1. Cashing In on Health Scares, China Online Food Sales Boom
12
August
2013:
Chinese
consumers
are
responding
to
a
powerful
new
marketing
tactic
that
plays
to
a
widespread
fear
of
food
contamination
and
the
promise
of
safe
groceries
sold
online.
Pledging
produce
direct
from
the
farm,
vendors
have
found
food
is
becoming
one
of
the
fastest-­‐growing
segments
of
Internet
retailing
as
they
cash
in
on
scares
from
cadmium-­‐tainted
rice
to
recycled
cooking
oil.
The
trend
is
adding
momentum
to
a
Chinese
online
retail
boom
driven
by
a
rapidly
expanding
middle
class,
with
companies
such
as
COFCO
and
Shunfeng
Express
betting
that
a
decent
slice
of
a
1.3
billion
population
will
pay
for
the
peace
of
mind
they
say
their
services
offer.
The
total
online
sales
of
fresh
produce
in
China
could
rocket
to
40
billion
RMB
in
five
years
from
about
11.5
billion
RMB
this
year,
said
Zhou
Wen
Quan,
a
senior
analyst
at
Beijing
Orient
Agribusiness
Consulting.
So
far,
most
food
sold
on
China’s
largest
online
shopping
sites
such
as
Yihaodian,
majority
owned
by
Wal-­‐Mart,
and
Jingdong
Mall
has
been
packaged
items
or
fruit
with
a
relatively
long
shelf-­‐life.
But
a
wave
of
new
businesses
are
focusing
on
fresh
and
premium
produce,
using
the
Internet
to
target
higher-­‐income
consumers
than
supermarkets,
which
typically
serve
a
broader
customer
base,
analysts
say.
Shunfeng
Express,
China’s
largest
delivery
company,
last
year
launched
Shunfeng
First
Choice
offering
a
range
of
food
to
around
500,000
consumers.
Online
customer
reviews
and
ratings
are
also
key
in
convincing
potential
buyers
of
quality,
said
Chen
Liang,
a
senior
research
expert
at
Alibaba,
owner
of
China’s
biggest
online
marketplace
Taobao.
With
its
10
million
users
per
minute,
Taobao
has
ridden
the
e-­‐commerce
boom
in
China,
with
its
customers
moving
from
non-­‐essential
items
such
as
books
and
electronics
to
clothes
and
recently
food.
Its
sales
of
meat,
seafood,
fruit
and
vegetables
grew
42
per
cent
last
year
to
nearly
1.3
billion
yuan.
But
with
food
scandals
hitting
Chinese
shoppers
thick
and
fast
-­‐
products
from
the
world’s
largest
dairy
exporter
Fonterra
have
just
been
recalled
from
Chinese
shelves
-­‐
firms
are
confident
they
can
overcome
hurdles
in
the
market.
From
South
China
Morning
Post
For
more
information
contact
Christian
Brüel
christian.bruel@schultz-­‐co.com