FMCG distributors seek minimum space norms for quick-commerce dark stores

The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) has asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to set minimum storage area rules for quick-commerce dark stores based on the number of products handled. In a letter to Union health minister J P Nadda, AICPDF proposed floor space of 0.35, 0.40 sq ft per stock-keeping unit (SKU), meaning a dark store with 65,000 SKUs would need 23,000, 26,000 sq ft.

AICPDF claims many dark stores stock 60,000, 70,000 SKUs in cramped spaces, leading to unsafe stacking, poor ventilation, inadequate pest control and improper separation of food and non-food items. It cited media reports that Maharashtra FDA inspected 86 establishments and suspended 14 food business licences linked to Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart. The federation also referred to a viral video that allegedly showed a rat inside an ice cream storage crate at a Blinkit outlet in Kalyan.

AICPDF has asked FSSAI to validate its formula and form an expert committee with regulators, food technologists, warehousing specialists, public health experts, consumer groups and industry representatives. It seeks a separate chapter governing dark stores under the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, with each licence specifying approved storage area and maximum SKU capacity. The federation also wants surprise inspections, temperature monitoring, digital inventory records, annual audits and penalties for violations.