CCTV Beijing News on September 14 (Reporter Wang Jing) The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching. After the release of the newly revised mandatory national standard "Restricting Excessive Packaging of Goods Requirements for Food and Cosmetics", reporters recently visited some stores in Beijing and noticed that, Some "matryoshka"-style gift box mooncakes still exist on the market, and from packaging to size, the phenomenon of "large boxes with small cakes" is still relatively common, and many packages are worth more than the mooncakes themselves.
A variety of mooncake packaging gift boxes are displayed in a shopping mall (Photo by CCTV reporter Wang Jing)
"Matryoshka"-style packaging has a new twist
Netizens lamented: Buy the package and get mooncakes
Reporters noticed that the above-mentioned new national standards are very important to the 2009 The annual version of the standard has been revised to stipulate the number of packaging layers and packaging cost requirements, as well as the corresponding calculation, testing and judgment methods. For example, grains and processed products in food should not be packaged in more than three layers, and other foods and cosmetics should not be packaged in more than four layers. Layer packaging. The new
standard is conducive to guiding green production and consumption, but implementation still faces challenges.
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ms. Song, a Beijing resident, received a special mooncake gift box. Compared with the traditional mooncake gift box, this box not only looks gorgeous on the surface, but is also larger and heavier. When you take it apart, you can see that there are only six small mooncakes inside. In addition to the mooncakes, the box has a large space and also comes with some gifts, including dolls, cups and other cultural products.
Compared with the outer packaging, the mooncakes Ms. Song received were more like gifts. Due to work commitments, this is the fourth mooncake she has received this month, and the packaging of the first three was more complicated. "It is indeed creative, but it would be a pity to throw it away, and it is useless to keep it." Ms. Song said.
Many netizens also lamented that if you buy the package, you will receive mooncakes as a gift. Excessive packaging not only increases the price of mooncakes, but also causes a waste of resources. At present, the mooncake express delivery business has entered its peak period. On the afternoon of September 11, Xiao Zhong, a courier in Taipingqiao Xili District, Beijing, was delivering packages. He told reporters that the most "exaggerated" mooncake express delivery he had seen in the past few days was : In a large square box, it is divided into three layers: upper, middle and lower. Each layer contains three round mooncakes of different colors and fillings. However, he said bluntly: "After the customer confirmed the pickup, he handed me a pile of cartons and asked me to take them to the trash can downstairs."
Some consumers also said in an interview that they bought a large-size mooncake gift box , there are only four mini mooncakes in it. The weight of the mooncakes is less than half of the package, and the taste is very average.
Nowadays, on an e-commerce platform, reporters can still find many stores that specialize in selling mooncake packaging boxes. One shop owner revealed to reporters that ordinary mooncakes worth tens of yuan are packed into hardcover gift boxes, and the price has doubled.
Promoters show the inside of the gift box to reporters (Photo by CCTV reporter Wang Jing)
On-site visit
Internet celebrity "Cultural and Creative Mooncakes" are the "hardest hit area" of over-packaging
There are many reasons for over-packaging of products. "For consumers, the outer packaging reflects the intention of the gift giver. For merchants, retail channels tend to be homogeneous. In order to cater to the diverse needs of consumers, they need to work hard on specifications." Zhu Dan, China Food Industry Analyst Peng analyzed this to reporters.
The reporter first went to a large supermarket in Beijing in the downtown area. As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the festival economy is gradually heating up. As soon as the reporter entered the door, he saw a luxurious mooncake gift box placed among some holiday gifts. The outer packaging was open for consumers to "visit" at will. Although this gift box only has six mooncakes, it contains four layers of packaging, from the outermost leather packaging box, to the middle metal box and the innermost paper bag, involving a variety of materials, and the net weight of the mooncakes only accounts for 10% of the total weight. 40%. The most "exaggerated" thing about
is that there is a gold embroidered dragon head inlaid in the middle of the outermost package, which is very eye-catching and takes up most of the space of the package.
In addition, the sales promotion staff at the door also introduced to reporters very enthusiastically: "It's great to buy the packaged ones. It gives face to others. Now these two three-layer packaging models are the best sellers. They are classic models and can be purchased in groups. ."Following the direction of the promotion staff's fingers, the reporter noticed that one of the three-layered mooncake gift boxes was a box of collection mooncakes from a certain brand. There were 10 kinds of mooncakes with different fillings, among which the abalone puff pastry mooncake was very popular. Eye-catching.
The other one is also from a popular mooncake brand, priced at 378 yuan per box, and marked as "on sale". When you open it, you can see that three-quarters of the weight is concentrated on the outer packaging of the mooncake. The layer not only writes many Mid-Autumn poems, but also features huge peony paintings, and the mooncakes only occupy a small space.
This is a form of Internet celebrity "cultural and creative mooncakes" that are very popular among young netizens. In recent years, another “hard-hit area” has been the over-packaging of mooncakes. Reporters found that on some e-commerce platforms, whether they are large chain brands or small creative workshops, most of the “cultural and creative mooncakes” sold are “heavily packaged”. Regarding "mooncakes", this is a common phenomenon among many "cultural and creative mooncakes" nowadays. "Some products have a gimmicky and exquisite packaging box, which has a large profit margin, which is also caused by market demand. "Zhu Danpeng said.
Cultural and creative packaging (photo by CCTV reporter Wang Jing)
Experts: The attributes of mooncake gifts remain unchanged and it is difficult to eliminate excessive packaging.
In the view of Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, as long as mooncake gifts are As long as the attributes remain unchanged, it is difficult to completely eliminate excessive packaging. From the perspective of consumer psychology, Bai Wenxi believes that gift consumption does have this characteristic. This is also a consumer psychology problem that the industry and enterprises must face up to and guide, and mooncakes are to a large extent. The gift consumption function on the Internet is also an important reason why over-packaging of moon cakes is still prohibited.
"Research shows that packaging waste in my country accounts for about 30% to 40% of urban domestic waste, and most of this packaging waste is over-packaging. produced. ” Chen Hongjun, deputy director of the Standards and Technology Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said.
Therefore, the harm caused by excessive packaging of moon cakes is self-evident. On September 2, in order to solve the problem of excessive packaging of food and cosmetics, the State Administration for Market Regulation (Standards Committee) Together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, relevant standardization technical committees and technical institutions were organized to revise the 2009 version of the standard and formulate and release a new mandatory national standard "Restricting Excessive Packaging of Goods Requirements for Food and Cosmetics", which will be released in 2023 The "mandatory standards" introduced by
this time strictly limit the requirements for the number of packaging layers. Ma Aijin, a professor at the School of Food and Health of Beijing Technology and Business University, said: "The understanding and calculation of the number of packaging layers in the standard are very clear and can be directly contacted. The packaging layer of food and cosmetics contents is the first layer. Starting from the first layer to the outermost layer of sales packaging, there are several layers in total, which are the levels of packaging. Taking tea packaging as an example, the metal or plastic packaging that is in direct contact with the tea is the first layer, and the number of packaging layers counting outward is the number of packaging layers. "
In fact, compared with previous years, the problem of over-packaging of mooncakes has improved slightly this year, but the problem still exists. With the advocacy of new regulatory regulations and new consumption trends, this problem is expected to be gradually solved.
Zhu Danpeng said: "In fact, In 2012, the country has issued some regulations on excessive packaging. The country has been strengthening supervision, supervision, and supervision. The phenomenon of excessive packaging has improved to some extent, but many companies still have a fluke mentality, thinking that they may not be found out. In terms of the number of packaging layers and volume design, we play a numbers game with regulations. “After the implementation of the new standards, excessive packaging is expected to improve. "He said.
Industry insiders further pointed out that environmentally friendly packaging is an inevitable trend in the development of food and cosmetics packaging. It is worth mentioning that the new standard will be officially implemented on September 1, 2023, setting a new standard for enterprises and the market. Two-year transition period.
Regarding how to better implement the new standards, the Deputy Director of the Standards and Technology Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation previously revealed at the press conference that he will organize standards training activities with relevant departments to prepare technical skills for supervision according to laws and standards. Reserve. At the same time, create a good public opinion environment for green consumption and increase consumers’ awareness of standards that restrict excessive packaging of goods.
In a shopping mall, a gift box mooncake sells for 556 yuan (Photo by CCTV reporter Wang Jing)
Official tips
How consumers can quickly judge whether there is excessive packaging
How can consumers quickly judge when buying food and cosmetics products? Is there excessive packaging?
Wei Hong, deputy director of the Standards and Technology Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that consumers can generally simply judge whether a product is over-packaged by "looking first, asking second questions, and calculating three times."
The "first look" is to see whether the outer packaging of the product is luxurious packaging and whether the packaging material is expensive.
The "second question" is to ask the number of packaging layers without opening the packaging, and determine whether the packaging of grain and processed products exceeds three layers, and whether the packaging of other food and cosmetics exceeds four layers.
The "three calculations" are to measure or estimate the volume of the outer packaging and compare it with the maximum allowable outer packaging volume to see if it exceeds the standard. As long as one of the above three aspects of
does not meet the requirements, it can be preliminarily determined as not meeting the standard requirements. From a green and environmental perspective, we recommend that consumers avoid purchasing overly packaged products.
