Chinese fruit retailing platform Pagoda seeks slice of fresh food segment

Chinese fruit retailing platform Pagoda announced it will tap into fresh food segment, as it seeks to ride the consumption upgrade wave as demand for high-quality fresh food products rises.

"The latest move is in line with our three broader changes," said Yu Huiyong, founder of Pagoda. "To transform from operating products to customers, from operating stores to platforms, and from a fruit retail company to a technological and financial group."

With 100,000 paid users, the latest move is to move its huge user base to more niche products, which will furthermore increase their royalty to the platform, said industry insiders.

The Shenzhen-based firm launched Pagoda Xinxiang, a mini-program within WeChat, as its online selling platform for fresh food.

According to Sun Peng, head of Pagoda Xinxiang, which in English means "enjoy by heart", a total of 50 kinds of fresh food will be available online this year with eggs and rice among the first batch of products.

Currently, Pagoda has more than 3,700 stores and 23 warehouses in over 70 cities across the country. The company said its sales revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan last year.