How can we take into account the green environmental protection and consumer experience?
Many chain brands use paper straws to soften the taste and be criticized
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Intern Xie Yihong
The implementation of the most stringent "plastic restriction order" may start with an originally inconspicuous "paper straw".
According to the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on January 16, 2020, "By the end of 2020, the use of non-degradable disposable plastic straws in the catering industry across the country is prohibited."
This provision is called the "prohibition order" in the industry.
Now, the "ban order" has officially landed in the country for nearly two months.
Paper straws, as a cheaper alternative to PLA (polylactic acid) biodegradable straws, have become the first choice for milk tea shops.
However, problems such as insufficient hardness of paper straws, softening and melting in soaking water, and peculiar smell when exposed to hot water have once again caused consumers to complain.
The topic "Why I hate paper straws" on Weibo has been read more than 100 million times and discussed more than 16,000.
Regarding how the catering industry can find the best alternative to meet consumer needs under the "plastic restriction order", some insiders believe that finding a balance between brand, supply chain, platform, and consumers is the primary task.
Paper straws become the first choice for milk tea shops
Easy to soften and provoke consumers to complain
Starting from New Year's Day in 2021, major milk tea shops have removed non-degradable disposable plastic straws.
However, the replaced paper straws did not become the standard for upstarts in milk tea shops. Instead, the poor experience caused consumers to complain frequently.
In Beijing, for example.
Last year, the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment issued the "Beijing Plastic Pollution Control Action Plan (2020-2025)", proposing that the catering industry should ban non-degradable disposable plastic straws by the end of 2020.
Plastic straws in many beverage shops in Beijing have been replaced one after another, and paper straws have become a new choice for most businesses.
According to the observation of a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily, the experience of using paper straws has triggered extensive discussions on the Internet, and many netizens have pointed out many problems in using paper straws.
Paper straws are easy to soften, and the higher the temperature, the faster the softening speed. Many consumers report that "the straws have been bitten when hot drinks have not been enjoyed for too long."
After softening, the deformed paper straw makes it difficult to suck up the ingredients at the bottom of the milk tea or ice coffee.
Compared with plastic straws, paper straws also have a "paper" flavor, which affects the taste of the drink itself.
Although negative public opinion full of ridicule about paper straws has repeatedly appeared on the Internet, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily visited a number of milk tea shops and found that in real life, customers’ attitudes towards paper straws are somewhat different from those in the online environment.
Most customers report that the experience of using paper straws is indeed inferior to that of plastic straws, but the many drawbacks are ultimately a minor contradiction. Customers will not be unwilling to enjoy milk tea, coffee and other beverages.
At the same time, most of the customers of beverage shops are regular customers. For them, paper straws are not an abrupt change, but a new "habit" developed in the long-term consumer experience.
Ms. Wang, a 30-year-old Beijing citizen, said that she was a little uncomfortable when she first used paper straws, but she drank two or three cups of milk tea a week and quickly accepted the taste of paper straws.
Ms. Liang, a 25-year-old Beijing citizen, pointed out that she buys four or five cups of coffee or milk tea every week. She rarely encounters problems such as bitten or deformed paper straws. The overall experience is not much different from plastic straws.
Many national chain beverage stores replaced plastic straws with paper straws even earlier than the policy release time.
Merchants such as Heytea, CoCo, Naxue’s Tea, Starbucks, etc. all completed the replacement at least 4 months before the policy was released.
A reporter from the Rule of Law Daily learned from a CoCo store in Beijing that the store replaced plastic straws with PLA biodegradable straws four months ago, and replaced them with paper straws the following month. At the end of the month, the paper straws were further replaced with PLA+BAS biodegradable straws.
The store manager said that PLA biodegradable straws are not suitable for hot drinks. After replacing them with paper straws, they often receive complaints from customers about the bad taste of the paper straws.
The PLA+BAS degradable straws currently used not only solve the problem that the original PLA straws cannot be used for hot drinks, but also avoid the bad drinking experience brought by the paper straws.
Merchants also have cost considerations when choosing paper straws.
According to industry insiders, PLA, as a new type of biodegradable material, is made of starch raw materials proposed by renewable plant resources (such as corn, wheat, etc.). Its production cost is higher than that of ordinary disposable plastic straws. The production cost of paper straws is usually about 3 times higher than that of disposable plastic straws.
Businesses will naturally choose lower-cost paper straws.
Unlike CoCo Duke and Hey Tea, which started to use PLA biodegradable straws, Nayuki's tea still uses paper straws in all stores.
The manager of Naxue’s tea Wangfujing APM shop told the reporter of the Rule of Law Daily that the shop also replaced plastic straws with paper straws as early as August last year, and it has been in use today.
In the early stage, I received negative feedback from customers, but after the clerk repeatedly explained to the customers the origin of the use of paper straws, most customers can also accept the use of paper straws without receiving too many customer complaints.
Innovative research and development of more degradable materials
Change consumption concept and consumption habits
From the "plastic restriction order", which is mainly aimed at plastic shopping bags, to the "strongest plastic restriction order" that has been upgraded again today, the environmental protection campaign for plastic restriction has been in progress.
It is only with the continuous rise of new tea and coffee drinks and other industries that the "upper" paper straws after limited plastics have become the focus of public opinion.
Some media learned from the Degradable Plastics Professional Committee of the China Plastics Association that the cost of a ton of disposable plastic straws is about 8,000 yuan, while a ton of paper straws costs nearly 22,000 yuan.
Plastic straws are difficult to be recycled due to their light weight and small size, and have become the focus of attention among all disposable plastic products.
According to Xinhua News Agency, in 2019, the cumulative output of plastic straws nationwide was nearly 30,000 tons, or about 46 billion, and the per capita usage exceeded 30. The degradation may take up to 500 years.
In fact, for catering businesses, the cost of putting on new tableware is not low.
Take a straw with a size of 12×230 as an example, the price of ordinary disposable plastic straws is around 0.035 yuan/piece, while the four-layer paper straws without thickening and without LOGO cost about 0.1 yuan/piece, which is degradable. It costs about 0.15 yuan/stick.
The 3 to 4 times cost upgrade is also a problem that merchants are temporarily unable to solve under the surge in demand.
Some businesses can also understand that consumers have difficulty accepting paper straws. In order to retain customers, they choose more expensive biodegradable straws.
"One is the cost issue, but more importantly, I hope that manufacturers can upgrade the paper straws. I hope that the problems of softness and odor will no longer be a problem in the future." A coffee shop owner said.
In the opinion of some people in the catering industry, especially the beverage industry, the strict implementation of the "plastic restriction order" can not fully meet the needs of consumers and bring consumers a product experience lower than their psychological expectations, which is a kind of harm to the brand. .
At the same time, many experts pointed out that the premise of "plastic reduction" should be convenient for people. While "limiting plastic" and practicing environmental protection, how to ensure that customers have a comfortable consumption experience still requires beverage shops, container suppliers and consumers. The three parties work together.
It is understood that the paper straws on the market are also constantly evolving. Some manufacturers use pure wood pulp, which can generally be soaked in drinks at 80 degrees Celsius for two or three hours.
The paper straws for milk tea are generally four-layer thick paper, which can withstand high temperatures for about two or three hours.
The industry believes that whether it is a paper straw or a degradable straw, it may be difficult to perfectly solve the environmental pollution problem caused by traditional plastics.
To solve the problem fundamentally, in addition to designing more easily degradable materials through technical means, consumers should also reduce the use of plastics in daily life, improve the recycling of plastic products, and bring recyclable straws and shopping bags. , Packaging boxes, etc. are the "kingdom."
Regarding this, Tang Jiansheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission, believes that whether it is from the consumer side, or from the production and enterprise side, "Everyone is willing to pay for environmental protection, but there is a premise that consumers pay for it. In the future, is there really a good experience? This may be the key point."
At the same time, Liu Junhai, director of the Institute of Commercial Law of Renmin University of China, believes that in order to make the concept of environmental protection truly rooted in the hearts of the people, the industry and businesses must be within the scope of the policy, the catering industry can afford the program, and the consumer experience. Find the greatest common divisor, "The'plastic limit order' is more to guide consumers to accept the changes brought about by changes, especially the adjustment of consumer value."
Yin Yuanyuan, a professor at Hunan Technology and Business University, also said in an interview with the media that environmental pollution all represent rising costs.
An increase in business costs will lead to changes in prices.
Correspondingly, consumers must accept changes in commodity prices and changes in usage habits, "Of course, there will be a process. With changes in supply, companies must also upgrade their products."
According to Yin Yuanyuan, the paper straws that people are not accustomed to use at present, in fact, the United States began to use many years ago.
In addition, bamboo tableware, which is more environmentally friendly than wood products, is also very popular internationally, but it is coldly received in China.
Therefore, consumers may consider learning from more advanced consumption concepts in the world.
After all, in the face of the "plastic restriction order," establishing a habit of reducing the use of disposable products may be more important than promoting any "alternatives."