In an interview with B&E, Arvind Mediratta, COO, Bharti Walmart, talks about how the company is trying to improve supply-side dynamics for bringing about a farm-to-fork connect
B&E: Now that FDI is alowed in retail. will it help resolve some of the pressing issues in the food supply chain?
Arvind Mediratta (AM): The solution, we believe, is a partnership between the local and foreign players, suppliers, retailers and the government. We, at Bharti Walmart, have an initiative called the Direct Farm initiative, through which we’re reaching out and working with 7,000 farmers across seven different clusters in India. We are educating these farmers on modern agricultural practices, soil nutrient testing, pesticide usage, crop rotation and harvesting practices. Farmers are consequently getting better prices and timely payments. We have also set up model farms in each of these clusters and the yield has improved dramatically. Due to the limited storage infrastructure currently, a lot of things go waste. There is an opportunity for us and other players to set up state of the art distribution facilities, especially temperature- controlled rooms for fresh products – farm produce, non-vegetarian items, dairy, frozen bakery products – to minimise wastage and, of course. to ensure food safety.
B&E: What are the key challenges you are facing in terms acquiring solid growth and working towards an expansion strategy in the Indian market?
AM: As we open up stores in different states, there is a lot of complexity coming in. One issue is the APMC Act, wherein you require a licence for every municipality you operate in. For instance, when you operate five stores in Punjab, you require five different licences. If I buy something from Maharashtra – say grains from Nashik and oranges from Nagpur – I have to pay the APMC fee separately. Also, food habits are very different. The specs for daal, for instance, are different for different states and at times even within the same state. The acceptance for frozen chicken is still very low. We sell frozen mutton, but they want freshly slaughtered mutton. Second, the cold chain infrastructure in the country is woefully inadequate. Look at the power constraints. I may have a diesel genset back-up, but the small stores that sell these products may not have any power supply. So products go waste.
B&E: Now that FDI is alowed in retail. will it help resolve some of the pressing issues in the food supply chain?
Arvind Mediratta (AM): The solution, we believe, is a partnership between the local and foreign players, suppliers, retailers and the government. We, at Bharti Walmart, have an initiative called the Direct Farm initiative, through which we’re reaching out and working with 7,000 farmers across seven different clusters in India. We are educating these farmers on modern agricultural practices, soil nutrient testing, pesticide usage, crop rotation and harvesting practices. Farmers are consequently getting better prices and timely payments. We have also set up model farms in each of these clusters and the yield has improved dramatically. Due to the limited storage infrastructure currently, a lot of things go waste. There is an opportunity for us and other players to set up state of the art distribution facilities, especially temperature- controlled rooms for fresh products – farm produce, non-vegetarian items, dairy, frozen bakery products – to minimise wastage and, of course. to ensure food safety.
B&E: What are the key challenges you are facing in terms acquiring solid growth and working towards an expansion strategy in the Indian market?
AM: As we open up stores in different states, there is a lot of complexity coming in. One issue is the APMC Act, wherein you require a licence for every municipality you operate in. For instance, when you operate five stores in Punjab, you require five different licences. If I buy something from Maharashtra – say grains from Nashik and oranges from Nagpur – I have to pay the APMC fee separately. Also, food habits are very different. The specs for daal, for instance, are different for different states and at times even within the same state. The acceptance for frozen chicken is still very low. We sell frozen mutton, but they want freshly slaughtered mutton. Second, the cold chain infrastructure in the country is woefully inadequate. Look at the power constraints. I may have a diesel genset back-up, but the small stores that sell these products may not have any power supply. So products go waste.
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