FreshToHome was launched in the year 2015 with a vision to make chemical-free and preservative-free fish, seafood, and meat. The key differentiator of its platform is its direct sourcing approach through a network of sellers. The brand enables its sellers to use technology to cut off middlemen and source directly from fishermen and farmers.

“We have seen over 2x growth in the last 12 months. We did annual sales of over Rs 1,100 crore last fiscal year. We aim to grow by 50 percent in the next fiscal year,” Shan Kadavil, Co-Founder, FreshToHome said.

India is FreshToHome’s largest market but it believes that international markets are equally viable. This is due to the brand’s technology and sourcing advantage which allows it to export fish or meat to the UAE where over 88 percent of the fish is imported. FreshToHome is among the top e-grocers in the UAE.

A Direct Approach

Sellers in the FreshToHome platform engage with a vast network of over 3,000 fishermen across India, and it takes pride in being the only D2C platform that directly sources produce from fishermen and livestock farmers. While sourcing through its platform vendors is its key strength, it also allows the brand the flexibility to choose the produce that is 100 percent fresh and 0 percent chemicals. Through a tech-driven robust supply chain that sustains the freshness of the fish and meat, the brand ensures that the coast-to-customer cycle is less 24-36 hours.

“Online business contributes to more than 90 percent of our overall sales. Our mature customer retention rate is over 80 percent which is a testimony to our quality and pricing strategy,” he stated.

The brand also has FreshToHome offline stores in two different formats - Exclusive Retail Outlets and SIS (shop-in-shop). Currently, it has an offline presence in all major cities - Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Cochin, and Chennai, among others.

“Tier-II cities are emerging markets that have immense potential for growth. Some of our recent expansion has taken place in Tier-II cities like Warangal, Kottayam, Mysore, Ambala, Jaipur, etc. We look forward to tapping into the smaller markets with a big appetite for growth. We will continue to invest and consolidate in the metros as potential for growth continues to be high,” Kadavil added.

Treating Customer’s Palate

FreshToHome offers over 2,500 SKUs across multiple categories like fresh fish, poultry, meat and meat products, ready-to-cook SKUs, and others. The ready-to-cook, a recent launch, is one of the fastest growing segments on the platform. It contributes to 10 percent of its overall sales in some of the cities.

Earlier this year, FreshToHome enabled the launch of ‘Signature Snacks’, a ready-to-cook range that is free from e-range additives and preservatives. The Signature Snacks do not contain preservatives like nitrate, phosphate, and E-number additives that are most commonly found in frozen products. Instead, preservatives are replaced with organic components, a rare first for any brand, ensuring that the Signature Snacks are safe for the consumption of all. As India’s first clean-label meat product, Signature Snacks has emerged as the fastest growing segment in the FreshToHome platform. Crunchy Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Chilli Garlic Fingers are the most ordered items in the Signature Snacks range.

“Across all product categories, we enable deliveries of more than 2 million orders per month across all categories. In our platform, the average order size is Rs 570,” Kadavil asserted.

Technology at the Forefront

FreshToHome has adopted AI and ML to drive its growth and this has played a key role in customer retention. The brand has a strong cold storage and supply structure. It uses a lot of tech to control the cold chain and IoT-based inbuilt sensors to ensure that the temperature is controlled at zero to four degree celsius.

The brand has built cloud-based monitors to track the movement of the products. Further, it uses AI to predict demand and replenish inventory, which has been a key enabler in reducing wastage. Its inventory management is optimum. With a robust supply chain model and cold chain facilities to ensure maximum freshness of the meat, technology has been a key enabler in helping reduce the coast-to-customer cycle to less than 24-36 hours. 

“Over 3,000 fishermen are part of the community enabled through our platform vendors, who directly sell their produce on the platform. Our mature customer retention rate is over 80 percent which is a testimony to our quality and pricing strategy,” Kadavil concluded.