Meat is an important and highly preferred human food, deeply rooted in consumption preferences. However, paradoxically, meat also serves as a scapegoat for a wide range of public health issues and other societal problems. Meat is also faced with negative depiction by the plant-based protein and lab-grown meat sectors claiming they have better health and environmental credentials. At the same time, anti-meat activists continue to target animal agriculture and influence investors who are seeking to jump on the protein bandwagon.
Within this context, it would seem to be a gamble to go ‘all out’ on traditional meat and it would require nerves of steel to launch a start-up and aim to change consumer perception in an already highly crowded market.
This was what a couple of Indian entrepreneurs set themselves out to do.
Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta founded a meat, seafood, and eggs delivery app called Licious in 2015. They started with a five-member team. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company grew exponentially: From being present in Bengaluru alone in 2015 to 20+ cities today; from an average of 3,000 orders per month in 2015 to over 1.2 million per month, with over 90% repeat consumption across markets, delivered within 90-120 minutes to ensure freshness, and from five delivery centres to over 100, according to company claims. By 2022, the company had hired around 3,500 employees. In 2021, Licious became India’s first unicorn from the direct-to-consumer (D2C) segment after the company raised $52 million. As of March 2022, Licious has raised a total amount of $488.3 million in funding.
As a D2C business, Licious serves fresh fish, chicken, meat, and eggs online. It works on a farm-to-fork model, owning the entire back-end supply chain and the cold chain. It receives a large part of its revenue from the sales of its meat and seafood products. The rest of the revenue comes from the delivery of the products and other related services.
It is widely perceived that the fresh meat and seafood industry in India is unorganised despite being a large producer and conjures up an image of an unhygienic local market. Hanjura and Gupta wanted to change the way Indian consumers experience meat, as well as their buying experience, making it more in tune with modern expectations.
Shortly after AgriVision 2023, a Nutreco event held in the Netherlands in June, Feedinfo spoke to Abhay Hanjura, who is also the CEO of Licious, to get a better idea of why the company model became so popular in India, what potential it has outside of India, and whether other companies in the meat industry can learn from the Licious journey.
“In India, consuming meat and seafood continues to be viewed as a taboo… Not a surprise then that it is covertly sold, packed in black polythene bags, to avoid inviting unnecessary criticism and judgment,” began Hanjura, adding that he and co-founder Vivek Gupta wanted to combat the hypocrisy around meat consumption, which led to the birth of Licious.
“We set out to build a transformational food brand that not only offers the best of meat and seafood products but would also transform the manner in which the meat category is viewed in the Indian context. We built Licious around the single proposition - India deserves better meat,” he commented.
“The Licious differentiation comes from us owning the entire back-end supply chain, from procurement to processing and packaging, with our stringent cold chain controls to specifically maintain the quality and freshness of each product until it reaches our consumer. Based on zero inventory and a farm-to-fork model, we are equipped to deal with issues relating to quality and hygiene of daily food items,” Hanjura said, adding that the brand has 100% traceable and sustainable sourcing practices at local farms.
According to Hanjura, Licious’ journey started with establishing its credentials in ‘fresh meat’ and focusing on building awareness about its processes, product categories, safety and hygiene standards, cold chain delivery, etc.
“Gradually we progressed to highlighting the distinct ‘taste’ of Licious chicken,” he said. “While this is the core brand messaging, the tonality of our communications continues to be quirky and fun.”
Hanjura said that his company leverages media such as television and social media. Licious has also onboarded popular celebrities such as actors Anil Kapoor and Jr. NTR who helped garner attention and build a mass appeal for the brand. Licious also aims to keep up with trends and pop culture references and generate content that’s interesting and engaging for consumers.
“Seldom was meat and seafood ever advertised in India but here we were - upfront and unapologetic about our love for meat,” Hanjura boasted.
On the innovation side, the company continue to launch new products (meat masalas, biryani, and alternate proteins), with a view to be an undisputed “one-stop shop for all things meat.”
In the past few years, Licious has witnessed a 300% revenue growth. At present, the company has an INR 10 billion (approximately $122 million) annual revenue rate. In the last year, Licious’ valuation has risen from $300 million to $1.6 billion – this cements the company’s position in the unicorn space.
Asked how the business can further expand in India, Hanjura spoke about three main vectors: Increasing customer loyalty, adding new customers, and launching new products.
“We have a lot of regular customers who continue to flirt around with other brands, local butcher shops, etc. and the objective is to command a higher share of their wallet,” he said. New customers, meanwhile, “will go through the journey of acquisition, being light users to regular users and then finally towards absolute wallet share.” Finally, the launch of newer products across raw, fresh and value-added categories, “will allow us to capture newer consumption occasions, newer consumer cohorts, newer channels and newer profit pools.”
Hanjura stressed that the Licious operating model - given the nature of goods, shelf life, etc. - is deeply local in nature. If Licious itself were to expand beyond India, Hanjura argued that his company could easily leverage from its Indian learning experience to set something up in record time without diluting the promise that Licious stands for.
For non-Indian companies turning to Licious for inspiration, ventures will have to be created from scratch for any new market and customised to local needs and reality.
“The concept is not Licious, meat, or India-specific. The ability to execute amidst constraints is what matters,” Hanjura said.
“Direct delivery allows companies to take nuanced inventory positions in a perishable, low shelf-life category, that is similar to other categories such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, meals, etc.,” he added. “Similarly, storytelling is essential to create brands in categories that are unbranded or cluttered with many established brands to differentiate themselves. Also, in low-margin categories it allows players to retain/consolidate manufacturer and retailer margins in one place.”
“Imitation is the highest form of flattery. It will give us immense joy if people get inspired by the Licious story and follow suit.”
