The time is right for China's own Whole Foods Market

In an era when almost everything can be bought online, a fresh food store is a concept that many Chinese consumers seem reluctant to try.

Yet online shopping experiences could prove unpleasant. Recently, I placed an online order for nine pomegranates from Yunnan province. Four of them reached me broken.

Unlike other merchandise, the frequency of fresh food purchases is high in China due to limited space in refrigerators at homes. So, the scope is enormous for fresh food store business.

To be sure, there are challenges. There is heavy reliance on self-owned farms and plantations to ensure supply of fresh produce. Some stores claim to deliver products from farm to the supermarket in eight hours.

Localization and self-owned farms serve both as an advantage and a challenge. For, such stores might find it difficult to expand to regions where they do not own farms.

World Good Farming is now dealing with another challenge: high cost of labor and product damages. Its challenge is to improve service efficiency and at the same time employ fewer staff at each branch.

Asked about fewer employees in the store, its cashier said they received a pay raise recently after some of their colleagues were shifted to a newly opened outlet.

It is a good sign when a staff member tells you things about her work with a big smile on her face.