Shoppers think fresh – and think less of products endorsed by World Cup losers

Middle-class Delhi-ites have fallen in love — with supermarkets. The ‘Organised Retail’ concept has exploded here, as mini-chains such as Big Apple, Food Bazaar and Reliance Fresh seek to get a head-start over the likes of global brands such as Wal-Mart and Tesco — both rumoured to be looking for sites in the capital. Big Apple (slogan: ‘Think Fresh’) consisted in 2005 of just one store employing 30 people; by August 2007, the group hopes to have opened 300 stores. Analysts say the market is growing at over 25 per cent annually.

At six o’clock on a Sunday evening, the Reliance Fresh outlet on Rani Jhansi Road in north-east Delhi is buzzing with affluent families filling their baskets with fresh vegetables, cans of condensed milk, sachets of popcorn and brightly coloured kitchenware. For many, a visit has become the new social pastime en famille. Those who fail to make it past the officious security guards stand on the pavement and watch the customers troop by on the retail red carpet.