1) Retail strategy (food)

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2) Food Retail in India – Growth,

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ABSTRACT: Read our more

Retail is being hailed as India’s industry of the future, comprehensive report of the
incited by the country’s huge urban middle class same at:
population. Food and grocery is the second-largest India-Reports
segment of the retail industry and the potential for new
entrants in this segment is enormous, particularly in
untapped markets like rural and semi-rural areas.
Growing at the rate of 30%, the Indian food retail is going
to be the major driving force for the retail industry. The
paper on “FOOD RETAIL –AN EMERGING
FACET” maps out the Background of food retailing as
well as current scenario catching up the retail front, Up-
and-coming multiple formats of food retail.

INTRODUCTION:
The food industry is on a roller coaster ride as Indians
continue to have a feast. Fuelled by– large disposable
incomes – the food sector is witnessing a remarkable
change in consumption patterns, especially in terms of
food. Food retailing has come of age -- from a period
when food items were sold in small road side grocer shops & mandis, haats and bazzars
by vendors to a stage when food products (processed and groceries) are retailed through
supermarket stores where consumers can inspect, select and pick up the products they
like in a comfortable ambience and still pay a fair price for the product and the
merchandise and sometimes even pay less than the price they would have paid at the
nearest food stores. Shopping for groceries is no longer a strenuous and uncomfortable
affair.

Instead, it is a pleasurable experience. From simple trading activity, food retailing is now
heading to the status of an industry. Imagine yourself walking through the air conditioned
lanes smelling fresh food and groceries, enjoying light music, experiencing five star
ambiences and above all buying food products (vegetables, spices and beverages) without
bargaining with the vendors. Food retail has surpassed the dominating apparel and
accessories sector. "Contrary to the belief that fashion is the largest segment of organised
retail in India, food & beverages is the major segment, worth Rs 8,97,000 crore," said
Arvind Singhal, Chairman, Technopak, at the Indian Retail Forum held in Mumbai.
There is an old industry saying that “ customer is king” Food retailers today will update
that saying to “customers is the dictator” because of fierce competition, new technology
and business practices the market power of customer is strong and growing stronger.

THE FOOD RETAIL TALE:

Traditionally, Indians were used to buying their sugar, wheat, pulses, rice etc. from their
neighborhood baniya. The majority of food and food products were and still are retailed
through neighborhood kirana (baniya) stores. A typical kirana store has a retail area of
200 sq ft and sells 500 to 800 stock keeping units (SKUs). The kirana stores focus on dry
food products because the infrastructure for cold storage is lacking. The majority of fresh
produce is sold from the carts of traveling vendors. Such produce is deemed to be of low
product quality, variety and hygiene. This concept is still popular in B-class and II Tier
cities of India and giving employment to thousands of its inhabitants.

Initially the food retail format was seen in A-class cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai
which had co-operative stores like "Apna Bazaar" in Mumbai and "Kendriya Bhandar" in
Delhi. Both were very successful and are operating many outlets in all strategic localities
in the city. Escorts group in the late eighties diversified into non-auto sectors by getting
into agri business or food business. It came out with first "Nanz" store at South Extension
in Delhi in 1990.

The first visible sign of the change in food retailing was seen in mid-eighties. Around that
time a few new food stores were set up in all metro cities in India. Calcutta was the only
exception where it started a little later. At that time couple of leading food stores started
operating such as "Morning Stores" and "Modern Stores" in Delhi, "Nilgiri" in
Bangalore, and “Food Land" in Mumbai "Spencers Food Stores" in Chennai. Spencers
were the first to tie up with a Singapore based large retail chain -- "Dairyland" and had
set up the food stores in Chennai. This was a technology tie up. In Mumbai, Garware
group during the late eighties had set up a large food store, which is now reported to have
been closed down.

Until the late 1990s, food retailing has been concentrated in the south of the country.
Southern India has been witnessing revolutionized activity in food retailing. It has
thoroughly experienced the food retailing in various formats such as the supermarkets,
hypermarkets and neighbourhood stores. These include Food World, Subhiksha, Nilgiris,
Margin Free, and Big Bazaar. The reason being that most entrepreneurs who started
organised retail came from southern India and the cost of real estate in the southern
region was less than other regions (particularly north and west). Since then, however,
organised food retailing has emerged across the country, inspired by the presence of high
potential markets in the north, west and east as well as the success of some non-food
retailers and food services companies in these regions.
FOOD RETAILING – THE BUZZ WORD:
Indian retail food industry has revolutionized shopping experience of Indian customers.
Growing at the rate of 30%, the Indian food retail is going to be and no doubt is the major
driving force for the retail industry. Food accounts for the largest share of consumer
spending. Food and food products account for about 50% of the value of final private
consumption. This share is significantly higher compared to developed economies, where
food and food products account for about 20% of consumer spending. Ireena Vittal,
principal, McKinsey & Co in Food Forum 2008, said, "At US$ 175 billion today the food
industry is likely to grow to US$ 400 billion by 2025. The percentage of income spent in
households will drive growth in the food market. Indian consumers are happy with store
goods than branded goods and are very conservative on packaged goods. There are 10
million street vendors in India, of which 6 million only sell food. Currently, the retail
food sector is US$ 70 billion and is expected to rise to US$ 150 billion by 2025. Food has
the largest consumption in the Indian economy and will remain the single largest
category."

Modern state of the food retailing is not a demand led but the supply led one. Major
spending on food and increasing usage of out of home food consumption represent a
significant opportunity for food retailers and food service companies. Speaking in Food
Forum India 2008, on the government's role in the food retailing development, Dave said,
"The retail stores need to empower its stakeholders and deliver what the consumer wants.
The vision for 2020 should be appropriate extension network, implementation of
appropriate practice at farmers' level and infrastructure in the country."

There are various factors paving the way to revolutionizing food retailing in India.
Among them few are:

• Changing life styles and tastes

• Growing need for convenience
• Increasing disposable income
• Increasing numbers of working women
• Change in consumption patterns
• Higher aspirations among youth
• Impact of western lifestyle
• Plastic Revolution – Increased use of credit cards and debit cards

UP-AND-COMING FOOD RETAIL FORMATS:

With the changing food consumption patterns, consumers need for convenience, choice
and value for money the set-up of retail format is changing. The Indian consumers do
visit about eight to ten outlets to purchase various food products, which make up the daily
consumption basket. These outlets include neighbourhood kirana stores, bakeries, fruit
and vegetable outlets, dairy booths and chakkies (small flour mills), which is very time-
consuming and unproductive way of shopping for food. With changing lifestyle there is
growing scarcity of time, and convenience in food shopping is emerging as an important
driver of growth of one-stop retail formats that can offer consumer 'value for time' in
addition to 'value for money'. These are giving an opportunity to various other retail
formats:

A. Neighbourhood Stores

In India about 90% of food purchases are made within a distance of 1.5 km from the
customer's home. This means that an organised retailer would need to have a
'neighbourhood store' close to customers in order to capture the share of wallet that is
spent on food. These stores would cater to the consumer's daily and weekly needs. The
outlets closest to a neighbourhood store in India are 'Safal' outlets operated by Mother
Dairy in Delhi, Margin Free in Kerala and Subhiksha.

B. Supermarkets

This format caters to the consumers' need for choice and variety. These needs translate
into 'more width' and 'more depth' in each category. These stores cater to the consumers
in a catchment area with a radius of 3 to 4 km and therefore need to be destination stores.
A supermarket can cater to the consumers' weekly, monthly and occasional needs.
Examples of supermarkets already in India are Food World, Trinetra and Nilgiri's.

C. Hypermarkets

Hypermarkets are essentially destination stores catering to the consumers' bulk shopping
needs in both food and non-food categories. The key added values for the customer are
'choice' and 'value for money' because products are sold at a discounted price. The
hypermarkets model of food retailing is new to India. Spencers (RPG), Big Bazaar
(Pantaloons), Star India Bazaar.

D. Cash & Carry (C & C) Stores

These stores sell their products to their members only. The members are typically
retailers and institutions. The key added value is a wide range of products under one roof,
available at wholesale prices. Metro has started the first C & C store in India in
Bangalore. The typical area of a C & C store is 70,000 to 100,000 sq. ft. and both food
and non-food products are stocked.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN FOOD RETAIL:

The major development in food retail is consideration of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
with a limitation that all companies would have to meet mandated export obligations.
Food processing minister Subodh Kant Sahay told ET that “We are considering a
proposal to allow FDI in food retail. It should be in such a way that it would boost our
agriculture. Our farmers must also get benefits of economic liberalization”.

The government is also considering the opening up of the $330-billion retail market with
adequate provisions to protect neighborhood stores.
In every retail format food trade is growing. More and more corporate houses such as
HLL, ITC, Godrej and Reliance are already working into food retail. Huge increase
is expected from the corporate players, which will help grow the entire food retail sector.
Dabur’s Amit Burman has also forayed into food retailing. According to Amit "Food
and beverages retailing is a very attractive segment and with Lite Bite Concepts we are
targeting Rs 1,000 crore sales in a couple of years with around 200 outlets," Well-
established players such as Subhiksha, Food Bazaar and Spencer's Daily are also tapping
into backward linkages, while trying to match their expanding geographies with retail
formats. Also, most food retail players have been region-specific as far as geographical
presence is concerned. Take the RPG Group's FoodWorld, Nilgiris, Margin Free, Giant,
Varkey's, all of which are more or less spread in the Southern region; Sabka Bazaar, Big
Apple has a presence only in and around Delhi; names such as Haiko and Radhakrishna
Foodland are Mumbai-centric; while Adani is Ahmedabad-centric.

Retailers' entrance in the unbranded food space

Modern food formats like Food Bazaar and Spencer's have their eye on the unbranded
part of the consumer's shopping basket. This constitutes as much as 60% of the total
purchases and growing sharply, says AC Nielsen estimates. Retailers are offering a
package of convenience and freshness, and have an edge over manufacturers that focus
mainly on packaged conveniences.

Food retailers are offering 'live kitchen' formats, which offer on-the-spot home-style
gravies, dal, cooked rice and kneaded dough with options like grinding coffee fresh at
store, idli batter, paneer, curd and cut vegetables.

FOOD RETAIL AND ITS STEPPING STONES:

The opportunities in food retail sector are as follows:

Rising Investment: There are strong opportunities in food retail as a result of

encouraging changes in consumer purchasing patterns, the availability of real estate and
supply chain development. Organised food retail presents a unique investment
opportunity for corporates looking to diversify. A good understanding of consumer,
access to the right locations and the ability to manage the supply chain efficiently will be
critical success factors for the new entrant.

FDI Policy for Retail: Gates have been opened up for single brand retailers. In February
2006, the door was opened to some extent when the government allowed 51% FDI by
single brand companies subject to government approvals.

Emergence Of Logistic Providers: The present lack of logistic support exposes the need
for an integrated logistic provider. As retail activity gathers momentum and large
quantities of perishables are sold in modern formats, the logistic service providers would
have a crucial role to play in bridging the supply gap. Retail players would also benefit
from an efficient supply chain inventory management.
CONCLUSION:
The past 4-5 years have seen increasing activity in food retailing. Various business
houses have already planned for few investments in the coming 2-3 years. Though the
retailers will have to face increasingly demanding customers and intensely competitive
rivals, more investments will keep flowing in and the share of organized food sector will
grow rapidly.

Organized food retailing in India is surely poised for a takeoff and will provide many
opportunities both to existing players as well as new entrants.

REFERENCES
• http://www.pfionline.com/review/review7/review7.html

•http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2003/06/19/stories/
2003061900010100.htm

• http://www.etretailbiz.com/feb2004/fRetail.html

• www.tata.com/trent/media/20031113.htm - 15k

• www.ficci.com/news/viewnews1.asp?news

• www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews. asp?articleid

• www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews. asp?articleid

Also, most food retail players have been region-specific as far as geographical presence is
concerned. Take the RPG Group's FoodWorld, Nilgiris, Margin Free, Giant, Varkey's and
Subhiksha, all of which are more or less spread in the Southern region; Sabka Bazaar has
a presence only in and around Delhi; names such as Haiko and Radhakrishna Foodland
are Mumbai-centric; while Adani is Ahmedabad-centric.

The unbranded part of the consumer's shopping basket, which constitutes as much as
60% of the total purchases and growing sharply, say AC Nielsen estimates. Retailers are
offering a package of convenience and freshness, and have an edge over manufacturers
that focus mainly on packaged conveniences.

Food retailers are offering 'live kitchen' formats, which offer on-the-spot home-style
gravies, dals, cooked rice and kneaded dough with options like grinding coffee fresh at
store, idli batter, paneer, curd and cut vegetables.