A Popular Coffee Shop Fined 25,000 Yuan for Using Coffee Beans from Unverified Sources

Recently, the market supervision bureau of Yuecheng District, Shaoxing City, legally investigated and punished an internet-famous coffee shop for the illegal act of selling imported coffee beans without legitimate sources.

According to reports from Shaoxing Evening News, when the market supervision bureau of Yuecheng District, Shaoxing City conducted a regulatory inspection of an internet-famous coffee shop based on leads, they discovered that the "ETHIOPIA Guji G1" coffee beans being used by the shop lacked Chinese labels, and the shop could not provide evidence materials proving the legitimate source of their coffee beans. At the same time, the coffee shop was also illegally selling "Lamarzocoo" coffee machines and "Victoria Arduino" grinders without Chinese labels.

According to the "Zhejiang Province Anti-Smuggling Comprehensive Management Regulations" and the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China," the market supervision bureau of Yuecheng District imposed an administrative penalty of a 25,000 yuan fine and confiscation of the coffee beans on the party involved.

The article mentions that an "ETHIOPIA Guji G1" coffee bean used in the implicated coffee shop had no Chinese label, nor could evidence materials proving its legitimate source be provided. If this product is not an imported food, it indicates that these coffee beans belong to the "three-no" products category: no manufacturer name, no manufacturer address, and no food production license code.

If this product is an imported food, it should have Chinese labels. Units or individuals engaged in the business of imported goods should also request or duplicate legitimate source proof for imported goods, establish voucher archives, and implement systems for recording purchases and sales. The legitimate source proof for imported goods must be kept for no less than two years.

According to Article 97 of the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China," imported pre-packaged foods and food additives should have Chinese labels; if they should legally have instructions, they should also have Chinese instructions. Labels and instructions should comply with this law, other relevant laws and administrative regulations of our country, and the requirements of food safety national standards, and should indicate the origin of the food as well as the name, address, and contact information of the domestic agent. Pre-packaged foods without Chinese labels, Chinese instructions, or with labels and instructions that do not meet the regulations shall not be imported.

Regarding merchant sales, according to the provisions in Article 9 of the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Safety in the Distribution Process," "food operators are prohibited from operating the following foods (12) imported pre-packaged foods without Chinese labels, Chinese instructions, or with Chinese labels and Chinese instructions that do not comply with the provisions of Article 66 of the Food Safety Law."

According to the "Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China," imported products sold in the domestic market must have Chinese labels; therefore, in addition to pre-packaged foods and food additives, other non-food commodities must also have Chinese labels. Selling without Chinese labels constitutes illegal behavior.

A responsible person from the market supervision bureau of Yuecheng District stated: "Many small coffee shop operators attract consumers with promotions like 'coffee ground from imported beans from a certain country,' but the channels for imported coffee beans are chaotic, operators have weak awareness of requesting certificates and invoices, and even illegal acts such as false advertising and trademark infringement occur." They also stated that the market supervision bureau will continue to crack down heavily to purify the chaos in food safety and false advertising in the coffee industry and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

In specialty coffee shops, the problem of coffee sources without proper qualifications is very common. One type is the lack of corresponding labels as mentioned in the above case, where coffee shop owners may use coffee beans from their own roasting or provided by familiar roasters without complete product labels. Another situation is that externally purchased coffee beans are roasted by the coffee shop itself, which does not have complete food production qualifications.

According to China's food laws and regulations, coffee bean raw materials used by coffee shops need to have food business licenses/food production licenses, and production enterprises need to have production licenses and product qualification inspection reports. The above two issues are common operational risks for coffee shops. Recently, market supervision departments have been strengthening supervision and inspection of the food industry, and operators are requested to self-inspect for risks.

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