China's giant firms tap into booming online fresh food market
The Chinese market for fresh food deliveries is set to triple in size between 2016 and 2018, but the lack of development in China's cold-chain logistics infrastructure means that only online delivery giants like JD.com and Alibaba will be able to take advantage. Online deliveries currently make up just 2% of China's total fresh food industry, compared to 40% for clothes and electronics. Alibaba recently invested $300m in companies and infrastructure, to allow for 24/7 deliveries across more than 700 cities.

The e-commerce giant plans to expand its cold-storage and logistics sites and source a wider variety of food from around the world as it seeks a share of a market that could grow to almost US$36 billion next year