Pulling away a large bucket: "Night consumption" needs to be prevented from "waste at night", leaving a lot, ordering a large table economy | catering | large bucket
With the recovery of the consumer market and the arrival of summer, "night economy" catering forms such as street stalls and large food stalls have gradually become important consumption growth points in various regions. According to interviews with reporters from Half Moon Talk, "night economy" catering has also become a new "heavy disaster area" for food waste and a regulatory blind spot for relevant departments.
"Night Economy" Becomes a Food Waste "Heavy Disaster Area"
——Pay attention to the atmosphere and make it easier to order more. Compared to other consumption scenarios, in the "night economy", consumers are more prone to impulsive consumption and lack a sense of thrift. At a barbecue restaurant in a certain urban area in the southwest region, a reporter from Half Month Talk found that out of 10 tables, 9 out of 10 guests were unable to finish their dishes. The barbecue restaurant owner said that most of the guests at the "late night party" have had dinner, mainly for gatherings and drinks, and most of them will have a lot of leftover food. The customer who was having a meal said, "The late night snack emphasizes an atmosphere. It's rare for old friends to gather together, so they specially ordered more dishes." Half month Talk reporters saw at some snack street night markets that many tables had a lot of leftover food, with half a bowl of noodles left and grilled skewers thrown away after a few bites.
——Eat only the main course and discard the side dishes. Half month talk reporters found during their visits that there is a widespread phenomenon of waste in the placement of orders by "night economy" catering institutions. At a popular clay pot restaurant, a pot of green bean braised fatty sausages priced at 38 yuan only has more than 10 small pieces of fatty sausages, while the rest are all side dishes; Dishes such as boiled eel and pickled Chinese cabbage fish are also mainly "bottom dishes" such as bean sprouts and cabbage. Most diners only eat the main dishes instead of side dishes, resulting in waste. The reporter was browsing through trash cans on a popular hot pot street in the western region and found multiple plastic bags filled with edible lettuce leaves. The waiter introduced that hot pot dishes often use lettuce leaves as a base, firstly to make the color look good, and secondly to make the main dish look large, but customers usually do not eat side dishes and can only throw them away.
——There are no small portions, only the large market is served. Most night market restaurants, such as street vendors and street stalls, operate extensively and do not provide services such as "small dishes" and "small meals". In a big stall in a beer city, a customer showed a half month reporter that he had only eaten one third of Fried Rice: "The child wanted to eat egg Fried Rice, but the store could not order a small bowl, only a large plate." In a night market hot pot restaurant, after the customer left the restaurant, a waiter poured the uneaten food into the trash can, which was filled with various remaining food ingredients. She said that the duck sausages in the store can only be ordered by spot, and each one is over 1 meter long, making it easy to exceed the quantity.
As summer approaches, business is booming,
"Nighttime consumption" requires prevention of "nighttime waste"
A staff member from a large-scale chain hot pot restaurant introduced that the restaurant receives 700 tables of guests every night, and business is even more booming as summer approaches. When asked how many dishes would be suitable for each person to order by a reporter from Banyue Talk, he said, "It's up to the customers to order more or less. It's not our business to order one or three dishes per person.". The typical case of administrative penalties for stopping food waste announced by the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that some business personnel still lack a sense of thrift and induce and mislead consumers to order excessively during the process of selling dishes.
At the same time, there are also regulatory blind spots in nighttime catering. During the visit of the Half Month Talk reporter, many shop owners were asked about the inspection status of "food waste" by relevant departments, and many people were vague, saying "I don't know, I haven't seen it". Industry insiders interviewed stated that the existing regulations on curbing food and beverage waste are not systematic and targeted, and there is a lack of more effective constraints and disciplinary mechanisms for "nighttime waste". Meanwhile, due to the huge scale of catering institutions, it is not realistic to rely solely on inspections by relevant departments to prevent waste, especially at night.
In response to the above issues, interviewed experts and industry insiders suggest clarifying the responsibilities of all relevant parties and improving a long-term mechanism to curb food waste.
Professor Wang Zhizhang from the School of Economics and Management at Southwest University believes that only by establishing a comprehensive and long-term reward and punishment mechanism for saving food can businesses and consumers be fundamentally guided to avoid food waste in various scenarios. Professor Liu Junhai from the Law School of Renmin University of China stated that more specific regulations can be made to combat food waste, further clarifying the responsibilities of functional departments, food operators, consumers, and other parties, and establishing a sound reporting and exposure mechanism.
In addition, the interviewed experts believe that the exemplary role of key minority groups such as civil servants and internet celebrities should be valued, making compliance with the Anti Food Waste Law a basic awareness of every citizen in the new era.
