Amazon is starting a cold chain hub in Pune to develop a sustainable farm-to-fork model
In order to provide fresh produce to its consumers, the ecommerce giant Amazon Retail India (ARIPL), recently announced that it is running a farm-to-fork pilot project in Pune, where it will be directly working with farmers to source fresh produce.
According to an ET report, two sources familiar with the development said that the ARIPL, a wholly-owned food retailing entity of Amazon, is working with dozens of farmers in the state. The company has set up several cold chain storage hubs in the regions to supply fresh produce through its online channels like Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry.
Amazon is running a pilot project in Pune where the US e-commerce company is for the first time sourcing fresh produce directly from the farmers as part its farm-to-fork initiatives.
Amazon Retail India Pvt Ltd (ARIPL), the wholly-owned food retailing venture of the US giant, is currently working with dozens of farmers in the region and the company has created a cold chain hub in the vicinity to supply fresh produce to sell online through its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry, two sources familiar with the development.
Amazon plans to expand this program to other parts once the project is successful, one of them said. Currently Amazon purchases fruits and vegetables from aggregators in various mandis. “We are engaging with farmers and government bodies to develop a sustainable farm-to-fork model by investing in technology,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed response.
The pilot project has been initiated as part of Amazon’s focus on food and grocery as growth area for Future. The Company presently buys its produce from aggregators in various local markets or mandis.
In 2017, ARIPL had received government approval to invest $500 million in the food retailing subsidiary that for the first time allows Amazon to stock and sell locally produced food items. Currently a portion of food products on Amazon’s India marketplace is sold by ARIPL.
