|
|
Press Centre
Radhakrishna Foodland taps Sangli for fresh veggies
Financial Express
Pune, Jan 24, 2008
Radhakrishna Foodland, a company that provides customized and distribution and logistics services to domestic retail firms is planning to make Sangli a hub for fresh vegetables. “The demand for fresh vegetables is growing in India. Although there have been several attempts by retailers, these have been purely local efforts with no uniformity or consistency in the process,” Rajesh Sinha, general manager, Radhakrishna Foodland Pvt Ltd said.
The company is in the process of identifying vegetables and is yet to decide on volumes from Sangli.
Radhakrishna Foodland has entered into a partnership with the 5,400 farmers of Sangli’s Nandini Cooperative to expand their market reach. The partners were brought together by a USAID effort. “The company has been supplying fresh vegetables to select hotels and restaurants. There is a demand from retailers for a consistent and constant supply of fresh vegetables,” he said. Nandini has a cold storage facility that will be used by Foodland team. Here the team will work with the local farmers to create value-addition. A housewife in Sangli may perhaps want smaller florets in cauliflowers, while another customer in Mumbai would prefer larger florets. The idea is to bring uniformity and create high-value products for customers,” he said. The company is in the process of identifying vegetables and is yet to decide on volumes from Sangli.
Foodland has an existing facility at Kalamboli near Thane, but wants to use the Sangli initiative to reach to more markets.
The farmers of Nandini Co-operative hope to supply 50 tonne of vegetables on a daily basis to either hotels and restaurants or on retail shelves. If the demand grows, the company will explore markets in Southeast Asian countries, the Gulf region and Europe. A committed set of farmers could do away with the locational disadvantage and our expertise in managing warehouses and refrigerated transport would enable us to reach out to far-flung markets, Sinha said.
TOP |
|
|
