Rayapati Srinath Reddy launches FMCG logistics venture in South India

MUMBAI: The supply chain has found a new route and this time, it’s delivering entrepreneurship instead of cartons. After years of keeping products moving for some of India’s biggest FMCG names, Rayapati Srinath Reddy is now betting on building a logistics business of his own.

Rayapati Srinath Reddy, a supply chain veteran with 17 years of experience across Heineken, PepsiCo, Britannia Industries and Tata Consumer Products, has entered entrepreneurship with the launch of Aruna Supply Chain Solutions Pvt. Ltd., an FMCG-focused logistics company targeting the South Indian market.

Reddy has taken on the role of Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at the Bengaluru-based company, which will provide clearing and forwarding (C&F), warehousing and end-to-end freight services. The venture is part of the Aruna Agencies Group, established in 1997.

Announcing the move on LinkedIn, Reddy said the company had already onboarded six clients and recruited six team members within its first month of operations, marking an early start for the new venture.

According to his profile, the company has built its operating model from the ground up, covering lane pricing, fleet and vendor networks, warehouse standard operating procedures, billing systems and compliance. It has also established its commercial function, including client acquisition, RFQ participation, rate negotiations and vendor onboarding with national FMCG companies.

Before launching Aruna Supply Chain Solutions, Reddy served as Head of Integrated Planning and S&OP Transformation at Heineken India (United Breweries), where he led enterprise sales and operations planning across more than 50 brands and 38 plants. During his tenure, forecast accuracy improved from 62 per cent to 78 per cent in six months, planning cycle efficiency increased by 15 per cent, supply chain costs fell by 7 per cent, equivalent to an annualised saving of about Rs 27 crore (US$3.2 million), while working capital reduced by 8 per cent.

His career also includes leadership roles at PepsiCo, where he oversaw supply chain transformation projects and previously managed logistics and distribution across southern India. Among the notable outcomes were annual freight savings of around Rs 17 crore (US$2 million) through supply network redesign, Rs 4.1 crore savings from freight optimisation in South India, Rs 1.63 crore in logistics savings through warehouse optimisation, and improved on-time delivery and forecast accuracy.

At NourishCo Beverages, part of Tata Consumer Products, Reddy headed the end-to-end supply chain for 38 co-manufacturing plants, helping scale the business from Rs 16 crore to Rs 60 crore in revenue while improving forecast accuracy from 46 per cent to 78 per cent and achieving 99 per cent SKU availability.

Earlier, at Britannia Industries, he led national supply planning, improving compliance from 39 per cent to 85 per cent, increasing vehicle utilisation to 80.2 per cent, and delivering logistics savings of around Rs 2 crore through route optimisation.

Reddy began his professional career at Tata Consultancy Services before moving into manufacturing and supply chain roles with Essar Group, where he helped reduce inventory carrying costs by approximately Rs 12 crore while improving operational efficiency.

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Mumbai, where he completed a postgraduate diploma in Supply Chain Management and IT Systems, and Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Reddy’s move reflects a growing trend of senior supply chain executives leveraging decades of operational expertise to build specialised logistics businesses as demand for integrated FMCG distribution continues to expand across India.