Investigation on the phenomenon of ＂sky-high＂ luxury zongzi in some places： most of them are ＂human feelings zongzi＂

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 19th　Title: Investigation on the phenomenon of "sky-high price" luxury zongzi in some places

　　Xinhua News Agency "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters Wan Zhiyun, Zhou Kai and Shao Luwen

　　As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, Xinhua Viewpoint reporters in some provinces found that "high-priced" zongzi such as "bird’s nest zongzi", "ginseng zongzi" and "abalone zongzi" appeared in the market, with expensive fillings and luxurious packaging. In order to avoid supervision, luxury zongzi are mostly sold by supermarkets to reservations, from physical gifts to virtual gift certificates, and combined sales are made by playing the price "edge ball".

　　During the visit, many salespeople said that high-end zongzi gift boxes are usually "those who buy them don’t eat, those who eat them don’t buy them, and nine times out of ten they are used as gifts".

　　Each box costs nearly 1,000 yuan, mostly "human feelings"

　　Recently, the reporter learned from some five-star hotels, e-commerce platforms and high-end restaurants that a large number of zongzi gift boxes focus on "high-end" and "luxury" positioning, adding shark’s fin, bird’s nest, sea cucumber, ginseng, black truffle and other precious ingredients to the stuffing, and the price is nearly 1,000 yuan per box. The reporter saw in an unannounced visit to a five-star hotel in a city in southwest China that a gift box of "Abalone Zongzi" cost as much as 988 yuan, and there were only 12 Zongzi in it.

　　The reporter found in some e-commerce platforms that many hot-selling zongzi gift boxes are priced above 500 yuan. The customer service of a food online shop told the reporter that the original price of the best-selling zongzi gift box in the store was 1,288 yuan, and the current preferential price is 820 yuan, which contains 12 zongzi with precious ingredients, with an average price of 68.3 yuan per zongzi. "After a few days on the shelves, nearly 500 copies were sold."

　　There are also some "Wechat business" who engage in so-called "local tyrants" purchasing on social media. According to a purchasing staff, shark’s fin, fish roe and crab roe can all be wrapped in zongzi. "The price is not capped, only you can’t think of it, you can’t buy it."

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

　　In order to "slim down" the packaging of moon cakes and zongzi, on August 15th, 2022, Revision No.1 of the national standard "Restricting over-packaging of commodities requires food and cosmetics" was officially implemented, requiring that the number of packaging layers be reduced, and the maximum number of packaging layers for moon cakes and zongzi should not exceed three; Reduce the packaging cost, and the proportion of packaging cost in the sales price of moon cakes and zongzi above 100 yuan shall not exceed 15%.

　　In a prominent position in the lobby of a hotel in a city in southwest China, there is a row of "Duanli Yayun" zongzi gift boxes with a price of 498 yuan. The gift box is designed as a suitcase, with two leather locks and a leather handle on the gilded shell. The reporter unlocked the lock and opened the lid to see that the internal design of the gift box was equally exquisite and complicated. Seven small boxes of different sizes were placed in two columns, and only when the small boxes were opened could you see the dumplings packaged independently. The front desk staff of the hotel told the reporter: "This gift box is exquisite in production technology and high in cost. Many people buy it by packaging."

　　On some e-commerce platforms, many shops label gift boxes as "luxury leather boxes", "high-end materials" and "refusing to feel cheap". According to the customer service of an online shop, the "Hongfu Royal Product" luxury gift box in this shop sells the best, and its "three-layer, step-by-step design looks very domineering after opening", coupled with the deep stamping process and color gold printing, it is very advanced. A number of shops said that in order to make the gift box have texture, the weight of the package is often 2 to 3 times that of the zongzi itself.

　　It is worth noting that zongzi, a traditional festival food, tends to be reduced to "human feelings zongzi" and "work zongzi". The reporter combed the popular comments of some hot-selling gift boxes on the e-commerce platform, and "buy and send relatives and friends" and "the leader is very satisfied" became high-frequency words.

　　A person in charge of an enterprise on the eastern coast told the reporter that the enterprise has some important customers and social relations, and every holiday is an important opportunity to give gifts to maintain relations. The value of Zongzi itself is not high. If you don’t add some high-end ingredients, the packaging is not high enough, and you don’t attach some other gifts, it will be difficult to get it. Every year before the Dragon Boat Festival, enterprises will order a batch of gift boxes for "doing things".

　　Frequent "new tricks" to avoid supervision

　　The reporter found that in recent years, the relevant departments have stepped up supervision over "sky-high" food and over-packaging, and the sales of some luxury zongzi have turned from bright to dark, shifting from supermarkets to star-rated hotels, high-end restaurants and social platforms.

　　In a high-end hotel chain in a western city, a 488 yuan zongzi gift box is being displayed in the lobby. The waiter told the reporter that this gift box is not for public sale, mainly for old members and big customers, and it is selling well at present.

　　"The gift box is only displayed in the store, and the sales method is customized by appointment, so don’t be afraid of being inspected." In an online shop WeChat applet, a "rong family Dragon Boat Festival" with a price of 2,680 yuan is being reserved. The customer service told the reporter: "Only specific members can buy and provide delivery service."

　　At the same time, the gift certificate of zongzi is also very common. Some chain pastry shops and hairy crab shops rely on the advantages of many offline stores and complete online platforms to sell high-end zongzi gift coupons through social platforms such as WeChat applets, which can be mailed by express mail or picked up in stores, and provide "gift-giving services" such as writing greeting cards, invoicing and delivery on a specified date.

　　The online customer service of a well-known pastry shop said: "Some units are strict in management, and it is inconvenient to send gift boxes directly. It is better to send electronic coupons safely." The lobby manager of a five-star hotel in an eastern province told reporters: "It is very suitable to buy gift certificates for people. If the recipient doesn’t want to pick up the goods, we can also recycle the gift certificates in cash."

　　In June 2022, the relevant departments issued the Announcement on Curbing the "Sky-high-priced" moon cakes and promoting the healthy development of the industry, and strictly supervised the "Sky-high-priced" boxed moon cakes whose unit price exceeded that of 500 yuan.

　　The reporter visited and learned that some merchants set the price at 499 yuan and 488 yuan by reducing the number of zongzi in order to avoid the suspicion of "sky-high price". For example, the gift box of "Dumplings Filled with Buddha’s Jumping Wall" launched by a chain pastry shop costs 480 yuan, but there are only six dumplings, which translates into 80 yuan for each dumpling. There are also some merchants who use the method of combined sales. A single gift box costs more than 400 yuan, which is bundled with tea and high-grade edible oil.

　　Strengthen supervision to stop unhealthy trends.

　　Experts interviewed said that the "makeover" of luxury zongzi still exists, and it still takes a long time to advocate frugality, oppose waste and create a "fresh" holiday atmosphere.

　　Wang Zhongwu, a professor of sociology at Shandong University, and other experts 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, and at the same time focus on new "moves" such as high-end customization and membership gift certificates, and be wary of luxury zongzi "from bright to dark, from real to virtual".

　　In addition, the relevant standards of commodity over-packaging need to be further improved. Experts such as Wang Huo, Deputy Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, believe that the material, environmental protection and manufacturing technology of packaging should be specified in more detail, the rules for initial packaging identification should be optimized, and the calculation method for packaging inspection should be improved, so that producers and operators have no time to drill.

　　At the same time, it is necessary to give full play to the functions of industry self-discipline and self-supervision, and urge industry associations to formulate industry conventions to curb excessive packaging and pursue luxury, so as to avoid blind competition and create a vicious circle.

　　Liao Chenglin, a professor at the School of Economics and Business Administration of Chongqing University, and other experts said that it is understandable to have normal human relations during festivals. However, the issue of "four winds" is often accompanied by an undercurrent during holidays, and bad style such as "human feelings" and "doing things" should be resolutely stopped. Discipline inspection and supervision organs should strengthen supervision, carry out unannounced visits, advocate party member cadres’ honesty for holidays, and firmly stop the "four winds" problem in Zongzi.