Hong Kong / CN. (csr) For people in China, the Mid-Autumn Festival – in Europe better known as Moon Festival – is just around the corner. Held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Traditionally, Chinese family members and friends will gather at this time to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, carry lanterns, and eat moon cakes. This year the Festival takes place on October 03.
In Hong Kong, producing moon cakes has become a very large and highly profitable business, and numerous bakeries and restaurants see a spike in income as individuals and businesses lavish moon cakes as gifts on family members, friends, colleagues, business partners and clients. However, all is not festive in Hong Kong´s moon cake business, and there are three CSR-related aspects related to the sale and consumption of these tasty delicacies – according to CSR Asia, the leading provider of information, training, research and consultancy services on sustainable business practices in Asia.
Compulsory sales targets for moon cakes
The moon cake business is highly competitive. The past decade has seen new players entering the market and companies constantly introducing new moon cake varieties to boost sales. Some companies have even set sales targets for their staff. In these instances, staff members are required to purchase «moon cake gift vouchers», which they have to sell to customers. Senior employees are usually expected to purchase more vouchers than junior. However, if they are unable to sell off all vouchers, they are expected to shoulder the cost of any unsold vouchers themselves. This practice is so prevalent that it has become an «industry trend». Employees are often afraid to speak up about it.
Moon cake retailers should understand that employees are an important stakeholder group. In order to run a responsible and sustainable business, they should provide staff with a good working environment and adopt healthy business practices. The practice of forcing staff to purchase vouchers and to pay for unsold ones is a form of deprivation and should cease. Perhaps companies could adopt a commission scheme as a form of encouragement, rather than a voucher scheme that sometimes acts as a punishment. A commission scheme would demonstrate a commitment to doing business responsibly and staff, freed from the heavy burden of an unreasonable sales method, would most likely appreciate their employers more.
Excessive packaging
When it comes to moon cake packaging, many moon cake producers clearly believe that the more attractive the package, the more likely consumers will buy their products. This is quite true: When choosing gifts, Chinese people often choose ones sold in good-looking packages for the sake of «face-saving» (or maintaining a good reputation for oneself). Sometimes this behaviour goes so far as to ignore the true value of the gift itself.
There has been a noticeable growth in the demand for greener products in Hong Kong recently, and there is no reason for us not to believe that there will be a demand for greener moon cake containers from conscientious customers. Moon cake producers should recognise this trend and take the lead in avoiding excessive packaging. Recycling activities led by the government and environmental groups have gained more public recognition over the last few years. To engage more in the green trend, moon cake producers could team up green groups to recycle moon cake boxes. They could also perhaps introduce a discount to customers providing unwanted moon cake containers to purchase other products. There are many other ways to enhance business growth and good will in a more responsible and sustainable manner. Companies just have to understand the value of being responsible and be creative.
Wasteful giving
Many companies in Hong Kong give moon cakes to their clients during the Moon Festival as a token of appreciation. But it seems that few people consider the waste created from this gift. It is not uncommon to hear stories about bosses asking their employees to take several boxes of moon cakes home because the company has received so many moon cake gifts. But the edible period of the seasonal snack is rather short. Sometimes the expiry date is well passed before a box of moon cakes can be consumed. Not only is the food wasted, but the millions of tin boxes have enormous impact to the environment.
When it comes to gifts, Chinese tend to say the more the better. But a responsible company should be conscious about wasteful giving. One could consider choosing e-cards or other green products over moon cakes. For those who would like to follow the moon cake giving tradition, they could select those with simple or even recycled packaging.
Moon cakes are delicious (although too many will certainly make your belt tighter). And the Mid-Autumn Festival is a major event for Chinese people the world over; its celebration is a joyous occasion. But it is also a time when we should start considering how moon cakes are sold, packaged and given as gifts. In a competitive market, now is perhaps the time for some producers to think green and start capturing what is surely a growing market.
