Changzhou Huisheng Maoxin Plastic Products Co., Ltd.

The goal put forward by the Chinese Cuisine Association for the national catering industry - "strive to become a modern service industry" - is undoubtedly correct. However, from the perspective of China's actual conditions, it is difficult to achieve without decades of hard work. To realize the modernization of the catering industry, first, we need to widely use electronic information technology, second, we need to achieve chain operation, and third, we need to achieve low carbon and green - to become an environment-friendly new economy. One of the three is more difficult than the other.

The goal put forward by the Chinese Cuisine Association for the national catering industry - "strive to become a modern service industry" - is undoubtedly correct. However, from the perspective of China's actual conditions, it is difficult to achieve without decades of hard work. To realize the modernization of the catering industry, first, we need to widely use electronic information technology, second, we need to achieve chain operation, and third, we need to achieve low carbon and green - to become an environment-friendly new economy. One of the three is more difficult than the other.

The low-carbon and green catering industry in China is facing two obstacles: one is the massive use of disposable foam plastic tableware, the other is excessive energy consumption. We cannot but discuss them carefully:

The disposable foam plastic tableware was introduced from abroad in 1984 as an advanced technology in China. It was at the beginning of the reform and opening up. People sought innovation and innovation. They found that its production cost was low, it was easy to use, and it was thrown away when used. At that time, many infectious diseases such as hepatitis were rampant, and customers needed to remove their health concerns. Therefore, it has been widely used in railway stations since 1986. Unexpectedly, a large number of discarded tableware soon brought huge pollution and became an environmental disaster. Nine years later, in 1995, the use of railway stations was completely prohibited, and it was found that "it is easier to ask God than to send God".

In January 1999, the former Order No. 6 of the State Economic and Trade Commission, Catalogue of Eliminating Backward Production Capacity, Process and Products (the first batch), required to eliminate disposable foamed plastic tableware nationwide by the end of 2000. In the same year, the General Technical Conditions for Disposable Degradable Dining Utensils was promulgated and implemented. In December 2005, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Guiding Catalogue of Industrial Restructuring (2005 Edition), again listing disposable foam tableware as obsolete products. Unexpectedly, since January 1, 2008, the state began to implement the QS production license system for manufacturers of plastic food packaging, containers, tools and other products, and the quality of disposable plastic tableware has been greatly improved. In 2009, the national standard General Technical Requirements for Plastic Disposable Dining Utensils replaced the General Technical Conditions for Disposable Degradable Dining Utensils, further standardizing the production and use of plastic disposable dining utensils. By the end of February 2010, more than 1000 enterprises had obtained the production licenses for various disposable plastic tableware, and more than 180 enterprises had obtained disposable paper tableware. At present, the annual production capacity of disposable tableware such as cups, plates, boxes and bowls in China has reached more than 50 billion, while the demand for disposable plastic lunch boxes is about 15 billion, of which more than 90% are plastic lunch boxes.

To this end, the China Cuisine Association conducted a special abstract survey from April to May 2010, from which we can see the prevalence of problems, cause analysis and consumer attitudes.

According to the questionnaire, 80% of respondents occasionally or often use disposable foam tableware, and only 2.84% "never use". With the improvement of living standards, more and more people eat out: 45.88% eat out 5-9 times a week, 35.73% eat out 10-14 times a week, and 9.21% of the respondents eat out more than 15 times a week on average. Especially the post-70s and post-80s respondents have a strong desire to go out. Only 15% of the respondents were able to "definitely not use", while 78.38% of the respondents only said that "it is impossible to guarantee that they will not use at all, but in order to protect the environment, they will reduce the use in the future", and 7.09% of the respondents believed that disposable tableware "is convenient to use, smart to throw, first use".

In the cause analysis part, it is thought-provoking that 26% of the respondents actually used the disposable tableware because they were "worried about the restaurant's hygiene, and felt that the disposable tableware was relatively hygienic", and 42.94% of the respondents were "the restaurant only provided chopsticks once, and there was no choice". This is the key to the problem. Consumers do not trust catering enterprises, and catering enterprises want to avoid safety disputes, so they only provide disposable tableware to satisfy both parties. As a result, the reason why the problem of disposable foamed plastic tableware has not been cured for a long time is the service quality and service reputation!

Relatively speaking, consumers generally recognized the health and safety of formal restaurants and restaurants, and 62.41% of respondents expressed confidence. Their concern is that they have to use disposable foam plastic lunch boxes when they can't afford to eat. However, I heard from an old customer that the paper cover for chopsticks is a major source of pollution.

From this we can also see that the fundamental way to solve the problem of once foaming plastic tableware is to generally improve the service quality of the catering industry, especially the sanitary quality. However, the investigation report said that government departments should supervise production throughout the process, which is still just a measure of rights and interests in the transitional period. Considering China's national conditions, this transition period may be quite long.

As for the issue of energy conservation and consumption reduction, the China Cooking Association also conducted a questionnaire survey in several regions across the country in June 2010:

The survey results show that the problem of energy conservation and consumption reduction has aroused widespread attention in the catering industry nationwide. In fact, 50% of catering enterprises spend 8-12% of their operating expenses on water, electricity and fuel; 15.2% of catering enterprises spend 12-15%; There are still 5% catering enterprises whose proportion of the cost is more than 15%, and only 26.1% catering enterprises can control the proportion of the cost below 8%. In the current increasingly competitive environment, almost all enterprises have a strong desire to save energy and reduce consumption. However, the one-time cost of equipment transformation is high, and it must be done step by step. 60% of catering enterprises have begun to transform, and 30% of catering enterprises will be able to do so in the next 1-2 years.

37.6% of catering enterprises listed kitchen equipment as the key point of transformation, and 30.6% of catering enterprises listed employees' awareness of saving energy and reducing consumption as the key point of transformation. However, the awareness of energy conservation and consumption reduction in the decoration of restaurants is generally not paid enough attention. Only 21.2% of catering enterprises said they would work hard in this area.

The main reason for the high energy consumption of restaurant decoration is the misconception. Before the reform and opening up, the whole country was almost the same poor. Then one after another became rich. When a poor man becomes rich, he will be proud of himself and show off his wealth. He will pursue luxury in everything and imitate the noble. In order to cater to the vanity of consumers, businesses compete for over decoration. In many so-called "high-end hotels", there is no sunshine in the box all the year round. It is all over illuminated by ceiling lamps, wall lamps and decorative lamps from multiple angles. Some people joke that the lighting is as much as "shadowless lamps" and "capable of surgery". This phenomenon is common in Asia, where there are many nouveau riche.

I remember when I was a visiting scholar in Denmark, people called excessive lighting an "Asian phenomenon", which includes both West Asia, which exports oil, and East Asia, which exports industrial products. At that time, the hosts held a banquet in Andersen Square in the center of the capital. The dining table was next to the large French windows and was mainly illuminated by sunlight. After nightfall, some people use electric lights, others only use candles. And I heard from foreign students that lighting candles at dinner is really Danish.

However, if this "advanced culture" is introduced too early, it may affect the business of catering enterprises, because the atmosphere of the whole society has not changed and people's consumption concept has not changed. However, it is extremely stupid to refuse sunlight in broad daylight.

At present, the major bottleneck of energy-saving transformation is still the cost. Taking a 1000 person restaurant as an example, it will cost 500000 yuan to replace a full set of energy-saving kitchen stoves, and 100000 yuan even if partial transformation is carried out. The vast number of struggling small restaurants can't afford it. 20.3% of the enterprises interviewed believe that the Chinese government has only a general call at present, lacking specific standards and operating specifications, which makes catering enterprises at a loss. I'm afraid that the standard will be issued only after the transformation, so I have to rebuild and reconstruct again. In addition, old equipment is idle and there is no recycling channel, causing greater waste. The government is required to formulate energy-saving standards for catering industry as early as possible.