Adoption of ‘product-first’ and farm-to-fork strategy has helped India-based gourmet meat startup Licious to raise its revenues by over 300% and grow daily orders six-fold in the four years since its inception in 2015, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Success Case Study: Licious Meat and Seafood’, Licious capitalized on the rising consumption of meat, fish and seafood in India, despite the country being known for its very large base of vegetarians.

The company raised funds from a clutch of investors, including Mayfield Capital, 3one4 Capital and Sistema to streamline meat sourcing and processing, and address the problems and gaps that exist in the meat market.

GlobalData’s research reveals that 56% of Indian consumers associate the term ‘good value for money’ with high-quality products and ingredients. Accordingly, Licious’ claims such as ‘antibiotic-free’ and ‘hormone-free’ appeal strongly to them.

Namrata Sain, Consumer Insights Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Besides adopting a ‘farm-to-fork’ strategy, Licious launched a first-of-its-kind ‘meat-based-spreads, forayed into packaged food category with product diversification and exciting line-up of launches planned throughout the year.”

According to GlobalData’s 2018 Q4 consumer survey, 47% of Indian consumers are interested and actively use a regular subscription-based service for buying food.

Sain explains: “The convenience provided by Licious’ online retail model suits time-pressed younger urban consumers, who often have to contend with unpleasant experiences when shopping for meat and seafood in wet markets or traditional butchers and fishmongers.”

By virtue of owning its delivery fleet and the last-mile streamlined inventory management, Licious can control the entire user experience with subscription service. The brand employs data science and algorithms to forecast demand and solve the problem of stocking branded, chilled meat round the clock.

In addition, to increase the perceived value of its products and overall consumption experience, Licious developed an innovative packaging, which bears facial portraits of actual customers to convey the company’s consumer-friendly positioning.

Sain concludes: “Licious’ complete control over its supply chain and consistent quality sets it apart from rivals such as Easymeat, Zapprfresh, Freshtohome and BigBasket. The firm plans to expand to eight major cities by the end of 2019 with 50,000 users in the next 12 months.

“Food tech start-ups using product-first and customer-focused strategies backed by an advanced technological backbone can scale up their customer following faster and monetize strong consumer loyalty and word-of-mouth publicity.”