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How have the technology, ingenuity of meat delivery startups, and the pandemic changed the way India buys meat today?

May 17, 2023
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A few years ago, getting meat delivered to your door was a luxury thing unless you know the butcher personally. But then the pandemic happened and changed everything. The lockdown came as a big catalyst for online meat delivery apps in India.
It created a meaty opportunity for digital meat platforms to register exponential growth in the country where people always preferred to shop for meat offline.
To understand the rise of the Indian online meat delivery meat industry, and the great shift of Indians buying meat online, read the complete insight.

1. India consumed six million tones of meat in 2020; nearly half the population consumes non-vegetarian meals once a week in India

>70% Indian Population is Non-Vegetarian

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Global per capita Meat consumption Benchmarks4, 2022

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Meat consumption Statistics in India

  • India consumed six million tonnes of meat in 20201.
  • Nearly half the population consumes non-vegetarian meals once a week in India.
  • India accounts for 2.18% of the global meat production and ranks sixth after China, the United States, Brazil, Russia and Germany2.
  • Nearly half the population consumes non-vegetarian meals once a week in India.
  • Despite more than 70% population of India being Non-Vegetarian, India’s per-capita Meat consumption stands at 3.9 kg3.
  • Cultural factor is the major cause of the low per capital meat consumption in India.
  • Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Jharkhand are states where the proportion of non-vegetarians is more than 97%.
  • In Indian context, culture, traditions, customs, and taboos influence meat consumption to a great extent, However, studies show that urbanization has been causing a rise in demand for meat products.
Source: 1,3,4: OECD, 2: Ministry of Food Processing Industries
Interviews with India Online meat Delivery Industry Experts, Industry Articles, Company Websites & Ken Research

2. During the lockdown, people became more conscious about hygiene in the meat shops, leading to a major trend shift from buying meat offline to online.

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  • Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, people started being more conscious about the hygiene in the meat shops, this led to major trend shift from buying meat offline to online.
  • As a result, Online Meat has grown ~3x since COVID, with a large growth runway ahead, the online meat delivery market was valued at – 515.5 INR Cr in FY’20 and has grown to INR Cr 1,658.7 as of FY’22.
Source: Interviews with India Online Meat Delivery Industry Experts, Industry Articles & Ken Research Analysis

3. The Online Meat Delivery Market in India is currently positioned in the Nascent Stage, growing at a CAGR of 174% between 2016 and 2020

Phase driven by entrance of major players – Introducing the Online Meat Delivery Market in India

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I: INTRODUCTION PHASE 2015-2020

  • Introduction of industry with players namely Licious, FreshToHome, Zappfresh and TenderCuts.
  • Industry driven by investment in these by venture capitalists and investors.
  • The onset of Covid-19 Pandemic gave a kick start to the industry after May-20, as people began to be more conscious about the hygiene of the food and due to lockdown, ordering meat online was more safe, flexible and convenient option then buying the meat from a local shop.

Online Meat Delivery Market penetration in India is ~ 0.44% as of FY’22

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II: GROWTH & LATE GROWTH STAGE 2021-2035

  • The online Meat Delivery Industry in India is expected to continue to boom in future and the robust growth will be due to growing Interest of young population and millennials towards meat consumption.
  • Awareness in Tier II and below cities for ordering meat online, Increased Smartphone and Internet penetration and Technological Advancements will drive the market in future.

Industry expected to reach maturity phase driven by market consolidation and price wars among major players.

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III: MATURITY PHASE Post 2035

  • High market consolidation as players with heavy financial backing and better brand value will acquire small players.
  • Technological development such as drone deliveries expected to enable quicker deliveries.
  • Intense competition among players leading to price wars.
  • Less scope of evolving customer needs in case of online meat segment, which may lead to maturity phase.
Source: Interviews with India Online Meat Delivery Industry Experts, Industry Articles & Ken Research Analysis

4. The astonishing compound annual growth rate enabled many potential Investors and Venture Capitalists to invest in the digital meat delivery segment

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Lead Investors
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Lead Investor
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Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD)

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Lead Investor
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Amit Burman – Owner of Dabur India

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Lead Investors
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Key Findings:

  • Licious had raised $150 million in a Series F2 funding round recently on 15 March 2022, Led by Singapore based Amansa Capital, along with Kotak PE & Axis Growth Avenues AIF – I.
  • FreshToHome raised $121 million as part of its Series C funding round on 7 Aug 2020, soon after which they also raised an undisclosed amount on Dec 2020.
  • Zappfresh had raised Rs 20 crore in pre-Series A funding from Amit Burman, Vice Chairman, Dabur India and SIDBI Venture Capital.
  • Stride Ventures, a venture debt firm, announced a funding of Rs 30 crore in TenderCuts. This investment is aimed at supporting TenderCuts in its growth and expansion plans across 8 cities by early 2022.
Source: Interviews with India Online Meat Delivery Industry Experts, Industry Articles & Ken Research Analysis

5. Presently, players coming in with integrated value chains, wide assortment, quality assurance, and convenience are driving the market

Millennials showing Interest in the Online Meat Delivery Segment

  • Young population, especially millennials, have shown increasing inclination towards meat eating.
  • People, specially in Metro and Tier I cities are majorly working, they are technology-friendly, have shifted to online shopping for Meat too - specially when meat is directly coming from farm to your doorstep with assurance of freshness and quality.

Covid-19 Pandemic accelerated the growth

  • Since the Covid-19 Pandemic, The Online Meat delivery players have witnessed 2.5 to 3X growth.
  • People have become more aware about the importance of safe and hygienic food.
  • Also during lockdown, people began to shift to online to shop for basic daily essentials including Meat.

Online Meat Delivery offers Hygiene and Safety Assurance

  • The Online Meat delivery players are providing beat quality meat, sourced directly from farm & fishermen to the consumer.
  • There are strict FFSAI quality guidelines that has to be followed and hence, Meat they deliver is fresh and safe and has already been subjected to ~150+ quality checks before going out for delivery.

New and Innovative Product Categories are expanding the Customer Base

  • The RTE and RTC categories are expanding rapidly which is attracting a lot of consumers.
  • Indian consumers are now focusing on health and physique with protein becoming a key element in their diets. This has led to higher demand for meat and eggs, especially in the metro cities.
Source: Interviews with India Online Meat Delivery Industry Experts, Industry Articles & Ken Research Analysis

6. AI and Data Analytics have been a great help to online meat companies to Operate Quickly and Efficiently in the market

    Business and Demand Analytics Software
  • Demand prediction and consumer behaviour analysis is crucial to ensure sufficient availability of products and to maintain minimum wastage.
  • Data collected on day to day basis on the meat delivery app is analysed using a analytics tool.
  • Analytics Software: Power BI, Tableau, Google Analytics
    Payment Gateway
  • The online meat delivery players should integrate with payment gateway that allows multiple payment methods including Banking Cards (American Express, MasterCard, Visa, RuPay), Unified Payment Interface(UPI), Mobile wallets (Paytm, Mobikwik, etc.)
  • Major Payment Gateways in India: RazorPay, Citrus Pay, Bill Desk and many more.
    Fleet Management Software
  • GPS-enabled tracking system that ensures smooth and efficient communication and location update between operator, delivery boy and end user.
  • It is integrated with delivery application and ensures efficient management of fleet. It enhances customer experience.
  • Fleet Management Software Solution Providers in India: Fleetio, MyGeotab, TransTruck, FleetX, LocoNav and others
    Real Time Inventory Monitoring
  • To analyse supply chain needs by recording sales and purchases of inventory immediately through the use of a software.
  • It is often supplemented with other tools, such as RFID (radio frequency Identification) technologies or bar code systems in order to effectively record new receipts and sales.
  • Software Providers in India: Zoho Inventory, Oracle ERP, Vyapar- Inventory and Invoicing and others).
Source: Interviews with India Online Meat Delivery Industry Experts, Industry Articles & Ken Research Analysis

7. Automation in Processing and Innovative Packaging is the way forward for the online meat delivery sector in India

Drone Technology
  • Drone Technology is expected to be adopted by the e-commerce delivery companies.
  • Amazon Prime Air uses delivery drones to autonomously fly packages to customers within 30 minutes of ordering. The service was tested in UK in 2017. Operations were expected to begin in selected cities in UK & US in late 2019.
  • Limitations: Order must weigh less than 5 pounds (2.25 kg) and must have a delivery location within a 10-mile (16 km) radius from Amazon fulfillment center.
Voice Ordering
  • Voice ordering is excepted to drive the Online Meat Ordering in future.
  • Major retailers such as Walmart and Amazon have been extending into voice assisted online shopping, through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant smart home speakers.
  • Smart home speakers have been gaining traction in India. The trend is expected to strengthen post the launch of Apple Homepod and Amazon Echo. Companies are expected to adopt this technology by the end of 2022.
Processing Automation
  • Automation in processing enhances safety and quality of meat.
  • By saving time in processing, the product is fresher when it arrives to the customer.
  • Fish and mutton are cut with food-grade knives as of now, future holds for technologies to fully automate the entire process of meat processing within the centers.
Packaging Innovation
  • Packaging impacts consumer’s food purchases.
  • In the meat case, consumers are drawn to products with packaging that is vacuum sealed for freshness and COVID-19 accelerated consumers’ desire for vacuum sealed meat.
  • Future packaging innovations will likely continue to focus on sustainability.
  • Smart packaging will be able to weigh contents and automatically reorder or add items to a list as it nears depletion.
Source: Interviews with India Online Meat Delivery Industry Experts, Industry Articles & Ken Research Analysis
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