Food and Beverages News
- BYO rule stirs debate in China
Date: 12-Jan-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
Bring your own booze or not?' Restaurateurs and consumers in China are wrestling over whether restaurants should allow customers to bring their own drinks into the restaurants.
Consumers' associations in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and southwest China's Chongqing municipality issued a joint statement Wednesday, claiming that the restaurants' 'house drinks only' rule is unlawful and unfair to customers.
The statement, citing laws on contract, consumer rights protection and fair competition, said the rule is aimed at forcing customers to buy beverages from the restaurants, the prices of which can reach four times the market price.
The statement came after national and Beijing catering guilds encouraged caterers on Dec. 27 last year to forbid customers from bringing their own beverages, and to charge corking fee on customers' drinks if they do.
Seeing the statement, the guilds again voiced support for no BYO in Thursday's edition of the Beijing Daily Messenger.
'Allowing diners to bring drinks will hurt restaurants' interests, as beverage sales are an important part of the revenue of the catering business,' said Luo Yuanqi, secretary of the Beijing Cuisine Association, in the newspaper.
Luo added that restaurateurs are entitled to charge corking fees to avoid losing profits, the newspaper said.
Industry sources said beverage sales make up over two thirds of some restaurants' annual profits.
Corking fees in Chinese restaurants are usually 30 percent of the price of customer-brought drinks. In some restaurants, the fee can reach 50 percent and beyond.
A Beijing resident surnamed Wang won a lawsuit in December last year against Xiangshuizhizhu Restaurant, which charged 100 yuan (12.8 U.S. dollars) on the beverage he brought to drink.
The Haidian District People's Court ruled the restaurant must return the fee, but the caterer is continuing to charge the fee despite the verdict, according to Ge Jianhua, vice manager of the restaurant.
Disputes over the BYO rule fused when 23 restaurants in Wenzhou, in east China's Zhejiang province, made an agreement to unanimously forbid customer-brought beverages.
Currently, there is no law or regulation on whether customers should be allowed to bring their own drinks into restaurants. No regulations exist about corking fees either.
Dining in restaurants has become increasingly popular among Chinese people. The China Cuisine Association estimates that sales of the country's booming catering businesses will reach two trillion yuan in 2010.
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