JD.com signs contract with Zespri

China’s JD.com has signed a contract to supply Zespri’s kiwifruit directly to consumers, after it signed a contract with the New Zealand kiwifruit supplier on 16 March 2020.

As part of the agreement, JD’s online and offline fresh food businesses, JD Fresh and 7FRESH, will procure over 1.2 million trays (3.3 kg per tray) of Zespri’s kiwifruit this year. With the renewed contract, Zespri’s sales on JD are expected to exceed RMB 300 million annually.

Since the launch of Zespri’s flagship store on JD in 2017, the company’s sales increased more than 14 times. In November 2019, sales of the kiwifruit on JD exceeded RMB 200 million.

“JD is Zespri’s key partner in China in brand promotion, consumer operation and lower-tier city penetration,” said Michael Jiang, General Manager of Zespri Greater China.

Kiwifruit is especially popular with health-conscious middle-class consumers. According to JD’s data, 60% of customers of Zespri products are JD PLUS members and 75% are married. In 2019, sales of Zespri in 4th to 6th tier cities increased 46% year-on-year.

The first Zespri kiwifruit harvest in 2020 will begin selling on JD in April. The brand’s premium SunGold kiwifruit will launch pre-order across JD’s online platform and offline supermarkets on March 23.

As Chinese consumers are increasingly buying fresh food online, JD has leveraged its “new infrastructure”, including digital supply chain and cold-chain logistics expertise to source globally. The success of this has been proven during COVID-19 epidemic in China where from January 20 to February 18, JD Fresh sold over 88,000 tons of fresh produce to nationwide customers. - Yuchuan Wang (yuchuan.wang@jd.com)