Rivigo to scale up reefer trucks fleet to 2,500 by 2021

Logistics startup Rivigo aims at increasing the number of its refrigerated trucks for transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables to 2,500 in the next five years, which would require an investment of about ₹700 crore.

Rivigo presently has 250 refrigerated trucks for fresh and perishable food transportation, and they are looking to have 2500 trucks by 2021.To scale up their vehicles, the company would require an estimated investment of ₹ 700 crores, of which around ₹ 30 lakhs would be an average estimate for each refrigerated truck.

With the increasing demand for refrigerated and temperature-controlled vehicles growing demand for such vehicles would drive the company’s expansion plans in the coming years. Use of reefer trucks helps in bringing down losses of fruits and vegetables in transit by up to 20-25 percent.

Also, these trucks run non-stop and there is 40 per cent reduction in transit time when compared to traditional trucks, he said, adding that this helps in bringing down the wastage.

Rivigo at present transports about 3,000 tons of fresh produce a month, including apples, plums, cherries, tomatoes, chillies, cucumber, pointed gourd, drumsticks and French beans, among others.

However, the company has seen success in transporting cucumber from Guwahati to pan-India. It has moved chillies from Azadpur mandi in Delhi to Mumbai and pointed gourd from Kolkata to pan-India.

Normally, imported frozen foods, fruits and veggies are transported in reefer trucks in India. There is huge scope to tap the domestic market as India is the world’s second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, he added.

According to official data, the country has around 7,000 to 8,000 actively refrigerated trucks handling 3.6 million tons of perishable items. Prsently, only 2 per cent of the country’s total vegetables and fruits output of 258 million tons is transported in refrigerated trucks. Besides fruits and vegetables, Rivigo operates across segments such as e-commerce, pharma, textiles, electronics and consumer durables.