ETtech in-depth | Lacking bite and funding, online meat ecosystem returns to the drawing board

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

“I had forgotten how bad the stench could be, and it felt very scary to be so closely packed with other people,” he told ET. The experience sent him scurrying back to buying meat from online stores such as Licious and FreshToHome, he said.

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Two years on, things couldn’t be more different. Harish now buys chicken, mutton and fish from the closest physical bazaar, and relies on online stores for “top-up” purchases. “It’s a whole experience to see fresh fish and pick it, or discuss the cut of meat with a butcher,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of meat and fish consumers like Harish across the country have had a similar mindset shift, said senior executives and investors in the online meat industry. And that’s bad news for them. But beyond people returning to physical meat and seafood markets, the online industry has also been hit by inflation blowing up input costs, and the lack of funding.

In the slow lane

The online meat and seafood industry is roughly between Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore in size, estimates Satish Meena, an independent ecommerce analyst and advisor at Datum Intelligence.
A few organised companies, such as Godrej Agrovet, Venkys, and Nandus, which primarily function in offline markets, have also begun online plays. While the first two are listed and profitable, Nandus is privately owned and yet to hit full profitability.


But even with the existence of a few large organised players, the online market remains extremely small,