Lack of cafeteria supervision, starting with "rat head duck neck" involved enterprises: secretive group meal giant company | catering | enterprise
The truth behind the "Rat Head Duck Neck" incident has been revealed through the joint investigation team's conclusion, but the group meal market and Zhongkuai Catering that it has caused are still hidden. After the incident, the company involved, Shenzhen Zhongkuai Catering Group Co., Ltd., has not spoken out to the public. This group meal leader, which claims to have a revenue scale comparable to Hai Di Lao, did not explain to everyone where the rat head came from or why it arrived at the student's table, nor did it apologize for the incident. Behind this arrogant attitude lies the blind spot of food safety supervision in the group meal market, especially in university canteens.
Who will oversee the cafeteria?
"Can't the chef see such a big mouse sneaking into the pot?" The operation director of a group meal enterprise was indignant about the "rat head and duck neck" incident at Jiangxi Industrial Vocational and Technical College. He analyzed that the mouse could not have entered the school cafeteria while cooking, and it is highly likely that it had already existed in the previous chain, which is the central kitchen. "If there is a big problem in operation and management, both the central kitchen and the chef head are responsible.".
According to the joint investigation team's report, the foreign object suspected of being a "rat head" that Jiangxi Industrial Vocational College ate in the cafeteria, after multiple judgments, was not the previously reported "duck neck", but the head of a rodent like rodent. This report also determined that Jiangxi Industrial Vocational College was responsible for this incident, the involved enterprises were directly responsible, and the market supervision and management department was responsible for supervision.
The involved enterprise Jiangxi Zhongkuai Logistics Service Co., Ltd. was subsequently terminated, and the food business license of the involved cafeteria was also revoked. Before that, Jiangxi Zhongkuai had just won the bid for the Dragon Boat Festival consolation goods purchase project for students in two campuses of Jiangxi Industrial Vocational and Technical College, with a total turnover of 944.404 million yuan, including 21104 Jiaxing brand Zongzi, each 160g, 2.6 yuan; 10552 Salted duck egg of Huanzhu brand, 60g each, 2.45 yuan; 10552 Heshun brand Tea egg, 60g each, 1.3 yuan.
"Nowadays, the group meal industry is very cautious. The group meals in the cafeteria are all for students, and food safety is of utmost importance. At the very least, the meat preservation method is not correct, and the food supervision has not checked it properly. Generally, chefs or supervisors need to check and prepare goods frequently based on years of experience, with many details." The operation director of the above-mentioned group meal enterprise told a reporter from China Central Radio and Television. In the group meal enterprise he works for, "vegetables such as chili peppers and cauliflower can be stored for up to 12 hours, and if meat includes pickled meat, it can be stored for up to 24 hours, which is basically made on the same day."
Even so, it is still difficult to avoid a very small number of food safety issues. He gave an example, "We now require the use of a cleaning cloth to clean dishes and stoves, and cannot use steel wire balls. However, there is a lot of oil fumes in the kitchen, and some areas must be cleaned with steel wire balls. Sometimes, if we are not careful, it may get mixed into the food."
Different group meal companies have different food safety requirements. "Zhongkuai is still good in the group meal industry, among the top ten in China, right?" Regarding the "rat head duck neck" incident of Zhongkuai, the operations director hesitated. In his opinion, if none of the top ten in the industry can guarantee food safety, let alone other small and medium-sized group meal companies. The fundamental reason is that "there is currently no formal group meal organization in the country, and food safety related rules and regulations are introduced."
Li Pingjin, founder of Shenzhen Zhongkuai Catering Group Co., Ltd., the parent company of Jiangxi Zhongkuai, currently serves as the chairman of the Group Meal Special Committee at the China Group Meal Expo Organizing Committee. Regarding whether the organizing committee will provide food safety advice to member units after the "Rat Head and Duck Neck" incident, a staff member of the China Group Meal Expo Organizing Committee told a reporter from CCTV, "This is normal. Do you have no cockroaches in your own home? Have your dishes been spoiled?" Subsequently, the staff member said, "Until now, it has not been clear where the mice came from. There is a specialized department in charge of food safety in the country."
Invisible Zhongkuai Catering
The "Rat Head Duck Neck" incident has been happening for more than 20 days, and the results of the joint investigation team have been released for nearly a week. Jiangxi Zhongkuai and Shenzhen Zhongkuai have always been in an invisible state. According to the results of the joint investigation team, the involved enterprises and legal representatives will face maximum penalties.
According to the provisions of the Food Safety Law, if the production and operation of contaminated and unclean food mixed with foreign objects does not constitute a crime, the food safety supervision and management department of the people's government at or above the county level shall confiscate the illegal gains and illegal production and operation of food and food additives, and may also confiscate tools, equipment, raw materials and other items used for illegal production and operation; If the value of illegally produced and operated food or food additives is less than 10000 yuan, a fine of not less than 50000 yuan but not more than 100000 yuan shall be imposed; If the value of the goods exceeds 10000 yuan, a fine of ten to twenty times the value of the goods shall be imposed; If the circumstances are serious, the license shall be revoked.
As of the time of publication, the official phone number of Shenzhen Zhongkuai has remained unanswered regarding the punishment results and subsequent food safety measures. However, the amount of punishment is not a huge amount for Shenzhen Zhongkuai, which has an annual revenue of tens of billions. As a B2B industry, the group meal market is not as transparent and open as social catering, and is rarely known to the outside world. What is the scale of Shenzhen Zhongkuai, the leading enterprise in the group meal market? In an interview, Li Sixing, Chairman of Zhongkuai Catering, said, "The annual revenue scale is comparable to that of Haidilao.".
According to the report of the "New Group Meal" official account in 2019, the development of Zhongkuai Catering began in 1991, when Li Pingjin, the head of the General Affairs Department of Jiangxi Nonferrous Geological Exploration Bureau, decided to resign and go out for a break. He first contracted a service building in the surrounding smelters. In 1994, Li Pingjin contracted the canteen of the Industrial and Commercial Administration of the Wanshou Palace with his younger brother, Li Sijin, who has culinary skills; In 1995, they contracted the cafeteria of Nanchang Blue Sky College at that time, and thus began to deal with university cafeterias. By 2003, Zhongkuai Catering, also known as "Star Catering" at the time, had over 20 canteens operating within Jiangxi province. In 2004, we acquired Shenzhen Xinlianxin Catering Company, and since then, we have ventured out of Jiangxi and entered the national market. In 2006, Star Catering changed its name to Zhongkuai Catering.
According to the introduction of Zhongkuai Catering's participation in the 5th China Education Logistics Exhibition in April 2023, it has now entered more than 700 universities across the country, including Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Fudan University, and the University of Hong Kong. In terms of developing university canteens, in addition to its own team, Chinese fast food drinks also recruited part-time researchers to collect information on the contracting situation of canteens in schools, hospitals, government agencies, factories, and other units. If a contract project is reached, a salary of more than 20000 yuan will be paid.
An insider from Zhongkuai stated that "Zhongkuai Catering's contracted cafeteria requires a minimum of 1000 students from the school, and the minimum signing time is one year based on the completeness of the cafeteria equipment. There is an idea of joint operation, but currently these cafeterias are all self operated." According to the person mentioned above, in the operation of the school cafeteria, except for the procurement required by the Education Commission, all other necessary items are solved by Zhongkuai Catering's own supply chain.
On the official website of Zhongkuai Catering, the development history, core advantages, project display, cooperation methods, and company dynamics have all been deleted, leaving only the content of the Party Committee Working Committee.
Screenshot taken from the official website of Zhongkuai Catering
Public reports show that Zhongkuai Catering Group has three major businesses, namely Zhonghe Century, which focuses on basic education catering for primary and secondary schools, Zhongkuai Catering, which is positioned in the university market, and Zhongkang Catering, which is oriented towards the hospital group catering market. According to the recruitment website, Zhonghe Bainian was established in 2014. As of early 2022, it has conducted business in 18 provinces across the country and successfully managed and operated over 200 restaurants in various types of primary and secondary schools. Zhongkang Catering was also established in 2014 and has conducted business in 10 provinces across the country, successfully managing 31 medical unit restaurants.
Chinese fast food drinks refer to themselves as one of the "top three in the Chinese industry". In November 2022, the "group catering industry" released an interview with Li Sixing, the chairman of China Fast Food and Beverage. The article stated that China Fast Food and Beverage "has more than 700 university cafeteria projects nationwide, with an annual revenue scale comparable to that of Hai Di Lao.". As a leading enterprise in China's hot pot industry, Haidilao had a total of 1371 stores in 2022, with a revenue of 34.741 billion yuan and a net profit of approximately 1.373 billion yuan.
According to Tianyancha information, Zhongkuai Catering has established companies in 26 provincial-level and directly administered municipalities across the country, with 160 enterprises controlled through equity and over 200 indirectly owned companies. Its commercial territory involves accommodation, catering, leasing, and business services industries. According to reports, the original shareholding ratio between Zhongkuai Group and its subsidiaries was 6:4. Li Pingjin and his brother Li Sixing proposed to transfer more shares to the subsidiaries, and the group only held 51% of the shares in the subsidiaries.
It is understood that the predecessor of Jiangxi Zhongkuai involved in this matter was Nanchang Zhongren Catering Management Co., Ltd., which was established in 2009. After Shenzhen Zhongkuai Holdings in 2016, the company was renamed Jiangxi Zhongkuai Logistics Service Co., Ltd. in 2017, and subsequently established Jiujiang Branch and Jingdezhen Branch. According to the equity relationship, in Jiangxi Zhongkuai, Shenzhen Zhongkuai holds 58% of the shares, and Nanchang Yongshan Catering Management Center holds 42%. It is worth noting that the latter's partners, such as Wang Baolin, are also shareholders of Shenzhen Zhongkuai.
