Pagoda and Meituan Jointly Explore UAV Delivery of Fresh Fruit

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) loaded with fruit, operated by Pagoda, recently took off from Meituan‘s UAV delivery store in Longgang District, Shenzhen. It took only seven minutes for a chilled lychee 2 kilometers away to reach consumers from the completion of packing.

The cooperation between Meituan and Pagoda dates back to 2016. As long-term partners, the two companies have cooperated in brand linkages, marketing cooperation and public welfare throughout the past six years. The fresh fruit UAV delivery service launched in Shenzhen this summer is a brand-new attempt by Pagoda for the delivery of fresh fruit. Pagoda has also become the first fruit chain retail brand in Meituan‘s UAV business.

Pagoda says that this cooperation is based on a tacit understanding between the two sides over time and the quality requirements of consumers for fresh fruit, as well as the growing attention to the safety of delivery to home. Therefore, it has agreed to work together with Meituan to explore new scenarios related to drone delivery of fruit.

Judging from the on-site experience, drone takeaway orders are basically the same as traditional deliveries. Consumers make an order, store staff carry out sorting and bagging, special staff complete loading work, and the drone delivers the fruit to the designated smart pick-up counter as per the planned route, sending a pick-up code to the consumer to pick up the food simultaneously.

A Meituan director stressed that consumers care deeply about the freshness of fruit deliveries. “In terms of fruit delivery, UAV provides a standard delivery service of ’15 minutes for 3 km’, and its greatest value is to significantly shorten the delivery time.”

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Meituan has now operated its drone business in Shenzhen for nearly a year, delivering meals, beverages and other goods with high immediacy requirements for local residents. As of June 2022, services in 10 communities and four shopping districts have been implemented, covering more than 8,000 households and completing over 58,000 orders.