Reliance Fresh In Bhopal

What exactly does Reliance Fresh offer? Reliance Fresh stores from outside look like huge vegetable marts with people in red uniforms and the promise of good veggies and fruits at cheaper than market prices. The stores are pretty big with staff that is courteous and helpful. You pick the vegetables yourself, weigh them yourself and you put them in the packet yourself.

After every 4-5 feet there is a polybag dispenser for the vegetables. There is dynamic pricing. As the stuff gets old, the prices of the stuff are reduced and announcements were made about it like Railway Station announcements. Some stuff though was becoming stale but it was being replaced pretty fast. The prices are indeed lower in the store than the market.

The existing players of the vegetable market have started feeling the heat, even before the group has opened any outlet in Bhopal. Following Indore, there were protests in Bhopal too. The local vegetable vendors gathered near Bittan Market in new Bhopal, and took out a protest rally towards the Habibganj police station. The protestors however returned before reaching the police station. An effigy of Mukesh Ambani being carried with the protestors was beaten to the extent that it broke down. The effigy was set to fire after repairing. The protest being completed, the protestors went about their daily work i.e. selling vegetables at the Bittan market haat.

Do the protestors know exactly what they are protesting against? The cities where Reliance Fresh has started operations have seen the vegetable vendors experiencing fall in sales by 40%. Unless the market evolves a fresh (!) approach, the violence would only go up. However, the Indian market has amazingly evolved in the past to counter the threats. Meanwhile, Indore Reliance tried Gandhigiri by distributing 50000 red roses to the fruit and vegetable vendors and other residents.