AirAsia Group Bhd’s business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform, airasia farm, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) and several other authorities, have collaborated to increase farmers’ income by directly promoting and selling their products to local businesses through the platform.
As a start, airasia farm, which has been appointed as an official distributor of Harumanis mangoes, has arranged for the first shipment of the mangoes from Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) to Sabah on 30 April 2021. The shipment of the highly sought-after mango variety from Perlis was enabled by the strategic collaboration between airasia farm and MAFI, along with the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) of Perlis. The seasonal Harumanis can now be ordered online through airasia fresh and airasia food in Peninsular Malaysia and through Foodpanda in Sabah. The long-term goal of the collaboration is to bring better value to benefit over 2,400 Harumanis farmers across Perlis. As for the market in Sabah, the mangoes will be sent to Tune Hotels Kota Kinabalu as a pickup point for its delivery partners in the state. airasia farm also seeks to distribute the famed mangoes to key retailers in Kota Kinabalu.
Plans are also underway for airasia farm to build its own warehouses in Sabah by the second quarter of the year, to accommodate more fresh produce and to be used as a quality control medium to ensure the safety and quality of the produce. Sabah is planning to become an agriculture export hub by leveraging Airasia Group’s strength in logistics and cargo. Through airasia farm, a total of 142 farmers, 21 breeders, 34 fishermen and dry food producers, businesses from various industries including importers, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels and wholesalers have registered on the platform. They were able to supply to new markets in Klang Valley, Penang and the central region of West Malaysia. The platform is looking into promoting other fruits such as dragon fruit and pineapple in the future, through partnerships with other relevant agriculture authorities in Malaysia. The products will also be promoted in the Asian region once borders are fully opened.
(Sources: AirAsia Group Berhad; Malay Mail; The New Straits Times)