29-minute grocery delivery: Hot money is flooding fresh-food operators

As food prices continue to climb, whoever can get groceries delivered cheaply and quickly will capture China's wallets

Nobody likes a big grocery bill. Unless you’re a venture capitalist, of course.

With the cost of produce skyrocketing in China, hot money is flooding toward fresh-food operators. Yonghui Superstores Co., a $14 billion firm that counts Tencent Holdings Ltd. as a strategic investor, now trades above 40 times 2019 earnings. Shares of Jiajiayue Group Co., a smaller supermarket chain, have done even better, soaring 47% so far this year.

Online grocers are also rising as the hot new consumer tech. In March, Yipin Fresh Produce raised 2 billion yuan ($290 million) in a funding round led by Tencent. In