, mantou (steamed buns), hamburgers, pizza, etc. are not considered pre-prepared dishes.Cleaned and ready-to-eat products: Cleaned, simply cut ingredients, or ready-to-eat dishes like salads and cold dishes are excluded.Central Kitchen Products: Semi-finished or finished dishes made and delivered by chain restaurants’ “central kitchens” to their own stores are not included as pre-prepared dishes; they must comply with relevant food safety regulations for the catering industry.

The definition emphasizes that pre-prepared dishes are to be “heated” or “cooked” before eating—

“Heated” means to bring food up to an edible temperature, i.e., a simple reheating for products already cooked in pre-processing.“Cooked” refers to fully cooking by frying, baking, roasting, boiling, steaming, etc.; products that were not thoroughly cooked in the pre-processing stage must be completed before eating.Ready-to-eat foods that require no heating or cooking (such as salads or directly edible cold dishes/fruits) don’t count as pre-prepared dishes.

From an industry scale perspective, a research report by Huaxin Securities pointed out that China’s pre-prepared dish industry is maintaining rapid growth, with revenue CAGR of 19% from 2019 to 2022, and projected to reach 475.7 billion yuan by 2025. Per capita consumption rose from 5.4kg in 2013 to 9.1kg in 2022, but the penetration rate of 10%–15% still lags far behind the 60% in mature overseas markets. Reviewing the development of ready meal industries in the US and Japan, China’s pre-prepared dish industry still has about 10 years of growth ahead. As competition stabilizes and leading companies consolidate, market concentration is expected to rise.

Risk warning and disclaimerThe market carries risks, investment must be cautious. This article does not constitute individual investment advice and does not take into account the special investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular user. Users should consider whether any views, opinions, or conclusions in this article suit their own circumstances. Making investment decisions on this basis is at your own risk. ```