Hema Fresh
Retailer / private label
UnclaimedA China-based Alibaba grocery and food-retail brand combining supermarkets, online ordering, store-based fulfillment, and prepared food.
Last updated October 9, 2026
Overview
Hema Fresh, also known as Hema or Freshippo in English-language Alibaba materials, is a Chinese grocery and food-retail brand operated within Alibaba Group. It was created as an attempt to redesign supermarket shopping around mobile commerce, digital membership, fresh-food merchandising, and tightly integrated logistics rather than treating the physical store and the online channel as separate businesses. Customers can shop in stores, order through Hema’s mobile application, receive delivery from nearby locations, and use stores as local fulfillment hubs. The concept emerged in the mid-2010s as Alibaba sought growth opportunities beyond conventional e-commerce. Hema’s first store opened in Shanghai’s Jinqiao area in 2016. Its format emphasized fresh seafood, meat, produce, prepared meals, imported foods, and digitally assisted checkout. Some stores included in-store cooking or restaurant services, allowing customers to select seafood or other ingredients for immediate preparation. The operating model depended on store-level data, app-based ordering, barcode and payment systems, automated or semi-automated handling, and short-distance delivery from individual outlets. Hema became one of the most visible examples of Alibaba’s “new retail” strategy. Rather than using stores only as showrooms, the brand treated them as combined shopping destinations, restaurants, inventory points, and delivery stations. Alibaba’s technology infrastructure supported customer identification, digital payment, inventory visibility, targeted promotions, supply-chain coordination, and online-to-offline fulfillment. The model was intended to increase the productivity of physical retail while preserving the convenience and data advantages of e-commerce. The brand expanded beyond its original premium urban supermarket format. It developed different store concepts and local retail formats, including larger supermarkets, smaller community-oriented stores, and discount-focused operations. It also invested in private-label and directly sourced products, fresh-food supply chains, central processing, and food production. Alibaba materials have described Hema as a platform spanning shopping, dining, delivery, and food sourcing, although the precise mix varies by store and market. Hema’s principal market is mainland China, with stores concentrated in major and economically developed cities. Its competitive environment includes traditional supermarkets, convenience stores, local fresh-food retailers, online grocery platforms, and technology-enabled delivery services. Its differentiation has rested on fresh assortment, delivery speed, app integration, store experience, and the ability to combine retail and prepared food. The brand has also faced the normal operational challenges of fresh grocery retail: high fulfillment and labor costs, perishability, store-level profitability, regional competition, and the difficulty of standardizing a technology-heavy model across cities. Alibaba has periodically adjusted Hema’s formats and strategic priorities, including developing lower-price and community-oriented concepts. In 2024, founder and chief executive Hou Yi retired from Alibaba, marking a leadership transition for the business. Hema remains an Alibaba retail brand, but detailed standalone financial information is generally not disclosed because it is not separately listed.
History
Hema was developed by Alibaba in the middle of the 2010s as part of the group’s effort to connect digital commerce with physical retail. The project was associated with Hou Yi, a former e-commerce executive who became its founding leader. Its central proposition was that a supermarket could function simultaneously as a store, a restaurant, a local warehouse, and a last-mile delivery node. The first Hema store opened in Shanghai’s Jinqiao district in 2016. Unlike a conventional supermarket, the format was designed around the Hema mobile application and Alibaba’s digital infrastructure. Customers could scan products, pay electronically, order groceries remotely, and receive delivery from a nearby store. The store layout and inventory processes were organized to support both walk-in shoppers and online orders. Fresh seafood and prepared food were used prominently to make the physical store an experiential destination rather than merely a place to collect packaged goods. Alibaba subsequently presented Hema as a flagship example of its “new retail” approach. The company expanded the brand into additional Chinese cities and used store-level data to coordinate assortment, pricing, promotions, inventory, and delivery. Hema stores were intended to shorten the distance between inventory and customers, enabling rapid delivery in selected service areas. The model also allowed Alibaba to gather demand information from both digital and physical transactions. As the business developed, Hema broadened its offer beyond the original premium supermarket concept. It added prepared meals, bakery items, household goods, private-label merchandise, and products sourced through closer relationships with producers and suppliers. It also experimented with multiple formats, including smaller neighborhood stores and discount-oriented concepts. These experiments reflected the different economics of dense metropolitan districts, suburban communities, and price-sensitive consumers. Hema’s growth demonstrated the appeal of combining physical food retail with an established technology and payments ecosystem, but it also exposed the structural difficulty of grocery retail. Fresh products create waste and quality-control risks; rapid delivery requires labor and logistics capacity; and stores must generate enough sales density to support their technology and operating costs. Competitive pressure from supermarkets, convenience chains, online grocery platforms, and delivery services further limited the ability to apply one format uniformly across China. Alibaba’s later retail strategy placed greater emphasis on efficiency, customer value, and differentiated formats. Hema therefore continued to evolve rather than remaining a single standardized store model. In 2024, Alibaba announced that Hou Yi would retire from the group. The change ended the founding chief executive’s leadership period and represented a new phase for the brand. Hema remains part of Alibaba’s China commerce operations and continues to operate as an omnichannel grocery and fresh-food retailer, while its standalone financial performance is not separately reported as a listed company.
- 2024
Founder and CEO Hou Yi retires
[3]Alibaba announced that Hou Yi would retire, ending his tenure as the business’s founding chief executive.
- 2020
Expansion of formats and digital grocery operations
[2]The business continued developing store formats, delivery capabilities, and private-label or directly sourced products in response to changing urban grocery demand.
- 2017
Online-to-offline model gains visibility
[2]Hema became a leading public example of Alibaba’s new-retail strategy, using stores as both shopping venues and local fulfillment centers.
- 2016
First Hema store opens in Shanghai
[1]The first store opened in Shanghai’s Jinqiao area, introducing the supermarket, restaurant, app-ordering, and rapid-delivery format.
- 2015
Hema project established
[2]Alibaba developed Hema as a digitally integrated grocery and fresh-food retail business associated with founder Hou Yi.
Products and positioning
Technology-enabled omnichannel grocery and fresh-food retail, combining supermarkets, restaurants, mobile commerce, local fulfillment, and data-driven supply-chain operations.
Fresh-food supermarket · 2016
Hema supermarkets
The core Hema format combines fresh produce, meat, seafood, chilled and frozen goods, packaged groceries, household products, and prepared food. Stores are designed to serve both in-person shoppers and online orders, with digital inventory and fulfillment processes integrated into the retail operation.
Digital grocery service · 2016
Hema app and local delivery
The Hema app supports product discovery, ordering, digital payment, membership functions, promotions, and delivery from nearby stores. The service is closely linked to the physical-store network, which acts as a local inventory and fulfillment base in supported areas.
Foodservice and prepared food · 2016
Prepared food and in-store dining
Many Hema locations combine grocery shopping with ready-to-eat meals, bakery products, cooking stations, and restaurant-style services. Seafood and other fresh products may be selected in the store and prepared for immediate consumption, making the store an experiential food destination.
Retail membership
Hema X membership
Hema’s membership proposition links repeat grocery shopping with app-based benefits, promotions, digital services, and access to the brand’s omnichannel assortment. The exact benefits and commercial structure can vary as Alibaba adjusts its retail programs.
Neighborhood grocery format
Hema Mini and community formats
Smaller and community-oriented Hema formats extend the brand beyond large urban supermarkets. They are intended to serve neighborhood demand with a more compact assortment while retaining digital ordering, local fulfillment, and selected fresh-food services.
Controversies
2018
Shanghai store vegetable date label replacement incident
In November 2018, a Freshippo store in Shanghai was found to have changed the date labels on vegetables including carrots, and Shanghai market regulation authorities opened an investigation. Freshippo's CEO apologized and removed the general manager of its Shanghai region from office. This entry concerns date-label management at the specific store that year.
Brand decisions
2024
Leadership transition following Hou Yi’s retirementStrategyBackground
After leading Hema from its formative period, founder and chief executive Hou Yi reached a retirement transition within Alibaba.
Action taken
Alibaba announced that Hou Yi would retire from the group and that Hema would enter a new management phase.
Aftermath
The announcement marked the end of the founding CEO’s tenure; detailed successor information and standalone business effects were not established in the cited public report.
2016
Launch of the integrated Hema supermarket formatProduct launchBackground
Alibaba was seeking a physical-retail model that could use its e-commerce, payments, data, and logistics capabilities while addressing fresh-food demand.
Action taken
Hema opened its first Shanghai store with app-based ordering, digital payment, store-based fulfillment, rapid delivery, fresh food, and prepared-food services.
Aftermath
The format became a flagship example of Alibaba’s new-retail strategy and was subsequently expanded and adapted into multiple store concepts.
Recent events
- 2024
Alibaba Freshippo chief Hou Yi to retire[3]
Leadership change
Alibaba said Hema founder and chief executive Hou Yi would retire, creating a leadership transition for the grocery business.
- 2018
Hema expands its store and delivery network in China[2]
Other
The retailer became a prominent example of Alibaba’s online-to-offline “new retail” strategy as it opened more stores and developed store-based fulfillment.
- 2016
Alibaba launches Hema Fresh as a new-retail supermarket concept[2]
Product launch
Alibaba’s Hema supermarket model combined fresh-food retail, mobile ordering, digital payments, and rapid local delivery.
Sources6 sources
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