Licious has hoisted its sail for the D-Street voyage. With this, the Bengaluru-based startup, which almost defined and shaped the whole consumer behaviour of buying meat online over the last decade, is set to become India’s first online D2C meat brand to get listed on the mainboard.

While the Indian public market is not new to the concept of D2C, the idea of a listed D2C meat and seafood startup is as scarce as hen’s teeth. It is this notion that seems to have bode well with the D2C meat delivery unicorn for its listing ambitions.

But, does the company have enough meat to cook up a sizzling listing, and, if not, what could put it on the chopping block?

Now, before we dive deeper into answering these questions, it is important to underline that Licious dominates Indian kitchens not just in tier-I cities and towns but also tier-II. Licious started its journey in 2015 when the concept of D2C was not known to many.

The company persisted, rode the D2C wave and became a unicorn in 2023. Notably, the company uses chicken as its main bait, drawing in 40% of its revenues, while fish hooks another 30%.

Despite its unicorn wings, small meat and fish shops, ruling the roost (unorganised market) with an iron fist, pose risks to the long-term prospects of the company. Not just this, regional D2C brands like Zappfresh and Freshma are also cooking up a storm in this segment.

To cut above the rest, what aces do Licious cofounders Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta have up their sleeves?

This question is crucial because the company is currently enduring growth challenges. The startup garnered operating revenues of INR 685.05 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) against INR 748 Cr in FY23. The metric stood at INR 682.5 Cr in FY22.

Licious Omnichannel Game Plan

Today, almost everything is available at our doorsteps within 10-30 minutes, thanks to the imminent rise of the quick commerce sector. The impact has been such that there’s hardly any sector or industry that does not want to embark on the quick commerce adventure.

Learning tricks of the trade from players like Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit (designed for ultra-fast deliveries), several traditional D2C brands and ecommerce platforms have joined the fast delivery race to cash in on the quick commerce boom, and Licious is no different.

Licious is working on its omnichannel game plan, and quick commerce and offline retail are going to be the two main growth levers of its larger strategy to dominate the Indian meat and seafood market.

Now, given the perishable nature of the inventory, it is natural for a brand like Licious to forge a network of dynamic and meaty supply chains and equip itself with more dark stores. This could mean burning more cash. Nevertheless, this shift is going to be quite an interesting one to watch.

However, according to Hanjura and Gupta, newer strategies like 30-minute delivery or omnichannel are only “tactical changes” that the poultry and seafood business is embracing to keep up with the evolving industry trends and market........

© Inc42