HONG KONG, May 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wada Bento, a startup invested by HK Tech300 Angel Fund of City University of Hong Kong (the "University") and Gravity Capital Partners, held a sharing event titled "Smart Living in Schools: How Hot-Chain FoodTech Solves the Pain Points of School Catering" at the University's HK Tech 300 Co-working Space at United Centre. During the session, the University's Associate Vice-President, professors, primary school principals, parent-teacher associations, and the Executive Chef of Wada Bento, shared how Hot-chain FoodTech can be integrated into smart campuses to help schools solve the pain points of school lunch supply, bringing safe, delicious, and healthy lunch options to students.
From Left to Right: Kenny Yau (Director of Partnership, Wada Bento), Prof. Howard Ling (Professor, Hong Kong Baptist University), Ricky Choi (Senior Manager, Cyberport), Dr. Laura Lo (Associate Vice President, City University of Hong Kong), Mandy Chan (Headmistress, Pooi To Primary School), Hoi Yan Cheng (PTA Chairman, Pooi To Primary School), Manabu Oikawa (Executive Chef, Wada Bento), Prof. Alan Lam (Gravity Capital Partners), Jason Chen (CEO, Wada Bento).
Hot-chain FoodTech brings high-quality new options for school lunches
Traditional school lunches face pain points such as difficulty in keeping food warm, relatively low food quality, and lack of regulations for preserving and distributing lunch boxes. Many students are unwilling to eat school lunch boxes, which causes parents to wake up early to prepare lunches, bring lunches to school, or have them delivered, bringing a lot of trouble for families. Wada Bento uses the successful experience of Hot-chain FoodTech to expand the Hot-chain foodservice to campuses. Wada Bento's Hot-chain FoodTech ensures that the student lunches are kept at 60 degrees or above throughout the entire logistics and automated distribution process, using Hot-chain to keep the food warm and fresh without needing to be frozen or reheated in a microwave oven. This allows students to enjoy warm, fresh, and delicious meals.
First successful application at Hong Kong Pooi To Primary School
Hong Kong Pooi To Primary School has always hoped to introduce more smart living into the campus and provide better campus services for students. When Pooi To Primary School learned about Wada Bento's Hot-chain FoodTech, she invited the company to conduct a trial run in the school in December 2022. After more than a month of trial run, the feedback from students, parents, and teachers was very positive, leading to the invitation for Wada Bento to conduct large-scale operations. Wada Bento has now provided tens of thousands of lunches to students using Hot-chain FoodTech.
Principal of Pooi To Primary School, Ms. Mandy Chan, said: "Pooi To Primary School has always been committed to introducing smart living into the campus. Through cooperation with Wada Bento, we have successfully promoted a 'win-win' situation for the school, local startups, students, and parents, allowing students to enjoy warm and delicious school lunches."
Chairman of the Pooi To Primary School Parent-Teacher Association, Ms. Hoi Yan Cheng, said: "Thank you to the school for introducing new lunch options for us. As a parent, I am very happy to be able to see my children enjoying safe and enjoyable lunches."
Looking forward to promoting high-quality lunches in more Hong Kong schools
After the successful application of Wada Bento's Hot-chain FoodTech at Hong Kong Pooi To Primary School, many primary and secondary schools hope to introduce Wada Bento's new lunch options for their students. In the second quarter of 2023, the Rhenish Church Pang Hok Ko Memorial College in Kowloon Tong has also introduced Wada Bento. In the new school year starting September 2023, more schools will adopt Wada Bento's solution for lunch supply.
The guest speaker at this event, Professor Howard Ling from Hong Kong Baptist University, shared: "As a member of the Task Force on EatSmart Restaurant Star+ Campaign of Department of Health, I have always actively promoted schools to provide nutritious and high-quality lunch services. Today, I am delighted to see that hot-chain food technology has brought new options for school lunches, and I hope that Wada Bento's solution can be promoted to more schools."
Wada Bento's Japanese Executive Chef and co-founder, Chef Manabu Oikawa, said: "Hot-chain technology at 60 degrees or above and cold-chain technology at 0-4 degrees are the two solutions for preserving fresh food. Wada Bento chooses to use hot-chain technology to preserve the quality and freshness of the food, which is more suitable for lunch boxes. We hope to provide more schools with safe, high-quality, and healthy lunch options, and promote the development of smart living on campuses."
"CityU has been supporting Hong Kong start-ups through HK Tech 300 programme, actively promoting the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong. We are pleased that Wada Bento, founded by our alumni and invested by HK Tech 300 Angel Fund, helps solve practical social problems with its technology. We hope more schools and students can benefit from the hot-chain food technology and enjoy safe and healthy lunch," said Dr Laura Lo, Associate Vice-President of CityU.
In conclusion, the integration of hot-chain food technology into smart campuses is a positive step towards solving the pain points of school lunch food safety and quality. Wada Bento's successful application of Hot-chain FoodTech at Hong Kong Pooi To Primary School has received positive feedback from students, parents, and teachers, and more schools are expected to adopt this technology in the future. By providing safe, high-quality, and healthy lunch options, we can promote the development of smart living on campuses and improve the overall well-being of students.
