(Yicai) July 23 -- E-commerce giant JD.Com, which is vying with Meituan and Alibaba Group Holdings for dominance of China’s food delivery space, plans over the next three years to open 10,000 virtual restaurants that solely provide meal delivery and takeout services.

JD.Com will invest CNY1 billion (USD139.5 million) to recruit partners that will create 1,000 signature dishes for its self-operated 7Fresh Kitchen restaurants, Liu Bin, head of the Beijing-based company’s restaurant business, said at a press conference late yesterday.

The first 7Fresh Kitchen opened in an office building in Beijing’s Dongcheng district yesterday and received 800 orders on its debut. The new service is available only through JD Takeaway, the company’s food delivery app, with prices ranging from CNY10 to CNY30 (USD1.40 to USD4.20) per dish.

JD.Com entered the food delivery market with the launch of JD Takeaway in early February. Company founder Richard Liu said in an internal speech last month that JD Takeaway would soon unveil a new business model to thoroughly address food‑safety issues, as it squares up to Alibaba’s Ele.me and Tencent Holdings-backed Meituan.

Under the new business model, partners will be responsible for creating new dishes, while JD.Com will manage the outlets, including site selection and costs related to construction, rent, labor, and operations, Liu Bin noted. The partners will receive revenue shares from their meal creations, he added.

JD.Com has already received nearly 7,000 applications from catering brands and individual chefs, including nutritious food restaurant chain Jiahe Yipin and marinated food producer Ziyan Foods, according to Liu. 7Fresh Kitchen is not a pickup point for takeout restaurants but a high-quality joint venture catering platform, he pointed out.

When asked about making 7Fresh Kitchen available on other food delivery platforms, Liu said that the chain is open to joining other platforms if there is enough consumer demand or if they are willing to cooperate.

On pricing, he noted that 7Fresh Kitchen is very competitive, and thanks to JD.Com’s supply chain advantages, it can further squeeze costs while continuing to ensure quality.

In an effort to preserve its leading market share, Meituan launched Raccoon Canteen on July 1, a network of centralized takeaway kitchens to ensure food safety in the catering industry. The company plans to open 1,200 of the kitchens nationwide over the next three years.

Participating merchants receive full infrastructure support, including supply chains, open kitchens, and digital operations. Over 100 brands, including fast food chains Laoyangji and Dicos, Peking duck restaurant chain Quanjude, and Yunnan restaurant chain Yunhaixiang, have already signed up.

Editor: Futura Costaglione