Reliance Industry on Thursday forayed into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment by launching its indigenous brand ‘Independence’ in Gujarat. The brand, which will compete with the likes of Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Britannia Industries, and ITC, amongst others, will sell made-in-India consumer products ranging from processed foods to daily products.
Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd said in a statement, “I am happy to announce the launch of our own FMCG brand INDEPENDENCE which brings a wide choice of high quality and affordable products including edible oils, pulses, grains, packaged foods, and other daily need products.”
“The brand stands for ‘truly Indian solutions for real Indian problems’ which is articulated as– ‘Kan Kan Mein Bharat,’ thereby evoking emotional attachment and instilling a sense of inclusiveness amongst Indians,” she added.
The development comes months after Ambani announced that Reliance Retail will enter the FMCG space this year, during the company’s 45th annual general meeting (AGM) in August. She had said that by opening a new FMCG business, the company wants to develop and deliver "top quality and highly affordable" products to solve customers' requirements.
In September, the company acquired homegrown iconic soft drink brand Campa from Delhi-based Pure Drinks Group for around ₹22 crore. Campa Cola was a market leader in the Indian soft drink market in the 1970s and 1980s in most regions of India until foreign brands Pepsi and Coca-Cola entered the domestic market in 1990s. The company also acquired another soft drink brand Sosyo from Surat-based Hajoori.
The move is being seen as part of the country’s largest private sector firm’s strategy to foray into the soft drinks business, which is currently dominated by foreign brands such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
In the last one year, Reliance Retail claims it has opened more than 2,500 stores to take its store count to over 15,000 and generated 1.5 lakh jobs. It served more than 200 million registered customers, equivalent to the collective population of the U.K., France, and Italy, at Reliance Retail’s physical stores and digital platforms.
“We doubled warehousing space to 670 mn cu-ft. We generated employment for more than 1,50,000, taking the employee base to 360,000,” Ambani said.
Reliance Retail says its JioMart e-commerce platform enables small merchants to sell the entire product portfolio of Reliance Retail on an assisted selling model, helping them deliver a better customer experience.
During the July-September quarter, Reliance Retail's revenue witnessed a growth of 42.9% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹64,920 crore; while its profit was ₹2,305 crore, a growth of 36% YoY. The company opened 725 new stores in the quarter, totaling 16,547 across the country.