Alibaba’s logistics platform Cainiao has opened three fresh food distribution centres in China in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The cold chain delivery service expects to expand from covering 18 cities in China to 50 major cities by the end of the year to meet growing demand from online consumers purchasing perishable goods on Alibaba’s Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.
“The cold supply chain in China normally series the business-to-business market, however, with the rising popularity of consumer e-commerce, we believe efficient cold chain delivery in the business-to-consumer segment is sorely needed as we aim to give our consumers the freshest possible result,” Maggie Chen, Cainiao’s head of fresh food delivery said. “The company will invest more and work closely with our partners to strengthen the cold chain networks across China.”
Alibaba Group opened Cainiao in 2013, and now owns 48 per cent of the logistics company.
