Hygiene Issues and Regulatory Challenges Revealed, ETCFO

Over the previous couple of years, fast commerce platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart, Flipkart Minutes, and BigBasket have launched tons of of darkish shops to satisfy their ultra-fast supply guarantees whilst they moved past groceries into electronics, premium merchandise, and even prescription drugs.
However behind this breakneck growth, indicators are rising that some darkish shops could also be chopping corners on hygiene and meals security, placing the trade below an unwelcome highlight.
A current investigation by the Maharashtra meals and drug administration (FDA) in Pune has set off alarm bells in New Delhi. As ET reported on June 11, the Centre is planning to step up checks on fast commerce darkish shops — numbering round 5,000 as we speak — by means of meals security regulator Meals Security and Requirements Authority of India (FSSAI).
Provided that quick-commerce gamers wish to construct an enormous buyer base and enhance their income per consumer, why are darkish shops struggling to stick to primary well being and security pointers? ET visited darkish shops throughout Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi to seek out out…
What did the inspections in Maharashtra reveal?
When Maharashtra FDA officers inspected Zepto’s Dharavi facility in Mumbai, they discovered a number of hygiene-related points, together with fungal development on meals objects, meals saved close to stagnant water, chilly storage temperatures not being maintained, and expired merchandise combined with common inventory. The power resumed operations on June 14 after a reinspection confirmed that the mandatory corrective actions had been carried out.
In one other FDA audit in Pune, it was discovered {that a} Blinkit darkish retailer was working with out a legitimate meals enterprise licence.
“Each darkish retailer must have a legitimate licence and any buyer or anybody has the fitting to ask the darkish retailer supervisor to indicate the licence,” Vaidehi Apte, an Ahmedabad-based FSSAI-registered third-party auditor for meals security, advised ET.
Are there laws governing darkish shops? What do they are saying?
“There are laws in place for darkish shops,” stated Ashwin Bhadri, founder and chief govt of Equinox Labs, a Mumbai-based meals security auditing firm. “For each 25 meals handlers or staff, there must be one supervisor. So, if there are 50 or 100 staff, the darkish retailer ought to have 2–4 supervisors who’ve been educated. They’ll go on the coaching to the employees and share the SOP,” Apte added.
Nevertheless, with the variety of shops rising at a fast tempo, corporations are discovering it tough to adjust to the laws. “A each day examine mechanism for SOPs, common coaching periods in addition to shock audits each month will cut back the probabilities of lapses,” Bhadri stated.
Do fast commerce corporations have any inner processes for hygiene and security?
A Flipkart Minutes’ darkish retailer supervisor in Bengaluru stated the corporate has common pointers which can be shared with the shops. There was, nonetheless, no digital or bodily model of the hygiene guidelines out there when ET requested for a replica.
“We now have acquired some common pointers from the corporate on how one can preserve hygiene within the retailer however most of it’s left to the supervisor,” stated a darkish retailer supervisor for Swiggy’s fast commerce arm Instamart in Bengaluru. He added that the shop was in poor situation earlier than he joined 4 months in the past. He, too, didn’t have any written pointers to share.
These are a few of the common pointers darkish shops shared with ET:
- Greens and fruits to be saved in a clear and refrigerated space.
- Ice cream and frozen objects to be saved in temperature-controlled freezers.
- Pharmacy merchandise to be dealt with by designated individuals.
- Expired objects to be discarded daily.
How do darkish shops deal with expired merchandise?
A supervisor at an Instamart darkish retailer in Mumbai stated expired merchandise, particularly groceries and different edibles, are packed and put aside, and a automobile comes the following morning to gather them.
Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart and Flipkart Minutes didn’t reply to detailed queries.
Do fast commerce corporations perform third-party audits?
“We conduct third-party audits commonly in our darkish shops,” stated a senior fast commerce govt who requested to not be recognized. She additional claimed the corporate’s darkish retailer staff are educated nicely on how one can deal with meals objects and preserve hygiene.
Others usually are not so positive. “Third-party audits are essential. Nevertheless, for cost-cutting causes and different causes, generally individuals conduct these audits in-house and that’s when the meals security system breaks down,” Bhadri stated.
What number of darkish shops do the highest fast commerce corporations have?
In line with an HSBC World Analysis report, India’s darkish retailer depend is predicted to achieve 5,000 to five,500 by the tip of FY26. Everlasting-owned Blinkit, which is the market chief, had 1,301 darkish shops as of March 31. Swiggy Instamart has about 1,021 darkish shops.
Each Blinkit and Instamart, whose mother and father are listed, have a presence in over 100 cities. They’ve considerably elevated money burn to undertake this growth. In the course of the January-March interval, Blinkit delivered 141.7 million orders whereas Instamart clocked 88.6 million orders.
Zepto additionally crossed the 1,000-store mark within the January-March quarter of FY2025.
Flipkart Minutes, which was launched in August final yr, has 400 darkish shops. In line with Flipkart group chief govt Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Minutes will develop to 800 darkish shops by the tip of this yr. If it achieves that concentrate on, will probably be the quickest growth within the fast commerce section.
Instamart took over two years to hit 700 darkish shops when it achieved that milestone in December 2024.