How can surplus food be utilized to prevent food waste? Food surplus

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 18th. Title: Stop food waste. How to use the "waste heat" of the surplus food "?

Xinhua News Agency reporters Jin Ning, Cheng Siqi, and Ma Xiaojie

There are leftover egg tarts and cakes that have not been sold out, fried chicken that is still in its consumption period and emitting residual heat, and cooked food that is nearing its expiration date... In consumer places such as restaurants and supermarkets, a considerable amount of surplus food is produced every day. What better way to deal with these surplus foods besides being discarded?

Journalists have conducted research in multiple locations and found that government departments, association organizations, and catering businesses are using their brains and combining online and offline to launch many innovative measures, allowing surplus food products to unleash their "waste heat" and leading a new trend of diligence, thrift, and thrift. At the same time, the promotion of the new model of surplus food also faces various challenges that need to be solved, and relevant departments and associations need to work together to prescribe the right medicine and follow up on management.

A new destination for surplus food

KFC Blue Bridge Restaurant, located in Sanlitun, Chaoyang District, Beijing, features a prominent vertical refrigerator at its entrance. Surrounding residents, delivery drivers, and sanitation workers occasionally come to collect a portion of pre packaged leftover food. This is a food station at KFC. Since 2020, KFC has launched a food station project, piloting the distribution of unsold and expired food to residents in need for free in some restaurants.

Restaurant manager Feng Qikun said, "If there is a surplus of food, we will place it twice the morning and afternoon of the next day, and it will be mostly collected on the same day."

Journalists have conducted research in multiple places and found that in recent years, new models such as food banks and food stations have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. These models are either led by public welfare organizations, catering units, or run in a government led manner. They mobilize catering enterprises to donate expired food and distribute it for free with public welfare quality, reducing food waste and environmental damage from the source.

Food banks have been deployed in 10 streets of Futian District, Shenzhen, serving 61000 people. Starting from this year, relevant departments in Fujian, Jiangsu and other regions have jointly established surplus food stations. A large catering company in Beijing has revealed that they currently have a large amount of leftover food every day. After learning from relevant business experience, they are building leftover food distribution points in some stores and are expected to launch them to the public in the near future.

A restaurant chain in Beijing set up a surplus food collection station in its stores. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ji Ning

In addition to food stations and food banks, the rise of the "blind box economy" is finding new destinations for surplus food. The reporter learned that recently, many Internet companies have contacted bread and daily food catering enterprises through online and offline combination to accelerate the sales of surplus food into "blind boxes" with discount price advantage, so as to reduce food waste.

The reporter logged into a "blind box" mini program in Shanghai and saw some nearby merchants selling a batch of products called "magic bags", which has attracted multiple catering brands to join. The "food blind box" with an average selling price of only a dozen yuan includes multiple baking products. The reporter randomly selected a "magic bag" and upon picking it up at the store, they found that the "magic bag" priced at 11.9 yuan contained 4 egg tarts and 2 meat floss cakes. If purchased at the original price, these items should cost over 20 yuan.

New models need to "break" new issues

The reporter learned from the research that the new model of surplus food meets people's living and consumption needs, conforms to the social consensus of anti waste, and has its market value, social value, and environmental value for development. However, as a new phenomenon with constantly expanding scale and diverse forms, there are still many issues to be further solved, such as how to define surplus food and how to ensure food safety.

——How to define surplus food? At present, there is no clear national standard for how long the shelf life or in what state food can be defined as surplus food. Only a few associations have provided a general definition of surplus food, and there is still a lack of general industry consensus. In practical operation, for the selection of surplus food, some companies will choose baked goods with a shelf life of 1 to 3 days approaching, while others will freeze unsold but still within the shelf life food every day and provide it to the group in need.

Industry insiders interviewed stated that current practices such as food stations and blind boxes are still innovative measures, and industry guidance and guidelines need to be issued for the time limit and category range of surplus food.

——How to ensure food safety? At present, the safety and quality standards for surplus food are still unclear and lack supervision from relevant departments. Ms. Zhu, a Shanghai consumer, is a frequent customer of "magic bags" and believes that the quality of leftover food is the most important. "Some food packaging does not indicate the shelf life, and if it is expired food, consumers may find it difficult to detect." Ms. Lu, a Beijing consumer, said that although many surplus foods are distributed for free, they cannot become a blind spot in food safety.

Gu Zhenhua, an expert in the food industry, said that after being packaged, the ready to be prepared bulk food should be defined as prepackaged food, and food name, ingredients, producer, production date, shelf life, production materials and other information should be marked.

A food blind box launched by an Internet platform enterprise.

——Does the enterprise have a willingness to participate? During the investigation, the reporter found that although the "post station", "bank", and "blind box" models for surplus food are constantly emerging, a considerable number of industry associations and catering enterprises are cautious about surplus food due to the lack of relevant policy guidance.

For some catering enterprises, "freshness" is the operating sign. In order to maintain the product brand and ensure the operation of the enterprise, the selling power of their expired food is not sufficient. When visiting multiple places, the reporter found that many businesses would directly dispose of the remaining food of the day, and a large number of interviewed consumers felt regretful about this waste. For this behavior, some catering companies have adopted "internal digestion". At the Haoli Laiwu City store in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, the store manager told reporters that for unsold bread and pastries, the store will serve as breakfast for the employees in the store the next day.

Standardized development to make the remaining food better play "waste heat"

Industry insiders interviewed stated that the safety of the surplus food market requires joint efforts from businesses, industry norms, and market supervision. It is recommended that relevant departments delineate paths and clarify regulations for the development of the surplus food economy, and work together with associations and corporate groups to develop corresponding risk prevention systems.

Employees at a bakery in Taiyuan, Shanxi are organizing baked goods.

At the beginning of 2023, the China Chain Store Association released a report on the current situation of market end expired food management, proposing to quickly introduce more scientific and unified relevant standards, including expired standards, expired product disposal standards, improved standards for fresh food preservation and quality inspection, as well as relevant implementation rules and operational guidelines.

Tian Xiyan, General Manager of the Food Safety Department and Cooperation Development Department of Ele.me, believes that the discount promotion of surplus food not only meets the needs of some people but also avoids waste. Businesses need to control the entire food process, do a good job in food hygiene and safety management, and ensure the health and safety of the people from the source of production.

At the corporate level, some beneficial attempts have been made to distribute surplus food. The project leader of Yum! Brands China, the parent company of KFC, introduced that in order to ensure the safety of food, stores with food stations will freeze the remaining food for more than 12 hours in advance and package it. "The store will also prominently indicate that these excess foods can only be reheated once, encouraging those in need to consume them as soon as possible," said the person in charge.