Source: CHEAA-run China Appliance magazine
As large-scale models like DeepSeek become deeply integrated into the industry, collaborative innovation between smart appliance hardware and AI-driven software is set to accelerate rapidly. The kitchen is evolving into a smart hub focused on health management. From ingredient traceability to personalized nutrition, from cooking assistance to environmental sensing, the entire food experience is being redefined through two powerful things: intelligent hardware and a dynamic software ecosystem—offering consumers a smarter, healthier way of eating.
Demand-Driven Innovation Fuels Diverse Health-Oriented Product Strategies
As quality of life improves, the demand for healthier diets is growing steadily. The shift from simply “eating enough,” to “eating well,” and now to “eating healthy” marks a significant change in consumer mindset—one that’s driving a new wave of consumption upgrades. Against this backdrop, the home appliance industry is undergoing a transformation. Leading brands are quick to recognize this trend, ramping up R&D efforts and expanding their presence in the health-focused kitchen sector with innovative technologies and next-generation products to meet consumers’ rising expectations for a healthier lifestyle.
Currently, consumers are increasingly focused on health-related dietary needs such as low fat, low sugar, and low purine. In response, companies are expanding and diversifying their product offerings to address these demands.
For example, Midea has focused on low-fat innovations, launching a multifunctional oven with fat-reducing and salt-reducing technology. It includes built-in fat-reduction functions with three programs—high-temp fat dissolution, condensation fat separation, and oil drainage—to achieve ideal fat removal from ingredients. A 250g pork belly cooked in Midea’s mini oven can achieve a fat reduction rate 72% higher than traditional grilling, potentially reducing oil intake by 2.6 liters per year. This allows consumers to enjoy crispy flavors without the health risks of excess fat.
Sugar control has long been a key concern in healthy eating, and rice cookers have recently seen notable technological advancements in this area. Many now adopt a “rinsing and draining” cooking method designed to reduce the sugar content in rice. These rice cookers utilize high-temperature steam to decompose starch, reducing sugar intake, and are typically equipped with filters or separators to isolate starch from rice grains. Brands like Midea, Joyoung, Supor, and Tosot have all introduced low-sugar rice cookers.
More kitchen appliances are also undergoing health-oriented upgrades. For instance, Joyoung’s K7 Pro blender features dual-stage constant-temperature purine-removal technology to produce low-purine soy milk, promoting a healthier lifestyle.
Food safety is the foundation of healthy eating and has become a key area of innovation for many brands. Haier, for example, has introduced its EPP Ultra Clean System, which delivers five-in-one protection: sterilization, odor elimination, virus removal, pesticide residue reduction, and mold prevention. Midea has developed pulse sterilization technology that can penetrate food packaging to eliminate harmful microorganisms, providing a safer and healthier storage solution—particularly for ready-to-eat foods.
Meanwhile, fruit and vegetable washers with features such as pesticide and bacteria removal, as well as the reduction of hormone residues from produce, are gaining popularity. Some models employ a combination of advanced cleaning technologies. For instance, Donlim’s DL-1326 utilizes hydroxyl water ions, microbubbles, and vortex water flow, while Royalstar’s model combines ozone purification with microbubbles and vortex flow—both achieving dual purification through physical and chemical processes.
Innovations are also being made to meet the needs of specific user groups. For mothers and infants, companies offer bottle warmers, milk shakers, baby food processors, and integrated feeding stations. Supor’s baby food processor adjusts food texture and consistency based on age and dish type. Snow Bear has launched a mother-infant milk machine with full water purification, dual sterilization, and efficient water output, certified for maternal use. Bear has also released a dedicated mother-and-baby product line.
These innovations are not only a proactive response to consumers’ growing demand for health and wellness, but also a deeper exploration of what healthy eating can look like in everyday life. As technology continues to evolve, kitchen appliance brands are expected to introduce even more health-driven products—bringing consumers smarter, healthier lifestyle experiences.
AI Empowerment: Evolving into a Smart Health Assistant
AI is empowering the healthy eating experience, proactively offering health services. Today, leading brands are launching smart cooking systems with health management functions, equipping appliances with “smart brains” that think deeply and provide personalized services.
FOTILE, for example, integrates its Healthy CookingGPT with DeepSeek-R1 to build an AI system that understands the Chinese kitchen. Using AI Genie (brain) and AI Vision, it gathers multidimensional data and channels it into the Healthy CookingGPT core, interacting with a massive culinary knowledge graph. This results in personalized dietary suggestions—e.g., high-protein, low-salt options for fitness-focused users or folic acid and iron recommendations tailored to pregnant women by trimester.
Robam has made significant investments in AI and introduced its proprietary large cooking model, “God of Cookery (Shi Shen in Chinese).” Acting as a cooking assistant, health advisor, and product guide, the system integrates Robam’s 40+ years of culinary expertise with DeepSeek’s advanced capabilities. It supports a range of intelligent features—including ingredient recognition via photo, personalized meal planning based on facial health indicators drawn from traditional Chinese medicine practices, or by uploading health reports. It also orchestrates the entire cooking process across all smart kitchen appliances, from ingredient selection to final preparation. Most notably, the system enables ongoing health management by analyzing health indicators and continuously refining dietary recommendations through intelligent interaction.
Haier has also entered the field with the launch of HomeGPT, which generates recipes and dietary advice based on users’ preferences and habits. Users can simply upload a photo of ingredients to receive personalized recipes and cooking guidance. HomeGPT also learns individual taste preferences and adjusts interactions based on user tone and mood, creating a more natural smart home experience.
BSH leverages its Home Connect platform to deliver health-focused content that resonates across user groups. Partnering with Douguo, users gain access to massive recipes and detailed nutritional breakdowns.
Kitchen appliance makers are shifting from passive service to proactive health management. By collecting and analyzing health and dietary data, they offer tailored solutions. According to Tineco, users increasingly want customized recipes based on their own health indicators and goals, such as low-fat or low-salt options.
Hardware-Software Synergy Drives Transformation in Healthy Eating Scenarios
Currently, healthy eating solutions are mostly realized through intelligent product upgrades and device interconnectivity. In the kitchen, AI vision, smart sensors, and large model algorithms enable seamless software-hardware synergy, making ingredients and meals healthier.
In ingredient management, refrigerators serve as the “smart hub.” Haier, for example, integrates an AI freshness model with DeepSeek, enabling AI freshness preservation, AI management, and AI interaction to keep food hydrated and nutritious. Samsung’s AI Bespoke Refrigerator uses AI hybrid cooling to detect ambient temperature and usage patterns, adjusting accordingly to extend freshness.
Cooking processes are also evolving. Siemens’ StudioLine AI oven uses proprietary high-temp AI vision tech with a 5MP, 500℃-resistant camera to monitor food color changes in real-time. Its AI probe system senses internal food states, automatically adjusting cooking time for optimal doneness.
Automatic cooking devices exemplify the hardware-software synergy. Tineco’s Embodied Cooking Master “Shi Wan Tian Gong” offers an experience akin to a private chef. By simply speaking to the device, users receive real-time AI recipes tailored to weight management goals or specific health needs.
Bosch’s Cookit smart pot offers over 2,000 intelligent recipes and integrates SmartSensor temperature control and 30+ cooking modes to meet health and efficiency needs.
However, rapid development has revealed challenges. Some interviewed executives admit that despite progress in smart hardware and software ecosystems, current healthy eating experiences still suffer from poor data and function interconnectivity across products. The key to unlocking the next stage will be breaking down barriers and building a unified health management ecosystem.
Yu Guitao, Dean of FOTILE’s Intelligent Kitchen Appliances Research Institute, notes that health is a broad concept and achieving dietary health shouldn’t be confined to the kitchen. For example, FOTILE is partnering with smartwatch makers to suggest blood-sugar-lowering or low-fat recipes based on users’ physical activity.
As AI begins to understand the “philosophy of timing” in Chinese cuisine, health management is shifting from hospitals to home kitchens. A new vision of healthy eating is emerging. In the future, as AI and large models like DeepSeek continue to evolve, the kitchen appliance industry will unlock more personalized, intelligent healthy dining experiences.