Over-packaged Zongzi Overtake Their Mooncake Predecessors

nth="6" year="2011">

, at a Carrefour supermarket, zongzi gift boxes priced at

yuan went on sale.

Chief photographer

As a latecomer, the excessively luxurious zongzi is well on its way to overtaking mooncakes

The reporter's investigation found that zongzi are travelling ever further upmarket: gift boxes carrying duck eggs, tea and aged liquor are priced as high as five or six hundred yuan or even over a thousand yuan.

Averaged out by number, a single zongzi sells for as much as several tens of yuan or even over a hundred yuan.

The reporter learned from sellers that buyers of luxury zongzi include both public institutions and enterprises, mostly through group purchases. Experts suggest that the destination of large orders should be supervised throughout the process.

Zongzi gift boxes come with tea and liquor

After touring several supermarkets in the capital, the reporter found that more than 90 percent of zongzi gift boxes sell for over a hundred yuan, usually in

pieces, with each zongzi selling for an average of several tens of yuan.

The reason zongzi dare to be priced so high lies in their noble

The zongzi gift boxes of Jinfeng Chengxiang Bakery are made under contract by a well-known manufacturer in the south. The reporter noticed that precious ingredients such as abalone and snails all appear on the zongzi flavour lists. Two gift boxes bearing the word abalone are priced at

yuan, but the sales staff said:

There is no abalone inside, only abalone sauce.

The most expensive zongzi gift box the reporter found on Taobao was priced at

yuan. In this gift box, with its antique-style basket design, the first layer holds four flavours of zongzi — beef, red bean paste, date, and lily with seafood,

of each; the second layer holds

five-fortune cakes; and the third layer holds a set of ten-year-aged Guyuelongshan liquor.

Counting only the zongzi, each one works out to about

yuan apiece! The reporter noted that this

gift box has zero transactions on record. The shopkeeper said that, probably because the price is on the high side, not many people have asked about it.

Exquisite outer boxes have become a white elephant

Many residents said that unless they are giving a gift, they would not choose luxuriously packaged zongzi.

The money all goes on the packaging, and it is not good value

Other residents believe that excessive packaging of zongzi, like that of mooncakes, amounts to waste.

The packaging looks nice, but it is not much use in practice; after eating the zongzi, those good-looking boxes are basically all thrown away or sold for scrap

In fact, excessive packaging is a serious problem for some goods at present. Besides zongzi, mooncakes, health products, tea, cosmetics, gift liquor and children's toys are also recognized as

In the children's toy section of a shopping mall, the reporter found that every toy comes in a big outer box, but in fact the toy basically takes up only two thirds of the space.

The more packaging there is, the more side effects appear. Excessive packaging has become an important

Our family has a pile of boxes; they are not much use sitting there, but throwing them away feels like a waste.

nname w:st="on" productid="Wang">Wang

Ms. Wang said. Many consumers feel the same way: these exquisite boxes are nothing but a pile of white elephants.

Who is buying luxury zongzi?

Who is buying these luxury zongzi at present? What are these luxury zongzi bought for? The reporter visited the food counters and large supermarkets of some of the capital's shopping malls in advance.

A salesperson at a shopping mall near Xinxing Bridge said that luxury zongzi have not yet

, and they need to wait a while for large orders.

The salesgirl said that families of three shopping in the mall and the elderly women who come to the mall to cool off will not buy luxury zongzi. Mostly they are bought through group purchases, and cash is rarely used — cheques are more common.

She explained that luxury zongzi are generally

boxes or more; the exact use is not clear, but sometimes casual chat reveals that they are for gifts and welfare handouts.

It is not only government bodies that buy luxury zongzi — some enterprises also make group purchases. Perhaps they do it to get on good terms (with the relevant departments)

. Another salesperson said:

There may be a discount for group purchases, but some public institutions do not even ask about the discount.

Large orders need supervision

Dong Jinshi, executive vice president and secretary-general of the International Food Packaging Association, said that excessive packaging of zongzi mainly manifests itself in too many packaging layers, excessive use of materials, luxurious decoration and design, excessively high packaging costs and tied-in sales of goods.

Dong Jinshi advised consumers to consume rationally and resist excessive packaging of zongzi. At the same time, regulations such as the Regulations on Limiting Excessive Packaging of Commodities should be issued as soon as possible, so that action against excessive packaging does not stop at standards and publicity but is enshrined in laws and regulations.

The reporter learned that the Notice on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste published this year by the General Office of the State Council in

month clearly proposed restricting the excessive use of packaging materials and exploring the establishment of a mandatory packaging recovery system.

Yu Xianyang, a well-known sociologist and professor at Renmin University of China, pointed out that nowadays anything at all is bundled into zongzi, which has become a form of hidden corruption.

He suggested that the transactions and destinations of large quantities of luxury zongzi be supervised throughout the whole process, and that zongzi gift boxes must be prevented from carrying premium foreign liquor, precious herbs, related luxury goods or even cash

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-369980.html