Shanghai authorities crack down on O2O food delivery apps
O2O delivery has absolutely exploded in China over the past couple of years, giving rise to powerful new startups like Ele.me as well as attracting big players like Baidu and Meituan to the growing market. It’s not difficult to see why; O2O food is a win for everyone. Restaurants get access to more customers with no need for additional seating space, and customers get the food they want delivered right to their doorstep.
中国では、O2Oデリバリーは、ここ数年間で驚くべきほど爆発的に増加し、BaiduやMeituanのような有力企業をこの成長市場に引き付けるだけでなく、Ele.meのような強力で新たなスタートアップを生じさせた。その理由は明らかだ。O2Oフードは、誰にとっても得なのである。レストランは、着席スペースを追加せずにより多くの顧客を獲得でき、顧客は自分が欲しいフードを玄関先まで配達してもらえる。
But according to the Shanghai State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), some of China’s O2O food players have been getting a little lax with their standards. A recent investigation found that numerous platforms, including Ele.me, Meituan, and Dianping, had listings with problems like:
・Not displaying the seller’s food service permit
・Listing permits with addresses that led to unlicensed food sellers
・Listing borrowed permits (permits with the name and address of a different food provider than the actual source of the food)
・Listing forged permits (permits with a fake business name and address for the food provider)
・販売業者の飲食サービス許可書の掲示がない
・無許可飲食業者の所在地付き許可書を記載している
・借りた許可書を記載している（実際の食品調達先とは異なる食品業者の名義及び所在地の許可書）
・偽造許可書を記載している（偽造の食品業者名及び所在地を使用した許可書）
・売り手のフードサービス許可証の非表示
・リストには、許可されていない食品販売者につながるアドレスで許諾表示
・借用された許諾の表示 （食品の実際のソースとは異なる食品プロバイダの名前とアドレスでの許諾）
・偽造許諾のリスト（食品プロバイダの偽のビジネス名称と住所での許諾）
The platforms have been ordered to clean up their act and immediately delist any products sourced by unlicensed food operators. The SFDA is also investigating for criminal wrongdoing and may levy fines of RMB 50,000 to RMB 200,000 (US$7,800 to $30,000).
This might seem like a minor issue, but food sourcing is a real concern in China, where food safety can be a problem. High profile cases have died down in comparison to a few years ago, when scandals were flying so thick and fast that a Fudan University student started what became a very popular website to keep track of them all. But issues remain. For example, just a couple of months ago Hebei officials issued a forced recall order after a Chinese company’s milk products were found to contain illegally high levels of sodium sulfocyanate.
The SFDA’s investigation itself doesn’t really pose any threat to companies like Ele.me or Meituan. Ele.me, after all, just raised US$630 million – it can probably afford quite a few US$30,000 fines.
But even the most well-funded companies do have to be afraid of a public food safety scandal. Delivering an order of unsafe food that ends up seriously poisoning a large group of people, for example, is the kind of scandal that could blow up and threaten the company’s core business. A worst case scenario could destroy the company outright: Sanlu was one of China’s biggest and proudest dairy product makers before the 2008 melamine scandal destroyed it so completely that it went defunct.
しかしもっとも資金力のある企業でさえ、食品スキャンダルには注意を払う必要がある。安全が保証されていない食品の注文、配達は多くの人々を深刻に害したことで終わりを告げた。例えば、このようなスキャンダルは深刻化し、企業の基幹事業に危険を及ぼすこともある。最悪の場合、企業を徹底的に崩壊させてしまうことがあるのだ。2008年のメラミンスキャンダルが三鹿を完璧に崩壊させ、消滅させてしまう以前は、三鹿は中国でもっとも大きくりっぱな乳製品メーカーの一つだった。
SFDAの調査自体が本当にEle.meまたはMeituanような企業への脅威を述べることはありません。 Ele.meは、結局、ちょうど$630万ドルを引き揚げ、 - それはおそらく相当数の3万ドルの罰金をなんとかすることはできるでしょう。
しかし、たとえ最もよく資金供給されている企業でさえ、公共の食品安全スキャンダルを恐れなければならないのです。真剣に人々の大規模なグループを毒殺してしまう危険な食べ物の順序を提供することは、例えば、炎上し、同社のコアビジネスに脅威を与えるスキャンダルのようなものです。最悪の場合のシナリオでは、2008年のメラミンスキャンダルによって消滅してしまうほど完全に破壊される前に、完全に会社を破壊し、サンルは、中国最大で最も誇り高いと乳製品メーカーの一つである
Such an extreme case is unlikely in the O2O sector, of course. But even a smaller-scale scandal could have serious repercussions for a food delivery business. After all, if you saw on the news that Food Delivery Company A had just delivered a bunch of E. Coli-infected food to a local office recently, would you still order your lunch from them, or would you be switching to Food Delivery Company B instead? O2O delivery firms don’t produce their food, but if customers have doubts about their sourcing, they may well be inspired to switch delivery companies anyway.
Given that, it would be advisable for China’s O2O food delivery firms to follow the authorities and play by the book on this one. Requiring proper licenses – and checking to be sure they’re legit – might make the high-speed expansion that’s been a big part of O2O’s growth in China more difficult, but if that helps ensure customers are getting food prepared in properly licensed kitchens and not off-the-books back-alley spots with no SFDA oversight, it’s worth it.
