Xinhua All Media + | promotes catering conservation with standardization - how to establish and improve the standard system of energy-saving catering

To create a social trend of strict economy and opposition to waste, it is inseparable from the leading and exemplary role of standards. Focusing on the hot spots of social concern such as guiding the reasonable ordering of takeaway with standards and promoting the intensive and efficient development of the catering industry with standards, the reporter interviewed the relevant person in charge of the Standards and Technology Management Department of the State Administration of Market Supervision.

Takeaway ordering should avoid "blind" points

Click on a takeaway meal of "broccoli fried shrimp" on the Internet, you can see the main ingredients, accessories, weight, cuisine, preparation method, taste and other description information, and all the information of the meal is clear at a glance.

At present, some merchants have launched the "Ingredient Publicity" label on the takeaway ordering page, which is convenient for consumers to intuitively and clearly understand the information of the meal, and then make decisions that meet their own taste needs.

Food and beverage takeaways are increasingly becoming an important element in our lives. When consumers order food through takeaway, they often take "blind" points to unfamiliar merchants, and eventually may waste food because the dining experience does not meet expectations: for example, the weight of small bowls of dishes in the north and south may vary several times; different regional sauces and ingredients are mixed, and avoidance accessories such as onions, ginger, garlic and other taboos may be added.

The national standard "Specification for the Information Description of Takeaway Meals" implemented in June 2021 puts forward the description requirements for the name, category, main raw materials, taste, portion, production method and other information content of takeaway meals.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Standards and Technology Management Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the implementation of this standard effectively solves the pain point of "not seeing the physical object" of takeaway ordering, and avoids the catering waste caused by the opaque information such as weight and taste. Catering businesses have a standardized process when filling in meal information, clarifying the norms that need to be complied with in the production of food products of merchants, and at the same time ensuring the consumer's right to know, so that consumers can reasonably order food, understand consumption, and avoid waste.

Focus on the key aspects of catering waste

"There are not many customers, the canteen does not play much, the kitchen does not do much", a hotel in Shanghai has enabled diners to develop the habit of discs through the stamp punching activity, and further promote the cultivation of the atmosphere of thrift and thrift. After the customer's meal, the disc standard can get a beautiful small gift, and at the same time, you can get a stamp on the disc set card, and when you have 20 stamps, you can give rewards, and purchase the package at a preferential price, bringing direct benefits to customers.

This activity has led to a significant decrease in the number of ingredients purchased by the hotel, with more than 40 pounds of vegetables per week, 35 pounds of rice per week, and 1 bucket of wet waste per day in the hotel kitchen waste. In addition, due to the recognition of the surrounding residents, the hotel brand influence has been enhanced, and the hotel operation has also benefited accordingly, the birthday banquet has increased by 35 stalls in the same period, the wedding banquet has increased by 8 stalls, and the number of holiday diners has increased by 50% in the same period.

The national standard "Green Catering Operation and Management", which was implemented in June 2021, subdivides green catering into four dimensions of "saving, environmental protection, reassurance and health", focuses on the key areas and links of catering waste, such as buffets, canteens, banquets, etc., and puts forward specific requirements, providing guidelines for all types of catering enterprises to implement green management and reduce food waste.

The relevant person in charge of the Standard and Technical Management Department of the State Administration of Market Supervision said that catering enterprises are the main force of catering services and the backbone of strict economy. After the release of this standard, the average amount of kitchen waste consumed by participating companies fell by 12%.

As China's first national standard for meal sharing system, the national standard "Catering Meal Sharing System Service Guide" implemented in June 2020 summarizes the three meal sharing methods of "meal sharing on the spot", "public tableware meal sharing" and "self-catering and meal sharing", and puts forward the process suggestions for the implementation of the meal sharing system under different meal sharing methods, providing specific guidance for catering enterprises to implement meal sharing activities. The implementation of this standard has not only accelerated the standardization and institutionalization of the meal sharing system, but also played a positive role in helping the catering industry resume work and production during the epidemic and boosting the confidence of catering consumption.

Establish and improve the standard system of economical catering

From food procurement, warehousing, processing, transportation and distribution, to every aspect of catering services such as business services and kitchen recycling, firmly establishing the concept of conservation and strengthening standardized means are leading the development and reform of the catering industry.

After the implementation of the national standard "Specification for the Information Description of Takeaway Meals", some upstream suppliers in the catering supply chain have begun to provide takeaway services directly to consumers, expanding from catering ingredient suppliers to catering takeaway operators.

The relevant person in charge of the Standard and Technical Management Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that the development of takeaway business and the provision of finished meals to consumers can promote the flattening of catering circulation channels and reduce the cost of catering circulation links. From the perspective of improving the overall efficiency of the industrial chain and supply chain, we should summarize and refine best practices, study and formulate a series of catering industry standards, and establish and improve the conservation-oriented catering standard system.

The national standard "Guidelines for Supply Chain Management in the Catering Industry", which was implemented in June 2021, focuses on procurement, processing and production, logistics, terminal sales and other links from suppliers to customers, guiding catering enterprises to strengthen supply chain management and achieve refined cost accounting.

Some hotels not only reduce the procurement logistics costs, but also realize the standardized management of food ingredients and promote the coordinated and intensive development of relevant enterprises in the catering supply chain by implementing the procurement mode of "group collection and central distribution". Some food processing enterprises integrate route optimization, vehicle scheduling, trajectory traceability and other functions, build a comprehensive logistics information management platform, and use informatization and standardization to optimize inventory management and effectively avoid raw material waste.

The phenomenon of food and beverage waste in the tourism industry once attracted social attention. In November 2021, the national standard "Guidelines for the Sustainable Development of Tourist Attractions" was implemented, and catering conservation was regarded as an important part of the sustainable construction of scenic spots. In the next step, the drafting of national standards such as the division of facilities and service levels of tourist restaurants and the division and evaluation of star ratings of tourist hotels will be added to stop the waste of catering.

The relevant person in charge of the Standards and Technology Management Department of the State Administration of Market Supervision said that it is necessary to actively carry out standardization pilots and promote the use of standardized concepts and methods in the whole society to organize production, operation, management and service activities. At present, more than 1,000 national service industry standardization pilots have been carried out nationwide, involving many fields such as catering and tourism. (Reporters Zhao Wenjun, Wang Yuxiao, Zou Duowei)