Alibaba reduces field-to-fridge time

Retail giant Alibaba’s sales and digital marketing platform, Juhuasuan, offers its customers the chance to pre-order goods, even before they’ve been harvested. The service, called ‘Jutudi’, was launched in 2014 and allows customers to ‘buy’ a plot of farmland and receive the products from this land immediately after harvest. This means that the produce is fresher, cheaper and traceable (using QR codes). Some products purchased via Jutudi cost between 30% and 50% less than the market price. Deliveries can take as little as 48 hours.

The platform is also aimed at helping farmers plan their production, as they can target high demand at an early stage while also avoiding over-production. Currently working with 20 cooperatives as part of the Jutudi initiative, within the next two years, Juhuasuan aims to increase the number to over 1,000 farming partners.