China’s Prepared Meals Market 2025 and How Coding and Labeling Technology Empowers Industry Upgrading
In recent years, China's prepared meals sector has surged at an annual growth rate exceeding 20%. According to the 2025 China Chinese Cuisine Industry White Paper, the market size reached 516.5 billion yuan in 2023, marking a 23.1% year-on-year increase, with projections to exceed 1.07 trillion yuan by 2026.
This explosive growth stems from pandemic-driven demand, consumer upgrades, and supply chain innovations. As 2025 approaches, the industry is transitioning from unregulated expansion to standardized competition, with food safety traceability and packaging coding and labeling technology becoming focal points in the industry's advancement.
Current Landscape of the Prepared Meals Industry
1. Market Scale and Growth Potential
Post-pandemic recovery spurred a rebound in enterprise registrations, with over 7,312 new ready meal companies registered nationwide by August 2024.
Despite this rapid growth, the market penetration of ready-to-eat meals in China remains at 10%-15%, far below Europe and the U.S. (over 50%), signaling vast untapped potential for the coming years.
2. Consumer Trends and Product Diversification
Demand for pre-prepared meals reflects dual priorities: convenience and premium quality.
During the 2025 Lunar New Year, sales of ready meal products exceeded 20 billion yuan, a 50%+ year-over-year increase. High-end meal kits saw record-breaking demand, with some luxury pre-prepared meals priced at 9,999 yuan, reflecting strong potential for premiumization in the sector.
3. Competitive Landscape and Strategic Moves
Traditional restaurant brands and new market entrants are aggressively expanding into the pre-prepared meals industry. Established brands like Guangzhou Restaurant and Quanjude have launched festive meal kits, while fresh food e-commerce platforms are rolling out ready-to-eat meals to meet changing consumer needs.
4. Industry Standards & Regulatory Policies
Chinese government regulations are tightening to ensure food safety and product quality. A March 2024 joint directive banned preservatives in prepared meals, while ongoing standardization efforts aim to bolster consumer trust and industry credibility.
Following the implementation of new regulations, more prepared food manufacturers will need to upgrade their coding and marking equipment. HPRT's thermal transfer overprinters and label printers are poised to support the industry's advancement.
The Value Proposition of Prepared Meals
1. Synergy with Freshly Prepared Dishes
Ready-to-eat meals complement—not replace—traditional cooking.
For instance, quick-service restaurants facing kitchen space constraints and rising labor costs are adopting a hybrid model—using ready-to-eat meals for labor-intensive dishes while keeping key menu items freshly prepared. This approach optimizes kitchen workflows, reduces reliance on skilled labor, and ensures consistent quality.
2. Cost Efficiency and Scalability
By streamlining ingredient procurement and prep work, ready meal integration boosts profitability.
For example, chain brand Meizhou Dongpo achieved a 10% higher table turnover rate and enhanced scalability through standardized processes.
For chain restaurants, pre-prepared meals offer additional benefits—lowering per-store operational costs, facilitating large-scale expansion, and improving standardization across multiple locations.
Future Trends in the Pre-Prepared Meals Industry
1. Health-Conscious Innovation
Rising incomes drive demand for organic, low-sodium, and nutrient-rich pre-prepared meals, positioning premium offerings as a key growth driver.
2. Cold Chain Logistics and Supply Chain Mastery
Pre-prepared meals require efficient cold chain logistics to maintain freshness. Advanced cold storage and distribution technologies are becoming a key competitive advantage in ensuring product quality and consistency.
3. Branding and Omnichannel Dominance
Players like Haidilao and Xiaomi Mijia are accelerating market penetration through integrated online-offline strategies, signaling a shift toward consolidation and brand loyalty.
Enhancing Industry Standards with Food Labeling & Coding Solutions
With the rapid growth of the prepared meals industry, traceability, standardization, and transparency in food packaging have become key industry priorities. To meet regulatory requirements and optimize supply chain management, food manufacturers must invest in high-efficiency coding and labeling solutions.
Advanced equipment like batch coding machines and industrial label printers ensure precise labeling and marking of production dates, batch codes, and QR traceability tags across packaging materials. These solutions support various packaging materials including plastic films, pouches, and laminated materials, paper, meeting the diverse needs of the market.
When selecting prepared meal processing solutions, food manufacturers and factories should simultaneously upgrade their marking and coding equipment to enhance regulatory compliance and market competitiveness.
As China's prepared meals industry enters its golden era, success hinges on mastering standardization, supply chain excellence, and brand differentiation. Leveraging cutting-edge batch coding machines and industrial label printers will be pivotal to meeting regulatory demands and securing consumer confidence.
Note: Some data in this article is sourced from the 2025 China Chinese Cuisine Industry White Paper (Essential Edition) [Nestle].
