Shan Kadavil, Founder, FreshtoHome

The last few years have seen major developments within the dairy and meat sector, particularly concerning the supply chain side of things. If you are someone who likes to get daily essentials of meat and dairy to be available at your home in time, chances are you have heard of these start-ups FreshToHome, Licious, Zappfresh, Grubmarket, Farmdrop, Peapod, and Enedao.com.

These are dairy and meat delivery start-ups that have come up in the last ten years which have pioneered new changes in the supply chain like sourcing materials directly from fishermen and farmers. Bengaluru-based FreshToHome has been working to up the ante by bringing in newer technologies to make the entire supply more efficient.

“Our technology-enabled platform ensures that middlemen are cut out and the product reaches the end consumer within 24 -36 hours,” said Shan Kadavil, Co-Founder and CEO, FreshToHome. “We have incorporated technology to the length and breadth of our business, right from sourcing to supply chain to our delivery mechanism.”

The meat and dairy industry is largely unregulated with a serious lack of transparency. A typical fish supply chain, for instance, in India has over three middlemen which take at least 3-4 days to reach the end-user.

FreshToHome’s platform uses AI-based technology (called Commodities Exchange) that allows fishermen or farmer to electronically auction their produce – this is the primary way in which their supply chain is crafted.

The company also claims to guarantee an around-the-clock cold chain that keeps the products within a range of 0-4 degrees through IoT-based inbuilt sensors. Additionally, over 120 checks during the process, including for standard chemicals, antibiotics, and preservatives make sure that the customers get the best stuff.

“This is a tough task to accomplish for our competitors who buy from vendors in the city,” Kadavil added.

Currently, the company is at a revenue base of around Rs 1,000 crore.

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