Why is ad hoc food sought after
【Economy Interface】
The love for low prices, discounts, and benefits is no longer a "label" exclusively for the elderly who can live their lives. Recently, shopping for temporary foods in temporary food supermarkets or online has become a hot spot for young people between the ages of 25 and 35.
The reporter's investigation found that young people have different starting points for why they buy temporary food. "High cost performance", "sensible consumption", "more environmentally friendly" and other reasons reflect the gradual and rational consumption outlook of young people today.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations pointed out that around the world, about 1/3 of food is lost or wasted every year, up to about 1.3 billion tons. The impending food processed by supermarkets in accordance with regulations is also an important part of causing waste. The hot sale of impending food provides a new solution for reducing food waste.
Why is ad hoc food sought after? Will nutrition be "discounted"? In terms of rational use, what new public welfare models have been developed? The reporter visited and investigated this.
1. 2.1 million people buy impending food every year
【Case】
Recently, in a program, Shanghai "money saver" Zhang Chen shared his experience of buying impending food. "Pending food is generally around 50% to 30% off. My two people spend about 20,000 yuan a year on food and drink. If it is purchased at the original price, it will cost about 50,000 yuan. Save more than 30,000 yuan." Zhang Chen said.
Like Zhang Chen, there have been many people who are keen to buy impending food.
In some online forums, topics related to temporary food have attracted more than 80,000 people's attention and discussions.
Survey data shows that among the consumer groups of impending food, those aged 25 to 35 account for nearly half, and more than 40% of consumers surveyed expressed their willingness to buy and recommend impending food to people around them.
Temporary foods generally refer to foods that are about to reach the expiration date but are still within the expiration date.
According to the "critical shelf life of food" standards announced by relevant departments, the shelf life of cans, candies, biscuits, etc. is marked with a shelf life of 1 year or longer, and the critical period is 45 days before expiration; milk, milk beverages with live bacteria, staple foods, etc. marked with a shelf life of less Within 15 days, the critical period is 1-4 days before expiration.
In a supermarket in Fengtai District, Beijing, many yogurt on the refrigerated shelves are labeled "buy one get one free".
"When I was shopping before, I saw that the supermarket would offer special yogurt for the expiration date, which was very affordable, so I would often check it out." Ms. Lin from Beijing said, "In fact, these yogurts usually have five or six days before they expire and go home. It can be eaten right away, generally not until the expiration date."
The reporter's investigation found that many large supermarkets have shelves specializing in selling temporary food.
The products on the temporary shelves are also rich in variety, most of which are snacks, as well as daily necessities such as shampoo and skin care products.
Commodities are generally sold at around 3-7 percent off, which is much more affordable than regular prices.
On many online shopping platforms, temporary food sales are also very hot.
Searching for "provisional food" in the shopping app, chocolate, puffed food, instant noodles, beverages and other commodities almost cover most of the zero food category.
In a shop that specializes in selling temporary food, an imported cookie with an original price of 8.8 yuan is priced at only 4.3 yuan, and the monthly sales volume has exceeded 9,000.
On the online platform, merchants specializing in temporary food are on the rise, and they are also gaining more and more consumers' favor.
In April of this year, Taobao and Science Popularization China released the "Report on Cold Knowledge of Temporary Consumption", which showed that 2.1 million people buy temporary food every year.
Among them, the remaining 20% to 50% of the expiration date of the shelf life, due to the low discount and the unaffected taste, will often usher in a new round of sales peaks.
Offline, impending food has also become a ready-to-go business opportunity.
Many shopping malls and core business districts in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities have added a considerable number of temporary food stores or supermarkets.
A supermarket specializing in temporary foods near Shuangjing in Beijing is crowded with people almost every day, which is significantly more crowded than ordinary supermarkets.
"I only spent more than 40 yuan on these snacks, which is much cheaper than the regular price." Xiao Zhou, a girl born in the 90s who had just finished shopping, told reporters, "But because it is impending food, I won't stock up a lot. Buy it after you eat it."
Consumer enthusiasm for buying reflects the huge potential of the impending food market.
According to the "2020 China's Tentative Food Industry Market Analysis and Consumer Research Report" released by iiMedia Consulting, the market size of China's snack food industry in 2020 will reach 3 trillion yuan, and a large number of products will flow into the Tentative Food industry every year. Even if calculated at 1% of inventory precipitation, temporary food will become a "tens of billions market."
Dong Guoyong, deputy director of the Food and Drug Industry Development and Regulatory Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed that people are willing to buy temporary food because it is more affordable, and this is also related to the growth of people's health literacy.
From 2008 to 2020, the health literacy of Chinese residents has increased from 6% to 23%, and more and more people are beginning to realize that there is generally no problem with food safety in temporary food.
2. There will be no change in the nutrition of the impending food that is properly stored
【Case】
The reporter found in the survey that many consumers said, “Purchasing temporary food is not only a saving of money, but also an environmentally friendly shopping behavior. Moreover, there are generally three or four months before the expiration date when the goods are purchased. Just eat it before it expires." Consumers also reported that “the quality of impending foods should be more controlled. Many products are prone to spoilage without expiration due to weather conditions. Some impending foods, such as biscuits and puffed foods, are easily spoiled and cannot be eaten at all.” .
So is the food safe during the period?
Many people still have such doubts in their hearts.
Liu Shaowei, deputy director of the FDA Research Center of East China University of Science and Technology, said: “Pending food is not equal to expired food. It is stored correctly within the shelf life and there is no problem with quality and safety. You can eat with confidence.”
In a temporary food supermarket in Daxing District, Beijing, the reporter found that boxed melon seeds with a shelf life of 8 months were produced in May of this year. The original price was 24.9 yuan and they were sold in the supermarket for 7.9 yuan; the ones produced in August this year , Potato chips with a shelf life of 12 months, the original price is 12.8 yuan, and the current price is 4.2 yuan.
Many commodities in the supermarket have a shelf life of more than 3 months, and some daily necessities even have a shelf life of more than two years.
Prior to this, my country issued a series of relevant regulations for the shelf life of food.
On May 13, 2011, the relevant state departments defined the shelf life of prepackaged food as follows, that is, the period during which the quality of prepackaged food is maintained under the storage conditions specified on the label.
During this period, the product is fully suitable for sale and maintains the unique quality that is not required or has been described in the label.
On January 27, 2012, the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued a document clearly requiring that food operators should make eye-catching reminders to consumers about foods that are about to expire, that is, foods that have reached the critical period of shelf life need to be notified to customers and sold separately.
When buying pre-packaged foods, consumers previously valued safety, but now they value nutrition more.
So when the shelf life of the food is approaching, will the nutrition be "discounted"?
Zhang Yongjian, director of the Food and Drug Industry Development and Regulatory Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that many consumers are worried that over time, the structure and nutritional content of food may undergo some changes.
From the perspective of relevant regulations, within the shelf life, food is not allowed to have this problem, which is the basic requirement of the law for food quality.
"When shopping for temporary food online, I generally don't buy brands that I don't know well. Many foods will be eaten soon after I buy it." Wu Jiahui, a consumer of temporary food "in the pit", told reporters about four months ago. Although I often buy impending foods, I am still more cautious. Based on the experience of netizens, I have summed up a shopping "strategy" that suits me.
"I generally choose foods that are easy to preserve, such as cereal, self-heating hot pot, and instant noodles. I also buy some daily necessities such as toothpaste and shampoo. Some foods, such as ice cream, seafood and other quick-frozen foods, require higher storage conditions. There are still some worries about whether the transportation, preservation and other links are in place, so I buy less." Wu Jiahui said.
Zhang Yongjian pointed out that some impending foods have certain restrictions on the shelf life.
For example, some foods require a certain temperature in storage conditions. Failure to control the temperature will cause the food to deteriorate.
These special storage conditions should also be paid attention to in general consumption.
Although impending food is not expired food, in the development of the industry, food quality and safety issues still require strong supervision.
The State Administration for Market Regulation recently released a short popular science video "Can I buy temporary food?"
".
Relevant experts remind consumers that there are often larger discounts on temporary foods, but they should still be purchased on-demand when purchasing, and do not stock up, so as to avoid food waste due to expired deterioration; after you buy them home, it is best to eat them within the shelf life .
If the food has expired, swelling, odor, mildew, etc., it should be discarded.
3. Temporary food can play "waste heat" in public welfare
【Case】
Every morning, at the gate of the Oasis Food Bank on Eshan Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, there are crowds waiting to receive food. Every day from 8-10 o'clock, the subsistence allowance households registered in the street can line up here to collect fruits and vegetables. After 10 o'clock, sanitation workers in the street will come to choose. Unfinished food will be distributed by community volunteers to some low-income families and elderly people living alone around the community.
Enterprises donate temporary food, which is then distributed by the food bank to people in need. This charity model has gradually entered the public eye in recent years.
Statistics show that in 1967, the world's first food bank was established in the United States, and it was soon promoted in Europe and the United States.
"The food bank will cooperate with some supermarkets, bakeries, etc., such as vegetables, bread and other foods promised to be sold on the same day. The actual shelf life can be until noon the next day. People who need it." said Li Bing, director of the Shanghai Oasis Public Welfare Development Center, founder of the first domestic food bank, and person in charge of the Taobao store of "Oasis Food Club".
According to Li Bing, Oasis Food Bank has helped 239 food manufacturers, "rescued" more than 1,000 tons of impending food that was about to be wasted, and distributed more than 1 million people in need for free.
However, all food banks in the world currently use a traditional offline store model, with high labor costs, low distribution efficiency, and a small range of beneficiaries.
On September 16, Oasis Food Bank moved from offline to online. The first domestic food bank Taobao store, "Oasis Shengshishe", officially opened. The temporary food in the store was donated by merchants.
It is reported that people in need can place an order with only 1 cent, and the package will be delivered to the door, without having to go to a fixed offline collection point.
Taobao related staff said that the opening of an online food bank will increase the speed and efficiency of food distribution and cover more people.
At the same time, the way of receiving orders placed online also makes the recipients more dignified.
In addition to the food bank, Temporary Food also exerts its "waste heat" in public welfare through more ways.
In May of this year, the Nanjing market supervision department and the civil affairs department piloted the establishment of a temporary food donation platform for enterprises to connect with charity supermarkets, and distributed temporary foods to people in need for free through the charity supermarkets.
As early as 2017, "shared refrigerators" emerged in Beijing, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Jiangsu and other places, and became one of the directions of temporary food donations for some catering companies and supermarkets.
At present, many companies rely on their own resources to test the water-sharing refrigerator public welfare model.
Today, near the intersection of Wuning Road and Puxiong Road in Shanghai, Shanghai’s first shared refrigerator is placed in long queues every morning.
What cannot be ignored is that in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, many of the shared refrigerators and caring refrigerators that have emerged are just short-lived.
How to continue to operate is still a problem that needs to be considered and solved in the temporary food-related public welfare model.
Relevant experts said that the demand for shared refrigerators is strong, and how to ensure food supply is the difficulty of continuous operation.
In the future, we must attract more caring companies to form an effective cooperation mechanism.
(Our reporter Yao Yaqi)