Page 21 - ITLN May - June 2022 issue

We spoke
to different

Covid-19 also helped increase the opportunity, the smaller brands use customers when
penetration of e-commerce. this as a channel to start flooding we were struck
To sum it up, starting from a cost- the market, which paves the way for by how the cold
saving value proposition with trucks, we prominent brands to start setting the chain was a
evolved to a complete solution provider. standard. This shift toward e-commerce relatively smaller
Ultimately, we are an end-to-end and B2C businesses which would not market that
solution provider giving our customers be possible without a robust cold chain.
the most optimised solution for the leg This has led to more focus on building a held immense
where they face a challenge. sustainable cold chain, which ultimately potential. It
enabled the setting up of many dark was a fast-
Where are these challenges mostly stores. In turn, each dark store has growing segment
noticed? refrigeration infrastructure, and cold where people
It depends on the customer and where chain infrastructure, and these services were searching
he faces a. pain point. For instance, if lead to the formalisation of the last mile
you look at quick commerce, the pain of your local retail infrastructure. high and low
point is how to deliver highly perishable for solutions.
items like an ice cream within a Coupled with
30-minute window. If melted ice cream the fact that
is delivered, nobody accepts it. Another there was a lot
hurdle is how they have about one to of product loss
three dark stores, and each dark store
gets only a specific amount of food or on the field,
quantity of material because these are resulting in high
limited footprints to feed. The next set wastage, this led
of problems that we are working on to criticality in
is how to deliver these without using food security,
a refrigerated truck. Here, we have to health, etc.
provide the flexibility of putting only the
exact amount of product required.

You mentioned that Covid-19
helped increase the penetration
of e-commerce. How was the
pandemic’s impact felt on the cold
chain industry?
The pandemic’s overall impact was
felt at several levels. Firstly, people
started experimenting and using
more processed foods that they
could store for an extended period.
Secondly, they got more familiar with
e-commerce, and brands began seeing
e-commerce as a dominant
channel. Earlier, everybody
grappled with reaching
the neighbourhood
store. Many brands
also opted for the
B2C movement
to directly
reach their
customers.
Seeing the

19
www.itln.in May - June 2022