Yinan county, a major agricultural production base in Linyi, Shandong province, has been ramping up efforts to fuel the development of the premade meal industry.

Employees work at a ready-to-eat meal production line at a company in Yinan county. [Photo/Dazhong News]

The ready-to-cook, ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat meals segment is growing fast in the country. Premade meals have gained popularity among consumers, especially the younger generation since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yinan has taken the premade meal industry as a breakthrough to promote the transformation and upgrading of the food industry and strive to build China's production base of ready-to-eat foods.

The county has launched a slew of measures to promote the high-quality development of premade meal industry. By 2023, the industry's output value is expected to exceed 5 billion yuan ($740 million) in Yinan, and the total output value of the food industry will exceed 30 billion yuan.

By 2025, the output value of the premade meal industry is expected to reach 20 billion yuan in the county, while the total output value of the food industry will reach 50 billion yuan.

"We've launched supportive policies covering capital, talent training, marketing, cold chain logistics, brand building and more to support the development of prepared food enterprises," said Li Guijie, director of Yinan county bureau of industry and information technology, adding that Yinan will become a competitive player in the industry to fuel regional high-quality development.