Some people are rushing to "pick up the leak", some are "guilty" in their hearts——
Sales problems have become alternative business opportunities. Can temporary foods be bought with confidence?
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In the past, merchants often felt headaches about the handling of impending food, and consumers were even more "missing".
Nowadays, with the "waste on the tip of the tongue" cooling down, coupled with the price advantage, temporary food has become "sweet and sweet" instead.
This shows that anti-waste has become the consensus of the society and transformed into action. Between buying and selling, it reflects the tendency of rational consumption attitude.
On the afternoon of June 11, in front of a freezer in a supermarket in the Panlong business district of Chongqing, several young people swept away the yogurt marked with the words "Buy One Get Two Free".
They said to the shopping guide on the side: "Spend one portion of money to buy two or even three portions of food. If you have this kind of'leakage' opportunity, you must seize it."
A similar situation is now the norm in major supermarkets and shopping malls in Chongqing, and many supermarkets have also set up "provisional food shopping areas."
The person in charge of a supermarket in Yangjiaping, Chongqing said that there are only two destinations for temporary foods, either eat them or throw them away. “In the past, the handling of temporary foods was a big problem, but now these foods are affected by consumers, especially young people. Favor has turned into a business opportunity."
According to industry insiders, at present, the scale of the temporary food market has reached tens of billions.
However, in the face of impending food that has entered the public's field of vision from a "niche carnival", some consumers are rushing to "leak out", and many people are "guilty" because of food safety issues.
In the past, "I couldn't look down on it", but now I "rush to buy"
Temporary foods generally refer to foods that are about to reach the expiration date but are still within the expiration date.
Compared with conventional food, the closer the shelf life is, the cheaper the price.
In the past, merchants often felt headaches about the handling of impending foods, and consumers were even more "not looking down on them" and held an attitude of keeping away from them.
Nowadays, with the "waste on the tip of the tongue" cooling down, coupled with the price advantage, temporary food has become "sweet and sweet" instead.
Le Fan, born in the 90s, is now a clerk in a pastry shop in Chongqing's Yangjiaping business district.
He told reporters that in the past, when the store handled the impending bread, cake, and milk, he usually asked his clerk to take it home to eat or throw it away.
Beginning in the second half of last year, the store adopted the methods of "buy one get one free", "buy two get one free" and discount sales for temporary foods.
Le Fan said that this kind of promotion has made the store's business hot at once, and many consumers often come to buy it after 9pm, and the sales are much higher than before.
During the conversation, a consumer who had just bought temporary food interjected: “I always come to buy breakfast for the next day at night. Under normal circumstances, it costs more than 10 yuan for a piece of bread and a box of milk. You can save three or four yuan for food."
"Don't underestimate the few dollars you save every day. You can accumulate hundreds of dollars in one month." The consumer admitted frankly that since he discovered this "secret" for saving money, he used to "not look at it." He is "rushing to buy" the impending food.
"It saves myself money and avoids food waste. This is a win-win situation."
The reporter noticed that it is not just the immediate food sales in offline physical stores that are booming, but online sales are also booming.
Searching for "provisional food" on the e-commerce platform can find many "specialty stores", many of which are rated as "treasure stores" by consumers.
"Countdown" food opens tens of billions of "tracks"
According to data from the Circulation Industry Promotion Center of the Ministry of Commerce, the total output value of my country's snack food industry in 2020 will exceed 3 trillion yuan. If calculated by 5% inventory precipitation, the scale of the temporary food industry has exceeded 150 billion yuan.
Even if calculated at 1% of inventory precipitation, the temporary food market has reached the "tens of billions" level.
According to the company's data, there are currently 55 related companies specializing in temporary food in my country.
A person in charge of a temporary food online store in Chongqing said that offline temporary food is more profitable than online sales.
He said that the average daily sales of his online store is about 1,000 yuan, and the gross profit is only 30%.
"A friend of mine has just opened a community store in a second-tier city recently. It is purely for temporary food, such as milk, snacks, drinks, etc., with an average daily turnover of more than 4,000 yuan and a gross profit of more than 50%. The daily movement of goods is calculated by ton. "
With the emergence of more and more impending foods, the market value of impending foods has gradually been discovered.
From the initial discount sales of temporary food through small-scale stores, to the emergence of offline direct-sale stores, and then to the release of temporary food for sale on e-commerce platforms, the industry's attention is constantly increasing.
The reporter combed and found that these impending foods priced by the "countdown" have already opened a tens of billions of "tracks" and have won the attention of capital.
At present, there have been more than a dozen temporary food specialty chain stores on the market that mainly focus on "finished goods processing". Such discount supermarket investors include Alibaba.
"The actions of capital indicate that at least a tens of billions of'tracks' have been opened." In the eyes of industry experts, although temporary food has been on the "window", there are no small risks in this business.
Once the poor quality control of "goods" appears, the market will re-examine the industry.
Temporary food can be discounted, but supervision cannot be "discounted"
With the "popularity" of impending food, discussions about impending food have also come and gone.
Proponents believe that it is cost-effective, which can reduce the cost of living and avoid waste; opponents claim that temporary food is in a "grey area" and poses health risks.
In this regard, Liu Lei, the person in charge of a supermarket in the Panlong business district in Chongqing, analyzed that the main reason why people have prejudice against impending food is that they fail to understand the difference between "imminent" and "expired", and there is a mentality of "saving face". .
Liu Lei said frankly that for a long time, the food industry has kept secrets about the word "immediate". Whether it is online platforms or offline stores, they are willing to replace the word "immediate" with discounts, promotions, and clearance. As a result, in the public's consumer consciousness, the adventurous period has been equated with the expiration date.
In Liu Lei's view, the popularity of temporary foods today shows that anti-waste has become the consensus of the society and transformed into action. The buying and selling of the food reflects the tendency of rational consumption attitude.
During the visit, the person in charge of many convenience stores and supermarkets in Chongqing said that the temporary food itself has no connection with the "gray area", but the opaque sales model of some merchants makes consumers feel cheated, which connects the two stand up.
Li Weijie, a senior practitioner in the retail industry, told reporters that ordinary goods will be sold at a discount when the critical point of 3/4 of the shelf life is approaching, and some temporary food can be returned to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer has a special way to deal with the temporary food.
If there is no way to return to the manufacturer, and the discounted goods have not been sold out, they will be destroyed.
“Therefore, food that has not exceeded the expiration date, as long as it is bought in a reliable supermarket or other channels, there is no need to worry about it being unsafe.” The relevant staff of the Chongqing Food Safety Promotion Association said that at present, the temporary food market The standardization of food products depends largely on the self-consciousness of the merchants, and there is no unified standard for quality control of temporary foods online and offline.
Therefore, in the context of rational consumption, supervision cannot be "discounted", and merchants, food manufacturers, and distributors should also sell frankly and do not need to cover up.
Huang Shiqiang