In India, the retail sector is experiencing rapid growth, particularly in metro suburbs. Everyone seems to be part of this race, with heavyweight Wal-Mart recently joining to open stores in India, and even Reliance attempting negotiations with the France-based global retail major Carrefour (which is still in the air). Some of the new retail stores are small, right around the corner, competing with family-owned, generation-old style grocery stores. Meanwhile, others are large enough to keep you navigating their long maze of aisles for a while. Given India’s status as the second most populated nation, the total turnover of this segment is quite high. Moreover, India has significant potential as an emerging market and is already a major sourcing base. As these new stores try to establish their customer base, they often entice customers with “Special Offers” to quickly grab attention and ensure a steady cash inflow.
Recently, we received a glossy pamphlet with the daily newspaper and decided to check out a new store. We went yesterday evening, and it’s a nice store - neither too big nor too small, perhaps the size of a 7-11 in the US or a G20 in France, to give you a fair idea of its size.
The reason for writing this blog is the discovery of a rack full of Barilla pasta at the store called “SPINACH”. The prices for these pastas are not very high, around 85 Rupees for 500 grams (which is only 1 Euro in France). However, the biggest disappointment came when we checked the price of olive oil, which is 800 Rupees for a 700/750ml bottle. I am certain it’s the extra tax that the Indian government imposes on importing olive oil from the EU (mainly Greece or Spain in most cases). In no way are we going to make pasta in India, not to mention the price and availability of good cheese, which is an essential ingredient in making pasta. Speaking of cheese, even though our nation produces enough milk, we neither have the climate nor the technology to produce cheeses like emmental, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, roquefort, or mascarpone. All you get locally is cheddar. Oh! There are some stores in South Mumbai where I’m told you can find other varieties at a price. I need to check before I can comment further.