KUALA LUMPUR – Capital A Bhd is re-hiring the employees it had to retrench in 2020 through its subsidiary airasia grocer, an online grocery shopping platform that matches local farmers and grocery merchants to consumers.
Airasia grocer chief executive officer (CEO) Joanna Ibrahim said airasia grocer is the groceries delivery arm of the airasia super app (previously known as airasia farm).
Accordingly, airasia farm had been established during the recovery movement control order in June 2020, backed by AirAsia Digital and supported by the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry.
The aim is to address the issue of fresh produce going to waste due to logistics disruptions, she said.
“Two-thirds of airasia grocer staff are from the airline and previously held various positions relevant to the airline space.
“We prioritise hiring our former employees to join our team as we believe that anything is possible with AirAsia’s multi-talented crew members who have a unique culture and are brave to take on new challenges,” she told Bernama in an exclusive interview recently.
According to Joanna, the company’s revenue grew 18 times year-on-year despite the initial obstacle of gaining the trust of farmers.
The business-to-business segment grew rapidly within six months, she said, adding that the company profited on the momentum by expanding its operations to include business-to-consumer sales.
“Within a year, airasia grocer was shipping live seafood to China,” she said, adding that the company’s initial public offering is expected to be within its five-year business roadmap.
To that effect, at an event to unveil the group’s new corporate identity on January 28, Capital A’s CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said that airasia grocer is exploring blockchain technology in its operations.
The company is seeking to take food products directly from the farm for the farmers to gain higher profit margins as consumers may have fresher food, he said.
Former AirAsia pilot, David John, 29, who has five years of aviation experience, said it was challenging to get a job after being retrenched but the airline did not stop providing them with alternative employment opportunities within the group.
“Now I am hired as a business development manager in airasia grocer, which is a vastly different field than what I used to work in before.
“Despite facing challenges, I am encouraged by the new people I meet every day as they remind me of the connections I made when meeting passengers on my flights previously,” he said.
Former senior cabin crew, Hazree Zakaria, 40, told Bernama that he was fortunate and grateful to be able to rejoin the company he has been with since 2008.
“I do believe what Tony (Fernandes) said, that he would rehire the staff who were retrenched, and I also appreciate the initiative taken by Capital A to give us the opportunity to work in a new field,” the airasia grocer after-sales assistant manager said.
Meanwhile, airasia grocer head of merchandising and pricing, Trevor Wong, 31, who was a former flight operations senior engineer, said he now deals with supply information from farmers and matches it to costing and logistic demands from clients.
“I am still learning and collecting sufficient data to make improvements and contribute to the food industry as a whole.
“We are doing right by rehiring our retrenched employees, especially the ground crew members. They have the skill sets that are applicable in all these other industries within the Capital A group,” he said. – Bernama, February 6, 2022
