A warehouse run by Blinkit, a subsidiary of Zomato, was recently raided by the Telangana food safety department and Informed the same in the Post on X. The warehouse is in the Devar Yamjal area of the state’s Medchal Malkajgiri district.
The department found that the building was messy, dirty and full of dust. Because of this, the company will get a warning, and more will be done to punish it. Food items worth INR 82,000 were taken from the building. These included items that were out of date or didn’t meet food safety standards.
Products made by Kamakshi Foods that had an expired licence were taken. These included Suji, Raw peanut butter, Maida, Poha, Besan and Bajra. Whole Farm Ragi flour and toor dal that were thought to be infected were also taken away and sent to a lab to be tested. Additionally, the department found products at the warehouse belonging to Whole Farm Congruence Trade and Services, which did not comply with labelling norms (under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006).
These products will be sent notices about this. Beauty items were also found stored with food in the warehouse by the police.
Also, the people who worked with food there weren’t wearing safety gear like helmets, gloves, or masks. The people who ran the warehouse didn’t have medical health certificates for the people who worked with food, and there was no one there to provide food safety training and certification. Blinkit has said that it will work with the food safety department to fix the problem and has reaffirmed its dedication to safety and cleanliness standards.
For the uninitiated, quick commerce platforms facilitate deliveries through warehouses or dark stores, which are typically 2,500-3,500 square feet in size and are situated strategically around residential areas. Within these warehouses, multiple handlers operate on the floor and pack items and are then sent out for delivery.
It’s not the first time that Blinkit has had problems. The Central Consumer Protection Authority told the company and other quick commerce players in April that they had to back up their “10-minute” delivery promises. There is also a brand infringement case against Blinkit from a company in Bengaluru. Also, last month, the company’s delivery leaders went on strike because they wanted a new pay structure, which caused service problems.
Even with these problems, Blinkit has been growing quickly and even had positive adjusted EBITDA in the quarter ending March 2024. In Q4 FY24, the company’s quick commerce arm made INR 769 Cr, up from INR 363 Cr in the same quarter the previous year. Also, Blinkit’s adjusted EBITDA loss went down from INR 203 Cr in Q4 FY23 to INR 37 Cr in the quarter under review.
Overall, the raid on Blinkit’s warehouse shows how important it is for the quick commerce business to follow strict rules for food safety and hygiene. The business is working to improve its operations by fixing the problems that the food safety department brought up.