Late at night, the offices in the Mooreton Future Island Industrial Park in Daojiao Town, Dongguan stand empty, with only the "Salad Moment" sign swaying in the wind. Just one year ago, these spaces were brightly lit, workers busied themselves in clean workshops, and tens of thousands of meals were shipped nationwide via cold chain to over 2,000 smart unmanned food dispensers.
Today, consumers cannot get refunds for the balances in their stored-value cards, franchisees have lost millions in investments, employees are owed months of wages, and news of the founder starting a new venture has further disheartened those seeking redress.
Salad Moment's dramatic fall from being a darling of capital to complete collapse is a stark narrative. After the light meal sector entered a consolidation phase in 2019, early brands like Sweet Heart Rock Salad and Element Fresh exited the market, yet this did not deter investors from seeking new targets. Founded in Dongguan in 2020, Salad Moment rapidly became a rising star in the eyes of investors with its model combining "AI unmanned food dispensers + light meal salads."
Founder Qiu Yuansheng, with a background in the medical industry, introduced pharmaceutical GMP standards into food production, establishing a central kitchen with separate raw and cooked zones, unidirectional airflow, and a 100,000-class clean room. This "pharmaceutical-grade" production concept became a key factor in attracting investment.
The brand reached its first peak moment by the end of 2023. A strategic Series A funding round of 100 million yuan from Buhuo Venture Capital enabled Salad Moment to swiftly announce Jay Chou as its first brand ambassador. Jay Chou not only filmed promotional videos but also sang a brand-specific jingle: "Had your meal? Thinking of choosing something healthy..." This advertisement once played on a loop in office building elevators.
Founder Qiu Yuansheng once boldly claimed, "We plan to deploy 100,000 AI unmanned food dispensers within five years, capable of serving meals to 10 million people in a single day." By April 2025, Salad Moment had installed over 2,000 smart dispensers near high-end commercial areas in cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Shanghai. These units featured low-temperature food storage and post-purchase microwave heating functions, boasting meal readiness in 100 seconds and 24/7 operation.
Behind this peak moment lay an aggressive expansion strategy. In July 2024, the company secured an additional 50 million yuan in Series A+ funding, concurrently initiating the construction of its Yangtze River Delta headquarters in Shanghai, leasing nearly a thousand square meters of office space in Minhang District with projected annual revenue of no less than 10 billion yuan.
However, the actual operation of the smart dispensers fell far short of the promotional claims. Signals of collapse began to erupt intensively starting in March 2025. Posts from employees demanding unpaid wages, franchisees seeking owed payments, and consumers requesting refunds flooded social platforms like Xiaohongshu.
One user claiming to be an employee posted, "Haven't been paid for three months; every inquiry is met with 'no money, wait a bit longer'." Similar voices emerged: "It's been nine months, still no back pay," "Worked part-time for six months, didn't get a single cent."
Multiple franchisees reported that their share of revenue from machine sales failed to arrive on time, with some拖欠 for months. Franchisee Yu Ming stated that after investing 100,000 yuan to join in October 2024, his share was about 3,000 yuan the first month, dwindled subsequently, and ceased entirely after May 2025.
In October 2025, the main operating entity of Salad Moment was formally petitioned for bankruptcy, and founder Qiu Yuansheng was publicly listed by the court with a bounty for execution due to debt disputes. By January 2026, the company's official website and customer service lines were unreachable, and a reporter's site visit confirmed the offices were completely vacated.
The collapse of Salad Moment resulted from multiple failures in its business model, operational management, and capital utilization, not a single cause. A fundamental reason for its failure was the "scenario paradox" inherent in its business model. The company attempted to solve the "scenario problem" of food service with a retail "shelf mentality," placing smart dispensers in office buildings to capture the daily lunch scene for white-collar workers through dense physical deployment.
However, white-collar lunch需求 are highly fluid; they might prefer restaurant socializing, a walk outside, or last-minute plan changes. The "fixed" nature of the dispensers became a spatiotemporal constraint, requiring people to adapt their movement to the machine's location, contrasting sharply with the convenience of food delivery which "brings food to wherever you are."
Furthermore, Salad Moment's focus on "salad light meals + Chinese fast food" targeted a weak, narrow demand in the office environment, the absolute stronghold of the "Chinese stomach." Despite rising health consciousness, choosing light meal salads as a daily, high-frequency lunch option has not become mainstream. Data from NetEase Number Crunch shows 74.4%, 59.7%, and 46.4% of office workers prioritize rice bento, noodle shops, and Western fast food respectively, while only 21.7% choose light meal salads.
The失控 of the franchise model and cash flow directly led to the collapse. Salad Moment offered two franchise options: one required a 100,000 yuan payment per machine for a 3-year term with an 80/20 revenue split, the other an 80,000 yuan payment for a 10-year term with a 50/50 split. Many sales managers promised timely, reliable payouts before signing, but in practice, revenue sharing was split into "real-time" and "pending" portions, with the latter often severely delayed. Public reports indicated this complex system significantly increased management difficulty, sowing the seeds for future operational issues.
The break in the company's cash flow chain was the immediate trigger for the final collapse. Superficially, the company had raised 150 million yuan, but funds were consumed rapidly and inefficiently during aggressive expansion. After receiving the 100 million yuan funding in late 2023, the company immediately signed Jay Chou for an endorsement costing tens of millions; in 2024, it invested in the Shanghai headquarters, leasing expensive space with optimistic revenue projections. These massive investments offered little short-term return while heavily占用 cash flow. One employee noted, "After Salad Moment expanded to Shanghai in 2024, the cash flow broke, leading to gradual inability to supply ingredients, eventually forcing production cuts."
The "false proposition" of the supply chain and cost黑洞 were equally fatal. Qiu Yuansheng proudly claimed, "We offset costs through industrialized bulk purchasing and scaled production, reducing vegetable costs by 70%." In reality, this idealized cost control was not achieved. Based on operational data, the profit margin on an average ticket price of around 15 yuan was limited, compounded by high equipment depreciation, rent, and labor costs, making profitability extremely difficult. The company claimed collaboration with Tencent on a big data platform using AI to reduce food waste to 0.6%, but misjudged market demand in site selection, with blind expansion creating numerous ineffective locations, further intensifying operational pressure.
Salad Moment's collapse is not just the failure of a single company but reflects the broader困境 of the light meal industry. Data from Qianzhan Economics indicates the closure rate for light meal brands was 27% in 2023-2024, higher than the 22.6%餐饮 industry average, marking it as a "high-risk category." Data from Narrow Gate Meal Eye shows that as of December 2025, China had nearly 17,000 light meal outlets, with about 7,013 new openings in the past year but a net increase of only 729, meaning over 6,200 light meal stores closed in that period.
Salad Moment's failure serves as a stark warning for the light meal sector and the broader F&B new retail field. The fundamental矛盾 between pursuing health and pursuing convenience was exposed in its model. Truly healthy, fresh food requires short supply chains and quick turnover, while the dispenser model relies on pre-made, reheated meals, creating an inherent conflict.
Successful light meal brands are pivoting towards deeper localization. Super Bowl, focusing on Chinese-style hot cooked light meals, added dishes like tomato beef brisket and seven-spice tofu to its menu, with its fresh vegetable pot alone boosting revenue by 20% in 2024. Wild Man's Diary from Henan introduced "konjac dumplings" using konjac oat highland barley flour instead of traditional wheat, selling over 300 million annually; Sayeh Light Meals launched items like light congee, multigrain rice, and wraps aligning with Chinese eating habits.
A notable trend is that light meals are no longer exclusive to dedicated stores. Increasingly, non-light-meal F&B brands are entering the market, such as Lao Xiang Ji offering weight-loss combos with calorie labels, and Yonghe King launching "zero-calorie sugar" freshly ground soy milk. Leveraging existing channels and supply chains, these brands can more easily expand into light meals, intensifying competition for independent brands.
The concept that "F&B light meal-ification ≠ opening light meal stores" is being validated by the market. The理念 of healthy eating is transcending category boundaries, permeating all areas of food service, forcing independent light meal brands to find unique, indispensable value to survive the fierce competition.
The 20,000-square-meter central kitchen once hailed as Salad Moment's pride has ceased operations. Founder Qiu Yuansheng established a new company, "Chu Yi Shi Dai," in December 2025, operating through physical stores and delivery, with menu items highly similar to Salad Moment's. On January 28, Qiu promised in a franchisee group chat, "A payment will be made before the Spring Festival, and after the holiday, we aim to secure major funding to pay everyone."
Franchisees feel a flicker of hope again but struggle with full trust. One franchisee remarked, "We're all tired from chasing debts; we hope Chairman Qiu can truly make the new project work." This costly business lesson, bought with hundreds of millions in cash, is becoming a crucial reference point for the light meal industry's transformation.