(Yicai Global) March 30 -- Suppliers of grains, cooking oil, meat, fresh produce and other daily necessities in Shanghai are doing their best to meet surging demand as the city enters phased lockdown.

Missfresh, 90 percent of whose outlets remain open in Shanghai, has seen sales of vegetables quintuple and that for fruit, meat, eggs, rice, flour and cooking oil quadruple since the start of the lockdown on March 28, the fresh food seller told Yicai Global.

Hypermarket chain RE-Mart has sold over 1,000 tons of fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood each day since March 28, it said. E-grocer Hema Fresh is supplying residents with more than 1,800 tons of fresh produce every day and Dingdong Maicai is supplying around 700 tons of vegetables, 400 tons of meat, eggs and milk as well as 120 tons of rice, flour and cooking oil a day.

Yet, despite the skyrocketing demand, prices remain steady.

Shanghai Oriental TV Shopping, a TV shopping channel, set up an online and phone-in purchase hotline in less than a week. It is receiving between 22,000 and 33,000 orders a day, most of which are from elderly people. It is able to meet around 60 percent of orders.

Many suppliers are suggesting that residential communities organize bulk buying and delivery of groceries for more efficient handling. Volunteers will then be responsible for the ‘door-to-door’ delivery to each resident.

They are also advocating that smart food pickup cabinets for non-contact delivery be introduced in office buildings, industrial parks, hospitals and universities so that people can collect their orders without coming into contact with a lot of people.

Shanghai added 326 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 5,656 asymptomatic infections yesterday, according to the municipal health commission.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Kim Taylor