Pre-prepared meal kits have been a COVID hit with consumers but pitfalls remain

HONG KONG -- Six months ago David Chang thought he was on to a surefire moneymaking opportunity: China's booming trade in pre-prepared food. Now, he's lost his appetite for the business.

Chang quit his job and signed up as a franchisee for A-Bite, a company selling frozen dishes such as sweet and sour pork tenderloin, and Kung Pao chicken. He says A-Bite -- founded by Charles Lu, the former chairman of fraud-hit Luckin Coffee, which was once a rival to Starbucks -- told him that for a one-off franchise fee of 30,000 yuan ($4,300), plus an annual management fee of 20,000 yuan, he could get a gross margin of 50% by selling meal kits to consumers who would be bombarded with advertisements paid for by A-Bite.

Discover the all new Nikkei Asia app

Nikkei Asian Review, now known as Nikkei Asia, will be the voice of the Asian Century.

By continuing to browse this website, you accept cookies which are used for several reasons such as personalizing content/ads and analyzing how this website is used. Please review our Cookie Policy to learn how you can update your cookie settings.