The number of packaging layers of moon cakes shall not exceed 3 at most, precious metals and mahogany materials shall not be used, and moon cakes shall not be mixed with other products... The mandatory national standard "food and cosmetics with restrictions on excessive packaging of commodities" was officially implemented on August 15. What changes will the new standard bring? Therefore, on August 31, the reporter visited the packaging factory that produces moon cake gift boxes.
I used to ignore the cost, as long as I was tall and tall
Jinan ShangBang Jiapin Packaging Co., Ltd. is located in Sangzidian street, Jinan. It is said that it is the top packaging company among more than 100 packaging enterprises in Jinan.
On August 31, the reporter came to this company. Lu Zhongwen, the person in charge of the company, told the reporter that his company now produces a variety of product packaging, mainly including health care product packaging, food packaging, cosmetics packaging and pharmaceutical packaging.
The moon cake gift box is very seasonal. "When it comes to the moon cake gift box season, basically all other work stops and specializes in producing moon cake gift boxes." The reporter saw in the workshop that many of the moon cake gift boxes produced were neatly stacked in the workshop, waiting to be transported away. The assembly line in the workshop is also producing all the time, and the workers are busy nervously. Film sticking, compounding, cornering, folding and so on, under one process after another, a beautiful gift box was born.
According to LV Zhongwen, he began to enter the packaging industry in 2018, after more than 20 years of catering. "I registered the personal trademark of the catering industry in 1997 to protect my personal brand. Qilu Evening News also reported at that time." After entering the packaging industry by chance, he started from scratch. Now his company has an annual output value of more than ten million yuan.
He told reporters that his company began to make moon cake gift boxes in 2019, and designed and produced moon cake gift boxes for moon cake manufacturers. "At that time, the gift box manufacturers wanted to be tall and tall. They didn't care about the cost at all. How luxury they made them." Talking about the packaging of moon cakes in 2019, LV Zhongwen said with emotion, "all kinds of crafts have been used, and the price of expensive moon cake gift boxes has reached more than 100 yuan." He said that at that time, the designers were very busy, aiming at tall and innovative designs, pull-out and double open designs, and the use of various materials. "At that time, the price of moon cake gift boxes could be more than ten times different, and the theme, color and style were varied."
By 2020, his company could make tens of thousands of sets of moon cake gift boxes every moon cake season. "Workers often need to work overtime. The more luxurious the gift box is, the more troublesome it is to make it. For example, some need encryption boards, which need other factories to participate in processing." LV Zhongwen said that although the moon cake gift boxes at that time looked high-grade and had high production costs, their recycling value was not high, and many gift boxes became garbage.
Now that the price has come down, there are more recycled materials
In 2021, the moon cake gift boxes of ShangBang Jiapin company basically continued the luxurious background color, and some manufacturers made some fine adjustments in style and color. Sometimes in order to meet the needs of businesses, their company's designers try again and again to produce novel packaging gift boxes that are not seen in the market. The reporter saw that the company had a two-layer round side opening gift box, which was very ingenious in design.
Entering 2022, in the context of "moon cake slimming", moon cake manufacturers have also made targeted changes. "This year, manufacturers pay more attention to the lining, and there are more minimalist styles on the packaging." The reporter saw that one of the gift boxes produced by the company to a moon cake factory in Licheng was an ordinary kraft paper gift box. "Kraft paper like this is environmentally friendly and easier to recycle, thus reducing the pollution to the environment."
The reporter also saw more than a dozen different moon cake gift boxes produced by the company this year. These gift boxes basically return to the moon cake boxes themselves, and there is no room for making mixed packages. Moreover, most of the recycled materials such as kraft paper and corrugated paper are used, and the process is particularly complicated.
"The cost of such gift boxes as inner boxes, outer boxes and handbags is about 10 yuan." LV Zhongwen said that the parity of their company's mooncake gift boxes this year accounted for about 50%, and the single expensive mooncake gift box did not exceed 50 yuan.
After limiting excessive packaging, for packaging enterprises, it means reducing profits. "There are fewer complex processes, fewer processes, lower total price, and lower profits." However, Lu Zhongwen said that with fewer luxury packages, the efficiency of their production line has also improved. "From our perspective of packaging, it is unrealistic for businessmen to like packaging that is minimalist and not disrespectful. But they should also have a sense of social responsibility, so it is good for the future to support this new national standard."
LV Zhongwen said that in the past, the luxury packaging industry was also very competitive, and the homogenization was relatively serious. Now, without excessive packaging, we can better reflect our ideas, and the packaging has more styles.
E-commerce platforms still have mixed gift boxes, and local enterprises say that slimming down is a good thing
Through the interview, the reporter found that the price of bulk moon cakes in most supermarkets was relatively low, and the price of moon cake gift boxes was mostly around 100 yuan. From the appearance, there are no precious metals, mahogany and other packaging materials, mainly cardboard boxes, iron boxes and other materials. Most of the moon cake gift boxes have been replaced with small packages, "light package" and listed.
However, the reporter saw from the e-commerce platform that many moon cake gift boxes were mixed, especially mixed red wine. The price of these gift boxes ranges from 489 yuan to 65 yuan. Although the price is different, they all contain red wine.
As a representative enterprise of Jinan moon cake, he Haibo, general manager of Jinan Yikang Food Factory Co., Ltd., said that after the introduction of the new packaging regulations, their company adjusted and designed the packaging again, "Our packaging layers are no more than three; the packaging cost of the moon cake gift box with a price of more than 100 yuan is no more than 15% of the product sales price; the packaging cost of the moon cake gift box with a price of less than 100 yuan is no more than 20% of the product sales price; according to the net content of our products, our packaging void rate is controlled within 30%; we strictly enforce the requirements of mixed packaging of moon cakes and do not mix with other products." It is understood that after the introduction of the new packaging regulations, their company measured this year's packaging according to the standards. At the same time, they actively docked with the competent authorities, listened to the requirements of the competent authorities, and jointly checked the measurement results. Recently, they have been inspected by various departments in Shandong Province and Jinan City, and are fully in line with the new national standards.
He Huajun, chairman of Shandong daoxiangyuan Food Co., Ltd., currently serves as the chairman of Shandong baking food industry association. "Moon cake slimming not only has no impact on brand enterprises, but is beneficial. The packaging cost is reduced, and enterprises can better research and develop product quality. In addition, the relevant government departments at the provincial, municipal and municipal levels have strengthened the inspection of brand enterprises, so that brand enterprises usher in a development period. In this case, consumers will also choose more brand moon cakes. After all, brand enterprises' moon cakes make consumers feel more secure." He Huajun said.
Regarding the slimming of moon cakes, the reporter also interviewed Wang Changlong, chairman of the cake Culture Committee of the Chinese Culture Promotion Association. He told reporters, "Moon cake slimming has little impact on moon cake enterprises. In the past few years, there has been a relevant regulation on limiting excessive packaging of moon cakes. The packaging of key moon cake enterprises has basically met the relevant regulations and standards. Moon cakes with luxury packaging and so-called sky high price moon cakes are rare. Besides, modern consumers do not like moon cakes with luxury packaging, and they also reject sky high price moon cakes. Moon cake slimming is a trend and Trends. "
