by Chee Jo-Ey
DUE to the imposition of the Movement Control Order (MCO) since March 18, many of us are forced to make adjustments to our daily routines.
Simple things we used to take for granted, like walking out to buy fresh groceries from the wet market, are now prohibited.
According to news reports, 92% of us are in compliance with the MCO and practising social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
As people spend more time at home, they now rely heavily on home deliveries and online platforms to get their hands on daily essentials.
Online delivery services for food and groceries have seen a spike in orders in the first week of the MCO announced by the government.
I’m pretty sure you’ve seen one of the ads promising the delivery of fresh vegetables to your doorstep that have been circulating endlessly on social media platforms.
If you’re one of those that have been enjoying the convenience of purveying groceries online or via home delivery services, you might even think where they were before the Covid-19 outbreak.
It looks like we’re not the only ones that have been making changes to our daily lives. As consumers adapt to the MCO situation, businesses like fresh food distributors are pivoting their business strategies to keep up with new demands.
Aryzta Food Solutions Sdn Bhd is one such company. The frozen pastry supplier that used to distribute in bulk to hotels is now for the first time selling to households.
“This is a new effort in view of the MCO so there are a few challenges like figuring out how to get the products to people and where we can deliver to.
“We’re using our lorries to send to homes in remote areas. We’re starting with Klang Valley first for now, but there’re still areas far from the cities. But we’ve been getting a pretty good reception.
“We started from the end of last week and we are still getting a number of orders. We can easily get 100 orders per day,” it said.
Although there have been logistics challenges as these businesses venture into unfamiliar ground, the reception has been very good as consumers increasingly demand delivery services that are convenient during the MCO period.
Meanwhile, vegetable supplier Everfresh Cameron Sdn Bhd said it has also started home delivery services because it sees good demand from this market because of the MCO. The company used to supply in bulk to hotels and restaurants before the MCO.
The challenges it faces include a shortage of workers and maintaining the quality of food as most of the vegetables it supplies are from Cameron Highlands.
“We have about four people taking orders for home delivery services. Each receives more than a thousand requests per day via Whatsapp from 6am to midnight.
“There is a lot of demand and it is beyond our expectations,” a staffer said. – March 30, 2020
