Online firm feeds Wuhan heroes' families
While city medical staff are working on the frontline in Wuhan, online grocery shopping platform Dingdong is caring for their families left behind in Shanghai.
Dingdong, headquartered in the Pudong New Area, has, since February 1, been sending free food to families of the 26 medical staff from Pudong hospitals who are in Wuhan to aid in the novel coronavirus fight.
On Monday afternoon, delivery worker Chen Chuang washed his hands, disinfected his delivery gear, put on a mask and took his temperature before he hit the road.
He set off from the company’s community warehouse in the Weifang Xincun residential compound in Pudong. It took him about 15 minutes to deliver food to one of the families living nearby.
Dingdong workers are packring vegetables and meat.
The delivery included pork ribs, eggs, tomatoes, okra, kumquats, pineapple and tofu.
“The food set, especially designed by our nutritionist to meet a family’s one-day demand, consists of fruit, vegetables and meat. Every set is priced over 100 yuan (US$14),” said Zhang Zhenyu, assistant to the company’s chief executive. “On the first day we sent them chicken, pork, apples, oranges, greens, potatoes, eggplants and green peppers.”
Zhang said the items would be changed every day to provide a rich, healthy and balanced diet.
“I express my gratitude to the frontline medical workers, and it’s our job to carry out the logistical support back home,” said Liang Changlin, the company’s chief executive. “We will send food to them until we win the battle against the virus. I want to tell them please don’t be worry as we will care for your families.”
The 26 families don’t live near one another, with some living in the suburban districts including Jiading, Baoshan and Songjiang. One lives in Suzhou in Jiangsu Province.
“Based on their addresses, we arrange delivery workers to take out the food from the nearest community-based warehouses and send it to them,” Zhang said.
Across Shanghai, Dingdong has more than 150 small-size warehouses with cold-chain storage near residential complexes and neighborhoods. Each can provide for customers within 1.5 to 3 kilometers, and it can ensure food arrives with customers within 29 minutes.
Zhang said the families can tell delivery workers which time to send the food. “Currently, we provide the services to 26 families. But we have also been prepared to serve more in Shanghai,” he said.
Delivery worker Chen Chuang put on a mask and took his temperature before he hit the road.
In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Dingdong has stepped up efforts to ensure the safety of its food, workers and customers.
Warehouses and delivery boxes are disinfected twice a day.
Every frontline worker, including warehouse and delivery staff, is required to wear a mask and measure their temperature three times a day. Delivery staff must leave products at least one meter away from customers.
Dingdong has seen a significant increase in online orders recently.
Lunar New Year's Eve saw a month-on-month surge of over 300 percent in the number of orders. During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, it received nearly 4 million with the average cost of each order more than double the usual amount.
The surge in demand has posed challenges as some suppliers and logistics companies were closed during the Spring Festival and several had extended their holiday this year in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Dingdong plans bring 400 tons of vegetables to the shelves on Monday to ensure plentiful supply.
It accepts online orders from 5:30am about 90 minutes earlier than usual. But customers may find that many vegetables and meat sell out quickly, and it’s common for orders to be closed before noon.
Delivery staff must leave products at least one meter away from customers.
About 75 percent of the company’s frontline staff are at work, but express delivery staff have a heavy workload.
Chen said it’s been his busiest holiday. "Now, I send 130 to 150 orders every day, almost double the usual,” he said.
From Henan Province in central China, he has been working at Dingdong for two years.
“The company encouraged us to stay during the holiday to serve more people, and especially we are now in the fight against the virus outbreak. So, I decided to stay to make a contribution to the society. It’s meaningful work to send fresh food to people,” he said.
He added: “Many customers expressed their gratitude to me when they receive the orders. It made me feel a little bit embarrassed because it’s my job.”
Liang said the company is making every effort to overcome the challenges and he promised that prices would not be raised.
“We will ensure the food supply. Regardless of the cost and revenue, we have to provide cheap and fresh vegetables,” he said.
