Ashok Bhasin joins Wadhawan Food Retail as managing director

05 September 2008

Ashok Bhasin has ben apointed managing director of the Mumbai-based Wadhawan Food Retail Pvt Ltd, which operates the Spinach chain of food and grocery stores.

Part of the Wadhawan Group, Wadhawan Food Retail currently operates 200 food and grocery (F&G) stores and six home décor stores across India has drawn up a Rs1,400-crore expansion plan.

Promoted by the Kapil Wadhawan-led Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd, India's second-largest housing finance company in the private sector, Wadhawan Food Retail is planning a public offer by mid-2009. Dewan Housing has a 19.9-per cent stake in Wadhawan Food Retail.

Bhasin will be responsible for designing business plans, strategy, and leading the overall operations across all brands under the WFRL umbrella which includes Spinach, Sabka Bazaar, Smart, and Sangam Direct and also future expansions across all formats.

Bhasin comes on board backed with experience in diverse roles in companies like Lakme, Reckitt Benckiser (known as Reckitt & Colman earlier), vice president Whirlpool India.

He returns to India from his last assignement in the US as global director Whirlpool Corporation, USA.