Full transparency is now available on 17,000 items, including fresh produce, across 17 Hema supermarkets in Shanghai.
Through the Hema mobile app, customers can scan QR codes on food items to reveal provenance details including the place of origin, farm details, delivery dates, transit temperatures, licenses, food safety certificates etc.
Items supporting the feature include fruit and vegetables, as well as tofu, rice, soy products, poultry, dairy, cooking oil, and eggs.
Data can also be accessed by online shoppers via the Hema app, which is part of Hema’s online-offline integration. The app allows customers to shop at their convenience and have products collected through an instore fulfillment system which can have orders delivered in under 30 minutes within a three-kilometre radius.
Hema said it plans to roll out the system in all of its 64 stores across 13 cities in China by the end of 2018.
The tracking option is just another technologically advanced feature added to Hema stores, which includes a “robot restaurant” in one of its Shanghai locations.
