As we all are aware that COVID has opened the door to the growth and diversification of E-commerce business, peoples have never thought that even being locked at home due the pandemonic situation, food essential items can be procured at the doorstep.
This gave birth to a new domain in logistics where E-commerce played a significant role in the supply chain of food Industry.
Various Big organizations like Big-basket/ Zepto/ Blink-It etc came into the focus who started offering delivery of essential items right from their dark store or the local kirana shops to the customer’s doorstep within short durations, other small-time organizations cropped up giving rise to availability of regional cuisine to various parts of India.
For example, being a Bengali and staying in Gurgaon, if I crave for the authentic Dada-Boudi Biriyani (which is a local and famous delicacy in Kolkata), companies are now offering delivery of such regional cuisines directly in your plate the next day post your order in their e-commerce portal.
Fish/ Meat/ and exotic vegetables etc are also available online with real time tracking and delivery which has changed the dimension of doing business. Corporate Customers who have extreme busy schedules can order their daily needs through online and even order foods from choicest restaurants through delivery partners like Swiggy/Zomato which has changed the traditional method.
Logistics and efficient supply chain mechanism plays a significant role into this business model as food items are perishable in nature and requires careful packing and delivery speed. In coming years this segment of ecommerce will see significant growth and many benefits are already seen to small time food traders/manufacturers who now a big market has to do their business.
The business of food industry is changing rapidly, new concept like cloud kitchen or only take -away options have grown rapidly due to the presence of the supply chain and the delivery partners. Housewives have now additional sources of income by supplying home cooked foods to various customers be it a bachelor staying in various cities away from family and missing the home cooked food. Traditionally companies like porter and other delivery partners have provided services of delivery right from the point of origin to the point of consumption easily and in no time. Social media has become an Ecom platform wherein various advertisements of home cook food local cuisine are being showcased on routine basis.
The local kirana shops are also benefited as they too, to be in the business have started providing free home delivery services to a certain periphery of the business. Many online food delivery apps have come into the foray of providing local cuisines and eatables/ vegetables etc.
DMart/ Big-basket and other online shopping portals are providing lucrative discounts on the products on the MRP as they managed to save the cost of intermediate transportation and customers are benefited at a whole.
However, this industry also has some bottlenecks as still the cost of delivery is sometimes very high which makes the product less attractive and noncompetitive. The scarcity of temperature-controlled transportation is also one of the major bottlenecks though many companies like Celsius logistics have started providing support to this venture and in the years to come with the rise in EV vehicles the availability will be more, and the cost will be competitive.
My Company Seabird Logisolution is also expanding its presence into the food industry by adding additional Cold chain warehouses from their existing one of Dhatir. New locations like Unnao/ Hyderabad are opened and Nagpur are in pipeline to cater more to the storage and transportation of perishable goods. Our in-house Ecom team is also working very closely with various food manufacturer and distribution specialists to provide AI driven storage and packing solution for on-time and accurate delivery making the system more robust and customer centric.
Our Group Company Beyond Greens is a budding, distinguished member of the esteemed Parekh Group—an association of companies leveraging over 70 years of expertise in the logistics industry. Established 2 years ago under Gnosis Ventures LLP, Beyond Greens have swiftly emerged as a prominent player in fruit and vegetable trading. As part of Seabird Logistics, a cornerstone of the Parekh Group, they guarantee timely perishables delivery through agricultural and logistical expertise. Their focus is on quality and efficiency drives our operations to ensure satisfaction for clients and partners.
Beyond Greens is handling about 12-15 tons of food items a day and offering a diverse range of 140+ fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs, they have rapidly gained recognition for their quality products and reliable services.
About Author: Sanjib Roy Choudhury,
Assistant VP, Operations,
Seabird Logisolutions Limited