Page 318 - 2020 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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0 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
about taking a bigger cut of each order—more before. That includes 1.2 million tons of plastic
than 20 percent in some cases—as their priorities containers, 175,000 tons of disposable chopsticks,
shifted following a major upheaval. Ele.me and 164,000 tons of plastic bags and 44,000 tons
Meituan work just like their American counterparts of plastic spoons. Put together, it is more than
Uber Eats, GrubHub, DoorDash and the like. The the amount of residential and commercial trash
apps list menu items from an assortment of local of all kinds disposed of each year by the city
restaurants. When a user places an order, they pass of Philadelphia. The total for 2018 grew to an
it along to the restaurant and dispatch a driver— estimated two million tons. But in China, takeout
in China’s case, a scooter driver—to pick up the boxes do not end up recycled, by and large. Food
food. The customer can then see when their meal delivery in urban areas has transformation daily
will arrive through a live map tracking the driver’s life swiftly. Meituan says it delivered 6.4 billion
movement. This new habit of ordering food via a food orders in 2018. China is already home to a
marketplace app rather than calling a restaurant quarter of all plastic waste that is dumped out
caught on rapidly in China, in part thanks to vast in the open (Zhong and Zhang). So far, though, a
sums of subsidies from companies like Ele.me countrywide crackdown and marketing campaign
and Meituan to bring costs down for restaurants concerning littering hasn’t caused a large-scale
and users. A quarter of Chinese are now ordering change of habits in those who can get their
food from their phones. Subsidies were helpful in noodles delivered in thirty minutes or less.
enlisting restaurants and consumers early on, but
as the market consolidates, investors will likely
become more attuned to monetization. It’s thus
unsurprising to see both major players scaling
back from subsidy-powered growth. It’s hard to nail
down how much Ele.me and Meituan are charging
restaurants from each transaction, as fees vary on
the location, type and size of a restaurant. What’s
widely acknowledged is that both have been
raising commission rates once every few months,
forcing restaurants to rethink their strategy for
ferrying food around. The subsidy-fueled period
cultivated a clan of “virtual restaurants” that
operate only out of a kitchen. As subsidies shrink,
those reliant on delivery as a lifeline are left with
three options: close down, absorb the new costs
to keep customers happy or, in some cases where
the kitchen is well-functioning, shift the costs to
customers (Liao).
In all likelihood, the enduring physical legacy
of China’s food delivery services will not be how
much it costs or how fast food can be delivered.
It will be the plastic. The astronomical growth of
food delivery apps in China is flooding the country
with takeout containers, utensils and bags.
And the country’s patchy recycling system isn’t
keeping up. The vast majority of this plastic ends
up discarded, buried or burned with the rest of
the trash, researchers and recyclers say. Scientists
estimate that the online takeout business in China
was responsible for 1.6 million tons of packaging
waste in 2017, a nine-fold jump from two years
318
about taking a bigger cut of each order—more before. That includes 1.2 million tons of plastic
than 20 percent in some cases—as their priorities containers, 175,000 tons of disposable chopsticks,
shifted following a major upheaval. Ele.me and 164,000 tons of plastic bags and 44,000 tons
Meituan work just like their American counterparts of plastic spoons. Put together, it is more than
Uber Eats, GrubHub, DoorDash and the like. The the amount of residential and commercial trash
apps list menu items from an assortment of local of all kinds disposed of each year by the city
restaurants. When a user places an order, they pass of Philadelphia. The total for 2018 grew to an
it along to the restaurant and dispatch a driver— estimated two million tons. But in China, takeout
in China’s case, a scooter driver—to pick up the boxes do not end up recycled, by and large. Food
food. The customer can then see when their meal delivery in urban areas has transformation daily
will arrive through a live map tracking the driver’s life swiftly. Meituan says it delivered 6.4 billion
movement. This new habit of ordering food via a food orders in 2018. China is already home to a
marketplace app rather than calling a restaurant quarter of all plastic waste that is dumped out
caught on rapidly in China, in part thanks to vast in the open (Zhong and Zhang). So far, though, a
sums of subsidies from companies like Ele.me countrywide crackdown and marketing campaign
and Meituan to bring costs down for restaurants concerning littering hasn’t caused a large-scale
and users. A quarter of Chinese are now ordering change of habits in those who can get their
food from their phones. Subsidies were helpful in noodles delivered in thirty minutes or less.
enlisting restaurants and consumers early on, but
as the market consolidates, investors will likely
become more attuned to monetization. It’s thus
unsurprising to see both major players scaling
back from subsidy-powered growth. It’s hard to nail
down how much Ele.me and Meituan are charging
restaurants from each transaction, as fees vary on
the location, type and size of a restaurant. What’s
widely acknowledged is that both have been
raising commission rates once every few months,
forcing restaurants to rethink their strategy for
ferrying food around. The subsidy-fueled period
cultivated a clan of “virtual restaurants” that
operate only out of a kitchen. As subsidies shrink,
those reliant on delivery as a lifeline are left with
three options: close down, absorb the new costs
to keep customers happy or, in some cases where
the kitchen is well-functioning, shift the costs to
customers (Liao).
In all likelihood, the enduring physical legacy
of China’s food delivery services will not be how
much it costs or how fast food can be delivered.
It will be the plastic. The astronomical growth of
food delivery apps in China is flooding the country
with takeout containers, utensils and bags.
And the country’s patchy recycling system isn’t
keeping up. The vast majority of this plastic ends
up discarded, buried or burned with the rest of
the trash, researchers and recyclers say. Scientists
estimate that the online takeout business in China
was responsible for 1.6 million tons of packaging
waste in 2017, a nine-fold jump from two years
318
