Food Safety Violations: After Zepto, FDA Suspends Blinkit’s Balewadi Dark Store Licence

Days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the food business licence of Zepto’s warehouse in Mumbai’s Dharavi, the food safety agency has now reportedly revoked the food business licence of Blinkit’s dark store in Pune’s Balewadi.

An ET report said that the FDA conducted an inspection at Blinkit’s facility on June 5 and found that the dark store did not have required licensing to produce, distribute or sell food items. This licence is required under Section 31 (1) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

This licence is mandatory for every food business operator in India to commence operations.

Inc42 has reached out to Blinkit for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on its responses.

The Blinkit facility was being operated by M/s Energy Darkstore Services.

Besides, the FDA also found food items on the floor and workers not wearing protective caps. The dark store also lacked several certifications including pest control audit certificate and calibration certificate (for cold storage equipment).

This comes on the back of FDA Mumbai suspending Zepto’s Dharavi warehouse licence citing serious food safety violations including  storage of edible products near stagnant water, fungal growth on food times and undiscarded expired products.

Every Food Business operator in India needs to adhere to the rules and regulations mentioned in the  Regulation 2.1.1(4) of Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011.

As far as Blinkit is concerned, this is not the first time that the quick commerce giant has come under scrutiny for its food security practices.

Last year, Telangana food safety department raided a Blinkit-owned warehouse in Devar Yamjal area on the back of the premises being “disorganised, unhygienic and dusty”. Besides, food items worth INR 82,000 were found, which either did not comply with food safety norms or had expired licence.

Blinkit Dark Store Network

Despite a jump in its revenue to INR 5,833 Cr in Q4 FY25 from INR 3,562 Cr in the year-ago quarter, Blinkit’s parent Eternal recorded a 77.8% cut in its PAT to INR 39 Cr the quarter under review from INR 175 Cr in the previous fiscal.

This decrease in PAT came on the back of high loss incurred by Blinkit.

Talking about Blinkit’s financial health, its adjusted EBITDA loss widened over 381% to INR 178 Cr in the quarter under review from INR 37 Cr in the year-ago quarter. This decay occurred due to the increased investments in expanding the quick commerce dark store network.

Notably, Blinkit added 294 new stores in Q4 FY25 versus 216 in Q3 FY25.

The parent company also infused INR 2000 Cr in the quick commerce arm during the March quarter of FY25.

In February, brokerage firm Bernstein said that Blinkit  is expected to maintain its dominant position in the quick commerce market despite competition due to early mover advantage and strong execution.