Reliance Retail to scale reach of packaged consumer goods brands
2 min read . Updated: 30 Aug 2022, 06:39 AM IST
PremiumAmbani said the company has been strengthening the presence of its brands across staples, home and personal care
NEW DELHI : Reliance Retail will push new fast-moving consumer brands into the market as well as scale up its private labels to strengthen its play in the FMCG market, Isha Ambani, director, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), said at the company’s 45th annual general meeting on Monday.
“I’m excited to announce that this year we will launch our fast-moving consumer goods business. The objective of this business is to develop and deliver products that solve every Indian’s daily needs, with high quality products at affordable pricing," Ambani said.
The company has been appointing distributors to push its products in general trade. The idea is to take its private labels sold in its own modern trade outlets into mom-and-pop stores apart from selling products and pack sizes more suites to general trade, said people aware of the development. Reliance is taking the conventional traditional trade route with an impressive lineup of products that include categories such as staples like flour, pulses, staples, beverages, soaps, hair oils, etc., said a person aware of the company’s plans. These include snacking brand Snac Tac and pulses, oil, rice and flour under the Good Life brand, apart from toilet and floor cleaners under Myhome and disinfectants under the Puric brand. It also sells beverages under brands such as Bubbles and Yeah! It retails branded personal care and beauty products under the Petals and Glimmer brands at its stores.
It has also launched products in categories such as deodorants.
Ambani said the company has been strengthening the presence of its brands across staples, home and personal care. Its brands will now compete with large existing players such as Hindustan Unilever, P&G, Reckitt and ITC Ltd.
“Our grocery business is the largest in India, serving daily needs of our customers through a network of nearly 2,500 stores, and digital commerce platforms JioMart and Milkbasket. We launched Freshpik, a gourmet format, and rolled out 7-Eleven for on-the-go customers. During the year, we strengthened our own brands‘ presence by launching several new products across categories of staples, home, personal care and general merchandise," she said.
The products are being retailed under the Reliance Consumer Brands division, led by former Coca-Cola India CEO T. Krishnakumar.
Analysts tracking the consumer goods market said it could be an uphill task for Reliance to crack the FMCG market given the presence of existing FMCG brands that are deeply entrenched in the country.
“Getting shelf space in a kirana by new players is very tough," said Abneesh Roy, executive director, Edelweiss Securities. “FMCG is a daily treadmill with need for continuous innovations, direct reach, robust feet on ground, analytics, etc., unlike say a wireless telecom business. Most of the FMCG players are present across the price value equation, so white spaces are limited," he added. Existing players have decades of loyalty with consumers and relationship with distributors, Roy added.
Meanwhile, during the year, Reliance Retail invested in acquisitions and partnerships to enter categories, strengthen service capabilities, and extend reach to new markets.
The company added over 2,500 stores taking its store count to over 15,000 in FY22. The company that operates a variety of retail formats selling apparel, footwear, home decor, grocery and electronics served over 200 million registered customers at Reliance Retail’s physical stores and digital platforms.
“We built an extensive supply chain network with modular design and best-in-class automation. We doubled our warehousing and fulfillment space to 670 million cu-ft, linking supply locations with demand centres across the country. We generated employment for more than 150,000 during the year, taking our employee base to over 360,000," Ambani said.
