 |
| Through its partnership with Indian Food Co., Hillers offers a full line of
Indian foodstuffs. |
SOUTHFIELD, Mich.--After launching an e-tail site
for Indian foods earlier this year, Hiller's Markets plans to expand its online retail
presence within the next year, said Jim Hiller, president of Hiller's Market here.
Hiller's partnered with Indian Foods, Minneapolis, to create and manage the online Indian
food store, which launched in January, as part of www.hillers.com he said. It is the only
online shopping available via hillers.com.
But that is going to change next year, noted Hiller. The six-store metro Detroit
independent retailer will offer more ethnic foods online. Hiller's brick-and-mortar
locations feature a broad variety of specialty products including kosher , organic,
British, Japanese, Indian, MiddleEastern, Russian and Eastern European foods. Its buyers
already source and import many of these specialtie from Japan, Russia and Great Britain
direct, explained Hiller.
"Web site seemed to be a logical next step," said Hilller about stretching its
retailing expertise to the Web. "We're adding more ethnic foods online."
One of every seven new food dollars over the next decade will be spent on ethnic foods,
making it one of the fastest-rising areas in the food industry, according to the study
"Riding the U.S. Ethnic Food Tide" by Promar International, Alexandria, Va.
Through the partnership with Indian Foods, Hiller's offers chutney, curry and aromatic
rice. Items purchased online are shipped both from Hiller's Markets and from Indian Food
Co.'s Minneapolis distribution site via United Parcel Service or U.S. Postal Service. All
the orders are packaged under the Hiller's name, explained Kavita Mehta, owner and
president of Indian Foods.
Mehta started Indian Food Co. 1988 and launched www.indianfoodco.com in 2001. For years
she tried to establish a shelf of Indian gourmet foods in independent grocery stores. That
wasn't successful, Mehta noted, because should could not "get the critical mass"
needed to turn inventory. With the proliferation of the Web, Mehta decided to tweak her
business model and launched www.indianfoodco.com. "I realized I could get critical
mass on the Web. There we have description of products, background and recipes," she
said.
Indian Food offers about 300 to 500 SKUs including beans, spices and flours that are key
for authentic Indian home cooking. This month, Mehta plans to add frozen foods to
www.indianfoodco.com.
Related
www.indianfoodco.com
|
