Coronavirus fears cast shadow over China’s food delivery industry, with more ordering groceries instead of meals
- China’s booming food delivery industry is seeing fewer orders of cooked meals, with customers avoiding contact with couriers
- Platforms are adapting with grocery deliveries and contactless delivery services
Beijing resident Anna Wang, 30, is a habitual user of food delivery apps, usually ordering meals and milk tea online every week even though her company provides free meals to employees at an on-site restaurant.
Working from home as recommended by the local government, Wang no longer orders daily meals online: “It could be a risk as the food may contain viruses and contact with the couriers may also cause infection,” she said.
Instead, she orders deliveries of fresh vegetables and raw produce for meals cooked at home by her parents. While this still entails some contact with couriers, Wang said each order lasts her family about four days compared to having to order cooked food for each meal.
They also minimise the potential risk of infection from visiting crowded markets to buy groceries. “We are trying to avoid contact [with others] as much as we can,” she said.
Wang is one of the many regular users of food delivery services in China, which has one of the biggest on-demand delivery industries in the world. The market for food and grocery deliveries was projected to grow 30 per cent to reach 604 billion yuan (US$86 billion) last year, more than four times its value five years ago, according to a report issued in August by market researcher Trustdata.