FHEL rolls out expansion plan

With big retail chains as clientele, Fresh and Healthy Enterprises Ltd (FHEL), a fully owned subsidiary of Container Corporation of India (Concor), has planned an expansion for its cold storage business. The company directly sells to Bharti-Walmart, Big Apple, Reliance Retail, Mother Dairy, Future Group and Heritage Foods in the northern part of the country. It has a tie-up with Unifrutti, a multinational company, for sale of fruits in the south. As per the company, the investment will be to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore in opening cold storage units. Capacity expansion at various cities will depend on the location of the place and the quantity of horticulture produce at nearby places.

FHEL offers cold chain logistic solutions – storage, transportation, inventory management and delivery. It has a 12,000 tonne store at Rai, near Delhi. FHEL directly buys from farmers and sells to retailers. The cold storage facility is to develop long-term linkages with farmers, agricultural institutes and government agencies to improve the quality of the produce, yield, storability and shelf life of a variety of fruits and vegetables to enable availability for longer durations and at reasonable rates.