Most are "human dumplings", ginseng abalone "sky high" Zongzi survey: over packaging reporters with luxury gift boxes | Zongzi | sky high price

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the reporter from "Xinhua Viewpoint" found in some provinces that "bird's nest dumplings", "ginseng dumplings", "abalone dumplings" and other "priceless" Zongzi appeared in the market, with expensive fillings and luxurious packaging. In order to avoid supervision, luxury Zongzi is mostly sold by supermarkets and turned to reservation and customization, from physical gifts to virtual gift certificates, and is sold in combination with price "margin ball".

During the visit, many salespeople said that high-end Zongzi gift boxes are usually "not eaten by those who buy them, and not bought by those who eat them. In nine cases out of ten, they are used as gifts".

Each box often costs nearly a thousand yuan, mostly "human zongzi"

Recently, the reporter learned from some five-star hotels, e-commerce platforms, high-end restaurants and other research that a large number of Zongzi gift boxes focus on "high-end" and "luxury" positioning, adding shark fin, bird's nest, sea cucumber, ginseng, black truffle and other valuable ingredients to the stuffing, with the price of nearly 1000 yuan per box. A reporter visited a five-star hotel in a city in southwest China and found that a "abalone dumplings" gift box was sold for 988 yuan, with only 12 Zongzi inside.

The reporter searched some e-commerce platforms and found that many popular Zongzi gift boxes cost more than 500 yuan. The customer service of an online food store told the reporter that the original price of the best selling Zongzi gift box in the store was 1288 yuan, and the current preferential price was 820 yuan, including 12 Zongzi with precious ingredients, with an average of 68.3 yuan per Zongzi. "Just a few days after it was put on the shelves, it sold nearly 500 copies."

The high-grade zongzi gift boxes being sold on an e-commerce platform are all from Xinhua News Agency.

Some "micro merchants" also engage in so-called "tycoon zongzi" purchasing on social media. According to a purchasing agent, shark fin, roe, crab roe, etc. can be wrapped in Zongzi. "There is no ceiling on price, only you can't think of it, there's nothing you can't buy."

In addition to adding some high-grade food materials, the reporter also found that over packaging is also a common feature of luxury Zongzi gift boxes.

In order to make the packaging of moon cakes and zongzi "slim down", on August 15, 2022, the National Standard No. 1 Amendment to "Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities, Food and Cosmetics" was formally implemented, requiring the number of packaging layers to be reduced, and the number of packaging layers for moon cakes and zongzi should not exceed three; the packaging cost should not exceed 15% of the sales price for moon cakes and zongzi with a sales price above 100 yuan.

In a prominent position in the lobby of a hotel in a city in southwest China, there is a row of Zongzi gift boxes with the price of 498 yuan, "Duan Li Yayun". The gift box is designed in a suitcase style, with two leather buckles and a leather handle on the hot stamping printed outer shell. The reporter unlocked the lock and opened the lid to see that the interior design of the gift box is also exquisite and complex. Seven small boxes of different sizes are placed in two columns. Only when the small box is opened can we see Zongzi packaged independently. The hotel front desk staff informed us that

In a prominent position in the lobby of a hotel in a city in the southwest, there is a row of Zongzi gift boxes with the price of 498 yuan, "Duan Li Yayun".

On some e-commerce platforms, many stores label gift boxes with labels such as "luxury leather boxes," "high-end materials," and "rejection of affordability.". A customer service representative from a certain online store explained that the "Hongfu Yupin" light luxury gift box sells the best. Its "three-layer rising design after opening looks very domineering", combined with deep pressure hot stamping technology and color gold printing, gives it a sense of luxury. Many shops said that in order to give the gift box a sense of texture, the weight of the package is often 2-3 times that of Zongzi itself.

"Hongfu Yupin" Zongzi gift box sold by an online store.

It is worth noting that Zongzi, a traditional festival food, has a tendency to become "human zongzi" and "service zongzi". The reporter sorted out some popular reviews of popular gift boxes on e-commerce platforms, with high-frequency words such as "buy to give to relationship households and friends" and "the leader is very satisfied".

The head of a company on the eastern coast told reporters that the company has some important customers and social relationships, and festivals are an important time to give gifts and maintain relationships. Zongzi itself is not worth much. If you don't add some high-end food materials, packaging is not high enough, and don't attach some other gifts, it will be difficult to get something. Every year before the Dragon Boat Festival, enterprises will customize a batch of gift boxes for "doing things".

Frequent "new tricks" to avoid regulation

The reporter found that in recent years, the relevant departments have increased the supervision of "sky high" food, excessive packaging and other issues, and the sales of some luxury Zongzi have "turned from bright to dark", shifting from shopping malls and supermarkets to star hotels, high-end restaurants and social platforms.

A 488 yuan Zongzi gift box is on display in the lobby of a high-end chain hotel in a western city. The waiter told the reporter that this gift box is not for public sale and is mainly aimed at old members and major customers. It is currently selling very well.

"The gift box is only displayed in the store and is sold through reservation and customization, so there is no need to be afraid of someone checking it." On a WeChat mini program at a certain online store, a "Rongjia Dragon Boat Festival gift" priced at 2680 yuan is currently accepting reservations. At the same time, the customer service told us that "gift certificate" of Zongzi is also very common. Some chain pastry stores and hairy crab stores rely on the advantages of many offline stores and full online platforms to sell high-end Zongzi gift box coupons through social platforms such as WeChat applet, which can be sent by express mail or picked up at the store, and provide "gift giving services" such as writing greeting cards, invoicing, and delivery on specified dates.

A well-known pastry shop's online customer service representative said, "Some units have strict regulations and it is not convenient to give gift boxes directly, so it is safer to give electronic vouchers." The lobby manager of a five-star hotel in a certain eastern province told reporters, "Buying gift vouchers as a gift is very suitable. If the recipient does not want to pick up the goods, we can also use cash to recover the gift vouchers."

In June 2022, relevant departments issued a notice on curbing the "sky high price" mooncakes and promoting the healthy development of the industry, strictly regulating boxed mooncakes with a unit price exceeding 500 yuan.

The reporter learned that some businesses set the price at 499 yuan and 488 yuan by reducing the number of Zongzi to avoid the suspicion of "sky high prices". For example, the "Zongzi with Buddha jumps over the wall stuffing" gift box launched by a chain pastry store costs 480 yuan, but only 6 Zongzi, which translates into 80 yuan for each Zongzi. Some merchants also adopt a combination sales approach, with a single gift box of over 400 yuan, bundled with tea and premium edible oil for sale.

Intensify regulatory efforts and crack down on unhealthy practices

Interviewed experts said that luxury Zongzi still exists, and it still takes a long time to advocate frugality, oppose waste, and create a "fresh" holiday atmosphere.

Experts such as Wang Zhongwu, a sociology professor at Shandong University, suggested that while strengthening the supervision of offline sales channels, relevant departments should further improve the management of online sales channels such as e-commerce platforms, focus on high-end customization, membership coupons and other new "moves", and be alert to the "turning from light to dark, from reality to fiction" of luxury Zongzi.

In addition, the standards related to excessive packaging of goods still need to be further improved. Experts such as Wang Huo, Deputy Secretary General of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, believe that more detailed regulations should be made on packaging materials, environmental friendliness, production processes, and other aspects. The initial packaging recognition rules should be optimized, and packaging testing and calculation methods should be improved to ensure that producers and operators have no room to explore.

At the same time, it is necessary to fully leverage the functions of industry self-discipline and self supervision, urge industry associations to formulate industry conventions to curb excessive packaging and the pursuit of luxury, and avoid blind competition and competition in the industry, forming a vicious cycle.

Experts such as Liao Chenglin, a professor at the School of Economics and Business Administration of Chongqing University, stated that normal human relations during festivals are understandable, but during holidays, there is often an undercurrent of the "Four Winds" problem. It is necessary to resolutely stop the unhealthy practices such as "human relations zongzi" and "administrative zongzi". The discipline inspection and supervision authorities should strengthen supervision, carry out open and secret investigations, advocate the integrity of party members and cadres to celebrate the festival, and crack down on the "four wind" problems in Zongzi.