The sugar content is 14.5, the core temperature and hardness meet the standards, and the goods are shipped. In the ripening warehouse in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, a batch of mature domestic Cuixiang kiwifruit is transported to the car every day, and it will arrive at Dingdong Maicai's fruit and vegetable warehouse in Shanghai 2 hours later.
In recent years, we have solved the problem of ripening technology and made domestic kiwifruit as' ready to eat 'as imported kiwifruit. Currently, Dingdong Maicai's domestic ready to eat kiwifruit sales, repurchase rates, and positive reviews have steadily increased, gradually replacing ordinary kiwifruit as the mainstream consumer. "Wang Qilin, the head of Dingdong Maicai's domestic kiwifruit category, introduced.
In recent years, with the continuous penetration of fresh e-commerce such as Dingdong Maicai, the direct procurement of the base and daily distribution logistics have solved the problem of links and orders, reverse promoting the maturity of kiwifruit ripening technology, making domestic "instant" kiwifruit a reality. While lowering the price of "instant" kiwifruit, it also means that the standardization level of the domestic kiwifruit industry has reached a new level.
Domestic kiwifruit sales have increased by 40 times in 5 years, becoming a new trend in kiwifruit consumption with "ready to eat" products
Autumn and winter are the peak seasons for kiwifruit. Since November, the sales of Dingdong Buycai in this category have also entered an explosive period. In terms of specific categories, domestic kiwifruit sales account for over 60%, surpassing imported kiwifruit for the first time. From a longer time perspective, since 2018, Dingdong Maicai's domestic kiwifruit sales have increased by 40 times, becoming the fastest growing domestic fruit category "dark horse" on the platform.
The growth in domestic kiwifruit sales is attributed to the development of the "ready to eat" kiwifruit category. Compared to ordinary kiwifruit, ready-to-eat kiwifruit, like imported kiwifruit, has moderate maturity and softness, as well as moderate sweetness and flavor. It can achieve "buy and eat" and is widely favored by consumers. Data shows that since Dingdong Maicai was launched on the domestic ready to eat kiwifruit market in 2021, the proportion of sales has been increasing year by year. At present, Dingdong Buycai's domestic ready to eat kiwifruit sales account for 55% of domestic kiwifruit sales, becoming a new trend in kiwifruit consumption.
According to a research report on Dingdong's consumption of groceries and food, young consumers aged 25-35 are the "main force" in Dingdong's kiwifruit consumption. They attach great importance to quality of life and are willing to "taste". Taking Dingdong Maicai's current domestic kiwifruit Cuixiang as an example, it has high sweetness, sufficient moisture, and is easily melted upon entry, known as the "domestic kiwifruit ceiling". With the development of ripening technology, the "ready to eat" Cuixiang sugar from the ripening warehouse is no less than 13& Deg; (The sugar will continue to rise when transported to consumers in the later stage, with a sugar content of 16° or even more than 18°) The taste can be comparable to imported kiwifruit, becoming a new choice for young consumers. According to Wang Qilin, "The overall link of domestic kiwifruit is shorter and fresher, and the proportion of consumption will also increase. Especially, domestic instant kiwifruit will become the mainstream of consumption in the domestic market
Fresh e-commerce promotes industry development and improves standardization of domestic kiwifruit
But a few years ago, Dingdong Buycai's domestic kiwi fruit sales were not good, and customers generally gave feedback that it was "too hard" and "the taste was unstable". In fact, this is not only the problem encountered by Dingdong, but also the biggest pain point faced by the domestic kiwi industry. Prior to this, imported kiwifruit had already become very mature in ripening technology, branding development, and sales path, and had already achieved "ready to eat".
Kiwifruit is a typical post ripening fruit that needs to be picked and stored in its immature state, and then ripened in the warehouse at the origin before entering the sales process. Unlike imported kiwifruit, the dispersion and standardization of kiwifruit cultivation in China are low, and the chain from the origin to consumers is too long due to the influence of traditional procurement and sales models. So, when "premature" domestic kiwifruit comes to the market, the result of consumers' self "ripening" is that the taste and quality of immature and rotten fruits are just a fleeting thought.
Considering consumer demand, in 2021, Dingdong Maicai established a cooperation with the upstream partner Liu Xin's company, and built a "sales warehouse" dedicated to kiwifruit ripening in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. The two sides jointly explored domestic "instant" kiwifruit based on end consumer demand. In the early stages of the project, the loss of ready-to-eat kiwifruit exceeded 70%. With the continuous adjustment of technology and various links in the later stage, the loss has been significantly reduced to a controllable range. Consumers can buy domestic instant kiwifruit of the same quality as imported fruits for one-third or even one-quarter of the price
Liu Xin admitted, "We have been wanting to do ripening technology for a long time, but the orders are unstable, the logistics and sales links are too long, and the risks are too high. Dingdong Buycai is a real-time e-commerce platform that uses order pre processing mode, and the warehouse can ripen and process according to daily orders. At the same time, it is daily logistics, which can reduce losses. Therefore, we are willing to try to break through industry pain points with Dingdong and make more standardized products
At present, there are four fully digital managed ripening cabinets in the sales warehouse. The ripening cabinets can automatically monitor the temperature of kiwi fruit cores and adjust the temperature, humidity, gas concentration and other indicators inside the cabinets for ripening, ensuring that ripening can be completed within 24 hours of "T+1".
Thanks to the further maturity of ripening technology, domestic ready to eat kiwifruit has been tested for various indicators such as sugar content, hardness, and core temperature before being put into the market. The standardization level is also higher, which has helped the domestic kiwifruit industry take a big step forward.
The ripening of domestic kiwifruit is more refined, which not only achieves instant buying and eating, but also reduces the losses caused by consumers' self ripening, which to some extent enhances their recognition and liking. Domestic instant kiwifruit ripening and other products have higher costs and selling prices, but consumers are willing to pay for the technology premium, which also ensures the profitability of the upstream supply chain and makes the industry more benign and healthy. In the future, Dingdong Maicai will continue to gain insights into user needs, collaborate with upstream and downstream resources in the supply chain, and promote further standardization and branding of more domestic fruits.