Amazon Is Looking To Open Food-Only Outlets In India, To Sell Locally Produced Items

In the States, Amazon has started opening brick-and-mortar stores that sell all kinds of goods. We’ve reported on this a few times, regarding their stores where you can just walk in and buy groceries without having to pay right away or even carry your groceries home with you. And now, Amazon is looking to open food-only outlets in India, making it the second country in the world to see the development of these kinds of stores.

According to a report by Economic Times, the American company plans to undertake “retail trading of food products (produced or manufactured in India) to customers at any location through any channel, offline or online, including e-commerce, across India.” The application was filed by Singapore-based Amazon Corporate Holding Pvt Ltd., which along with Amazon.com Inc, Mauritius will hold 99% of the proposed entity.

This subsidiary also seeks to invest Rs. 3,500 crore over the next five years to sell their own private labels of locally produced and packaged food products.

In the US, Amazon is still in the process of opening their first grocery store this year. And if all goes well, India is next on their list of places to open a stand-alone grocery store. In a statement issued by Amazon India, it was said, “We are excited by the government’s continued efforts to encourage FDI in India for a stronger food supply chain.”

Speaking about this, Abhishek Malhotra, a partner at AT Kearney said, “We have sought an approval to invest and partner with the government in achieving this vision. What might work well is opening some concept stores to showcase some of the products.