The harsh reality of millions of Australians being in lockdown for months due to COVID-19 has proven a blessing for the nation’s online grocery businesses which have never been busier.

During the pandemic, Australians have demonstrated growing trust in the delivery services, with online grocery sales expected to increase by 46.2 per cent this year, according to research company IBISWorld.

Panda Fresh, a new offshoot business of food delivery platform Hungry Panda, was created after Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, became the epicenter of the nation’s latest outbreak and went into lockdown in late June.

Initially targeting Chinese customers, Panda Fresh now serves up fast home deliveries to Sydneysiders in almost every suburb.

“So far we have roughly 30 staff in Sydney. Basically, if you place an order in the morning, you can get your delivery in the afternoon. And if the order is placed in CBD areas, you can receive it in two hours,” Panda Fresh’s marketing manager Adam Liu told Xinhua.

Liu said the systematic management of goods, warehousing and distribution ensured the team could handle around 500 orders a day, 400 more than the company’s humble beginnings.

Australia’s supermarket giant Woolworths Group is also ending its 2021 fiscal year on a high thanks to the online sales boom.