Wake up, Wake up, Government of India

In a recent article about supply chain as also in several other forums I have been talking about how the recent price increase of food articles is hitting the consumers without benefiting the farmers and producers. What does it mean?

The long winded supply chain is possibly the key reason behind the price rise.

The constituents of this chain protect their margin without adding any value and in the light of increasing volumes, the wastage also goes up. So, who ends up paying for it? The consumer. While the poor farmer still gets his meager few rupees per kilo as farm gate prices!

Am I talking through the hat? Not really.

Way back in the late 90’s the price of onions shot up to an extent that the central government was reported to have been shaky due to it. During that period the RPG Foodworld stores sold onions at retail prices which were significantly lower. Was it sold at a loss or at lower margins? Not at all.

Smarter sourcing and better supply chain ensured that the chain was able to offer this value to consumers.

This view has been endorsed by the recent India Today, which talks about how fruit and vegetable prices can be managed and moderated by enabling Indian Retail.

Wake up, Wake up policy and legislation makers. It is time to take Indian Retail forward!