Reliance Retail bets big on back-end infrastructure

The group's Hyderabad facility (called Process Centre Staples) has a capacity to handle 10,000 tonne per month

Diversified company Reliance Industries Limited's retail business arm, Reliance Retail, is confident of meeting the growing demand for quality staple consumables in the country. In this regard, the company had invested huge amounts in the retail back-end infrastructure, said a senior official at the company's Hyderabad processing facility.

The official said their processing centres, currently numbering three at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pataudi (Gurgaon), equipped with in-house laboratories and latest equipment have been ensuring safe, clean and unadulterated staples with a long shelf-life for its 13 million consumers country-wide.

"As part of its business model, the company had been procuring quality foodgrains and pulses from pre-qualified vendors, mostly local farmers at competitive prices, in accordance with the standards set by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India and the company's product specifications," he said.

The group's Hyderabad facility (called Process Centre Staples), with a capacity to handle 10,000 tonne per month and more than 120,000 tonne per annum staples and pulses is catering to the entire South India, Maharashtra (including Mumbai) and Odisha.

The company's internal quality processing checks include a five-stage process, encompassing bulk supply by vendor, product quality checks, product fumigation, cleaning, upgrading and packaging.

The retail food arm with 1,500 stores spanning 130 cities across India also sells products like Reliance milk, vegetables, FMCG goods of other major brands.