Chinese online retailer Dingdong Maicai is developing new products for what it says are changing trends among younger consumers.
Dingdong has begun selling a range of products that includes shrimp balls stuffed with mozzarella cheese and new cod, carp, pangasius, and tilapia fish products for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday taking place 21 September.
Describing itself as the “leading and fastest-growing on-demand e-commerce company in China,” Dingdong – which trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange following its June IPO – is tapping dining trends accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic to push home-dining sales for the festival.
In a statement to SeafoodSource, Dingdong said it was responding to the “modern consumer stay-at-home culture and rising demand for [ready-to-cook and heat-and-eat] foods” among Chinese consumers As a result, Dingdong said its research and development team has developed new products to suit regional tastes and more demanding consumers, it said.
“Younger Chinese consumers expect their food to look good as well as taste good. To respond to increasing demands, Dingdong has provided numerous popular hot pot ingredients to customers.”
China’s Mid-Autumn Festival has long been a peak busy time for the local restaurant trade, but with the pandemic forcing many diners to relocate their celebrations in-home, DingDong said it is offering like tripe. Chinese consumers can now order their favorite hot-pot dishes to be eaten at home with a variety of flavor options via the Dingdong Fresh Mobile app or Dingdong’s WeChat Mini Program – at half the price of a night out in one of the many hot-pot restaurants popular in Chinese cities, according to Dingdong.
“To create the new hot-pot series, Dingdong has built a supply chain from farm to table,” it said. “It is a fully integrated supply chain for the hot-pot industry, delivering thousands of high-quality ingredients and co-branded products to customers.”
Earlier this month, Dingdong Maicai reported a net operational loss of CNY 1.93 billion (USD 300.1 million, EUR 253 million) for Q2 2021.
Photo courtesy of Dingdong Maicai
