Telangana Food Safety Dept Raids ‘Unhygienic’ Blinkit Warehouse, To Issue Notice

Telangana food safety department on Wednesday (June 5) raided a warehouse of Zomato-owned Blinkit in Devar Yamjal area of the state’s Medchal Malkajgiri district.

In a post on X, the handle of Commissioner of Food Safety, Telangana said that a task force raided the warehouse and found the premises to be “disorganised, unhygienic and dusty”. It further said that a notice will be issued and further action shall be “taken accordingly” against the quick commerce major. 

The department added that it seized edible items worth INR 82,000 from the premises, which either did not comply with food safety norms or had expired licence.

“The products manufactured by Kamakshi Foods licence (was) found to be expired, hence, the products of VSR i.e Suji, Raw peanut butter, Maida, Poha, Besan and Bajra worth INR 30K were seized… Suspected infested Whole Farm Ragi flour and toor dal worth INR 52K was seized and samples sent to lab,” the post said. 

Additionally, the department found products at the warehouse belonging to Whole Farm Congruence Trade and Services, which did not comply with labelling norms (under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006). The department said that notices will be sent in this regard. 

The authorities also noted that cosmetic products were stored along with food products at the warehouse. In addition, the task force also found that food handlers at the premises were operating without headgears, gloves and aprons.

The post on X also noted that medical fitness certificates of food handlers were not available with the operators of the warehouse, adding that no food safety training and certification (FoSTaC) trainee was available at the warehouse. 

Meanwhile, Blinkit said it was working with the department to implement corrective actions. 

“We take safety and hygiene standards very seriously. We are closely working with our warehouse partner and the food safety department to implement corrective actions from the findings,” said a Blinkit spokesperson. 

For the uninitiated, quick commerce platforms facilitate deliveries through warehouses or dark stores, which are typically 2,500-3,500 square feet in size and are situated strategically around residential areas. Within these warehouses, multiple handlers operate on the floor and pack items and are then sent out for delivery. 

This is not the first time that Blinkit has landed in a soup. In April, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) directed the Zomato-owned company and other quick commerce players to prove their ‘10 minute’ delivery claims.

The company is also grappling with a trademark infringement case filed by a Bengaluru-based company over the use of its name. Not just this, the company’s delivery executives aso went on a strike last month, demanding a new pay structure. This led to service disruptions as many dark stores stopped operating, especially in Delhi NCR and Mumbai. 

This comes at a time when most brokerages are bullish about the operations of the quick commerce platform. Despite being a loss-making entity, Blinkit has been rapidly scaling up operations and even turned adjusted EBITDA positive in the March 2024 quarter. 

The quick commerce arm clocked a revenue of INR 769 Cr in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) as against INR 363 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, Blinkit’s adjusted EBITDA loss further improved to INR 37 Cr in the quarter under review as against INR 203 Cr in Q4 FY23.

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