Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), the retail arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RIL), has roped in R S Sodhi, dairy industry veteran and former MD of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells milk and value-added milk products under the Amul brand.
While Sodhi and Reliance did not comment, sources told TOI that Sodhi may help the Isha Ambani-steered retail business to build on the growth of its grocery vertical, especially in the fruits and vegetable space besides helping the firm strengthen its presence in the consumer brands segment.
RRVL’s fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) arm Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL) has of late been aggressively building its presence in the segment, launching a slew of products, ranging from beverages under the iconic brand Campa to home and personal care items. Sodhi is not the first industry veteran to join Reliance. The conglomerate had earlier also hired former Coca-Cola India chairman T Krishnakumar. Given Sodhi’s expertise in the dairy space, his skills may at some point also be leveraged to launch products in the dairy and value-added dairy segment, the sources said.
In January, after spending close to 41 years at GCMMF, Sodhi had stepped down. The move only seems to cement Reliance’s broader ambition to expand its FMCG footprint and may set the stage for it to compete against Amul and Mother Dairy.
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