Uk-based online supermarket and technology company Ocado has opened its first customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in Hondacho, Midori-ku, Chiba city, Japan, in partnership with AEON.

Reuters reported that this is the first CFC of its kind in the Asian region. This robotic facility started taking orders from customers in Kanto, Japan, for the online grocery delivery brand Green Beans.

Green Beans was launched in April of this year by AEON NEXT, a subsidiary of AEON. The delivery brand enables customers to access a product range of 50,000 stock-keeping units (SKU) and a ‘Smart Cart’ feature with one-hour delivery slots.

The second CFC of AEON NEXT is expected to open in Hachioji, Tokyo.

Additional CFCs will be set up and the capacity will be met by leveraging a combination of diverse-sized facilities from the ecosystem of Ocado.

This will aid AEON NEXT in providing services to a variety of consumer shopping missions as the Japanese e-commerce grocery industry continues to expand.

Ocado Group CEO Tim Steiner said: “Today marks the launch of something totally new in the Japanese grocery market, bringing a world-leading quality of service online to AEON NEXT customers in Tokyo for the first time. 

“Grocery spend in Asia is set to outstrip every other region of the globe over the next decade and online remains the fastest growing channel in grocery across APAC.”