Single Cabbage Sold For Nearly $80? Market Regulator: Fine Of 500,000 Yuan

It is surprising that an ordinary cabbage can be sold for 77.9 yuan after being sorted and packed. The company was fined 500,000 yuan by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision for price fraud.

Recently, some netizens reflected that the prices of vegetables sold by Shanghai Takashimaya Department Store Co. The reporter saw from the photos posted by the netizen that a cabbage with a packaging date of March 24 was priced at 77.9 yuan (unit price of 32 yuan/kg) and a cabbage with a packaging date of March 24 was also priced at 78.1 yuan (unit price of 36 yuan/kg) in the Shanghai Takashimaya Department Store.

In response to the above, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Regulation swiftly launched an investigation.

It was found that since September 2020, Wang Mou had signed a joint sales contract with Takashimaya Department Store in the name of Shanghai Nongkang Vegetable Cooperative and set up the "Xujing Nongkang" counter in the "Mercato Fresco Fresh Market" operated by Takashimaya Department Store. "The cooperative entered into a joint sales contract with Takashimaya Department Store.

After sorting and packaging ordinary vegetables purchased from farmers' markets and fresh food shops, Wang advertised "a large farm near you, 25 minutes' drive away", "self-production and sales, family farm, picking experience, farming activities, home delivery".

"Nongkang produces its own vegetables for direct sale", while using the "Xujing Nongkang" logo on the packaging of some vegetables and other products. Ordinary vegetables have been transformed into fine vegetables and are sold at high prices with a high-end positioning. However, Takashimaya Department Store did not review the above content.

In addition, the market surveillance staff found that since 14 February 2022, Takashimaya Department Store has been selling Filippo Parade Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Ogawa Inaniwa Handmade Vegetarian Noodles, North Shore F Frozen Lobster Flavoured Fish Balls and Horie Inaniwa Handmade Fish Balls in its Mercato Fresco Fresh Market. The so-called "original prices" marked on the price tags were all fictitious.

On 26 March, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision issued a notice of administrative penalty hearing, imposing a maximum penalty of RMB100,000 on Wang and RMB500,000 on Takashimaya, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Price Law of the People's Republic of China.

As Shanghai is in the most stressful time of the epidemic prevention and control work, some citizens have a strong demand to purchase a large amount of living materials in the short term.

While some of the household goods sold in the market have seen a small price increase due to factors such as transportation costs and time costs, some unscrupulous merchants have taken advantage of the opportunity to raise prices and raise the prices of meat, eggs and milk and other household goods, disrupting the normal market order.

In order to guarantee the normal market supply of basic commodities such as food, oil, meat, eggs, vegetables and milk and epidemic prevention supplies such as masks and disinfectant during the epidemic prevention and control period, on the 25th, Shanghai issued the "Guidance on the identification of illegal acts of price inflating during the epidemic prevention and control period", if operators fabricate or spread information about price increases, substantially raise prices and other acts of price inflating, the relevant departments will be subject to corresponding administrative penalties.

At the same time, Shanghai market supervision departments recently continued to strengthen the price supervision of important livelihood commodities and epidemic prevention supplies, wholesale markets, marketplaces, supermarkets, temporary food outlets as key areas, online operators as key targets, increase price inspections and checks, policy publicity and reminders and cautions, strictly investigate price gouging, collusion price increases, false discounts and other illegal acts.

According to statistics, as of March 24, Shanghai inspected a total of 21,000 relevant units and issued 17,000 reminders and cautions.

The law enforcement officers have reminded and cautioned some operators on the spot for irregularities in price indication, and urged them to rectify the situation.