The reporter investigates the problem of "food waste at your fingertips."

There are many takeaway platforms,

The more consumers "count", the more wasteful they are

The reporter investigates the problem of "food waste at your fingertips."

Editor's Note

The warehouse is solid, the world is safe. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, all localities and departments have thoroughly implemented the Anti-Food Waste Law, taken effective measures to promote the "Disc Action", vigorously rectified the trend of waste, and the phenomenon of "waste on the tip of the tongue" has improved, especially the waste of public funds and catering that the masses have strongly complained about has been effectively curbed.

However, with the rapid development of the economy and society, the phenomenon of wasting food in people's lives is still relatively common, especially during the holidays, this problem is particularly prominent. In order to further resist the wasteful behavior of catering and promote the formation of a social trend of "strict conservation and opposition to waste", the reporter of this newspaper recently went deep into the front line to investigate the problem of food and beverage waste, and launched a series of reports in the rule of law economic and latitude edition from today, please pay attention.

● In order to occupy a place in the takeaway industry, many takeaway merchants have carried out marketing by setting up delivery quotas, full discounts, half a dish and other activities to attract consumers. However, behind these activities there is a lot of food waste

● The takeaway platform's "full order reduction" promotional means will induce consumers to buy foods that they do not need. Some consumers originally did not have so much demand, but after seeing the full reduction of the discount, they felt that it was very cost-effective, and they consumed more on impulse, resulting in more waste

● Takeaway platforms need to further optimize the corresponding marketing mechanisms. On the page of ordering food, prompt consumers to order appropriate amounts of food on demand in a conspicuous way, and clearly mark the specifications, flavor, recommended number of consumers and other information of the meal, establish a point reward mechanism for consumer ordering, and guide consumers to consume rationally

It was lunchtime again, and Zhang Yang, an employee of a construction company in Beijing, skillfully opened the takeaway software on his mobile phone and prepared to choose a delicious meal for himself. The total price of a small stir-fried meat plus a piece of rice is 22 yuan; the total price of another piece of rice rises to 25 yuan, but according to the full reduction rule of "25 yuan minus 5 yuan", only 20 yuan is finally paid.

Zhang Yang naturally chose the latter. Click to pay, deliver food to the door, after eating, Zhang Yang threw the excess rice into the trash can in the stairwell.

Similar scenarios happen every day. In recent years, the takeaway industry has risen rapidly, with 469 million online takeaway users in mainland China as of June 2021. In order to occupy a place in the takeaway industry, many takeaway merchants have carried out marketing by setting up delivery quotas, full discounts, half a dish and other activities to attract consumers. However, the reporter of the Rule of Law Daily found in a recent visit and investigation that there is a large number of food and beverage waste problems behind these activities.

Set the starting limit

I had to order more

"In fact, I don't want to have more points, and more points are wasted, but many times the amount is not enough to give delivery." Zhang Yang said, opening her mobile phone to show reporters several stores she often visited on the takeaway platform. As can be seen from the store announcement, the minimum delivery quota set by the merchant is basically around 20 yuan, and if the amount pointed by Zhang Yang does not meet the requirements, it cannot be placed.

Zhang Yang told reporters that because the unit is far from home, plus the unit does not provide lunch, so usually she "called takeaway", in order to achieve the delivery quota, often had to order the main meal and then add an egg or add a sausage, "the amount of rice is so large, waste is inevitable."

This kind of experience has been encountered by many people.

Li Yueyue, an employee of a media company in Beijing, gave an example with deep feeling: "The day before yesterday, I ordered a 14 yuan casserole potato flour on the takeaway platform, which was actually enough to eat, but because I was not satisfied with the delivery quota, I could only order another 6.6 yuan chicken steak. As a result, the chicken chops were thrown away after two bites. ”

According to the situation reflected by the respondents, the reporter opened the takeaway platform and randomly selected more than 10 stores to find that these stores basically set up a starting quota, most of which were between 15 yuan and 50 yuan, and the starting amount of some seafood stores was as high as 80 yuan to 158 yuan. If the final order amount does not reach the minimum delivery quota, the platform displays "Less than the minimum delivery quota" and cannot place an order.

There is a store that does not set a starting quota, but when the reporter ordered food, he found that this is just a routine of the merchant - the introduction of less than 10 yuan and discounted goods are marked with the words "single point does not send". If you order two discounted items, the second item returns to the original price, and the actual amount paid is still about 20 yuan.

"There are so many tricks and tricks, which really responds to the old saying that 'buyers are not as good as sellers'." Zhou Xinyu, a resident of Changchun, Jilin Province, who often orders takeaways, said that she has also encountered such a routine - from 20 yuan to send, but the price of the package in the store is 19.9 yuan, and consumers have to match other foods to place orders.

"It's like spending money on waste." Zhou Xinyu said.

Various offers stacked

A la carte "good value"

"25 minus 5, 35 minus 10, 45 minus 15..." Open a few stores at random on the takeaway platform, and you can find a variety of full discounts. In addition, merchants and platforms also release various preferential activities such as takeaway red envelopes and subsidy offers, and some offers can be stacked to attract consumers.

On Zhang Yang's desk, there are many bottles of Coke. She laughed and said that this is all the full discount obtained when "calling takeaway", such as ordering 30 yuan, finding 35 yuan minus 10 yuan, and then ordering six or seven yuan a bottle of Coke, the price has dropped to 27 yuan. Later, when there was too much coke, she ordered some snacks, and when she couldn't finish eating, she could only throw it away.

The reporter's interview found that using full discounts to attract customers has become a conventional means in the takeaway industry. Merchants will generally set different preferential positions according to the amount of consumption from low to high, and the more they buy, the greater the preferential range. It is under this mechanism that some consumers are difficult to resist the temptation to add some unnecessary catering, and waste is inevitable.

In the view of Yao Lan, a student at a university in Beijing, for consumers, there is actually only waste, and there is no "preferential" at all.

For example, she said, there is a pancake shop near her school, to buy a pancake price of 8 yuan, but on the takeaway platform pricing is 17 yuan, and then the store has a variety of full coupons and red envelopes, the price of buying a pancake plus two sausages, it is cheaper than the price of a pancake plus a sausage, "anyway, the price is more, in fact, the price is not cheap, it is much more expensive than going to the store to buy."

In addition, when the reporter checked the rules of the platform merchants' full reduction activities, he found that when purchasing goods, the actual price of the goods will be marked after the estimated price, such as a Korean-style takeaway store, a fat beef kimchi soup and a piece of rice are priced at 41.8 yuan, the red font below is marked "Estimated at 27.8 yuan in hand", and the yellow font under the purchase menu page is marked "Buy another 11.2 yuan, you can reduce 6 yuan", and set the prompt of "go to make a single order" in parentheses.

After clicking "Go to Order", the page will display the relatively low-priced drinks or single addition dishes in the store, and when adding an 80-gram rice cake with a list price of 12 yuan, the total price will only increase by 4 yuan. At this time, the yellow order prompt on the page is changed to "buy another 32.2 yuan, you can reduce 7 yuan", until the purchase to the store set the maximum full reduction amount "full 118 minus 35", there is no new order prompt.

"These single tips are to 'lure' consumers to consumption step by step." Zhang Yang said.

Chen Zhi, an employee of a Beijing group company, usually prefers to receive various coupons, and recently he found a new channel to receive takeaway red envelopes, and the full discount can be superimposed with takeaway red envelopes, making the takeaway price look more cost-effective.

"Although it seems to be more cost-effective, after buying it, I found that I couldn't eat it at all, and when I threw it away, I felt very wasteful, which was very guilty." Chen Zhi said.

Wu Qi, executive director of the Wuxi Digital Economy Research Institute, said that the takeaway platform's "full order reduction" promotional means will induce consumers to buy foods that they do not need. Some consumers originally did not have so much demand, but after seeing the full reduction of the discount, they felt that it was very cost-effective, and they consumed more on impulse, resulting in more waste.

"The phenomenon of full discounts and setting the amount of money to be sent should be prohibited. Takeaway businesses can not only consider the problem from the perspective of their own profitability, but also need to bear certain social responsibilities. Zheng Fengtian, a professor at the College of Agriculture and Rural Development of Chinese Min University, said bluntly.

Small portions are preferred

Quantitative standards are lacking

With the anti-food waste concept deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, more and more consumers are calling for "small dishes" and "half dishes". The Beijing Municipal Provisions on Anti-Food Waste proposes that online catering service operators shall mark information such as meal specifications, reference portions, tastes, and recommended number of consumers on the meal browsing page, and promote small, multi-size meals or optional packages.

However, the reporter checked the takeaway platform and found that many stores did not set up small dishes, and some stores, although marked with small dishes, only "small dishes" and no "large dishes" were available. On the menu details page, merchants will generally mark the main ingredients used in the dish, but rarely indicate the number of grams of each ingredient.

Zheng Fengtian believes that it is completely achievable to indicate the specifications and calories of the meal, which is what many countries in Europe and the United States do. From a health point of view, everyone needs to consume a certain amount of calories and protein content every day, if the meal is clearly marked, consumers can calculate themselves when purchasing, reduce waste, and develop scientific and healthy eating habits.

Yang Lan, a graduate student in Beijing, usually prefers to order takeaway, in her opinion, according to the "small dishes" and "half dishes" launched by some businesses at the moment, it is only cheaper for the merchants themselves, consumers are rarely affordable, and the role of anti-food waste is not large.

She analyzed that many "small dishes" and "half dishes" are only one-third of the "large dishes", but the price is half of the "large dishes", and many merchants clearly order a small dish is not delivered, so they use full discounts and coupons to order a number of small dishes, plus more than the use of packaging boxes, consumers order a takeaway expenditure is suddenly much higher, but also caused a lot of waste.

The reporter then tried, ordered the same dish on the takeaway platform to compare the large portion and the small portion, and sure enough, as Yang Lan said, the amount of small dishes was only one-third of the large dish, and the price was close to half of the large dish. Some merchants told reporters: Because the cooking methods and processes of small dishes and large dishes are the same, making small dishes, the workload of the chef has increased, there are more tableware to be washed, and the cost of time, manpower, and material resources has risen, so the unit price is more expensive.

Common graphic discrepancies

No specific weights

The reporter found in the interview that the platform merchants do not mark the amount of food, or the pictures and text do not match, the quality of the ingredients is not good, and the merchants do not read the notes, which will also lead to waste.

"The pictures sent by the merchants are very beautiful, and the food is very tempting, but after delivering, it is very disappointing and disgusting." Li Yueyue said that sometimes, the takeaway ingredients sent are not fresh, the quality of the oil used is problematic, the appearance and taste are very poor, and they are thrown away without eating two bites.

Zhou Xinyu felt the same way. For example, she said, last week she ordered a roast duck takeaway, and judging from the pictures and reviews, the roast duck in the store was beautifully made and well received. But after delivering it, she found that the roast duck sold ugly, had a fishy smell, and after eating a few bites, she threw it away, "I seriously doubt that the praise is brushed out."

Zhang Yang also encountered a similar situation many times. In addition, Zhang Yang does not like to eat onions and ginger, every time she orders takeaway, she will note "do not eat onion and ginger" on the order, but some merchants do not pay attention to the "taboo" of customers on the note, and when she receives such a meal, she can only throw it away.

Chen Zhi is not picky about the taste of takeaway meals, and what makes him dissatisfied is that many takeaway merchants do not label the portions of meals, which often leads to their own purchases and waste. Take rice, Chen Zhi has to eat about 5 or 2 for a meal, but between different merchants, the amount of a bowl of rice varies widely, some buy a bowl is enough, some buy 3 bowls are not enough. For the sake of insurance, Chen Zhi generally orders 3 bowls.

In fact, the Anti-Food Waste Law stipulates that "catering takeaway platforms prompt consumers to order in moderation and consume rationally in a conspicuous way."

However, the reporter looked at multiple takeaway platforms and found that the relevant regulations have not been strictly implemented. Some platforms can not find relevant tips, and some platforms do not have any reminders on the ordering page, and when they reach the payment page, they can see a line of small words at the top, "Please order appropriately to avoid waste."

"I never noticed such a prompt. Even if there is, it is not how many points you want to point, and you do not label the components, which know that there are more points and less points. Chen Zhi said.

Solve the problem of profit-seeking

All parties work together

Some institutions estimate that if the grain wasted per takeaway is 1 or 2, the total amount of wasted grain in a year exceeds 1.7 billion catties. If one person's two kilograms of rations a day are calculated, 1.7 billion kilograms of grain is enough for the permanent population of Shanghai on the mainland to eat for 34 days.

Cheng Shengkui, a researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has long been concerned about food waste. He believes that the takeaway industry is a new catering consumption format, and the waste problem behind it should also attract enough attention. The waste of the takeaway industry is mainly reflected in the lack of full consideration of the differences of consumers.

In the view of Li Yi, director of the Green Digital Development Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the takeaway platform has the ability to lure consumers to consume more, and it is also fully capable of guiding consumers to consume reasonably through algorithms, but it lacks the enthusiasm to do so.

"Capital wants to pursue profits, and of course wants to consume more in the same amount of time. For some takeaway platforms, there may be no enthusiasm or motivation to actively dissuade the public, through the algorithm to calculate which people, which families do not actually need to order so much, and then remind consumers to be less. To truly achieve the goal of saving food, it still needs a long way to go. Li Yi said.

"Consumers have different eating habits and different meal volumes, and the takeaway industry should provide more diversified choices and fully consider the differences in consumers' diets." For example, from the portion, provide half a dish, a small dish; from the taste, provide more kinds of collocation. Differentiated options are one of the important ways to reduce waste in takeaways. Cheng Shengkui said that this is conducive to the high-quality development of catering consumption, and the development of customization is the high-quality development of the takeaway industry.

In his view, takeaway platforms also have to bear certain social responsibilities, and should not simply pursue profits as the only goal. The platform itself has a certain amount of consumer data, and can analyze consumer diet trends according to big data and guide consumers to consume reasonably. If we only pursue profitability and do not adapt to the overall national planning for the development of the catering industry, it will be difficult to achieve sustainable development. Industry associations should conduct research to balance the interests of all parties, require all parties to actively assume social responsibility, and jointly develop in a greener, healthier and more frugal direction.

The Anti-Food Waste Work Plan recently issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments, as well as the Anti-Food Waste Law of the People's Republic of China implemented on April 29, 2021, make it clear that catering takeaway platforms should prompt consumers to order in an appropriate amount in a conspicuous manner, and catering service operators must not induce or mislead consumers to order excessively; and give warnings or fines to catering service operators that induce or mislead consumers to over-order and cause obvious waste.

Wu Qi believes that in the context of advocating conservation and opposing waste in the whole society, takeaway platforms need to further optimize the corresponding marketing mechanisms. On the page of ordering food, consumers should be prompted to order appropriate amounts of food on demand in a conspicuous way, and it is necessary to clearly mark the specifications, flavor, recommended number of consumers and other information of the meal, establish a point reward mechanism for consumer ordering, and guide consumers to consume rationally. From the restaurant level, the platform should increase its support for the launch of half-dish and half-meal restaurants, such as reducing commission rates and providing digital support.

(The consumers in this article are pseudonyms)

(Reporter Zhao Li Intern Yang Yinan)

Source: Rule of Law Daily