How China’s Jamie Oliver is changing factory canteen food and dreams of feeding nation’s growing middle class
Hong Kong-raised Richard Craggs ate in enough southern Chinese factory canteens to know much of the food was awful, and set out to revolutionise it from his Shenzhen base. Now he’s moving into upscale meal delivery
As a teenager, Richard Craggs got his kicks leaping across rooftops and scrambling up buildings – long before parkour went mainstream in Hong Kong, where he grew up. Now 42, and based in Shenzhen, he’s taken another leap of faith: this time into one of the toughest food and beverage markets in the world.
The Briton moved to China 10 years ago, working in the retail gift industry, so has eaten his fair share of canteen fare. “I’ve visited thousands of factories, many of them out in the sticks where there’s nowhere else to eat, and the food is so lousy,” he says. “I like Chinese food, but this is greasy, it’s terrible. It’s like animal feed.”
With most workers eating meals provided by the factory, and earning a minimum wage, they’re often faced with no alternative, he says. “The working and living conditions are pretty tough. They’re the unsung heroes of China’s industrial revolution; the least we can do is improve their food.”
When he first touted his plan for Nourish to others, however, “they all thought I was nuts”, says Craggs, joking that his only previous experience in the food industry had been “eating and drinking”.