Photo/Shetuwang

June 14 (NBD) -- Increasing demands of Chinese consumers for fresh food have been driving growth in the cold chain industry where e-commerce and logistics giants such as Alibaba, JD.com and SF Holding are tapping the growing opportunities for greater market share.

JD.com's cold chain unit recently struck a cooperation deal with China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited ("Mengniu") to provide an integrated cold-chain logistics solution for the latter's frozen treats.

Lu Jianjun, chief administrative officer of Mengniu, said to National Business Daily that e-commerce platforms have become an emerging sales channel for ice cream, which poses higher requirements for cold-chain logistics. The tie-up with JD.com cuts the intermediate link of dealers for Mengniu, Lu added.

Data shows that the Chinese market size of ice cream and other frozen food surpassed 800 billion yuan (116 billion U.S. dollars) last year. Besides, China's fresh food e-commerce industry grew by 40 percent to 200 billion yuan at the end of 2018, according to consulting firm iResearch.

Owing to these factors, the country's cold chain logistics market has entered a fast track of development. According to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, China's cold-chain logistics market size was about 250 billion yuan in 2017 and is expected to reach 470 billion yuan by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 20 percent.

Eyeing a slice of the big market, Alibaba worked with U.S. food manufacturer Mars Inc. and other partners to explore cold chain solutions, SF Holding and U.S. logistics giant HAVI agreed to set up a cold chain joint venture in China, Suning Logistics kept expanding its cold chain network, and so on and so forth.

However, some industry insiders pointed out that the cold chain logistics is still at an early stage of development and a certain degree of standardization, informatization and concentration has yet to be reached in the sector.

"The cold chain industry is highly segmented and scattered, though it has been growing at a speed of 20 percent annually in recent years," remarked Li Xiuqiang in charge of JD.com's cold chain strategic planning.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn