Is the result packed in a box? The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission calls for the improvement of the packaging fee rules for takeout, with multiple charges per piece for takeout | merchants | boxes

"I ordered four servings of food, each with a packaging fee of 2 yuan. After discounts, the packaging fee was 6 yuan. However, I only received one package of takeout, and all the food was placed in one box." Ms. Wang, a citizen, recently expressed her confusion on the consumer complaint platform, "Why charge consumers non-existent fees?"

While catering to people's fast-paced lifestyle needs, takeout has also been criticized for issues such as excessive packaging and unreasonable packaging fees. How are consumers being "tricked"? How to standardize the disorderly packaging of takeout? The reporter conducted some research.

Criticism of packaging issues such as "wrong product and wrong board"

Recently, Xiaofang encountered a similar situation as Ms. Wang, a citizen. He placed an order at the top barbecue restaurant on a certain delivery platform's "Exclusive Good Store" and ordered 42 skewers. Upon entering the payment interface, he found that the packaging fee was charged per piece, ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 yuan per piece, with a total price of 11.7 yuan. However, in reality, the delivery he received was only divided into 2 boxes. "Where did the extra packaging fee go?" He was puzzled.

A consumer left a message on the online complaint platform: Once when ordering milk tea for takeout, an additional packaging fee of one yuan was charged for each cup ordered. A total of three cups were ordered, but only one packaging bag was delivered. Isn't it appropriate to put milk tea in a cup? Why does takeout need to be charged when physical stores don't charge?

There are many packaging tricks for takeout, which are causing many criticisms from consumers. In theory, food delivery should be a fully competitive market, and the price issue of takeout meals can be solved through transparent, open, and effective competition. Consumers will ultimately vote based on their own choices, and merchants need to attract consumers with their dishes and services.

However, after the implementation of the "ban and restriction on plastic tableware" that prohibits the voluntary and free provision of disposable plastic tableware to consumers, the issue of takeout packaging cannot be rationalized through effective market competition in terms of price and resource allocation. The special study conducted by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission in collaboration with Shanghai Qifang Law Firm also shows that "wrong packaging" is not the only pain point at present, and the high fees have also sparked controversy.

It is understandable that current delivery platform merchants charge corresponding packaging fees based on different packaging materials and costs. However, as a disposable accessory for takeout orders, packaging should not only be safe and hygienic, but also be reasonably priced. Many stores, due to brand promotion and other considerations, require consumers to pay packaging fees that are far higher than the actual cost, and the rationality of this remains to be debated.

Consumers also pointed out that the packaging fees charged by the same merchant on different platforms are different, and the packaging fees charged by different stores of the same brand on the same food delivery platform are also different. For example, when searching for "meat buns" on a takeaway platform, the first one displayed was "Barbie Mantou Xiaolongbao". The packaging fee was 2 yuan on the order placement page, and clicking "Packaging fee description" would display "charge by order, 2 yuan per order". However, when searching for this merchant on another food delivery platform and selecting the same dish, it was found that the packaging fee for takeaway was 3 yuan, and the "Packaging Fee Description" displayed the charging method of "charged per piece".

Call for the improvement of delivery packaging fee rules

The Research Report on the Environmental Impact and Recycling Cycle of Packaging Plastics in the Delivery Industry shows that since 2015, the Chinese delivery industry has experienced explosive growth, with delivery orders increasing from 1.7 billion in 2015 to 17.12 billion in 2020. This has led to an increase in plastic packaging consumption from 57000 tons in 2015 to 574000 tons in 2020, a tenfold increase over five years. How to oppose waste and promote environmental conservation in food delivery packaging is worth paying attention to.

From the perspective of merchants, some choose good and expensive packaging materials to better ensure the color, aroma, and appearance of food, or to enhance the consumer experience. Under price pressures such as discounts and discounts, some packaging fees are used to offset promotional expenses or to generate profits by selling packaging materials, and the more expensive the packaging materials, the greater the profit margin may be.

For this approach, consumers currently do not have the right to choose and can only passively accept it. "Packaging should return to the essence of serving food." Citizen Xiao recently purchased three small snacks from a store on a food delivery platform and found that the packaging bag was very large, and the snacks only accounted for one tenth of its volume, some of which were "overused". "Many takeaway packaging is too flashy, especially the ink printing smell is very pungent, such a 'thick and colorful' is obviously not what we need."

In the view of industry insiders, there are different needs for the matching degree between takeout packaging and dishes, as well as the matching degree between takeout packaging and dining scenes, making it difficult to develop unified takeout packaging rules.

For example, steamed buns, dumplings and other wheaten foods need to be packaged with good air permeability, while Wonton, Noodles in soup and soup noodles need to be packaged with solid-liquid separation; Based on the delivery distance of takeout, there are also issues related to insulation and cooling, and different types of packaging materials need to be selected for different foods.

In response to this, the Municipal Consumer Protection Commission calls for the development of more detailed rules for the collection of takeaway packaging, whether through legislative regulations or platform guidance, to standardize key content such as the name, material, specifications, unit price of takeaway packaging, as well as the packaging methods and charging rules for different categories of food. Leave the choice of takeaway packaging to consumers, provide different levels of packaging on the merchant menu page, or set options for merging dish packaging, effectively reducing takeaway packaging and preventing waste.