(Yicai) Nov. 24 -- Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, is moving into the rapidly growing field of pre-cooked food, according to the latest data.

A new company called Hangzhou Majia Kitchen Food that is controlled by Ma was set up on Nov. 22, according to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. It deals in pre-packaged food sales, imports and exports, wholesale of agricultural products, wholesale of daily necessities, hotel management and technical services.

The firm is wholly owned by Hangzhou Dajingtou No. 22 Culture and Art, which is 99.9 percent owned by Ma, and has a registered capital of CNY10 million (USD14 million).

It is not surprising that Ma has entered the ready-to-eat meals sector, analysts said. Ma said in August that he has been pursuing an interest in agriculture in recent years. The serial entrepreneur was made a distinguished visiting professor at the Tokyo College of the University of Tokyo earlier this year with a research focus on sustainable agriculture and food production. He also recently visited the Charoen Pokphand Group in Thailand which is engaged in agriculture and husbandry.

China’s ready meals market could be worth CNY1 trillion (USD150 billion) in 2026, more than double what it is now, according to iiMedia Consulting. The penetration rate of pre-cooked meals was only between 10 percent and 15 percent in China in 2021, compared with more than 60 percent in Japan and the US, so there is great room for expansion.

Editor: Kim Taylor