Outlook on organized retailing of perishable produce in India: cross-city comparison

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the market demand and compare the average market margins for six broad categories of fresh produce in different retail formats across five select cities of the country. It also tries to qualitatively understand the supply chain management practices of these retailers across cities.

Design/methodology/approach

Registered retail outlets were selected randomly from online sources. Market potential was estimated as the average sales of each category of fresh produce. Personal interviews were conducted with the market players in order to collect qualitative data about their supply chain management practices.

Findings

Potatoes, onions and tomatoes are the largest consumed category of fresh produce across cities. Consumers in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities exhibit different buying behavior and preferences. Large retailers and small retailers coexist in the cities. Marketing margins of retail formats are not uniform across cities.

Research limitations/implications

The study did not capture the reasons for the differences observed in consumer preferences and buying behavior across cities. The study has taken into consideration only registered neighborhood stores in the study locations.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper is first of its kind which has attempted to estimate the categorywise market potential of fresh produce across study cities.

Citation

Selvaraj, A., Nedumaran, S., Bose, D., Padmanabhan, J., Pangiraj, Y. and Sharma, K. (2019), "Outlook on organized retailing of perishable produce in India: cross-city comparison", Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 352-368. https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-05-2018-0066