ITC to set up Choupal Fresh in Kolkata

Kolkata, Jan 21: ITC, which has revolutionised the retail and wholesale vending of vegetables and fruits, known as e-Choupals, will open an Choupal Fresh outlet in Kolkata.

Speaking to sources, ITC sources today said the company would open 140 stores in 54 towns in the next three-four years. Currently, the company has three stores in Chandigarh, Pune and Hyderabad.

Unlike other major players, the ITC's Choupals consist of both the wholesale and retail formats. ''We will open one Choupal Fresh outlet in some towns while others would have more than one,'' Agri -business department sources told sources.

''All our effort for Choupal Fresh is backed up by the work we do on the farm front which includes focus on demos, crop calendar, enhancing farm productivity and cold-chain support wherever needed.

Our focus is on an integrated approach,'' the official said.

As it expands to other cities, ITC, which pioneered in engaging with farmers directly by offering a host of services to them, would scale up its engagement with farmers and streamline the supply chain mechanism to make them feeders for the stores.

The feeder villages around the towns attend to the product requirements of the stores during the season. Some back-up feeders for the off-season requirements are also prepared.

The company has planned to expand 'Choupal Sagars', its rural retailing business, as well. ''We have 12 such stores in the three states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. There are 11 more under construction in those states,'' he said.

ITC has already announced its plans to set up 40 more stores in this format in the next few months. The scope of these stores was expected to be much bigger than hypermarkets. Farmers would be able to sell their produces and also buy a wide variety of products.

UNI