In November 2018, Hillhouse invested in Caishixian, a subsidiary of Yonghui, China’s largest fresh food grocery chain. Caishixian is a platform focused on creating a safe, efficient and reliable supply chain for businesses in the food industry. We believe that this is a major step forward for the sector, and that it will significantly modernize how companies in China source food.

Sourcing high-quality, safe food ingredients has long been a concern for consumers and businesses in China. We believe that this partnership will be a truly positive force in the industry, providing restaurants, as well as canteens at companies, schools and universities, a reliable source of trusted ingredients. Further, Caishixian will be the country’s first large-scale integrated B2B supplier, which will help resolve industry challenges, including integrating the upstream and downstream portions of a large-scale supply chain, handling non-standard products, and creating greater efficiencies in distribution.

Combining Yonghui’s outstanding supply chain with Hillhouse’s unique ability to use technology and innovation to modernize traditional industries will help make Caishixian an unparalleled platform for businesses to source food. Both consumers and businesses will benefit as they are able to draw upon a broader range of products across the supply chain, achieve greater efficiencies that come with scale, and provide assurances about the safety of the products they are serving and eating. Over the long run, we will be helping to create ecological advantages through a more efficient network, while also creating economic moats through scale and our technical know-how.

This cooperation is a great example of how we can leverage our resources in the areas of technology and retail to make smart investments that also benefit society. We are meeting a clear demand in the market for a high-quality, efficient supply chain solution that will help ensure that Chinese consumers have fresh, safe and diverse options to eat.