News: Reliance Retail opens 12 stores in Chennai

(BL 25/01/2007) Chennai - Unveiling its first foray into a metro, Reliance Retail Ltd launched 12 Reliance Fresh stores in Chennai on Wednesday. These pilot stores will sell fresh fruits, vegetables, staples, bakery and dairy products, pooja flowers, top-up grocery and meat in select stores. Gunender Kapur, President and Chief Executive, Food Business, Reliance Retail, said that the Reliance Fresh stores would have pan-India presence. Currently, there are 40 Reliance Fresh stores across Hyderabad, Jaipur and Chennai. He said that each store would cater to about 3,000 households in a 2 km `catchment area'. These stores, ranging in size from 1,200 sq ft to 3,500 sq ft, would also offer home-delivery. . Supply chain The stores are backed by a supply chain, which goes right up to the farm gate to procure the produce for which the company has an exemption from the State Government under the Agricultural Produce Marketing Act, said Sanjeev Asthana, President and Chief Executive, Agri and Food Supply Chain, Reliance Retail. He said the company will approach other State governments for similar exemptions which will allow Reliance to source produce directly from farmers. The company also plans rural business hubs to buy and sell produce. Kapur said that in the cities there would be processing and distribution centres which supply to the stores and from where even a small retailer or pushcart vendor can buy fruits and vegetables. The company has ten collection centres for fruits and vegetables operating in Tamil Nadu at present and ten more are planned in the State, he said. The closest centre to Chennai is at Tiruvallur, about 45 km away. The stores would also stock Reliance's own brand of staples, Reliance Select, which will package commodities such as rice, wheat, rava and pulses. This would also be extended to other categories. Kapur said that sales targets for the city would be determined by the response to the pilot stores. He said that Reliance Retail would provide the farmer with farm inputs and services such as insurance, vet care and health care. It would also provide the farmer with direct market access, both locally and globally. Also present at the unveiling of the first store were S.V. Raja Vaidyanathan, Group Head, South, Reliance Industries Ltd and V.V. Naga Prasad, Chief Executive, Customer Operations, Tamil Nadu.