The China Consumers Association Advocates Simple Consumption and Rejects Overpriced Rice Dumplings

With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, the China Consumers Association has issued a reminder advocating for simple consumption and rejecting overpriced rice dumplings.

According to a report by "China Consumer News," as the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the China Consumers Association issued a consumption reminder on the 22nd, advocating for simple consumption, rejecting overpriced rice dumplings and excessive packaging, promoting the rice dumplings to return to the essence of festive food and the origin of traditional culture.

Before last year's Dragon Boat Festival, media investigations found that the market was not lacking in "Bird's Nest Dumplings," "Abalone Dumplings," "Sea Cucumber Dumplings," and other "overpriced" rice dumplings, mostly appearing on e-commerce platforms. Some offline high-end hotels offered limited custom gift boxes, with some priced as high as over 800 RMB.

The China Consumers Association pointed out that the overpriced rice dumplings that have appeared on the market in recent years deviate from the original intention of the festival. Overpriced rice dumplings refer to those priced far above the market average, using premium ingredients and luxurious packaging as gimmicks, even paired with other high-end gifts for sale, thus departing from the essence of food and becoming tools for social exchanges and comparison.

The Beijing Youth Daily reports that in recent years, the "premiumization" phenomenon in the festive market has attracted attention, with phenomena such as "overpriced" mooncakes and "overpriced" rice dumplings occurring repeatedly. This is by no means an expression of consumption upgrading but rather a method some merchants use through excessive packaging, selecting expensive ingredients, or bundling with luxury products to increase the value of traditional festive foods. This not only alters the flavor of traditional festivals but also tends to foster unhealthy social trends, becoming a "driving force" for festival-related corruption.

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the "Rice Dumpling Street" on Ma'an East Road in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, is also becoming busy. Farmhouse bacon dumplings, chestnut pork dumplings, specialty beef dumplings, Ruoqiang jujube dumplings, and pepper and salt red bean dumplings, the flavors here are a medley, and this year's rice dumpling prices are basically the same as last year, with meat dumplings generally priced at about 15 RMB per pound (approximately 8.85 Ringgit). (Photo: China News Service)