1/24/2011 Fresh greens on wheels, News - City - …

Fresh greens on wheels

Textile magnet Mahendra Bajaj w ill introduce 25 vans under Harra Fresh brand, which will deliver fresh
vegetables at customers’ doorstep, allowing vendors to take super markets head on

Dhw ani Pathak

Posted On Monday, May 25, 2009 at 03:47:20 AM

The malls vs vegetable vendor debate has been raging for years
now. Corporates which owned malls seemed to be running away
with the profits by positioning their merchandise as cost-
effective and cold-chain fresh, while the vendors were left with
a few loyal customers who chose convenience of home delivery
over cost. But local textile biggie Mahendra Bajaj’s innovation
could just swing the balance in favour of the vendors.

Bajaj is developing special vehicles which will keep vegetables Ve ndors of Harra Fre sh vans will be give n
and fruits cool and hygienic so as to deliver them at customers’ uniforminsura
s, training in hygie ne , provide d
nce and m e diclaim
doorstep fresh. The idea occurred to him during breakfast one
morning in July 2007. The vendor knocked on the door to deliver vegetables like everyday. But this
time Govind, the vendor, asked the Bajaj family for a loan as he was going through a financial
crunch. Govind was known to the family since about 15 years, so Bajaj asked him how he had fallen
on hard times.

Says Bajaj, “After the conversation, I realised he would make

some money at the end of the day, but the earnings were
irregular. He needed stable and a little higher income. That he
could do if he could deliver fresh vegetables to more
households. For this, he needed a vehicle which could keep the
vegetables cool and fresh, and enable him to travel distances
to visit more houses. That’s when I decided to make for
vendors a vehicle that had facilities to keep food as fresh as in
Vans will sport, be side s the logo, a host of
malls.” anim ated characte rs lik e ‘Lalu Ta m a tar’
and ‘R asee la Nim boo’ a m ong othe rs
What was born was ‘Harra Fresh’, a big step in vegetable
vending. These are special air-conditioned vehicles that will help retain freshness in vegetables and
fruits. Mahendra Bajaj plans to introduce 25 Harra Fresh vans across the city in the initial phase,
and later increase them to 80-100.

Bajaj also sees the pioneering project as part of his corporate social responsibility. In keeping with
this, he has advised vendors to donate 10 paise from every kg of vegetables sold to a fund that will
take care of the vendors’ children’s education. He says, “We are taking all care not to dislocate
vendors any further. They will man the vans, look after the purchase, sale, etc. We expect to
employ close to 400 persons in these vans.”

SHARED OWNERSHIP MODEL

Bajaj’s marketing model is quite like Amul’s, where the ownership is
shared. He will give shares to all vegetable cart-pullers and street
vendors who become part of Harra Fresh. They will also be offered
franchises to own the vans.

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1/24/2011 Fresh greens on wheels, News - City - …
Harra Fresh vans will do the rounds in societies which the vendors do
not frequent. The idea is to make breakthroughs in untapped markets.
“Vendors will be given uniforms, training in hygiene, provided
insurance and mediclaim,” says Bajaj. “But we are not going to
change their lingo, for that’s how they build rapport with their
customers. So expect ‘Geetaben/Haribhai’ and not ‘madam/sir’,”
laughs Bajaj.

Harra Fresh has tied up with 90 per cent of the societies in

Anandnagar Road area. Vendor Kanu Prajapati (40), who joined Harra
Fresh, says, “I used to be insecure about my earnings. But now with
Harra Fresh, I have got a secure job which pays Rs 4,500 a month.”

Homemaker Rekha Patel says of Harra Fresh, “I am happy I don’t have

to stock vegetables and get them fresh at my doorstep. I can save
on time and money travelling to a super market without compromising "W e are ta k ing all care not to
disloca te ve ndors a ny furthe r. The y
on quality.” will m a n the va ns, look afte r the
purchase , sale , e tc. W e e x pe ct to
Harra Fresh vans will sport, besides the logo, a host of animated em ploy close to 400 pe rsons in
the se vans"
characters like ‘Lalu Tamatar’ and ‘Raseela Nimboo’ among others.
“These animated characters will talk about the nutrients in each —Mahendra Bajaj
vegetable, says Bajaj. He is also mulling gifting kids below 15 with soft
toys on Saturdays and Sundays.

More importantly, the vans will have price displays on LCD screens for transparency in dealing, a
special horn that sounds like chirping of birds to alert Harra Fresh customers, and panels for
advertisement. Harra Fresh will tie up with societies which the vans will visit, and has approached
Employment Exchange and NGO Saath for recruitment. Says

Bajaj, “Once the concept becomes popular, we will distribute forms to may more societies in western
and eastern Ahmedabad.”

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