Pioneer of radio taxis in India, Neeraj Gupta of Meru Cabs, has floated a retail venture that will largely focus on fruits and vegetables in metros. Gupta has joined hands with top executives from the retail industry for the first-of-its-kind hybrid retail venture, comprising physical, mobile and web stores.
Christened Freshkins, the venture is led by former business head of Future Freshfoods, Anjaney Bhutada. K Radhakrishnan, former Future Freshfoods president, and ex-Reliance Retail executive Ram Nair are also part of the startup. The three members hold significant minority stakes in the venture.
Entailing an initial investment of Rs 5 crore, Freshkins has been rolled out in Mumbai and the plan is to take it to other metros in a phased manner. Once it crosses 50-odd stores, the store will go online.
In metros, about 97% of fruit and vegetable sales take place through the traditional channels like handcart retailers and hawkers, whereas only 3% are through organized channels like supermarkets and online deliveries. It is this huge “unorganized-to-organized conversion potential“ that drew Gupta to the retail business.
Christened Freshkins, the venture is led by former business head of Future Freshfoods, Anjaney Bhutada. K Radhakrishnan, former Future Freshfoods president, and ex-Reliance Retail executive Ram Nair are also part of the startup. The three members hold significant minority stakes in the venture.
Entailing an initial investment of Rs 5 crore, Freshkins has been rolled out in Mumbai and the plan is to take it to other metros in a phased manner. Once it crosses 50-odd stores, the store will go online.
In metros, about 97% of fruit and vegetable sales take place through the traditional channels like handcart retailers and hawkers, whereas only 3% are through organized channels like supermarkets and online deliveries. It is this huge “unorganized-to-organized conversion potential“ that drew Gupta to the retail business.
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