The sale of fresh food online grows fast and opens up new opportunities for the packaging segment.

New opportunities for the packaging segment.

Considered a new frontier in global e-commerce, online retail of fresh food is beginning to take shape in Brazil. Large supermarket chains are getting ready to expand online sales in the country, at the same time that newcomers develop differentiated services in the category.

The consultancy Ebit estimates that the online sale of fresh food does not represent 0,5% of the total handled by e-commerce, which means sales of approximately R$ 240 million in 2017. “The online fresh food market is still in its infancy in Brazil. Brazil, but it has the potential for rapid expansion”, said Pedro Guasti, President of Ebit.

According to the executive, in 2017, the category grew 41%, while e-commerce as a whole grew 10%. The main online competitors are GPA (Grupo Pão de Açúcar), Sonda, Zona Sul Supermercados and Mambo.

GPA is the oldest in the area, operating in the area since the late 90s. Rodrigo Pimentel, Director of Electronic Commerce for Food at GPA, does not report the revenue generated by the category, but says that sales are growing by double digits year. At the end of 2016, the company installed a distribution center in São Paulo, to concentrate the stocks of online sales. “The opening of this center significantly improved the delivery capacity for customers,” said Pimentel.

Supermarket network

In 2017, Pão de Açúcar refined the online service, implementing the option of delivery within four hours and the option to collect in store. Previously, delivery was made within 24 hours. Pimentel said that other categories, such as beverages and personal care products, have more representative sales, but the online sale of fresh food is one of the fastest growing. Grupo Pão de Açúcar's online service operates in seven states (Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Goiás, Ceará, Bahia and Pernambuco) and the Federal District. The goal for 2018 is to serve all states where the company has a supermarket chain.

Mambo Delivery is also growing at an accelerated rate, according to Lucas Nassar, Vice President of the MGB Group. The group started selling fresh food online in February 2015 through Mambo Delivery. “The work started to be done in São Paulo, without marketing. Today, fresh food already represents 35% of our online sales, led by fruits and vegetables, which represent 8% of the total”, said Nassar. In physical stores, he compared, perishable foods represent 60% of Mambo sales.

 Delivery service

The Mambo Delivery service was expanded to the São Paulo metropolitan region in 2017. Nassar said that food was separated in supermarkets, but shortages began to occur due to the rapid growth of online sales. The company then decided to invest in the construction of a 10 thousand m² unit, in Carapicuíba (SP), to concentrate the stock of online orders. The distribution center began operating this month. Grupo MGB, controller of the brands Giga Atacado, Supermercados Mambo, Petit Mambo and Mambo Delivery, operates in São Paulo with 16 stores.

Carrefour also launched, in October 2017, e-commerce for food. On the other hand, the Chilean Cencosud, owner of GBarbosa, informed that “she does not intend to work with e-commerce in the near future”.

In addition to supermarket chains, newcomers are venturing into this market. An example is Pede Sabores. Founded in May 2017 with an investment of R$1 million, Pede Sabores offers an online fresh food delivery service. Food is purchased at Ceagesp and delivery is made by four carriers. Deliveries are made in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. In January, delivery was extended to the north coast of São Paulo, Granja Viana and ABC Paulista.

“Every month sales grow 60%. Our clients refer other clients”, says Maurício Costa, Managing Partner of Pede Sabores. He expects to close 2018 with an average of 130 orders per day. The current average is XNUMX requests per day.

online platform

Supermercado Now, founded in 2015 by Marco Zolet, is another example. The business is similar to that of the American Instacart: the company has an online platform, where consumers place orders for food. Shopping at supermarkets and delivery are made by couriers registered with the service. Supermercado Now has today 5 thousand customers in São Paulo and ABC Paulista. Currently, seven supermarket chains are affiliated with Supermercado Now and 80 logistics operators do the delivery work. Marco Zolet, President of Supermercado Now, said that revenue grew in 2017, reaching R$ 5,5 million. The forecast for 2018 is to earn BRL 30 million. In December, the company received an investment of R$ 3,3 million from a group of angel investors to accelerate the company's expansion.

Source: ABRE – Brazilian Packaging Association.

Available in: http://www.abre.org.br/noticias/venda-de-alimento-fresco-online-cresce-rapido/