Chaldal is Bangladesh’s largest online food delivery platform. Ready to become the national version of Amazon Fresh, the e-commerce giant was overwhelmed with requests when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country. More and more people living in the capital, Dhaka, with 21 million inhabitants, have started to stay home, relying on home delivery services. The average number of daily orders has tripled, from 2,500 to 7,500. Since 2019, Chaldal has collaborated with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Bangladesh Rice and Diversified Crops (DRC) Activity to source rice and other beautiful and fragrant grains from local farmers and producers in the Feed the Future zone of southwestern Bangladesh, creating a supply chain network. Thanks to this partnership, Chaldal has expanded its portfolio, marketing nutritious food provided by rural areas of Dhaka and adopting agile management solutions that have allowed the company not only to stay afloat, but also to thrive in the disruptions caused by the pandemic, despite about a third of its employees leaving their jobs to return to their native villages.

Source: Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance