Dingdong Maicai launches nationwide inspection after scandal

Shanghai-headquartered grocery app Dingdong Maicai has launched a nationwide inspection following media exposure of a number of irregularities.

An undercover report by The Beijing News revealed that a warehouse of the company in Beijing's Haidian District cheated consumers by claiming dead fish as fresh ones and fabricating labeling. It also failed to follow proper daily disinfection measures.

In a reply to Shanghai Daily on Thursday, the company confirmed that claims in the report were true and it has since suspended the operation of the warehouse.

"We express our sincere apologies to our customers," it said. "It reflects the company's underlying management problems. The company's management should take major responsibility."

Meanwhile, the Haidian Administration for Market Regulation said on its WeChat account on Thursday that it had launched an investigation and ordered Dingdong Maicai to abide by food safety regulations.

The market watchdog said it would conduct intensive inspections with 30 sub-market supervision and management stations of warehouses of other fresh food delivery sites to stamp out potential hazards and regulate the market.

In its reply, Dingdong Maicai also revealed that it has carried out inspection of its warehouses across the country to ensure dead and fresh fish are sold separately and expired food items are destroyed. It has also started work on setting up a whistleblowing system and is updating its monitoring system.

Dingdong Maicai has become one of China's major grocery delivery platforms. It posted a 72 percent increase in sales revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021.

It's reported that Bank of Shanghai provided a loan of nearly 500 million yuan (US$78.70 million) to the company this month to ensure stable supply amid a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city.