Can digital platforms control takeaway food safety？
During the National Day holiday, some people choose to go out to play fresh, and some people choose to eat takeout "at home". Is the food safe? Is the kitchen hygienic? Will it be contaminated during delivery? You who order takeout can’t help but have such concerns. There is good news: recently, the Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Bureau launched the "Zhejiang takeaway online" digital platform, which is the first in the country to realize the whole chain closed-loop management of online catering from kitchen to table, from processing to delivery, from online to offline, and from merchants to riders. Can the digital platform control the safety of takeaway food? The reporter interviewed this.
"Black heart" takeaway nowhere to hide
"I saw your back kitchen through the live video broadcast of the takeaway platform, and it is cleaner than I thought." Recently, Liu Feng, who runs takeaway restaurants near Macheng Road, Xixi Street, Xihu District, Hangzhou, received messages from regular customers from time to time. In mid-July, a camera was added to the back kitchen of the store, and the other end of the camera was connected to consumers’ mobile phones.
Behind this change is a series of problems. According to statistics, there are currently more than 500 million online takeaway users in our country, and about 8 million takeaway riders. Takeaway catering has played a positive role in ensuring basic people’s livelihood and absorbing social employment. However, due to the long chain and many links, coupled with the emergence of new models and new formats, food safety supervision regulations, standards and means are not yet suitable for the rapid development of takeaway catering. The main responsibilities of platforms and online merchants are not in place, and issues such as food safety and the protection of the rights and interests of takeaway riders are increasingly prominent.
How to deal with these problems from the source? Zhejiang has strengthened the supervision of the platform economy with the help of digital means, and promoted the healthier and more standardized development of the online catering industry. Since 2017, Zhejiang has taken the lead in using the "big data capture and analysis system for online ordering monitoring and monitoring of Meituan takeaway, Ele.me and other online ordering platforms. The" Zhejiang takeaway online "launched this time connects all the functions of" Sunshine Kitchen "to Meituan takeaway and Ele.me two takeaway platforms. Consumers can watch the real scene of the merchant’s back kitchen through live broadcast, and the process of food cleaning, processing and production is clear at a glance.
"In the governance of online catering, consistent licenses are the bottom line, and food processing safety is the core." Jin Xiang, director of the Internet Supervision Branch of the Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, believes that the reason why "black-hearted" takeout has no fear is because the processing process of the back kitchen is opaque, and consumers cannot supervise it. If the "back kitchen" is no longer "operating in the dark", then consumers can "see clearly, order with confidence, and eat with peace of mind".
According to statistics, since the launch of "Zhejiang takeaway online", it has completed the verification of the main information of 293,000 merchants, connected to the sunshine kitchen super 90,000, and promoted the takeaway merchants to promise to use the "takeaway seal" 64,000, and the takeaway merchants promised to use the limited plastic packaging 55,000.
"Meituan takeaway will set up a’Sunshine Kitchen ‘special area at the golden booth on the APP homepage, and study preferential policies in terms of cooperation rates, marketing opportunities, traffic display, etc. for merchants with strong capabilities, excellent service, and implementation of bright kitchen and bright stove, and cooperate with supervision in an all-round way," said Ding Dong, Meituan’s chief food safety officer.
Riders’ rights are guaranteed
For a complete takeaway order, in addition to food processing and production, there is also a delivery link. The takeaway delivery is undertaken by the rider, with one end connected to the platform merchants and the other to the customers. The roles are different, but they pursue the same, that is, fast. For consumers, in the fast-paced work and life, ordering takeout is convenient and fast; for platform merchants, they need to sell more and make more profits, but they also need to be fast; for takeaway riders, they need to pull more and run faster to earn more.
"Although all three parties are seeking speed, the delivery riders are in a weak position in the entire chain, and the pressure and exposed problems will also be concentrated on them." Xia Xuemin, an adjunct researcher at the Institute of Public Policy of Zhejiang University, believes that delivery catering has the characteristics of a high degree of platform, strong mobility, and unclear labor relations, which in turn brings problems such as irregular employment and difficult protection of workers’ rights and interests. Under the assessment of the platform algorithm, some delivery staff have to race against time, which brings hidden dangers to traffic safety and their own safety.
Previously, the State Regulation for Market Regulation and other seven departments jointly issued opinions, putting forward all-round requirements for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of takeaway riders. In terms of protecting labor income, the platform is required to establish an income distribution mechanism that matches the work tasks and labor intensity, and ensure that the normal labor income of takeaway deliverymen is not lower than the local minimum wage standard. The "strictest algorithm" shall not be used as an assessment requirement, and the assessment factors such as order quantity, on-time rate, and online rate shall be reasonably determined through methods such as "algorithm winning", and the delivery time limit shall be appropriately relaxed.
To safeguard the rights and interests of takeaway brothers, we must let the algorithm have rules. Zhang Genming, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, said that in order to solve the problems of frequent riders speeding traffic violations caused by platform rules and algorithms, the market supervision department combined weather, road conditions, load and other factors to design a set of rider delivery time algorithms, set a reasonable delivery time interval for it, and guide the takeaway platform to optimize and correct the delivery time rules. In addition, the "Zhejiang takeaway online" platform has collected data from multiple departments, found out the file base of takeaway riders, and promoted all parties to fully protect the rights and interests of takeaway riders.
"Now, the platform rules are optimized, and there is no need to rush blindly, and many consumers also understand." A Meituan takeaway rider confessed to reporters that traffic violations such as retrograde traffic and running red lights have been greatly reduced recently, and labor intensity has also decreased compared with the past.
At present, the "Zhejiang takeaway online" platform has established 353,000 and 923 files of riders and agents respectively, checked the number of riders participating in insurance 235,600, handled 2,371 labor disputes, and fed back 16,700 traffic accident data on the platform.
Multi-party co-governance forms a joint force
"The focus of strengthening supervision is to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the takeaway industry, rather than restricting its development." Zhang Genming said that in the system design, Zhejiang pays attention to the legal and reasonable use of new technologies, prevents unfair competition, and assumes social responsibility and other hard requirements. At the same time, pay attention to balancing the interests of all parties, and strive to unify the rights, responsibilities and interests of all parties to avoid the phenomenon of "chaos and death".
At present, new business models of takeaway are emerging, and some merchants outsource the processing of food ingredients to middlemen such as shared kitchens for processing and production. "At the peak of lunch and dinner, the number of orders surges, which brings challenges to the food supply, and there may be hidden dangers in the production and distribution links." Shi Xiaoming, chairperson of the takeaway professional committee of the China Hotel Association, suggested that the standards and specifications of food procurement, processing, packaging and distribution should be improved, and the responsibilities of merchants and platforms who enter the shared kitchen to carry out food business activities should be defined.
In October last year, the China Cuisine Association and others issued the "Sealing Specifications for Catering Takeaway", which encourages takeaway merchants to seal meals by means of seals and buckles to ensure that food is not opened at will during the delivery process. The association also took the lead in organizing and formulating standards such as "Professional Competence Requirements for Catering Operators Based on Internet Tools", encouraging more takeaway companies to participate in the drafting of group standards, and creating a standard model of "understanding at a glance, following what you can do, and measuring with a ruler to the end".
Industry experts point out that ensuring the safety of takeaway catering requires the participation of all parties in society. Government departments should constantly innovate supervision methods, do a good job in the whole chain supervision of takeaway catering, fully protect the rights and interests of consumers, and guide the standardized development of the industry; industry associations should issue group standards in a timely manner to make the takeaway catering industry process rule-based; takeaway platforms must implement responsibilities such as qualification review and full-time management, and standardize the business activities of online merchants; catering enterprises should operate in good faith, abide by the law, and continuously improve service quality.