observer

　　The food waste loophole must be closed.

　　A piece of bread costs tens of dollars, a piece of toast costs hundreds of dollars, a cake costs hundreds of dollars... In recent years, the topic "Bread Assassin" has been on the hot searches many times.

At the same time, some bakery stores discard enough bread to fill a sack in a day, and some have a loss rate of over 50%.

"Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters recently visited some bakery stores and found that some businesses adopt marketing methods such as high pricing, large packaging, and filling shelves, resulting in abnormally high loss reporting rates and serious waste.

　　Bread is a baking product. The "2023 China Catering Industry Annual Report" shows that the baking industry will show a significant growth trend in 2022, and the average store revenue will increase significantly year-on-year.

Some experts predict that China's baked food market will exceed 300 billion yuan in 2023.

It can be seen that on the one hand, the baking industry is in a high-growth situation, on the other hand, the food waste phenomenon in bakery stores is very serious and needs urgent attention.

　　According to reports, the so-called losses were due to the fact that some unsold bread was used as feed, while most stores threw it away directly as garbage.

The reason for the high reported loss rate of bread is not only due to the short "lifeline" - the taste will change if it exceeds 4 hours, and there is a risk of expiration if it exceeds 24 hours, but also due to the business strategy - the blind pursuit of "big" packaging and "full shelves" ”, because the brand premium is high and there is a lot of waste, “you can’t lose money”.

　　Advocating thrift is a traditional virtue, and opposing food waste has entered the era of rule of law. The "Anti-Food Waste Law" fully demonstrates the country's attitude.

In recent years, driven by the rule of law, public opinion and other forces, catering companies and internal canteens have taken multiple measures to reduce food waste and achieved positive results.

However, food waste is serious in many bakeries, and relevant parties urgently need to take effective measures to plug the leakage.

　　In response to waste, bakery companies and stores need to actively make rectifications, and relevant parties need to strengthen policy guidance and strict law enforcement.

Previously, a bakery was questioned by the local market supervision department for violating the Anti-Food Waste Law for scrapping a large number of "unsightly" bread.

　　Enterprises and stores are the main body in implementing the "Anti-Food Waste Law" and should take effective measures to curb waste, such as improving preservation technology, extending the lifeline of bread, and giving unsold bread to special groups or distributing it to employees.

Changing high-price sales to small profits but quick turnover may be the "best solution" to correct bread waste.

　　Bread was originally a common staple food, but in recent years the price has become more and more expensive. For example, a croissant costs 38 yuan, and a loaf of toast costs 98 yuan or even hundreds of yuan. No wonder some people lament, "I can't afford bread with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan!" Even in small cities, it is now difficult to find a bakery for less than 10 yuan.

　　Of course, there is nothing wrong with bakery market pricing, but intentional waste is prohibited by law.

As we all know, price is an important lever in the market.

When bread changes from an ordinary food to an "aristocratic food", rising prices will inevitably suppress a lot of demand, and bread sales will also be greatly affected.

　　Therefore, the baking industry may wish to adopt a flexible gradient price reduction sales strategy. For example, the closer to the shelf life red line, the greater the discount, which can effectively "digest" bread inventory and avoid waste while increasing sales.

When bread business entities achieve small profits but quick turnover, not only will the waste phenomenon be significantly improved, but it will also help to make the market "cake" bigger.

　　□Feng Haining (media person)