Choupal Saagar

Group:- 4

•ITC's pre-eminent position as one of India's leading corporate in the agricultural sector is based on strong and enduring farmer partnerships that has revolutionized and transformed the rural agricultural sector.

•A unique rural digital infrastructure network, coupled with deep understanding of agricultural practices and intensive research, has built a competitive and efficient supply chain that creates and delivers immense value across the agricultural value chain.

•One of the largest exporters of agri products from the country, ITC sources the finest of Indian Feed Ingredients, Food Grains, Edible Nuts, Marine Products, Processed Fruits, Coffee & Spices

ITC's Agri Business Division

• ITC's Agribusiness Division is the country's second largest exporter of agri-products with exports of over Rs. 1000 Crores (Rs. 10 billion). Its domestic sales of agri-products are in excess of Rs. 1500 Crores (Rs. 15 billion). It currently focuses on exports and domestic trading of:•o Feed Ingredients - Soyamealo Food Grains - Rice (Basmati & Non Basmati), Wheat, Pulseso Edible Nuts - Sesame Seeds, HPS Groundnuts, Castor oilo Marine Products - Shrimps and Prawnso Processed Fruits - Fruit Purees/Concentrates, IQF/Frozen Fruits,

Organic Fruit Products, Fresh Fruitso Coffee & Spices - Coffee, Black Pepper, Chilly, Turmeric,

Ginger, Celery and other Seed Spices

Farmer empowerment through e-Choupals• ITC's unique strength in this business is the extensive backward

linkages it has established with the farmers. This networking with the farming community has enabled ITC to build a highly cost effective procurement system.

• ITC has made significant investments in web-enabling the Indian farmer.

• Christened 'e-Choupal', ITC's empowerment plan for the farmer centers around providing Internet kiosks in villages. Farmers use this technology infrastructure to access on-line information from ITC's farmer-friendly website www.echoupal.com.

• Data accessed by the farmers relate to the weather, crop conditions, best practices in farming, ruling international prices and a host of other relevant information. e-Choupal today is the world's largest rural digital infrastructure.

• The unique e-Choupal model creates a significant two-way multi-dimensional channel which can efficiently carry products and services into and out of rural India, while recovering the associated costs through agri-sourcing led efficiencies.

• This initiative now comprises about 6500 installations covering nearly 40,000 villages and serving over 4 million farmers.

• Currently, the 'e-Choupal' website provides information to farmers across the 10 States of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

• Over the next 5 years it is ITC's Vision to create a network of 20,000 e-Choupals, thereby extending coverage to 100,000 villages representing one sixth of rural India.

• Supporting the e-Choupal network are ITC's procurement teams, handling agents and contemporary warehousing facilities across India, enabling its Agri Business to source identity-preserved merchandise even at short notice.

• ITC's processors are handpicked, reliable high quality outfits who ensure hygienic processing and modern packaging. • Strict quality control is exercised at each stage to preserve the natural flavour, taste and aroma of the various agri products.

Choupal Saagar

• Following the success of the e-Choupal, the Company launched Choupal Saagar, a physical infrastructure hub that comprises collection and storage facilities and a unique rural hypermarket that offers multiple services under one roof.

• This landmark infrastructure, which has set new benchmarks for rural consumers also incorporates farmer facilitation centres with services such as sourcing, training, soil testing, health clinic, cafeteria, banking, investment services, fuel station etc.

• 24 'Choupal Saagars' have commenced operations in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. ITC is engaged in scaling up the rural retailing initiative to establish a chain of 100 Choupal Saagars in the near future.

Choupal Saagars are the points of physical transactions within a tractorable distance from the same villages. These physical transactions are not just in retail, but warehousing of agri produce, fuel station, health services, soil testing, farm management training, food court, banking, tractor servicing and so on.

CONCEPT

Hub and spoke model involving engagement with farmers in rural India. A rural shopping mall where farmers can sell their commodities and can buy almost everything including cosmetics, garments, electronics, appliances and even tractors. It serves as an agri-sourcing centers, shopping centers, and facilitation centers.

IMPACT

Chaupal Sagar stores have become meeting point for farmers to transact commerce and exchange useful information. ITC awarded - Innovation for India Award 2006 for e-Choupal in the Social Innovations category for business organizations. e-Choupal specially cited in the Government of India's Economic Survey of 2006-07 for its transformational impact on rural lives. e-Choupal is one of the top five alternative channels for LIC Policy sales, and accounts for 10percent of the national weather insurance market

PRODUCT MIX AT CHOUPAL SAGAR

The product mix at Choupal Saagar covers a wide range of categories like Agri-inputs, Apparel & Footwear, Grocery, Consumer Durables, For-the home, Toys & Games, Music, etc. to ensure that Choupal Saagar is the one-stop shop for both rural & small town consumers.

TARGET SEGMENT

The wide range of products and multiple price points in every category ensure that they are not forced into such a trade-off. The Hypermarket format serves consumers from multiple income segments simultaneously.

CHALLENGES

Most critical challenge is recruitment and retention of retail talent in rural areas, especially when the opportunities in this sector in urban India are also huge.