Jun 2, 2020|
In the First Hour of 618, Chicken and Beef Sold on JD increased 34x and 12x
by Yuchuan Wang
On June 1st, JD.com kicked off its June 18th Grand Promotion (“618”). For the first hour on that day, transaction volume of JD Fresh, JD.com’s fresh food business, increased over 800% YOY, among which transaction volume of chicken and beef increased nearly 34 times and 12 times, respectively.
According to official data, China’s per capita chicken consumption is increasing year by year, and came to 12.01 kg in 2019, an increase of 14% compared with 2018.
On the one hand, affected by the rise in pork prices, there has been an increasing demand for chicken and eggs, which are considered as pork substitutes. On the other hand, increasing consumption of white meat and reducing red meat has become a trend worldwide.
But consumption of chicken per capita in China still lags far behind the US (46 kg), EU (22 kg) and Japan (40 kg). While the expanding market has made China’s broiler industry quite prosperous.
According to JD Fresh’s sales team for chicken meat, chicken wings and chicken breast are consumers’ favorites. Quality chicken breast is not only favored by consumers pursuing a healthy diet, but also by pet owners who will stock up during promotions.
JD consumers have commented on the customer review page for chicken products:
“This chicken breast is healthy and the key is it’s affordable when pork is expensive. Chicken breast is no doubt the best substitute for pork; it is nutritious and healthy and you will not gain weight…”
“I usually cook half for myself and the other half for my cat.”
At the same time, more and more Chinese consumers are choosing beef and mutton as main course staples. According to JD’s data, sales of beef and mutton in 2018 increased over 100% YOY.
As consumers are increasingly focused on product authenticity and safety, imported meat is continuously welcomed on JD. The most popular origins for beef and mutton are Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Uruguay and Argentina.
As early as in 2018, JD teamed up with InterAgri, a leading exporter of Australian meat products, to bring premium Pure Black Angus Beef products to Chinese consumers for the first time. The two parties also worked on a blockchain trace and track system that will provide consumers with even greater transparency on where their beef comes from and how it has been managed at every step of the production process.
Relying on JD’s ability to source directly from the country of origin, during the 618 promotion this year, JD has prepared 50,000 kilograms of beef sirloin – about 50 truckloads – at very competitive prices.