The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated an already heightened food safety culture in China according to speakers at Fruitnet Live: China.
A panel featuring Winstone Chee of Altitude Fresh and China retail specialist Stacey Wang discussed the changing shape of food safety in China and its importance in the fresh produce industry.
Chee said customers are becoming more educated on food safety and the need for retailers and suppliers to share this information is increasing.
He said while the pandemic had accelerated some changes in food safety, such as in e-commerce, China’s food safety culture had already been progressing.
“Issues arrive around the handling and delivery and keeping product within the recommended temperature range, also online vendors are looking at what kind of packaging suits a particular product,” Chee said.
“E-commerce vendors need to be looking at ensuring good training programmes as they are reliant on the delivery individual to ensure the quality of the product.”
Wang said there had already been extensive efforts from both retailers and government to ensure suppliers keep up with food safety expectations.
“Some retailers are introducing big data technology to their farmers or vendors to optimise their operational efficiency,” explained Wang.
“There are also some local governments introducing traceability systems for suppliers to help them build up traceability capability.”
More key insights fromFruitnet Live: China will be published on Fruitnet over the coming days. A full round-up of the event will appear in the upcoming July-August edition of Asiafruit.
