Platform response, an additional packaging fee of 5 yuan will be charged! The packaging fee for takeout has become an "assassin", with a 11.5 yuan meal news reporter | packaging | assassin

Packaging fees are charged for accompanying cola, packaging fees are charged for milk tea ingredients, packaging fees are charged for each skewer of barbecue skewers, and packaging fees are also charged for selecting food flavors... Under the combined effect of "charging packaging fees per piece", the seemingly inconspicuous unit price of takeout packaging can accumulate to even account for half of the cost of ordering a takeout meal.

The State Administration for Market Regulation pointed out at the press conference on the "Special Action to Stop Food and Beverage Waste" held in May this year that as of December 2022, the number of takeout users in China has reached 520 million. When ordering takeout, people often overlook the average packaging fee of a few yuan.

According to interviews with Red Star News reporters, many consumers have encountered varying degrees of overcharging issues during the ordering process of takeout. Some consumers claim that if they only choose one flavor, the packaging fee will increase by 2.99 yuan. And Red Star News reporters also found during actual ordering that a meal priced at 11.5 yuan is charged an additional packaging fee of 5 yuan.

The packaging box did not increase, but the packaging fee increased

Choosing multiple flavors also incurs additional packaging fees

On July 25th of this year, Wang, who was studying in Beijing, placed an order for a spicy hot pot takeout on a food delivery platform with an original total price of 56.78 yuan. After using the coupon, the total price decreased to 19.88 yuan. Wang, who originally thought she had caught the wool, unexpectedly discovered in the receipt that not only was the taste fee charged for this takeout, but also the packaging fee hidden in her taste fee.

In Wang's takeout, an additional 2.99 yuan packaging fee will be charged for the taste fee, as shown by the interviewee

Wang told Red Star News that she understands the paid use of packaging for external sales very well. In fact, a packaging fee of 1 yuan has already been charged for this order. What made her unhappy was that the takeout included additional packaging fees in the taste fee: "I think this is a deceptive behavior because the takeout has already charged me packaging fees. What additional packaging is needed for the taste?" Wang said that what she cares about is not the additional 2.99 yuan expenditure, but the opacity behind the consumption.

After the incident, Wang actively contacted the food delivery platform to negotiate a refund, but the platform refused Wang's request on the grounds that they had no right to interfere with the merchant's collection of food packaging fees. So far, Wang's question has not been answered or resolved.

This is not the experience of Wang alone. A Red Star News reporter searched on the consumer service platform "Black Cat Complaints" under Sina, using packaging fees on two major food delivery platforms as keywords, and found 79 complaint information related to "Meituan packaging fees"; There are 137 complaints related to packaging fees for Ele.me.

Screenshot of consumer complaints about takeout packaging fees in black cat complaints

At the same time, many bloggers, including Tiktok blogger B Tai, who has more than 20 million fans, recently shared on the short video platform that they had encountered the problem of "assassins" in takeout packaging. Some bloggers and Ms. Wang expressed the same sentiment: "Although the extra cost of takeout packaging is only a few yuan, the cost is not clear and should not have been borne by consumers."

In addition, Red Star News reporters found that such as barbecue and Spicy Hot Pot are also the "hardest hit areas" of the phenomenon of "no increase in packaging, but increased packaging costs". The barbecue packaging fee for multiple stores is charged at 0.3 yuan per skewer, which means an additional packaging fee of 3 yuan will be charged for every additional 10 skewers. However, in reality, most barbecues are only packaged in the same food packaging bag or insulated bag, and are not individually packaged.

Online ordering experience for journalists:

Put two eggs in one pocket and charge for two sets of packaging fees

Red Star News reporters have also found in their actual ordering experience that it is not uncommon for packaging fees to be charged repeatedly, but the packaging has not increased.

For example, when the reporter placed an order for food in the "Manning Congee Store", the price of an order for a Mantou made of old noodles was 1.9 yuan. According to the packaging charge standard, an additional packaging fee of 1 yuan was charged for each Mantou. Then the reporter placed an order for three Mantou with a total price of 5.7 yuan, and paid an additional 3 yuan for Mantou packaging. In addition, a packing fee of 1 yuan per Tea egg worth 2.9 yuan is also charged. The total price of two Tea egg purchased by the reporter is 5.8 yuan, and another 2 yuan packing fee is required. In other words, the total price of the purchased food reaches 16.5 yuan, of which the food price is 11.5 yuan and the packaging fee is 5 yuan, accounting for nearly half.

Screenshot of the ordering process of the journalist's experience

After receiving the meal, the reporter saw that three Mantou were packed in two lunch boxes; Two Tea egg were put into a paper bag. When the reporter called the restaurant, a staff member said that the online charge is automatic. If you buy it in the store and take it away, the paper bag containing Tea egg will not be charged separately. If you can put food in one lunch box, try to put it in one. You will be charged as much as you can for how many lunch boxes you use.

Another staff member who claimed to be in charge of the store stated that the standard for collecting store packaging fees is the overall company policy. The person in charge is unclear about the situation where each food item is charged a separate packaging fee, or when packaging boxes are not used but additional packaging fees are charged. After negotiation, the shop owner refunded the journalist a packaging fee of 3.9 yuan.

In addition, a journalist from "Rongcheng Maocai" ordered a packaging fee of 2 yuan for a serving of Maocai and rice. However, if additional dishes need to be added to the Maocai, an additional packaging fee of 0.3 yuan per serving will be required for each additional dish. The reporter inquired with the shop owner and learned that all the added dishes are not individually packaged, but are added together to the counterfeit dishes in the order, and there is only one meal box delivered to the customer's hands.

The store staff responded that if it is an on-site purchase to pack and take away, each meal box only needs to pay a packaging fee of 1 yuan. As for why adding dishes separately on the platform requires an additional packaging fee, the shop owner expressed uncertainty.

Consumer questioning:

Coffee shops do not charge packaging fees, why do online orders need to be charged?

Compared to food, which requires additional packaging costs, more consumers are dissatisfied with online ordering of beverages such as milk tea and coffee, which also incurs additional packaging fees ranging from 1 to 2 yuan.

"Customers who eat offline at the store and want to pack and take away need to pay for the packaging box, which is understandable. However, ordering a cup of coffee, the same paper cup, straw, and packaging bag, and taking it away from the store is not charged. How can online ordering be charged?" Hubei consumer Feng Nushi complained to Red Star News reporters about the unreasonable charging of beverage packaging fees, believing that this operation by merchants is unfair.

Ms. Feng often places orders for various types of drinks on delivery platforms: "I thought there were more discounts when ordering online, but later I realized that I had to pay an additional packaging fee of about 1 yuan each time. However, the packaging I received for the drinks was no different from the packaging I bought and took away from my offline store."

"I usually order two drinks a day, and on average, I have to pay an extra packaging fee of at least 2 yuan per day. If I order additional ingredients such as milk tea, I often need to pay a few more yuan for packaging." Ms. Feng told Red Star News reporters that based on a daily packaging fee of 3 yuan, the additional packaging fee she pays for a month is basically more than 50 yuan.

As a result, Red Star News reporters also saw during the online beverage ordering process that almost all beverages are charged packaging fees ranging from 1 to 2 yuan per serving. If additional ingredients are required, packaging fees will also need to be paid.

Taking Honey Snow Ice City as an example, the price of a cup of American coffee is 5 yuan both online and offline, but online ordering requires an additional packaging fee of 1 yuan per cup. If ordering milk tea and other beverages requires additional ingredients such as coconuts and pearls, an additional packaging fee of 0.5 yuan will be required for each ingredient. If the order is placed in the store, these ingredients can be directly added to the beverage without the need for additional packaging fees.

Regarding the phenomenon of charging packaging fees for ingredient packaging, Red Star News reporters have found that most beverages default to packaging when placing orders for "small ingredients". Only some brands such as Chabaidao, Heytea, and Bawang Tea Ji can provide consumers with the freedom to choose whether to package small ingredients. If they choose not to package, there is no need to pay packaging fees.

Many milk tea shops are unable to independently choose whether to package small ingredients or not

Platform customer service claims that they have no right to interfere with merchants collecting packaging fees

Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission calls for the establishment of rules for the collection of takeaway packaging

According to a report from China Consumer Daily, in July this year, the Yangzhou Consumer Association in Jiangsu Province released a survey on takeout platform consumption, which showed that neither Ele.me nor Meituan had standardized packaging fees. One of the major irregularities is that consumers directly deliver cola without packaging it, but charge related packaging fees. And in the surveyed stores, the packaging fee is generally between 1-5 yuan.

Red Star News reporters asked online platform customer service personnel about the actual delivery experience and consumer feedback. Among them, Meituan's online customer service told us how to avoid such phenomena. The customer service representative responded that the packaging fee is charged by the merchant themselves, and the platform has no right to directly intervene: "If consumers encounter unreasonable packaging fees, they can negotiate with the merchant to solve it. If the merchant does not solve the problem, they can provide feedback to the platform. After the platform verifies the situation, the merchant will be punished or even taken down from the store."

The customer service representative also stated that the platform has been actively addressing the unreasonable behavior of merchants, and has clearly reminded merchants in their business service standards to actively guide them to set packaging fees in a standardized and reasonable manner.

Ele.me platform has recently made a public response on related topics: the platform advocates for merchants to use tableware packaging moderately and reasonably, and sets a fee limit for merchant packaging fees to ensure that the packaging fees set by merchants themselves meet the basic packaging cost standards. According to the requirements, merchants must clearly display the packaging fee details on the order settlement page, and any form of mandatory charging is strictly prohibited.

"The catering industry is a fully competitive market, and packaging price disputes caused by food delivery should be handled by businesses in compliance with the law, with integrity, clear pricing, and resolved through transparent, open, rational, and effective competitive methods." Yuan Xiaoran, Executive Chairman and Secretary General of Chengdu Catering Industry Association, pointed out in an interview with Red Star News reporters that the association has also received multiple complaints and reports from consumers about excessive packaging fees and opaque consumption of food delivery. However, the association is not a law enforcement unit, and its more important role is to help communication platforms and businesses, and to do its best to protect consumer rights and interests.

"Of course, we also call for takeout order packaging to be used as a disposable accessory, in addition to safety and hygiene, and should be clearly priced and reasonably priced," said Yuan Xiaoran.

In fact, on June 7th of this year, the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Committee released the results of a special study on takeaway packaging fees to the public. The results show that the lack of specific charging rules for takeout packaging has caused three pain points - expensive takeout packaging fees, merchants charging packaging fees per piece, and merchants charging packaging fees at different prices on different platforms.

The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission analyzed and pointed out that the reason for the above three pain points is that there are currently only charging reasons for takeaway packaging and no detailed rules for charging. The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission calls for the development of more detailed rules for the collection of takeaway packaging, whether through legislation or platform guidance, to standardize key content such as the name, material, specifications, unit price, packaging methods for different categories of food, and packaging fee collection rules.

Red Star News reporter Yang Yuqi