Nutritious meals grow in popularity in cities

Restaurants, online players digest the fact that providing healthy energy to urbanites could produce handsome profits

Food entrepreneurs in China are trying to show that there are endless possibilities of healthy eating options that go beyond the dull celery and carrot sticks.

Although still at an infancy stage in China, the health food industry is developing and growing fast.

An increasing number of restaurant chains that serve health foods that are tasty, fresh and creative are springing up.

Element Fresh, one of China's leading restaurant chains for health food, was set up in 2004 in Shanghai, which focuses on sandwiches, salads and fresh juices.

The chain, co-founded by Scott Minoie and George Wang and managed by Frank Rasche, has been thriving in the past decade amid a rising awareness of the role of food in maintaining good health.

Although the restaurant chain was initially mostly frequented by foreigners, currently three quarters of its customers are Chinese.

"We were convinced that over time the number of people preferring nutritious and healthy food with great taste would become huge," said Rasche, CEO of Element Fresh.

The restaurant chain refuses to disclose its annual revenues but remains confident that it will be able to continue registering solid double-digit growth in coming years.

The company currently has 32 restaurants, including an outlet recently inaugurated at the Shanghai Disney Resort. Additionally, the opening of a new location in Wuhan, Hubei province, later this year will increase the group's presence to 10 cities in China.

"There clearly is room for more than 100 Element Fresh restaurants in China, plus potential overseas," said Rasche.

The health food market in China has tripled since 2007 to currently account for 1.01 percent of total food consumption, which is still lower than the 5 to 8 percent of the market in areas like Europe and the United States, according to Ryan Zhou, senior director of Nielsen China.

Higher purchasing power among consumers, coupled with growing awareness of the benefits of adopting a nutritious and balanced diet, are driving the demand for natural and fresh food in the country.

"The health food market is likely to be the new most exciting trend in the food and beverage industry in China," said Neil Wang, global partner and China president at Frost & Sullivan.

Last year, the market size of China's health food industry reached 150 million yuan ($23 million), with an annual growth rate of 20 percent from 2010, said international consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

Beijing-based marketing specialist Tracy Ye said that her food choices have become a top priority in her life in the past few years.

She spends an average 9,000 yuan per month in health food for her and her husband, adding that truly healthy eating options are still scarce in the capital city.

"I see a lot more juice, salad and sandwich bars popping up but sometimes it's not done right," said Ye. "They would add jam to the juices or mayonnaise to the sandwiches."

Ye said that her eating choices have limited the number of restaurants she visits, noting that she only eats out at the handful of restaurants in Beijing that offer a healthy selection.

Andrew Stevenson, a restaurateur of Scottish and Japanese descent, decided to mix two different culinary cultures to create Obentos, a Japanese-inspired restaurant chain with a Western influence that serves healthy recipes.

His first restaurant opened four years ago in Beijing almost out of necessity due to lack of healthy eating options.

"Casual healthy dining places are definitely popping up in China, but the market is still very immature," said Stevenson. "It will still take some time for things to round up."

With his own savings and with help from his family, Stevenson decided to focus on bento boxes and salads, an innovative fusion concept that was until then unexplored in China.

Stevenson said that the concept is very popular among the locals, with 80 percent of his customers being Chinese.

"Our concept is quite unique because it has an Asian aspect to it," noted Stevenson. "I think that it connects a lot better with Chinese consumers than purely Western concepts that are more focused on salads and sandwiches."

The company recently inaugurated its second restaurant and flagship store at the Grand Summit shopping center in the Liangmaqiao area in central Beijing.

The business is progressing well and the restaurant chain expects more than $1 million in revenue this year.

Looking ahead, the chain is keen to explore the health food scene outside Beijing.

"We are looking to raise funds and expand," said Stevenson. "I will love to lock down a new location this year, but it is already mid-year so we will have to see."

Beijing-based Factory Fresh, a catering enterprise and restaurant based within Beijing's 798 Art District, delivers healthy meal plans to the busy Chinese urbanites who want to improve their diet.

Customers can get a dietary schedule arranged for them, which includes three main meals and two midday snacks. All the menus offered are designed by the restaurant with the help of a nutritionist and are delivered to customers the night before.

"We decided to focus on meal plans because it is very convenient to have something that is ready for you in Beijing and that arrives at your door," said executive chef and co-founder Camilla Betin. "Everyone is always working and they don't have the time to go to the market or to decide what to eat."

Since launching in May last year, 100 customers have signed up for the service so far. The company said it delivers the menus to an average of 25 clients per day who place their orders either by e-mail or through WeChat.

Factory Fresh offers meals with different nutritional value, ranging from those planned for weight loss to menus for athletes and active individuals.

The cheapest, simplest meal plan is priced 180 yuan per day. The high-calorie menu is priced 340 yuan per day.

"We see an increase in demand in the service because everyone seems to be looking for more organic and healthy options," added Betin. "There are so many negative things around us such as stress and pollution. So people are at least trying to eat well."

Although the company refused to disclose annual revenue figures, it noted that providing healthy meals is a very profitable business.

In fact, competition in that segment is already booming in Beijing, particularly through online channels.

"Meal plans are a new trend in the industry. Everyone is doing it in other countries," said Betin.

emmagonzalez@chinadaily.com.cn