Meatigo announces their ready-to-cook meat range

Restaurants and shops in north Delhi will now have to "mandatorily" display whether the meat being sold or served is halal or jhatka as the BJP-led North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday cleared a proposal in this regard, its mayor said.

The proposal was recently moved by the Standing Committee of the NDMC.

"Restaurants and shops in north Delhi will now have to mandatorily display whether the meat being sold or served is halal or jhatka," said North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash.

North Delhi has a number of eateries, restaurants and street-side shops selling or serving non-vegetarian food items, prominent places being Chandni Chowk, Daryaganj and Kashmere Gate.

A similar proposal was cleared by the House of the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation late January.

Restaurants and shops in markets in areas like Defence Colony, Amar Colony, Sarojini Nagar, South Extension, and INA sell non-vegetarian items.

Officials had earlier said restaurants and meat shops will have to "display clearly and visibly" whether they are serving halal or jhatka.

Chennai-based meat and seafood brand brand TenderCuts has raised Rs 110 crore in funding led by Paragon Partners.

The omni-channel brand also saw participation from NABVENTURES, a leading agri-food tech VC fund backed by NABARD.

"This investment will pave the way for us to enter new markets and further establish our omni-channel network. We are delighted to partner with Paragon Partners and NABVENTURES and look forward to tapping into their significant experience in growing consumer businesses in the retail, agri, food & beverage, and e-commerce sectors," shared Nishanth Chandran, Founder & CEO, TenderCuts.

Also Read: TenderCuts launches exciting range of Ready-to-cook products

The funds will also allow the company to invest in scaling up its supply chain and technology infrastructure to support innovation and accessibility of its products and services.

TenderCuts provides freshly cut meat and seafood to customers through its neighborhood stores which cater not only to walk-in customers, but also online shoppers, driven by a fully integrated supply chain fuelled by proprietary technology.

It is running 25 stores across Chennai and Hyderabad which cater to walk-in and online customers.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has removed the word from its ‘Red Meat Manual’ after a social media campaign by Hindu right-wing groups and Sikh organisations against halal certification for products in the country.

The agri-export body has also clarified that there was no condition on the part of the Indian government regarding halal meat.

Also Read: Online meat delivery brand Meatigo.com expands its operations in Pune

“It is a requirement by a majority of the importing countries/Importers. Halal Certification agencies are accredited directly by respective importing countries. No government agency has any role in this,” it shared.

However, the Red Meat Manual of the APEDA, which handles agri-exports under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, read “animals are slaughtered strictly according to halal method to meet the requirement of Islamic countries”, it now says “the animals are slaughtered according to the requirement of importing country/importer”.

May Interest: How digital technologies are powering fresh meat start-ups

APEDA has also deleted the line, “The animals are slaughtered by halal system under strict vigilance of (a) recognised and registered Islamic body as per the tenets of Islamic Shariyat. The certificate for halal is issued by the representative of registered Islamic body under whose supervision the slaughter is conducted in order to meet the requirement of (the) importing country.”

Online meat delivery brand, Meatigo.com has launched its services in Pune across multiple pincodes.

Customers can now order fresh meat and seafood online by logging on to Meatigo.com as well as the brand’s Android or iOS app.

Empowering thousands of people across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and now Pune to ‘Eat Better Meat’, the Gurgaon-based online delivery platform is the brainchild of Siddhant Wangdi that started operations in 2017.

“After receiving a phenomenal response from meat lovers in Mumbai, we have been receiving multiple requests on Meatigo.com website as well as social media platforms from Punekars to bring these offerings to their city. This prompted us to expand our operations in Pune. Now, Meatigo.com services will be available in maximum areas across the city. Our young team ensures zero compromise on quality with stringent tests for freshness and hygiene,” shared Wangdi.

The bootstrapped company functions on an end-to-end supply chain model that starts from procuring fresh meats to processing, storage, and last-mile delivery.

It also has its own delivery team which delivers an on-demand order in 120 minutes to its customers’ doorstep.  Using Meatigo.com, ardent meat-eaters can also schedule deliveries a week in advance.

Chevon Agrotech Private Limited, an integrated frozen food company has received its latest round of funding from Singapore-based investment management firm, Greenfield Advisory with a significant million-dollar investment value. Advisors to this deal were Polymath Advisors Pvt Ltd. Chevon will allocate a portion of the acquired funds to expand its senior management team and develop new products. With plans to enhance its reach to all major markets in India, the company will also utilise the funds to launch marketing campaigns, ramp up distribution and drive its international foray in the Middle East and South-East Asian markets. A major driver behind Chevon’s international expansion is the rising popularity of goat meat as a Super food and the vast global potential this untapped market presents.

Chevon Agrotech is a leader in the goat meat segment with solely-owned livestock farms & processing facilities in the country. Quality, the byword at Chevon, underpins all its operations. The company has two main brands of goat meat products, namely Chevon and KUZO. In the premium segment, Chevon offers two frozen product categories, namely Raw and World Cuisine Heat N Eat, while the KUZO brand offers ready-to-eat products under the Fry N Eat range. Besides these, Chevon offers institutional packs of the Raw and Ready to Cook range of products for the HORECA segment. Chevon processes products to the tune of one ton per day and its most popular products include Raw Boneless, Raw Minced, Turkish Kebabs, Cheeseburger, and Moroccan Sausages.

Goat meat is the latest addition to the list of Superfoods this year and it is all set to shake up diets and cuisines across the world. Goat meat’s status as a Superfood is owed to its being high in protein and iron, while being very low in fat, making it a great source of nutrients for meat eaters. The fat content of goat meat is also 50% lower than other types of red meats and is 40% lower in saturated fat compared to chicken. Studies have also shown that consuming goat meat reduces the risks of coronary diseases, helps prevent cancer, improves cholesterol levels, lowers the risk of obesity, and keeps the body healthy.

Rizwan Thakur, Founder and CEO, Chevon Agrotech said, “We are indeed thrilled at the trust that Greenfield Advisory has placed in our brand, our product and business model. The funding received will help us capitalise on the vast global opportunity in the goat meat segment, and promote our products in India, as well as internationally, as a high-quality source of protein with minimal impact on the environment. Also, goat meat being recognised as a Superfood further validates our brand’s message which has further been bolstered by Greenfield's investment. India and the world need this source of protein to be made more readily available and we’ll be leveraging the capital raised in that direction. Moreover, our products are among the best in the market and we ensure a consistent superlative quality across our entire product range by only following the best and approved practices through all stages from production to packaging.”

Deepak Mishra , CEO Greenfield Advisory said, “As an investment management firm, we actively seek opportunities for early-stage investments into fast-growing sectors for funds we manage. We are pleased to partner with Chevon to help build a sustainable goat meat business which has established health benefits and a widespread preference in India. Further, it offers us a unique opportunity to provide consumers with high-quality, protein-rich meat with the convenience of use in various categories.”

Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world's largest makers and marketers of meat products, has announced the formation of a USD 150 million venture capital fund to back food and agriculture startups.

According to Tyson's Executive Vice President of Strategy and New Ventures, Monica McGurk, the fund will seek to invest in startups solving problems around food production, distribution, nutrition, food waste and safety.

The new venture arm will invest opportunistically in startups it is impressed by along these lines, and will not limit its deals to early-stage or mature companies only, nor to a particular product or technology-type.

Oxford researchers published a study earlier this year that forecast, "A global switch to diets that rely less on meat and more on fruit and vegetables could save up to 8 million lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds, and lead to healthcare-related savings and avoided climate damages of USD 1.5 trillion."

A Tyson spokesperson said, "Our interest in Beyond Meat reflects our desire to offer consumers choices and to consider how we can serve an ever-growing and diverse global population, while remaining focused on our core prepared foods and animal protein businesses."

While Tyson is based in Springdale, Arkansas its new fund, Tyson New Ventures LLC, will be headquartered in Chicago, a hotbed of activity for food tech startups since the rise of Grubhub and home to other food-and-ag venture firms including S2G Ventures and Cultivian Sandbox Ventures.

Mary-Kay James will lead the investment team at the new fund. Prior to joining Tyson, James was the Managing Director of Agriculture, Nutrition & Health investments for DuPont Ventures, and

"We have the ability to finance entrepreneurs and give them oxygen, but we have capabilities to help accelerate their growth and improve the odds of success for them," McGurk said.

Specifically, the new fund plans to help its portfolio companies, or other startups it is evaluating for investment, to connect with experts in various departments of Tyson Foods for everything from research and product testing to business development.

A startup working on technology to help restaurants reduce food waste may find it easy to meet one or two restaurateurs and test out new technology on a limited basis. But McGurk said, "It can be hard to make a technical solution work in a real operating environment at scale, especially if you have never been in the food service industry."

In order to beef up its market presence, EasyMeat, a Pune-based meat delivery startup, is on the move to acquire Nonveggies. Though both the companies have not elaborated much on the pact, but it is estimated that it is going to be an all cash deal.

Commenting on the move, Shiv Sharan, Co-Founder, EasyMeat.in said that the Nonveggies team is located in the western part of Pune which is not close to EasyMeat’s warehouse that is located in central Pune, through this acquisition; company will be better able to cover the entire city and get access to their customer base.

Nonveggies claims to have a unique customer base of over 1,500 users, out of which 68 per cent are repeat customers. Launched in December 2014, Nonveggies claims to have built a strong customer base in western Pune that Easymeat in will now have access to.

Elaborating further, Gaurav Saxena, Co-Founder, Nonveggies stated that company gets around 1,000 orders a month in western Pune, it also has an additional 300-400 unregistered users and have tied up with 12 to 15 vendors for the three meat categories that brand offers.

EasyMeat.in claims to have a monthly growth of 30 per cent and in July received 45 orders on a daily basis. Through the acquisition, the startup aims to reach 100 orders a day by September.

RI Bureau 

Zappfresh, online fresh meat delivery focusing on delivering high quality ready to cook meat products has tied up with SRS Grocery, a Delhi based e-tailer having both, online and offline presence with over 100,000 plus customers.

This tie-up will not only help Zappfresh to reach out to customer base of SRS grocery, but also give them access to newer markets. Customers of SRS Grocery will now be able to choose from a wide range of over 40 high quality fresh non-vegetarian options including chicken, mutton, fish and pork and pre-cooked items like ham, sausages and salami. SRS’s already has a comprehensive online product catalogue of over 7500 SKUs and reach in Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad. This tie-up will enable them to enter into a new product category altogether. This service is currently available in Gurgaon and South Delhi and would shortly be available in other cities.

Commenting on the tie up, Shruti Gochhwal, co-founder, said,” The meat business in India is growing at an impressive rate. The segment has grown at an average 18 per cent CAGR across category. Chicken tops the list followed by fish and other meat products. The Poultry industry alone is an INR 40,000 crore market now. Even if we are able to scratch the surface of this market, we are talking about Zappfresh being in pole position. We have aggressive expansion plans and are looking at similar synergies in newer markets.”

Zappfresh has also already partnered with “ColdEX”, India’s number one cold chain logistic company for managing their supply chain inventory.

Deepanshu Manchanda, Co-founder, Zappfresh further added, “We are very pleased on our association with SRS Grocery, as it aligns with our strategy of delivering high quality products to customers.  With this tie-up we look forward to further increasing our market share in the geographies we are currently present in and also get access to newer markets. Currently we are reaching out to over 30,000 unique customers a month and expect to double this number by the mid-2016.

Pratik Jindal, Managing Director of SRS e-Retail Ltd., said, “Zappfresh has created its own niche in the meat space industry by providing neatly packaged and carefully inspected high quality meat products. With this association we want to leverage Zappfresh products and offer a convenient solution to consumers who want to shop for quality and hygienic meat products but are strapped for time.”