Human diet has evolved from primitive cooking to the gradual formation of the catering industry, food industry, and fast food industry, that is, the food industry, which meets human dietary needs in the form of "handmade food", "industrial food", and "fast food".

There is a very close relationship between the catering industry, the food industry, and the fast food industry. Different industries provide people with different degrees of processing and different characteristics of food. Regardless of the type of food, its common feature is that it includes three elements: the selection of raw materials, the use of tools, facilities, and equipment, and the application of techniques and technologies, thereby causing, adjusting, and controlling the interrelationship between people and food; The different characteristics of food are differences in surface ingredients, processing tools, facilities, equipment, and techniques, as well as differences in essence creativity (artistic creation, scientific creation), and the application of knowledge (tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge), resulting in different characteristics of food. It is precisely because of this difference that people can meet different levels of dietary needs.

In addition to the three categories of "industrial food", "artisanal food", and "fast food", a new type of prefabricated dishes has emerged in recent years. Due to the diverse significance of the development of prefabricated dishes in science, economy, society, food safety, nutrition and health, and discipline construction, prefabricated dishes, as a new type of catering food, have received widespread attention from all sectors of society.

01

Basic Status Quo of the Development of Prefabricated Vegetable Industry

Prefabricated dishes first appeared in the United States in the mid 20th century, but appeared later in China. It has been only over 20 years since the emergence of the first batch of prefabricated vegetable processing enterprises in China. With the development of cold chain technology and the rise of takeout, prefabricated dishes have gained some development. Recently, the popularity of prefabricated dishes has surged, with an increase in industry participants, an expansion of consumer groups, and increased media attention. The government has also introduced corresponding policies to guide them. All these provide external conditions for the development of the prefabricated vegetable industry.

The development of the prefabricated vegetable industry has its endogenous impetus from the demand side. With the improvement of people's living standards, people's requirements for food have long been raised from the low level of "being full" to "eating well". Nowadays, they are even more pursuing "eating healthily" and "eating culturally", reflecting the healthy ownership and taste of fashion, that is, to meet the people's needs for a beautiful food life to the maximum extent. Prefabricated dishes, with their unique advantages, enable people to enjoy "delicious" food with balanced nutrition, convenient seasons, and complete colors, flavors, and flavors, thereby enriching people's dietary life and liberating them from family dietary work. Especially when the COVID-19 was not over, the dining room was restricted, and people's socialized demand for "food out" in the restaurant turned to prefabricated dishes. The consumer market of prefabricated dishes (Consumer means consumer, which is a product providing services for individual users, and the consumption of C-end is final consumption) grew stronger. On the other hand, B-end (Business refers to enterprises or businesses, and refers to service products provided to enterprises or businesses. For B-end consumption, it belongs to intermediate consumption), namely, some restaurants, restaurants, hotels, restaurants, and other catering enterprises, especially low and medium-sized restaurants, also have broad space for demand for prefabricated dishes. The introduction of prefabricated dishes in catering enterprises can reduce the labor time of chefs, reduce the requirements on their personal technical level, and greatly shorten the delivery time in takeout, greatly increasing the scale efficiency of catering enterprises in terms of time and space. It is also an important measure for their transformation and upgrading.

From the supply side, there is broad space for the development of the prefabricated vegetable industry. Nationwide, the prefabricated vegetable industry is developing in full swing under the macro guidance of the government, the participation of industry associations, and micro investment from enterprises. Not only is capital urgently entering, but catering enterprises and food processing enterprises are actively investing, and platforms such as alliances are competing to establish. Currently, there are over 70000 enterprises related to prefabricated vegetables that are still operating in China. Some institutions predict that the turnover of prefabricated vegetables in China will exceed 500 billion yuan in 2023. In the next few years, the C and B ends of prefabricated dishes will develop simultaneously, and the market for prefabricated dishes will accelerate development.

The development of the prefabricated vegetable industry requires greater government guidance from a policy perspective. In March 2022, the General Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province issued a notice on "Ten Measures to Accelerate the High Quality Development of the Prefabricated Vegetable Industry in Guangdong" (hereinafter referred to as "Ten Measures"), proposing a series of innovative highlights. In April 2022, the Weifang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government Office of Shandong Province issued the "Three Year Action Plan for the High Quality Development of the Prefabricated Vegetable Industry in Weifang City (2022-2024)", which is the first strong action guide to be launched in prefecture-level cities after the introduction of the "Ten Measures" in Guangdong Province. In June 2022, Hunan Province issued the "Several Measures to Further Promote the Sustainable Recovery of Consumption", and the consumption of prefabricated vegetables was first listed as the number one document of the provincial government. After the release of the document, Guangdong, Shandong, Hunan, and even the whole country have once again set off a boom in the development of prefabricated dishes, marking the transition from market driven development to government intervention, macro guidance, and micro promotion. The introduction of policies will play a positive guiding role in the organized and systematic development of the prefabricated vegetable industry. All localities have increased their research and development efforts in prefabricated dishes, built key laboratories for prefabricated dish research and development, engineering technology research and development centers, and prefabricated dish entire industry chain research and development platforms, and accelerated the transformation of prefabricated dish achievements to expand the scale of industrialization.

While developing prefabricated dishes, we should also see the problems existing in the development process of prefabricated dishes. In terms of product design and production: the product is relatively simple, the process is relatively simple, and the degree of automation is low; In terms of warehousing and logistics, the production base is single and downstream customers are scattered; In terms of food safety: production is not standardized, dishes are high in salt and fat, packaging materials are unsafe, and hygiene is not up to standard; On the consumer side, consumers' recognition and acceptance of prefabricated dishes are not high, and they even raise questions about the taste and hygiene of prefabricated dishes. There are difficulties and differences in taste restoration, making it difficult for consumers to choose when facing a wide range of dishes; In terms of operation and management, the relevant industry standards for the prefabricated vegetable industry are also incomplete, lacking not only national unified standards, but also corresponding evaluation standards and market supervision standards. The applicable norms and standards are chaotic, and regulatory issues need to be addressed urgently. In short, the prefabricated food industry is at the initial stage of development, where there are categories without brands, and there is a lack of true super brands. Therefore, deepening theoretical research is particularly necessary.

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02

Scientific Interpretation of Prefabricated Dishes

The development of an industry cannot be separated from theoretical guidance. Scientific interpretation of the connotation of prefabricated dishes is the foundation of theoretical research on prefabricated dishes, as well as the foundation of its industrial development.

01

The Concept of Prefabricated Dishes: A Word Based Interpretation

Here we use the method of comparative research to draw conclusions. In the "Modern Chinese Dictionary" (6th Edition), there is no entry for "prefabricated dishes", nor are there related words such as "finished dishes" or "semi-finished dishes", indicating that it is a new thing. Not only is there no pre made food entry, but there is also no "pre made" entry. Here we distinguish and analyze from "pre preparation", "preparation", and "dishes". "Pre" is defined as "in advance". "System": defined as manufacturing. "Cuisine": It is defined as the general name of vegetable plants and dishes.

After consulting the Oxford Dictionary, through understanding the meaning of English words and comparative examples, the corresponding word for "pre made" is "pre made", which is interpreted as "prepared or created in advance", and "pre made food" is "pre made food". At the same time, referring to relevant articles and reports, there are also the words "ready made food" corresponding to "finished food" and the words "semi finished food" corresponding to "semi-finished food", both of which have a high usage rate. In countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, prefabricated dishes are not only common in supermarkets, but also sold in specialized areas labeled "ready meals" or "prepared food/meal", and many websites provide reservation and delivery services.

It should be noted that it is inappropriate for online articles to translate the word "prefabricated" of "prefabricated dishes" into "prefabricated". "Because the English meaning of the word 'prefabricated' is: (of a building or piece of furniture) manufactured in sections to enable assembly on site, it is often used to describe buildings or furniture, indicating that it is manufactured in sections to facilitate on-site assembly, and does not accurately correspond to the advance production of dishes.". Here, we hope to attract the attention of subsequent researchers.

Based on the interpretation of words, the basic meaning of the concept of prefabricated dishes can be summarized as: "pre made dishes.".

02

Categories of prefabricated dishes: broad and narrow senses

The first is to see its broad and narrow meanings from the concept of "prefabricated dishes". During the development of prefabricated dishes, some practitioners and experts have understood the concept of prefabricated dishes as "prefabricated dishes", which is at least due to the different perspectives on the understanding of dishes. Studying the authoritative Chinese dictionary, as mentioned earlier, "dish" is interpreted here as the general term for dishes. In the social catering industry, the types of work include cooking - the production of dishes (commonly known as red table), and pastry - the production of staple foods (commonly known as white table). The four major cuisines and eight major cuisines that we often refer to in Chinese cuisine include dishes and pastries, which should be understood as "broad sense dishes". If they are determined as dishes, we consider them to be "narrow sense dishes". Based on this, prefabricated dishes should also include "broad sense prefabricated dishes" including dishes and pastries, as well as "narrow sense prefabricated dishes", which specifically refer to prefabricated dishes of dishes.

The second is to distinguish between the broad and narrow senses of prefabricated vegetable processing methods. In a broad sense, prefabricated dishes include those mainly operated by hand in the kitchen and mainly produced by mechanization and large-scale production in the factory; If only limited to factory production, it is a narrow sense of prefabricated vegetables. For example, Guangdong "potted vegetables" can be processed in hotels or produced in factories, so they are broadly defined as prefabricated dishes.

The third is from the perspective of the circulation temperature of prefabricated vegetables after processing, in a broad and narrow sense. The broad sense of prefabricated dishes includes prefabricated dishes that are circulated at room temperature and stored at low temperatures and circulated to consumers; If only limited to low-temperature storage and circulation, it is a narrow sense of prefabricated vegetables. Taking Guangdong "potted vegetable" as an example, it can be circulated at normal temperature after processing or at low temperature after processing; The same is true for the processing, circulation, and consumption processes of Guangdong morning tea noodles.

To sum up, it can be concluded that prefabricated dishes are dishes and pastries that are prepared in the kitchen or factory through processes such as cutting, heating, and seasoning of raw materials, presented in the form of finished or semi-finished products, stored and circulated to consumers at room temperature or low temperature, and can be consumed after simple heating or cooking.

03 The boundary between prefabricated dishes and restaurants (family)

Human beings have been processing food by hand until modern times, with restaurants and families processing "meals". This type of cooking and processing food is defined as "handmade food", characterized by the use of tacit knowledge, which focuses on artistic creation (see the figure on the right). In addition to the "eating" or "belly" of biological people, there are also aesthetic activities of social people such as "health preservation, greediness, enjoyment, and even art" in daily life. While creating delicious food, people have also constructed a psychological structure of food aesthetics. For Chinese people, the "meals" that people eat three times a day are prepared and mainly hot. "Those who are palatable are rare." This kind of food is most in line with people's aesthetic eating habits. The dishes and pastries produced by catering enterprises such as hotels are the same as the "dishes and meals" cooked at home, and are the final stage of food consumption, namely, terminal food. From the perspective of dietary aesthetics, the subject of dietary aesthetics can best achieve physiological to psychological satisfaction in the enjoyment of the object of "food".

From the perspective of food properties, prefabricated dishes are different from foods, such as biscuits, candy, and other pasta foods, instant foods, and frozen foods. Some can be eaten directly, but due to different processing methods and depths, and different distances from end foods, they cannot be used as food for Chinese people to eat three times a day. Prefabricated dishes are the closest to end foods, and they are the "front ingredients" of "meals.". During processing, seasoning is carried out according to people's dietary aesthetic habits, in line with people's substantive aesthetic (nutritional hygiene) and sensory aesthetic (taste, touch, smell, color, and shape) of "three meals a day"; When eating, simply heating or cooking can easily meet the needs of the aesthetic subject of diet. The above is a major feature of prefabricated dishes and an important foundation for their survival and development.

04The boundary between prefabricated dishes and "semi-finished dishes"

With the progress of society, the socialization of diet has been put on the agenda, characterized by two indicators: the cost of dining outside the home and the proportion of finished and semi-finished foods consumed daily. People can free themselves from the heavy housework of making meals and enrich their personal lives through learning, culture, entertainment, etc. This is also the direction of the development of the catering industry. In the 1990s, during the research on "the current situation and development trend of China's catering industry", the concept of "finished dishes" and "semi-finished dishes" was proposed. According to the object, it can be divided into "providing semi-finished products or finished products for some restaurants, restaurants, hotels, restaurants, etc., reducing the simple labor time of highly skilled cooks." In the current context, it refers to the B-end consumption of prefabricated dishes; "Providing semi-finished or finished products to ordinary families, and heating them slightly (such as microwave heating) or simply cooking them (such as cutting and mixing some auxiliary materials, heating treatment) can be consumed." In the current context, it refers to the C-end consumption of prefabricated dishes. It can be seen that the "finished dishes" and "semi finished dishes" at that time were the current "prefabricated dishes".

05 The boundary between prefabricated dishes and "industrial food"

Human beings have been processing food by hand until modern times. In modern times (early 19th century), there was a combination of large-scale industrial production methods and food processing methods, resulting in revolutionary changes in the original food processing, gradually deriving a new industry from cooking and processing - the food industry. This kind of food produced by mechanization (semi mechanization) and automation (semi automation), which we call "industrial food", is characterized by the use of explicit knowledge based on scientific creation. These operations are performed by machines under the guidance of strict production process parameters, which is significantly different from "handmade food" - meals.

The emergence of "industrial food" not only enriches the variety of food, but also facilitates the storage of certain food ingredients (especially seasonal ingredients) in the form of food. The types of "industrial food" can be classified in various ways. We classify "industrial food" into different levels based on its processing depth and proximity to terminal meals. Primary food refers to the processing of agricultural products, such as rice milling, oil extraction, and slaughter, which provide raw materials for people's diet; Intermediate food refers to the processing of primary foods, such as baked goods, canned meat, brewed food, and canned food. Some of these foods can be directly consumed by people, and some provide raw materials for diet, but these foods cannot be used as long-term food; Medium to high grade foods are more closely related to people's aesthetic eating habits, such as frozen dumplings, instant noodles, and instant rice. These foods are mostly categorized as "staple foods" in convenience foods, and can be consumed with a little conditioning before consumption. With the development of the times and the improvement of people's living standards, prefabricated dishes in the form of "dishes", which are close to terminal food, have emerged. They belong to the advanced category of "industrial food", and are made in factories. That is, the processing methods and product characteristics combine the advantages of "industrial food" and "handmade food".

06

The boundary between prefabricated dishes and modern fast food

The Outline of the Development of China's Fast Food Industry defines fast food as follows: "Fast food" is a popular catering service that provides consumers with basic daily living needs, with the following characteristics: rapid production and sales, convenient consumption, quality standards, balanced nutrition, simple service, and low prices. Specifically, fast food refers to instant edible food distributed by commercial institutions (fast food restaurants or large group feeding institutions). The main characteristic of such institutions' operation is to provide direct consumption of terminal food with little or no waiting time between ordering and serving. Therefore, modern fast food is a commodity that combines the dual value of food and catering services. "Prefabricated dishes cannot be" eaten immediately "and do not provide food services. This is the essential boundary between modern fast food and prefabricated dishes.". Prefabricated dishes and modern fast food have something in common, both of which shift the "manual operation based cooking process" of dishes to "mechanical processing based cooking process", thereby making manual operation more scientific and realizing the organic combination of artistic creation, tacit knowledge, scientific creation, and explicit knowledge.

03

Conclusion

In the big family of food, the concept of prefabricated dishes is still new. In a broad sense, prefabricated dishes are non terminal dishes that are processed manually or mechanically in advance; In a narrow sense, prefabricated dishes are non terminal dishes that are produced mechanically in advance. The latter is characterized by standardization, industrialization (factory), automation, continuity, intelligence, digitization, scale, and the combination of packaging, refrigeration (cold storage) and other technologies, showing strong vitality. It belongs to the category of advanced industrial food, is generally designated as prefabricated dishes, and is also the focus of the current development of the prefabricated dishes industry. As a new thing, it still needs a long time to show its enormous influence through continuous interaction with the larger environment. The development of the prefabricated vegetable industry will ultimately promote the "kitchen revolution" and "table revolution". This requires building an internal theoretical system and practical foundation based on its own food attributes as soon as possible, and streamlining the external upstream and downstream relationships. I believe that as a new "pole" in the food industry, prefabricated dishes will play an important role in promoting the development of the food industry and satisfying people's aspirations for a better food life under the active guidance of national policies and the unremitting efforts of all parties in society.