Chinese e-commerce company Ele.me is betting big on the growing demand for fresh food delivery services in the country. The operator of an online on-demand food delivery platform aims to help customers easily purchase fresh food items and produce through its new Exianda project.

Apart from serving its online customers, Ele.me also aims to work with local vegetable markets and grocery stores to help improve their digital operations and online presence.  The company hopes that through its platform, both customers who are at home and restaurant owners can more efficiently and easily purchase fresh products without having to physically visit local vegetable markets and groceries.

Ele.me vice president, Xiong Bin, stated that his company is currently developing an open digital platform that can be used by its supermarket and retail chain customers. The company is focusing on making the platform relatively easy to use, while also incorporating useful functionalities such as supply chain tracking, distribution tracking, and other finance and retail functions. So far, the company has managed to form in-depth cooperation agreements with retailers such as Wumart, RTMart, Carrefour, and Bailian.

Xiong explained that demand for fresh products from third and fourth-tier cities have grown exponentially, even surpassing demand from first and second-tier cities. Ele.me believes that by providing the right platform, it should be able to capitalize on the huge potential provided by consumers and retailers in lower-tier cities.

According to its own internal research, fresh product delivery in China has increased dramatically in transaction volume over the past year. The company's data also shows that more young people now choose to shop for their fresh grocery items online. More than 33 percent of all of its online consumers are those aged 25 to 29 years old.

Data also shows that middle-aged shoppers are also now shifting to online platforms for their fresh grocery items.  Ele.me revealed that its middle-aged shoppers had increased by more than 500 percent year-on-year in 2018.

Ele.me's data also coincides with a recent report published by consultancy firm iResearch. The company reported that China's fresh food e-commerce trading volume in 2018 had ballooned to over $29.1 billion. The research firm expects that number to reach more than $100 billion by 2022.

Apart from Ele.me, other online retail platforms have also taken notice of the huge market potential for fresh food e-commerce. Retail giant JD.com recently announced that it would be opening more than 500 7Fresh outlets over the next five years. Alibaba Group-backed fresh food chain, Hema Fresh, has also announced expansion plans.