Sunil Agarwal, promoter of Pune-based Fine Foods, speaks to Progressive Grocer about his stores’ specialty and core strengths, trends in imported world foods and how his small format store chain has played to its strengths and established a solid reputation in gourmet retailing.
How would you describe the journey of your stores over the years?
Fine Foods, a specialty imported gourmet food store, opened in January 2010 in the upmarket Aundh area of Pune. We decided to open the store in this neighborhood as the area was lacking a premium gourmet food store. We got good response at Aundh, which encouraged us to expand. We identified that the west side of Pune lacked premium gourmet food stores despite the presence of a good potential clientele. We opened our second store on Karve Road in June 2010 and our third store in Bavdhan in February 2014.
Fine Foods stores follow the small gourmet store format. Our priority and focus is to provide an exhaustive range of premium imported food products in all the possible categories. Over the years, we have included frozen, non-veg & veg sections, local dairy & cheese sections, home baking sections to our already vast repertoire in imported foods.
What is your location strategy for the stores?
Our stores are located in the proximity of residential areas that have a potential clientele for our products. Thanks to our location strategy, our stores enjoy a reputation for being the friendly neighborhood gourmet food stores. We offer the convenience of availing premium imported foods very nearby rather than having to travel far to the large format stores located on commercial high streets.
What is the profile of your customer base?
We cater to and our products appeal to all consumer segments – young kids, working couples, expats, homemakers, home chefs, gourmet food enthusiasts, to name a few.
What are the categories you specialize in as a gourmet retailer?
This story is from the September 2017 edition of Progressive Grocer.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Progressive Grocer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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