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A plate of heated marinated chicken wings triggered a storm of trust about pre-made dishes. Luo Yonghao's complaint actually set off a "back-kitchen revolution" in the catering industry.
Do you believe it? Broccoli in children's meals have a shelf life of up to two years, marinated chicken wings can be stored for several months, and lamb chops can be eaten overnight! These findings instantly ignited public doubts about the safety of pre-made dishes.
Recently, Luo Yonghao complained on social media that a well-known catering company "all pre-made dishes" and pushed the topic of pre-made dishes back to the forefront. The two sides confronted each other across the air, and public opinion continued to ferment, which attracted widespread attention from the whole society on the transparency of the catering industry.
The cause of the incident, Internet celebrities bombarded the catering giant
According to recent reports from China Blue News, the controversy began with Luo Yonghao's sharp criticism of a well-known catering company on social media. He not only bluntly stated that the company is "all pre-made dishes", but also solicited evidence from netizens, and even promised: "If there is real evidence such as videos and legally acceptable, a reward of 100,000 yuan will be rewarded."
This move undoubtedly adds another fire to the already boiling public opinion field, causing the incident to heat up rapidly and become a hot topic of concern to the whole people.
As the incident continued to ferment, the founder of the catering company responded quickly, saying: "According to national regulations, we do not have a dish that is pre-made." This statement not only did not calm the controversy, but instead pushed the definition of pre-made dishes to the spotlight.
The definition is fuzzy, and pre-made dishes fall into Rashomon
Why do the head of a catering company dare to claim so confidently that he did not use pre-made dishes? The reason lies in the ambiguity of the current definition of pre-made dishes.
According to relevant national regulations, catering companies with central kitchens, the ingredients they uniformly distributed are not divided into pre-made dishes. This creates a gray area - what is a central kitchen? It is actually a centralized operation center for catering brands, responsible for unified procurement, cleaning, processing and distribution to various stores.
In actual operation, the boundaries of pre-made dishes are quite blurry. Are cut vegetables and pickled meat considered pre-made dishes? Is the semi-finished products delivered by the central kitchen simple processing at the store? Is it considered pre-made dishes? None of these questions is clear at this time.
This unclear definition directly makes it difficult for consumers to determine whether they are pre-made dishes when ordering in a restaurant. Although some restaurants use pre-made dishes, they claim to be made freshly and are often difficult for consumers to detect.
Netizens support, behind it is consumption awakening
In this debate, most netizens chose to stand on Luo Yonghao's side. What kind of consumer psychology is reflected behind this one-sided support?
Some netizens put forward a novel view-"the right to set topics". Whoever asks the question first will put himself in a favorable position. Luo Yonghao not only sent the pre-made dishes to the "oil pan" again, but also caused catering companies to fall into a cycle of self-provement of innocence.
More importantly, he hit the consumers' unwillingness: spending the price of freshly fried dishes, eating "overnight" heated dishes without knowing it. The feeling of being deceived naturally makes people's views on pre-made dishes become more and more negative.
On the surface, it seems to be a dispute between two people, but in fact it exposes the public's distrust of the natural pre-made dishes and the anxiety about information opacity, as well as the separation between brand narrative and consumer perception.
Consumer demands are not only pre-made dishes
In this discussion of pre-made dishes, consumers' core demands can actually be attributed to several points:
First of all, what they opposed was not the pre-made dishes themselves, but the "price of pre-made dishes but selling freshly fried dishes"; it was clearly pre-made dishes, but claimed to be freshly fried dishes.
Before this, although some catering brands had brand premiums, consumers purchased experience, trust and emotional recognition. However, the pre-made dish storm has shaken this foundation.
For consumers, the core demands of eating in a restaurant are always: whether this dish is delicious, safe or not, and whether the price is reasonable. If the answer is yes, then it may not be that important whether it has been standardized in the central kitchen or improvised by the chef.
Industry reflection, where to go
The pre-made dishes controversy actually reflects the inevitable pain in the process of standardization and scale development of China's catering industry. With the expansion of chain catering companies, central kitchens and unified distribution have become necessary means to ensure consistency of quality.
However, insufficient industry transparency has become the biggest problem. Consumers have the right to know the true situation of the goods and services they purchase, including the process of food processing.
Some industry insiders said that pre-made dishes themselves have no original sin. In developed countries such as Japan, the pre-made vegetable industry has been quite mature and perfect. The question is not whether to use pre-made dishes, but whether to tell consumers truthfully and whether the prices are reasonable.
In fact, the rational use of pre-made dishes can help catering companies stabilize the quality of dishes, improve meal delivery efficiency, and reduce food waste. But none of these advantages can be a reason to deceive consumers.
Consumer rights, the right to know is the key
In this debate, the most core issue is consumers' right to know and right to choose.
The Consumer Rights Protection Law clearly stipulates that consumers have the right to know the true situation of the goods they purchase, use or the services they receive. This means that catering companies are obliged to inform consumers of the actual production process of food.
However, the industry currently lacks unified annotation standards. Which dishes are made freshly, which are pre-made, and which are semi-prefabricated should be clearly marked and distinguished so that consumers can make choices based on their preferences.
At the same time, the price should reflect the cost. The cost of pre-made dishes is usually lower than that of freshly prepared dishes, so the price should also be reduced accordingly, or at least explicitly inform consumers to choose whether they are willing to pay a premium for convenience.
Azhe sharply commented: This debate is on the surface about pre-made dishes, but in fact it is a game between consumers' right to know and industry transparency. We don’t have to blindly deny the existence value of pre-made dishes - it represents the inevitable trend of catering industrialization. But integrity is the foundation of the catering industry, and letting consumers clearly understand that consumption is the most basic responsibility of catering companies. Instead of being anxious to clear it up, it is better to be honest and return the right to choose to consumers.
When dining out, you might as well ask more questions; when choosing a restaurant, you should pay more attention to integrity. A healthy life starts with consumption clearly!
