Bharti Walmart, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart, organised its first ‘fresh supplier development workshop’ in Pune this week.
Held in conjunction with the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board, the workshop was aimed at promoting awareness of best practices in agriculture, bakery, dairy, fish, meat and poultry among prospective suppliers, according to Bharti Walmart’s chief merchandising officer William Savage.
“The Indian consumer is becoming increasingly aware about consuming safe, qualitative food. They expect organised retail stores to help them live better by providing them hygienic food products,” he was quoted as saying in the Indian media. “To meet our customer expectations…Bharti Walmart is organising its first fresh supplier development workshop in Pune in association with the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board.'
Bharti Walmart, which operates a chain of wholesale cash and carry stores and provides back-end supply chain management in India, already supplies fresh produce from its Direct Farm Programme to Bharti Retail’s Easyday stores across the country. “The challenge in managing the supply chain is to minimise wastage and ensure we get the specific quantity that is required,” said Mr Savage.
According to India’s Business Standard, Bharti Walmart has linked up with 200 farmers in Maharashtra to source fruit directly. Those farmers are based in Narayangaon, 100km from Pune, but nationwide the group now has a supply base spanning 2,000 farmers in Punjab, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Over the next five years, the company plans to train over 35,000 farmers.
Bharti Walmart recently unveiled plans to open stores in Pune and Bangalore, adding to the outlets that are already running in Amritsar, Zirakpur, Jalandhar, Kota, Bhopal, Ludhiana, Raipur, Indore, Vijayawada and Meerut.
