KIRANA KING - “India Ki Nayi Dukaan”

Kirana King is the fastest-growing Food and Grocery retail distribution and aggregation company, which ties food manufacturers and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) brands with local distributors on an integrated e-B2B platform, thus forming a dynamic distribution network to lay out extensive market exposure & deeper penetration for the brands. 

What Does It Do?

Kirana King connects brands, retailers, and consumers in the grocery industry space as an aggregation platform covering a 360-degree loop. The platform covers the major touchpoints of the entire experience, including the retailer and the end consumer. 

How It Started?

They started their retail aggregation operations back in 2017, and they took about a year to pilot test their ‘asset-light grocery retail business model,’ converting close to 30 kiranas in Jaipur in the first year. Cut to 2022, the company now has a network of more than 300+ stores in the city. Their model is said to permit kirana store owners to upgrade their outmoded stores to superstores, without having to invest. For customers, on the other hand, it offers an ‘organized shopping experience,’ similar to large format retail stores like Reliance Fresh, Aditya Birla’s More, and other supermarket chains.

Leadership

The company is endorsed under the leadership of Mr. Anup K. Kumar-Founder & CEO and Co-Founders namely Balwant Singh Rana and Mr. Madan Kumar Gandam who are domain experts and experienced key management professionals. 

Opportunity vs Scaling

Two decades ago, grocery stores in India successfully transformed themselves to take on supermarkets like Big Bazaar, and Dmart but after some time, there was a new challenge for Kirana stores in the country. The fight this time was from the online grocery store players like Big Basket, Grofers, Nature’s Basket, etc who offered ease of ordering online, home delivery, and discounts on large orders, etc. This is where Jaipur-based Kirana King saw an opportunity to jump into the big game. 

Once we knew the pain point, we quickly came to a solution. We knew there was a severe lack of a single comprehensive platform that could provide all services of modern retailing to kiranas

 

Once Anup had the idea, he chipped in his friends and colleagues - Deepak Dusad, Balwant Singh Rana, and Madan Kumar Gandam – into the core team. They come with close to two decades of experience in the fields of finance, IT, and supply chain management thus making an ideal team to conquer the retail business. 

To Sum Up

By the end of this year, Kirana King plans to have 500+ stores under its umbrella. It is also looking to partner with hyperlocal startups and online aggregators like Dunzo, Swiggy, Zomato, and others to increase the reach and visibility of its stores.