The Role of Supermarkets in the Food Supply Chain

1. Better transportation 

Fruits, vegetables, and other perishable foods need quick delivery in order to maintain their freshness. Supermarkets provide such quick transit options. In comparison to traditional ways, supermarket chains move their merchandise more quickly. They begin by transporting fresh food to a packing business, where the fruits and vegetables are processed before being packaged. Most of the time, the same shipping boxes that the fruits and vegetables are shipped in may also be used to display them in stores as well.

2. A wide range of items

The broad variety approach is a merchandising technique that draws people into the store by offering a diverse choice of products. Occasionally, certain items (usually staple commodities like bread, milk, and sugar) are marketed as loss leaders in order to entice customers to their store. Supermarkets stock a wide range of goods. This implies that customers have a wider range of products to choose from. 

3. Availability at all times

There are several supermarkets, which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In such a setup, individuals may go to stores anytime they need something. Supermarkets, in contrast to traditional systems, stock merchandise all year, including during off-seasons. Markets for storage products emerged as a result of this. 

4. Makes shopping easier

As supermarkets provide a large number of products in one location, it is easier to keep track of things even during busy periods. It will be able to lower costs, make shopping easier, and increase shelf availability by selling fewer items.

5. Imported items are available 

The Internet plays a significant role in the lives of today’s people; individuals can see new items on the Internet and want to acquire them. Since supermarkets have a lot of new items that we can’t be able to access all of them from the small shops. Besides these, imported items are also available in the supermarkets. 

A supermarket is a self-service store that is divided into sections and offers a broad selection of food, drinks, and home items. This type of shop is larger and has a greater selection than older grocery stores. Fresh meat, fresh fruit, dairy, baked goods, and other items are commonly found at supermarkets. Canned and packaged foods, as well as numerous non-food items such as cookware, home cleansers, pharmaceutical products, and pet supplies, have their own shelf space. Supermarkets first appeared in the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s and in 1966 ‘Super Bazar’ appeared in Delhi as ‘India’s first supermarket’. The absence of salespeople is the most distinguishing aspect of a supermarket. 

Supermarkets are a contemporary development that has mostly replaced marketplaces in India, particularly in metropolitan areas. Even while they are accused of limiting regular traders’ earnings, they have aided farmers to some measure.

India is a major producer of vegetables, fresh fruits, and a variety of other foods. Because of their perishability, seasonality, and bulkiness, marketing fruits and vegetables is more difficult than marketing many industrial items.