At the 140th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), Zhongfan (Zhangzhou) Food Co., Ltd. showcased its "Likexiang" and "Youfan Mr. Youfan" series of room-temperature ready-to-eat fried rice at the booth of its parent company, Zhangzhou Chenzi Trading Co., Ltd. With its hardcore product strength of "no cold chain, no open flame, and 1-minute heat meal," it attracted many attending leaders to stop for research, becoming a focal point for overseas visitors on site.
Several leaders conducted intensive research, focusing on "daily revival and flavor restoration."
During the exhibition, leaders including Yuan Baocheng, member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Jiang Chenghua, Vice Minister of Commerce; and Zhang Shuguang, Vice Governor of Anhui Province, led teams to conduct research at the Chenzi trade booth. Zhu Yong, Director of the China Foreign Trade Center of the Ministry of Commerce, and Cao Derong, President of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Animals, and Livestock, accompanied the event.
(Yuan Baocheng, Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial CPPCC, inspecting the Chen-style trade booth)
After listening to the report from Chen Ziyang, head of the new generation brand of Zhongfan Food, the leaders showed strong interest in ready-to-eat fried rice at room temperature. On site, two core questions were raised: Under civilian conditions without cold chain chains or open flames, how can one quickly obtain a hot rice with a texture close to freshly stir-fried?
(Vice Minister Jiang Chenghua and President Cao Derong listening to a product presentation by Chen Ziyang of Zhongfan Food at the Zhangzhou Chenzi booth)
In response, the Zhongfan Food team offered a solution of "commercial aseptic process + scenario-based reheating design": the product achieves long-lasting room temperature without the need for preservatives or refrigeration, with the reheating stage perfectly adapted to daily portable heating methods; The taste system relies on over thirty years of export experience from the founding team of its parent company, Chenzi Trading, to localize and tailor it to different regional markets.
(Anhui Vice Governor Zhang Shuguang visits the Zhangzhou Chen character booth in the food exhibition area of the 140th Canton Fair)
From "dual-use" for both emergency and daily use to civilian scenarios, the boundaries of products are rapidly expanding
The core technical foundation of Zhongfan Food comes from over thirty years of commercial aseptic manufacturing experience accumulated by Chen Zi Trading in canned food exports: through vacuum sealing and high-temperature sterilization, it is stored at room temperature without adding preservatives; At the same time, thanks to anti-aging starch treatment and optimized packaging barriers, the texture of rice and toppings is maximally preserved.
This technical approach gives the product a natural "dual-use" nature for both daily and emergency use: convenient staple food for daily use and emergency support supplies that do not require a cold chain in emergencies. Currently, this product has been included in the emergency material procurement catalogs of many regions.
In extreme scenarios, the product performed impressively: around New Year's Day 2026, 18,000 servings of room-temperature emergency cooking meals were delivered across nearly 6,000 kilometers, reaching snowy border areas such as Hongjerab on the Pamir Plateau. Under highland wilderness, reheating was completed in just 3 to 5 minutes, directly addressing the pain points of "difficulty in hot food and portability" in extreme conditions. Previously, during the January 2025 Shigatse earthquake rescue, Zhongfan Food also used ready-to-eat ambient rice products to support disaster areas, completing support tasks in emergency rescue scenarios.
(Lunch food room-temperature emergency rice delivered to the Pamir Plateau border frontline)
At this Canton Fair, the leaders' focused inquiries about daily revival and taste sent a clear market signal: the consumption scenario of ready-to-eat staple foods at room temperature is accelerating from "emergency reserves" to mass travel, business travel, and daily meal replacements. The reheating solution and multi-flavor matrix displayed at the Chinese food event are a direct response to this consumption trend.
Forming a differentiated positioning through a "composite form," attracting many overseas visitors
As the industry-recognized "pioneer of room-temperature ready-to-eat fried rice (cooked rice) category," Zhongfan Food's differentiated positioning in the international market is becoming increasingly clear. Compared to existing ambient rice products on the international market, the core barrier of Chinese food lies in the composite form of "rice + animal and vegetable ingredients"—without cold chains, it retains the chewiness of rice and the reproduction of meat and vegetable ingredients. This is one of the core reasons why overseas buyers repeatedly stop at the booth.
(Overseas merchants favor Chinese food products "Li Kexiang" and "Mr. Youfan" ready-to-eat shelf-stable fried rice)
At the exhibition, merchants from Singapore, Russia, Canada, Chile, and other countries showed great interest in "Li Kexiang" and "Mr. Youfan" ready-to-eat shelf-stable fried rice, focusing on the convenience of "no refrigerator or pan needed, just tear open and heat to eat," as well as the quality stability supported by over thirty years of export food experience. This feedback corresponds to the rising international market demand for non-refrigerated compound staple foods, providing direct momentum for further channel expansion in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.
Dual Driving Forces of Globalization and Domestic Sales Layout
From the Canton Fair to the world stage, the globalization of Chinese food is accelerating. In June 2026, "Likexiang" and "Mr. Youfan" room-temperature ready-to-eat fried rice debuted on the Nasdaq screen in New York's Times Square, hailed by multiple media outlets as a landmark move in the globalization of Chinese shelf-stable ready-to-eat staple food brands.
("Like Xiang" and "Mr. Youfan" room-temperature ready-to-eat fried rice debut on the Nasdaq big screen in New York's Times Square)
Currently, this series of products has entered multiple overseas markets including Singapore, Russia, Malaysia, and Canada; Domestically, the products have already covered mainstream e-commerce platforms and have entered offline terminals such as AEON, RT-Mart, convenience stores, and transportation hubs.
The intense attention at the 140th Canton Fair not only affirms the technical route and product direction of Chinese food products, but also conveys policy expectations for the new category of "ready-to-eat at room temperature" in both improving foreign trade quality and expanding domestic demand. Zhongfan Food stated that in the future, it will continue to iterate products focusing on daily reheating convenience and flavor reproduction, deepen overseas expansion through international platforms such as the Canton Fair, and accelerate the integration of the domestic "dual-use" staple food guarantee system with daily consumption scenarios.
