Fresh To Home, India’s first e-commerce venture for fresh, chemical-free seafood and meat, recently announced the official launch of their brand in India. On the occasion, the company unveiled the Fresh To Home marketplace, a first-of-its kind Internet-based marketplace that will organise and connect fish and meat farmers to consumers directly. The company also announced the launch of same-day delivery operations across two time slots in a day across 100 locations in the city.
The India market is among the largest in the world for perishable food produce with over $200 billion of fresh produce consumed in 2014. The non-vegetarian segment has seen a particularly large growth with over 60% of Indians consuming non-vegetarian product. As an example, the poultry and chicken market in India has been growing at a CAGR of over 20% year on year. India is also the second-largest producer of fish in the world having produced around $50 billion worth of fish with over 90% of it consumed domestically. However, in spite of the large market size, less than 1% of the supply chain goes through organised segments. Rest goes through a multitude of middlemen from the farmer to the consumer leading to food safety issues, use of chemical preservatives, wastage and the consumer not getting the best quality produce.
The portal takes a fresh look at solving the problems inherent in the supply chain of perishables in India, by connecting the fishermen & farmers directly with the consumers through the use of some disruptive technology. The company utilises innovative supply chain and sourcing methods through the Fresh To Home Market Place technology to provide fresh, chemical-free food produce directly from the producers at the doorsteps of the consumers. Since its soft launch in August 2015, the company has fast become a popular destination for chemical-free fish and antibiotic-free meats sourced directly from the coasts and farm, having crossed 20,000 users in the last six months. The company, which clocks in three tonne of produce per day, has seen 65% month-on-month customer retention. Fresh To Home currently serves customers in Bangalore, Delhi, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram.
“In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, it is important for one to understand and consume fresh and chemical-free food. At Fresh to Home, we take great pride in enabling a first of its kind marketplace for fish & meat, which will ensure direct procurement from the fishermen or farmers without any middlemen in between. We are not hyper local but hyper fresh as we provide the freshest of fresh food to you straight from the source,” said Shan Kadavil, CEO, Fresh To Home.
He added, “This investment is a powerful endorsement of our ability to provide unique and fresh products to our customers. We are delighted to partner with a strong team of investors who can help realise our vision and aggressive growth expectations.”
The company is backed by some of the leading entrepreneurs and investors in the world including Mark Pincus of Zynga Inc., Rajan Anandan of Google, Paval Ongole, ex-India head of Softbank Capital, Walter Kortshack of Kortshack Investments, Timothy Flaherty, co-founder Silver Creek Capital, Cadir Lee of Zynga & OhmConnect, and Alex Garden (New Relic, Nexon, MSFT, and Zynga).
