The central kitchen is a centralized production model for the food and beverage industry developed from abroad in the 1970s, whose main task is to make food ingredients into semi-finished or finished products of pre-made staples and dishes for distribution to various food chains for secondary heating or combination and then provide them to consumers.

According to the definition in the Central Kitchen License Review Specification formulated by the State Food and Drug Administration, the central kitchen refers to the centralized kitchen established by a restaurant chain enterprise with independent premises and facilities and equipment, which centrally completes the processing and production of finished or semi-finished food products and distributes them directly to operators in the food service industry.

The food service industry is a set of processing and production, commercial sales and service in one, to consumers specializing in providing a variety of food and beverage consumption places and facilities for food production and operation of the industry, mainly including: restaurants, restaurant chains, fast-food outlets, convenience stores, supermarkets, catering department; boxed lunch suppliers; facing the schools, enterprises and public institutions, the army and groups of people such as tourism, and the well-being of the nursing home, hospitals, kindergartens and other facilities such as cafeterias or restaurants, etc.