Can raising compensation standards and mass-selling snacks get rid of the “weighing” crisis?

Recently, the “Weighing Gate” controversy has continued to ferment, putting the mass-selling snack industry into a crisis of trust. Mingming Busy and Haoxianglai have successively issued apology statements, stating that they will strengthen store management, supply chain and digital construction in an all-round way, and further increase compensation protection.

But behind the statement on brand rectification, there is a question worthy of further investigation: Is the weighing controversy in mass-selling snack stores a common phenomenon in the industry?

Confronting the Weighing Controversy

Recently, a reporter randomly walked into a Haoxianlai snack park in Shanghai. It was already eight or nine o’clock in the evening, but customers still came to shop from time to time.

“I know about the recent ‘weighing’ controversy.” A young consumer told reporters that he still trusts this store. “I have purchased many times, and I have never been charged more for wrong weighing.” It is understood that this customer lives near the store and comes at least once a week.

The reporter noticed that next to the scale at the checkout counter of the store, there was a small plastic box containing a 500-gram standard weight. The words “Welcome to weigh, pick up the weight by yourself” were posted on the box. When the reporter asked the store clerk to check the scale as a consumer, the clerk readily agreed: “Of course! Welcome to check the scale.”

After the clerk took out the weight, he placed it in the center of a scale and asked the reporter to look at the display. The weight (kg) column of the display clearly showed “0.500”, which is 500 grams. When inspecting the scale, the clerk proactively asked if he needed to take photos and asked if he wanted to inspect another scale. After checking the scale, the display results of the two scales are consistent.

When the reporter asked about the recent “weighing” controversy, the clerk said he knew about it and told the reporter that many customers had come to check the scale recently. “We can check it at any time. This is also supported by the company. The weights are kept here for a long time.” She said that the store where she works has never had any wrong weighing or overcharging customers. “We are very strict about the management of scales. Every morning when we open the cash register, we will prompt you to check the scale. If you don’t check the scale, you can’t turn it on.”

A Shanghai Haoxianglai franchisee told reporters that the automatic prompt to check the scale when the cash register is turned on is a newly upgraded function of the Haoxianlai store management system recently, and the brand has further strengthened the management of scales. “In fact, the brand has always been very strict in the management of scales. Before the upgrade, stores would be required to regularly check the scales and take videos and send them to regional supervisors.” He said that the method of scale inspection in stores is the same as that of the regulatory authorities, which is the “five-corner scale inspection method”, that is, standard weights are placed in the four corners and in the middle of the scale in turn to confirm whether the weights are consistent.

Don’t lose big for small things

The “Weighing Gate” has plunged the entire mass-selling snack industry into controversy. Recently, market regulatory authorities in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, Yuncheng, Shanxi, Yancheng, Jiangsu, and other places have launched special rectifications on the measurement of mass-selling snacks. They have carried out inspections on a large number of offline stores of the two leading brands, Mingming Busy and Haoxianlai, focusing on illegal activities such as cheating on electronic scales, irregular measurement, and missing pounds.

“Actually, mass-market snack brands have very strict control over their scales, but in practice, it is difficult to avoid problems.” An employee of a mass-market snack brand who did not want to be named told reporters that as far as he knew, most of the weighing problems in the mass-market snack brand he worked for were caused by employee operating errors and had little to do with the scale itself. According to him, foreign objects caught on the scale during weighing, such as touching a plastic bag when opening it or pressing the power cord of a scanner gun against the scale, and forgetting to click on the “tare” option during weighing. These are common operational mistakes made by store employees. “Especially in stores where there are many customers checking out, employees are more likely to make omissions.”

The Haoxianlai Shanghai franchisee mentioned above also admitted that such mistakes may occur, but he emphasized that if the customer requests a re-weighing on the spot, the store will re-weigh it immediately. If a problem occurs, it will pay three times the order amount in accordance with the brand’s requirements. “According to the latest requirements of the brand, the compensation has been increased to ten times, and we strictly implement it.” He said that mass-selling snack stores are opened in communities and are doing neighborhood business. “If the reputation of ‘short of weight’ spreads, the reputation will be bad, and no one in the community will soon be willing to come to consume. We don’t want to lose a big for the small.”