Reliance Retail Ropes In Ex-Amul Chief RS Sodhi To Push Grocery Business

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. has roped in RS Sodhi, the former chief of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, to scale up its grocery business, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Sodhi worked with GCMMF, which retails the Amul brand, for over four decades. However, he stepped down as the managing director of the world's largest milk-producing company in January this year.

Currently, he is the president of the Indian Dairy Association, the apex body of the country's dairy sector, with 3,000 members comprising cooperatives, multinationals, and milk producers.

Reliance Industries did not comment, while Sodhi could not be reached for comment.

Sodhi has joined Reliance Retail in an advisory role, according to the people quoted above. He is likely to help build the Isha Ambani-led business' grocery segment, with a focus on the fruits and vegetables vertical.

Sodhi's appointment is also seen as crucial to escalating Reliance's ambitious plan of expanding its fast-moving consumer goods business via its own supermarkets and kiranas, according to industry executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Reliance's consumer goods push, under a vertical named Reliance Retail Consumer Brands, comes on top of its brick-and-mortar store network of more than 2,000 grocery outlets and ongoing expansion of JioMart e-commerce operations in India's nearly $900 billion retail market—which is one of the world's biggest.

It has also been trying to acquire local brands to drive scale and presence across fast-moving consumer goods categories, in addition to its own packaged goods brand, 'Independence'. Reliance's plan seeks to challenge some of the world's biggest consumer groups, including Nestle SA, Unilever Plc., and PepsiCo Inc.

Sodhi is credited with launching more than 50 new products during his tenure as managing director at GCMMF in the last six years. Under his leadership, Amul's turnover jumped from Rs 8,000 crore in 2010 to Rs 72,000 crore at present.

Reliance may also look at leveraging Sodhi's expertise and skills to launch products in the dairy and value-added segments, according to the people quoted above.