A Nine Masters cargo truck is ready for loading. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

Nine Masters, a Jiading-based catering enterprise committed to providing meals to groups of customers, has found new opportunities by shifting its business online, local media reported on April 18.

As a traditional labor-intensive company, Nine Masters has been struggling due to the outbreak of COVID-19 – from February to March, the company’s operation income decreased by 60 percent, and profits also saw a steep decline.

"The catering industry features a high turnover rate that the frequency and amount of cash flow remain at a high level," said Chen Jianhua, CEO of Nine Masters. "We can only survive for about five months if we don't make some changes."

In order to avoid bankruptcy, Nine Masters shifted its focus on ready-to-cook food and increased its investment in online retail. It has worked with mobile grocery-shopping mobile apps such as Dingdong Grocery and Daily Fresh, which exclusively sell fresh produce, dairy products, and other grocery items.

The company is also striving to become more digital. In just three weeks' time, it created an online shopping platform which included various vegetables and ready-to-cook foods and drew in consumers with a wide range of food videos. Now, over 10,000 people visit the platform every day.

"Our shift to online business has created a surge in sales which is really promising. On Dingdong Grocery alone, sales in March were three times higher than in January," Chen said.

"Next, we will work on improving the traceability of each of our products. There will be an ID card which details the whole production process of each item, in order to provide consumers some security and reassurance," said Yu Hua, executive vice president of the company.