Analysis on the Sustainable Development of Gong Cha

Abstract

We selected Gong Cha Monash branch as the research object, conducted a research focusing on four topics which is Food supply chain, Packaging, Procurement and Transport/distribution, and obtained data through on-site interview, email consultation and questionnaire survey.

There are some findings after analysing the collected data. Firstly, the main finding of food supply chain is that Gong Cha used Franchising system; all of the quality of materials can be controlled by head office. Although tribute tea has very little food waste, they waste a lot of water resources. Secondly, the main finding of packaging is that Gong Cha uses about 800 disposable plastic cups and straws in PE and LL materials a day, and about 20% customers choose to use another plastic carry bag to carry the drinking. All these raw materials in Gong Cha are transports in cartons, foam paper, and plastic bags and only the cartons are recycled. Thirdly, the main finding of procurement is that there is a storehouse nearby Monash’s sub-branch to provide relevant materials once per week or the employees can go to the storehouse to acquire materials everyday if they need. In order to keep the same standard of product taste or quality, all the raw materials are originated from Taiwan. The in-store containers are reused products, such as aluminum containers for tea and tea-leaves and recycled plastic boxes for pearl and puddings. Finally, the main finding of distribution is that, tea materials are shipped from Taiwan twice a week. Trucks are used for transportation between stores and warehouses. Gong Cha's use of American-invested power distribution equipment, which uses more light, water or energy than any other, violates Monash's network of sustainable solutions. Gong Cha does not offer any training on how to use the equipment sustainably.