Chinanews client, Beijing, August 16th (Reporter Zhang Ni) Today with abundant material, it is no longer difficult for ordinary Chinese people to eat well. On the contrary, in the Chinese society where the catering industry is highly developed, the "tip of waste" grows at an alarming rate every year.
For us, why is "CD" so difficult?
Customers are spending on a food street in Beijing. Photo by Zhang Ni, reporter from China News Service
How amazing is "waste on the tip of the tongue"?
At 11:30 noon on every working day, the company canteen where Ma Linlin (a pseudonym) is located will deliver lunch to all floors on time.
During the epidemic, employees stopped going to the canteen to eat, but instead received their own meals, but it was during this time that she found that a large number of boxed meals were thrown away every day, and some were even left intact.
"The company distributes free lunches according to the number of people every day, but many people are tired of eating and go out to eat as soon as they arrive. Some of the extra lunch will be taken home by some colleagues, and some will be thrown away."
According to Ma Linlin's observation, about one-tenth of the lunch delivered by the company every day is not received. A lot of food that nobody wants goes into the trash can during off hours. Even if the box lunch was taken away, a lot of food was thrown away before it was finished.
Such waste is not uncommon. Zhu Nan (pseudonym) who works in a state-owned company in Beijing told reporters that her company has two canteens, each with hundreds of people dining. In the recovery area, usually two large buckets of leftovers can be loaded at noon, weighing at least tens of kilograms.
In restaurants and cafeterias, food waste is even more serious.
“Guests usually take more meals, and most of them cannot be eaten completely. Generally, the most leftovers are green vegetables, staple foods, and a lot of dim sum, many of which were eaten only.” A chain buffet restaurant in Xicheng District, Beijing The waiter told reporters.
Previous data estimated that China’s annual losses and waste caused by grain storage, transportation and processing alone are as high as 70 billion jin. The consumption link of the dining table is even more important. In 2015, the research team of the Chongqing Survey Team of the National Bureau of Statistics wrote "China's Food Supply and Demand and Trends in the 13th Five-Year Plan" period. About 100 billion catties can support the needs of about 350 million people a year.
In 2018, the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the World Wide Fund for Nature jointly issued the "Report on Food Waste in Chinese Urban Catering".
The report pointed out that, after preliminary calculations, the amount of food waste on the table in China's urban catering industry in 2015 was between 17 million and 18 million tons, which is equivalent to the amount of food consumed by 30 million to 50 million people a year.
From the perspective of places and groups, large restaurants, tourist groups, primary and middle school student groups, and official dinners are the "hardest hit areas" for food waste.
The employee meal of Ma Linlin's company was placed on the workstation (photo courtesy of the respondent)
Why is "CD" so difficult?
In fact, since 2013, the country has launched the "CD Action". However, the "China Urban Catering Food Waste Report" research found that the per capita amount of food waste in China's catering industry is 93 grams per person per meal, and the waste rate is 11.7%. In addition, waste in large gatherings is 38%, and that of student lunches is 1/3 Was thrown away.
Why is it so difficult to fully implement the "CD" that has been promoted for so many years?
The reporter found in the investigation that this is related to many factors such as people's catering consumption concepts, living habits, and catering business management.
Many restaurant waiters said that they usually advise customers on the amount of dishes, but they have no right to force them. Generally, table meals and group meals will usually order one or two more dishes. Coupled with some private banquets, they will often over-order for "face".
In some corporate canteens, food waste is sometimes even more helpless.
Ma Linlin said that because the company's employees are difficult to adjust, the canteen usually delivers two staple foods to satisfy everyone's taste. This move was originally a good thing, but in the end it resulted in too much delivery and many employees couldn't eat it.
"Now the company's lunch is all free, and everyone doesn't take it seriously, and it doesn't hurt to throw it away," she said.
Zhu Nan told reporters that more often, it is a last resort to throw away the food.
According to her, in the past few years, the company’s canteen has been a contract system, and few people pay attention to food quality supervision. This has led to the worsening and worsening of the taste, quality, and nutrition of the canteen, which is often complained by colleagues.
“Sometimes it’s not intentional waste. It’s often found that the food you bring is like fished out of oil. It is really hard to swallow, let alone healthy. If you can start with the quality of the food, it may also help reduce waste.”
Zhu Nan said that she also knows that food is hard to come by, but besides the diners, she hopes that some cafeteria operators can also do more.
Data map photo by Wei Ying
"N-1 Ordering Mode" is here
In fact, with regard to food waste, relevant documents and policies have been issued from national to local levels.
As early as 2014, the two offices issued the "Opinions on Strict Economy and Opposing Food Waste", which clearly stated the need to eliminate waste of meals in official activities and promote thrifty meals in unit canteens.
In addition, various documents have been issued at the local level.
For example, as early as 2014, the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and the General Office of the Municipal Government issued the "Beijing Implementation Plan for Strict Economy and Anti-Food Waste."
In 2017, the Sichuan Provincial Administration of Government Affairs issued the “Interim Measures for the Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Sichuan’s Party and Government Canteens to Strictly Save and Oppose Food Waste.” This province is the first to carry out a quantitative assessment of the work of the Party and government organs against food waste.
Recently, the proposal of the "N-1 ordering model" has aroused widespread public concern.
This month, China Federation of Commerce, China Chain Store & Franchise Association, China Cuisine Association, China Hotel Association, and Meituan Dianping jointly launched the "Proposal on Stopping Food Waste and Cultivating Saving Habits" to the national catering industry. This "Proposal" recommends that catering companies establish a disciplinary mechanism. During the ordering process, they must perform reminders to customers, and promptly dissuade the obvious excess demand.
Since then, the China Hotel Association issued a proposal to encourage buffet companies to adopt reward and punishment measures, remind customers to take meals on demand, small amounts, and multiple times, and enhance customers' initiative to save consumption.
In addition, recently, catering and culinary associations in many provinces have also issued initiatives, calling on the entire industry to take action. The content of the initiative generally includes catering companies not to mislead consumers over ordering meals, providing half meals, appropriately rewarding "CDs", and implementing N- 1 order mode, etc.
Some cities have made it clear that the savings should be extended to the back kitchen. For example, the Zhengzhou Food and Restaurant Association proposes that the initiative to stop food waste should extend to the entire process of food production, processing, and service.
On the other hand, many catering companies have joined the ranks of opposing waste.
The reporter learned from Yum China that at present its KFC, Pizza Hut and other well-known catering brands have responded to the initiative, calling on and advocating consumers to carry out the "CD" to the end.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, national catering revenue exceeded 4.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.4% over the previous year. Obviously, how to reduce food waste while developing the market has become a problem that the government and enterprises need to think about.
Data map: A chef at a restaurant in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yun
Can new consumption habits be cultivated?
Major catering and culinary associations advocate catering companies to provide "half portion dishes" and "small portions", but the reporter noticed that before this, some companies have begun to test the water.
For example, Quanjude has launched "Roast Duck for One Person" and "Roast Duck for Two" packages this year in order to facilitate more diverse consumer groups.
The reporter also searched on a certain food delivery platform and found that many businesses have launched small dishes weighing about 100-250 grams, and they are favored by consumers.
"Most of the small dishes in the store weigh between 150 grams and 300 grams, and even one person can definitely eat it." A staff member of a Chinese fast food restaurant in Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing introduced to reporters.
The reporter noticed that because the quantity and price of dishes are relatively moderate, a small portion of dishes is more favored by young consumers, especially students. The monthly sales volume of some small hot-selling items in the restaurant alone is close to a thousand copies, with an average of dozens of copies sold every day.
On the Internet, many netizens also called on some restaurants and takeaways to launch small dishes, and hoped that the prices could also be lowered.
In an interview with reporters, Zhu Nan said that for ordinary working-class people like her, in addition to environmental hygiene and food safety, the most important thing is the cost of dining. In her opinion, if the cost-effectiveness of the dishes can be guaranteed, small portions and half portions will be good choices for many consumers.
As the saying goes, people rely on food as their heaven. As one of the world's recognized "most eatable countries", on the issue of "eating", the Chinese people may not only think about how to eat well, but also how to eat economically and economically.
As some industry experts have said, in the future, it is no longer desirable for the catering industry to win by quantity. It is the kingly way to conquer the "stomach" and "heart" of consumers with innovative services and quality dishes. (Finish)