K Radhakrishnan, director of StarQuik, a TATA Enterprise is one of the foremost experts in fresh food retail having done pioneering work in setting up modern grocery chains and farm-to-fork supply chain consolidation
Meet K Radhakrishnan—widely known in retail circles as Radha or Radha Sir—one of the few individuals to have worked with four of India’s top retail giants—Sanjiv Goenka of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group; Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Retail; Kishore Biyani of Future Group and Noel Tata of Tata Trent—and left a mark in every organisation he has worked with. This breadth of experience positions Radha as a highly knowledgeable and sought-after professional within the retail sector, with a deep understanding of industry dynamics, strategies, and best practices.
Career Graph
Radha began his illustrious career in 1982 as a tea taster at a tea broking firm in Kerala and remained in the tea industry till 1986 when he joined Nissin Foods Ltd.— a joint venture between Unilever and Nissin of Japan as General Manager (commercial). This gave him the experience of setting up a green field factory and compliances and sourcing raw materials and packaging.
He then joined Higashimaru Feeds (India) Ltd., a seafood company under Amalgam Foods Ltd., in Chennai. He learned the ropes of making shrimp feed for aquaculture and interacting with shrimp farmers. Here he also launched India’s first frozen seafood brand Sumeru.
In March 1997 he stepped into the world of modern retail as vice president of merchandising, marketing and supply chain at Spencer’s Retail (Foodworld Supermarkets Ltd., Chennai)
Foodworld was India’s first supermarket in collaboration with Cold Storage, Singapore. Here he opened 250 stores in modern retail format over nine years.
From March 2005 to March 2011 Radha was the chief executive officer of Reliance Retail India Ltd. and part of the Reliance startup team that opened the company’s first store Reliance Fresh and Reliance Hypermarkets.
After that, he went on to join Kishore Biyani as the president of Future Freshfoods Ltd., a subsidiary of Future Group, which managed the end-to-end supply chain for fruits and vegetables.
He was also the President of KB FairPrice, a neighbourhood convenience format.
He then embarked on his entrepreneurial journey first with Freshkins and later with Grocermax.com, which was into online home delivery of groceries.
The startup was acquired by Tata Group in July 2017 and was rebranded as Tata StarQuik, of which he is now the director. Today StarQuik takes care of online home delivery for Starbazaar stores of Tata Trent Hypermarkets Ltd.
Meet the Guru in person
Radha is credited with pioneering work in the supply chain consolidation of fruits and vegetables—buying from farmers in Hoskote Karnataka. He is an expert in setting up end-to-end retail systems, and category management passing on his expertise to 100s of merchandisers and FMCG.
With a diverse educational background, including a Master’s degree in Economics and extensive experience in the retail and food industries, Radha brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise. He is not just a director on a board but also a dedicated mentor, friend, and animal lover, committed to making a difference in both, the business world and society.
Join us as we explore Radha Sir’s extraordinary journey and gain invaluable insights into the ever-evolving retail landscape. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from a true retail visionary at 𝐏𝐑𝐂 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒.
Stay tuned for more updates and witness the transformative impact of his expertise on the future of retail!
