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Speaker 2: to drive fresh and was this primarily driven by customer feedback and changing expectations from fuel stations?

Speaker 1: So thank you. Thank you for asking that question on a very very important and very passionate topic you know for us in BPCL.

Speaker 1: Hello

Speaker 1: At the outset, you know, when it comes to mobility,

Speaker 1: Uh, we would like to be part of the customer's journey.

Speaker 1: And today, when journeys are becoming very experiential, whether it's on the highway, whether it's in, you know, you're doing city driving, and whether you're doing leisure driving, there is a lot of experience which is attributed to, you know, driving out.

Speaker 1: And you look at it from a larger perspective, India is a beautiful country. You know, and the way our roads have developed, you know, the way highways have developed, the way connect road connectivity has improved, you know, driving long distances.

Speaker 1: are complementing the growth and the development of vehicles in India. You have possibly best in class vehicles both in the in the two wheeler segment as well as in the four wheeler SUV segment.

Speaker 1: Uh, you have great buses now, which give you a lot of comfort while traveling in buses. So, journeys are becoming very different today from what it was earlier.

Speaker 1: And we do recognize that BPCL, we do recognize that all this development and improvement of infrastructure which has happened is a great way to grow the nation, you know, because the more you drive, the more you see the see the country, the more you

Speaker 1: Uh, you look at increased economic activity if you drive, if you are driving for economic, for business purposes. And at the end of the day, uh, it's a great way to travel with friends and family, you know, from a cost perspective.

Speaker 1: Uh, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's actually much more efficient, uh, you know, if you're, if you're, if you're driving, say, from Bombay to Delhi today on the Delhi Mumbai Expressway.

Speaker 1: So, uh, so with with this, uh, um, you know, change or transformation which has happened in the consumer's, uh, lifestyle today.

Speaker 1: Uh, we believe that we have a big, we can play a big role in making that journey in the new era.

Speaker 1: much more pleasurable and with a better experience for not just the driver but for everybody who's accompanying who's accompanying the driver in that vehicle.

Speaker 1: And one of the things that we've also seen is that, um, you know, the profile of travelers have changed. You don't need to be an experienced driver to drive long distance, you know.

Speaker 1: With the advent of Google Maps, you know, you don't need to know the route, you know, you can just, you can just pick up the car.

Speaker 1: And you don't you needn't know which route to follow. I mean you are there. You you know and we have and when we visit the market, we see so many and I have personally met so many first time drivers, small families in entry level cars, you know, who have taken up that courage to drive out. So while all this is providing the the required tailwind for for this whole aspect of of of driving out and driving more.

Speaker 1: We believe that there is one area where we can make that journey much more meaningful for the customer. And that's where we felt that can you be a part of fulfilling a very personal need of the customer and that is hygiene.

Speaker 1: Because as drive as drives get longer, uh, A for distance, B even for time if you're doing city driving, uh, and you have now

Speaker 1: Urbanization happening in first and second outer circles of major cities. So you need not stay in the city to if you're working in the central business district, you could be staying in the suburbs which offer you a better standard of living. You can still be driving long distance even if you are doing city driving.

Speaker 1: So we believe that, you know, what's very, very important for us is can we offer a solution to the customer which meets his personal need. And we know this for a fact that you know, there's nothing more pressing than wanting to use a restroom. Okay, you don't do use a restroom for for for any other reason except that when you really need to use it.

Speaker 1: And in that moment of usage, if it, if you come away feeling terrible, you are leaving that journey with a bad experience. And it, it somehow, it somehow impacts that entire trip.

Speaker 1: You know, but if I have, if you, if there's an opportunity for you to feel, to feel good by using a nice, clean restroom, it is not, it is not limited to that far, to those 2-3 minutes. It has a positive impact on that entire journey, on that entire trip. You know, and you feel good, you feel cared for, you feel cared for, you feel good about yourself.

Speaker 1: And that's where we want to, that's the whole genesis of Dry Fresh. We said we, and we, we came into Dry Fresh with a singular notion that I want to make the consumer's journey much more meaningful, much more pleasurable.

Speaker 1: And we want him to leave that journey, complete that journey with good memories. And there's nothing more that can give you a good memory than feeling that you have done something.

Speaker 1: good, hygienic, and you've cared for yourself because it's a very personal need. And so the next time you think about taking up a journey, this is one personal need that you don't need to be worried about, you know.

Speaker 1: And what happens with that is that, you know, it it encourages you to tell your family to to travel with your children. And today we see a lot of women driving, not just within the city, we see women driving long distance, we see families driving long distance. And this is one need which is for a traveler, nothing is more important than having a having a good pit stop which has the cleanest restroom that you can find.

Speaker 1: And that's the whole purpose of Drive Fresh. We said, and we said be fresh and drive fresh. Uh, and that makes that's the whole motto.

Speaker 2: Right. So another question is that does the dry fresh also tie into the product cleanliness and sanitation push under initiatives such as Swachh Bharat?

Speaker 1: No, obviously we are it's all aligned with Swachh Bharat. Swachh Bharat Mission is a national mission of by the honorable Prime Minister. And and our our drive fresh, be fresh, drive fresh fulfills a very large part about that whole objective of touching the lives of consumers who are traveling.

Speaker 1: You know, so so one could be, you know, one profile of customers is customer who's sedentary, you know, who and but the the for us we are fulfilling the need of the of the traveler because that's where you're not in control of things, you know, you are using public restrooms. And public restrooms always can be a little uncertain, you know. So our assurance to the to as part of the where it aligns with the Swachh Bharat Mission is that it's it it's not about your rest.

Speaker 1: residence or your workplace. It's about being assured that you will get the cleanest restrooms even when you are in unknown places. You know, you know, that uncertainty is something that we want to take away.

Speaker 2: Right, so if we talk about the roll out, how large is the roll out today and how many BPCL retail outlets currently have drive fresh facilities and also what is the eventual scale you are targeting right now?

Speaker 1: Well, we have our network is 25,000 strong fuel stations and today we are very happy to share that we have covered one third. Over 8,000 dry fresh outlets are there and these are all on prominent highways.

Speaker 1: prominent in all prominent cities and in driving in natural driving destinations

Speaker 1: we we aspire to get to 50% over the next few months. But more important than numbers is that you know, we are prioritizing the driving routes, the driving destinations where the need is felt you know, the most.

Speaker 1: in terms of the profile of travelers who are who are driving and who are traveling on those routes.

Speaker 2: Okay sir, you said one third is covered. So, will drive fresh ultimately be available across VPCL's entire retail network APS and what's the time frame? Or will the focus primarily be on highways and outlets serving the long distance travelers?

Speaker 1: That's a priority. We have prioritized long distance because that's where the need our service showed that that's where the need is felt the most. In cities and in urban markets you have I mean you're still leaving from home and you're reaching office so so you know it's

Speaker 1: the need is always there, but long distance is is where, you know, you have a lot of uncertainties and that's where you, you know, you need to have a reliable place to to go and relieve yourself. So, and and and that's where we have prioritized. Eventually, yes.

Speaker 1: we would love to be in a state where we can stand up and say, you know, across the network, we have drive fresh across the network. But we for us it's not a number game and let's also be and the team is very clear.

Speaker 1: that we want to be consistent, we want to be reliable, and we want to be very sure as we expand. And that's where this project has been on for the last almost a year now. And and it's taken us this amount of time to come to a stage where we can proudly say that we can assure you consistency in offering and service.

Speaker 2: Okay. So as we know the bigger challenge with public restroom is often maintaining standards over time and rather than building the infrastructure, right? And so how will BPCL ensure that cleanliness and hygiene consistent across thousands of independently operated retail outlets?

Speaker 1: Very good question. So, that's taken us the most effort because for us it's not a task. It's a mission. You know, both for our own team as well as our channel partners. It's Dry Fresh is a mission.

Speaker 1: The philosophy that we adopt is that the consumer today warms up to you when you look at when they look at intangibles being being being cared about well by by the by the enterprise. So for us drive fresh or a clean restroom is a big intangible. And we strongly believe that at the end of the day is the

Speaker 1: tangibles which will drive the tangibles.

Speaker 1: If an intangible contribute to elevated to an elevated customer experience, whether it's being able to it's it's being spoken to well by the driver salesman while you're fueling and at the same time being able to get into a restroom which is really clear, smells good and it's looked after well. You know, those are the intangibles which will create memories. And when you talk about moments of truth,

Speaker 1: refresh fulfills a very personal need. And when you when your personal need is being fulfilled in a way in a in a way that you feel that it is being cared about. Uh, that's the moment of truth that we are that we are talking about. And that has taken us the most time because for us it's a transformation uh of attitude within the team and within our channel partners. It's the way you look at it. It's not a task, it's not an assignment. It's about believing very

Speaker 1: strongly that I am here to dedicate a very, very important service to the citizens of the country. And it is that junoon, you know, which is today, which, which is, which is today firing up the entire team and our channel partners. It is, it is about seeing that customer leave with a smiling face. And that is what gives us the, gives every each one of us the maximum satisfaction.

Speaker 1: So, and because it's a change in attitude, it's a change in behavior, it's a change in approach, it's a change in how you look at the fuel station serving the customer in a very different light. That's why this process takes time because at the end of the day we are looking at people. At the end of the day the service and the delivery on the at the at the fuel station level is being done by people and people from all walks of life. And and the entire engagement process.

Speaker 1: process has been that all of them now look at Drive Fresh as a mission for making the customer leave with a smile and being able to be of service to a customer where he needs it the most.

Speaker 1: You know, it's possibly, uh, there's no choice. And the only choice that he has, he has to make, he has to be made to feel good.

Speaker 1: You know, so so that's where we are investing or the team is investing a lot in building this capability of being able to look at the larger objective of Drive Fresh, while that is happening at the behavioral part.

Speaker 1: BPCL in its in the way we have been able we've been able to do our do our approach our business. We have digitalized even our dry fresh outlets. So each of our dry fresh outlets is going to be monitored digitally.

Speaker 1: Uh, we have, we are monitoring the, uh, the dry fresh in four parameters. We're looking at temperature, we're looking at humidity, we're looking at total volatile organic compounds, and we're looking at odor. So these four attributes are being digitally monitored, uh, centrally.

Speaker 1: So we have we have different levels of monitoring. It's being monitored by our territory teams, our state teams, and by our regional teams and by our national team with exception reports coming in whenever there are whenever there is any single attribute of any outlet, you know, which goes beyond tolerance limits. So this so so digital processes today consistent with what BPCL has always been doing has invested us, we've invested

Speaker 1: ourselves and technology.

Speaker 1: We believe that digital monitoring gives us that heft to be able to accurately and consistently monitor the you know, the performance of our of of each of our dry fresh locations. It is it helps us to be able to look at corrections real time.

Speaker 1: And it also helps us to be able to pat people on the back real time when things go well. You know, so, so, we believe that's going to be the main stay. We are moving very quickly on this digital aspect, on the digital monitoring tool, very happy to share that we're getting some very good reviews.

Speaker 1: about this. It's helped our internal processes very well.

Speaker 1: Uh, it helps each of our team members to look at creating consistency in the actual experience that we are providing to the customers, and the way forward, we believe that, you know, this is going to be one of our defining propositions.

Speaker 2: Alright sir, I have the last question. You were talking about the tailwinds. So can you show some light on the headwinds so far your phase or the possible potential headwinds in the future?

Speaker 1: Well, yes, I mean the headwinds are there. I mean, there will always be headwinds. I mean, because you like I said, you're dealing with people and driving consistency in behavior is always a work in progress.

Speaker 1: And being able to align the entire team, we are a large team, you know, you can imagine even if I look at one third of our network, I mean we are dealing with with with a large spread. you know, and and we're dealing with people from all walks of life, from all across all profiles, across different geographies and getting them to to align and think alike is what we have, you know, we believe that that's been our greatest fulfillment.

Speaker 1: don't see challenges on the hardware front because we have repair and maintenance team which takes care of all our dry fresh locations.

Speaker 1: We are we are we are looking at inclusivity in terms of having the entire team which is you know which will own up the Drive Fresh at the at the fuel station. So he may be a air boy or he may be he or she may be a fueler but you know that adoption of Drive Fresh as an important constituent of the fuel station is something that you know is the ownership that we are talking about. So that's where when we are dealing with people you you

Speaker 1: You have to deal with different mindsets, you have to, you know, deal with different attitudes and behaviors. We believe that that's a continuous work in progress and we don't see any headwinds on that front at all.