American pork to go online in China via JD.com

NEW YORK — The world's largest pork company WH Group Ltd said on Tuesday that its wholly-owned US subsidiary Smithfield Foods jointed hands with China's largest retailer JD.com to launch online sales of US produced pork in China.

The fresh food division of JD.com, JD Fresh, will become the exclusive online sales platform for Smithfield's pork products in China, according to a tripartite agreement signed here by Smithfield, JD.com and China's Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co.

In addition, the parties will sell more than 10 kinds of exclusive products on JD.com, and further cooperate on big data, cold chain logistics and foods traceability.

Kenneth Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield, said, "Through this partnership, Smithfield Foods will take yet another step in developing its e-commerce business and expand its presence in China, as we meet consumers where they shop."

"Smithfield has a strong food safety platform and we take this even further to deliver products consumers enjoy and feel good about sharing with their families," he said.

Sullivan said that since Smithfield was acquired by WH Group in 2013, it has created more than 1,000 new jobs in its local community.

Richard Liu, JD.com chairman and chief executive officer, said the products sold on JD will include bone-in cuts and variety meats, with a focus on small packaged frozen products. These are all products which Smithfield specializes in, and includes the types of products in highest demand in China.

He said that JD Fresh is the largest direct sales fresh food platform in China. In the first half of 2017, gross merchandise volume from direct sales of meats on JD increased more than 780 percent year-on-year. It is now the largest online pork retail platform in China.

According to the agreement, JD will leverage its big data insights to help Smithfield in areas including data analysis and categorization of on-shelf goods and to carry out precisely targeted marketing campaigns based on in-depth study of consumers' shopping behaviors.

In order to ensure product quality and safety, JD and Smithfield will work on seamless cooperation in cold chain logistics.