Nandus, Indian farm to fork omni-channel meat brand, turns profitable

Nandus, India’s leading farm-to-fork, omni-channel meat retail brand, announced a significant milestone – the Bengaluru-based, self-funded start-up turned NET profitable in July 2023. Given the volatile economic environment and challenges plaguing the overall market, this announcement inspires hope for the meat industry.

As the first Indian brand in the meat retail space to achieve this milestone, Nandus reported overall revenue growth of 15% in the month of July 23 over July 22 and has achieved same-store sales growth of 27% in the month of July 2023 over July 22 for same channels. The company reported 51% LFL growth for the period August 2022-July 2023 over August 2021-July 2022.

Nandus Foods, an omni channel meat retailer, started in 2016, projects LFL growth of 35% over FY23 – a true testimony of its commitment to keeping the focus firmly on core business values and customers’ satisfaction at the center.

Having achieved net profitability and looking at the huge market potential, Nandu’s is aggressively ramping up its operations across key functions. The company is also in talks with a few investors to consider external equity financing for their next phase of growth.

Speaking about the new milestone, Narendra Pasuparthy, founder and chief executive officer, Nandus, said, “This is a proud moment for all of us at Nandus. Like any other legacy players and retail behemoths, our fundamental principles are rooted in sound business practices that values tradition, work culture, and success of our customers, vendors and investors while all through keeping the focus on delivering profits, driven by prudent business judgements. Despite the global economic slowdown and incessant industry challenges, Nandus has continued to expand the business, with renewed focus on quality and customer centricity. Our biggest USP has been the complete ownership and control across the entire supply chain from our farms to our retail stores, and even the last mile delivery to customers’ homes. We are grateful for the ever-growing love and unwavering trust of our customers; they are our biggest cheerleaders. Also, our employees, partners, advisors and well-wishers, who have helped us build a business that continues to positively impact the lives of many people and create new opportunities for economic growth. For Nandus, the journey has just begun. We have a long way to go.”

Despite several D2C brands with hitherto near-unlimited funding crowding the market in the past few years, our made-in-India brand is the first and perhaps the only brand to achieve profitability – the final metric that matters the most. Without any external funding until now, Nandus has become a D2C leader in omni-channel meat retail by proving it has the ability to attract and retain customers and also turn a profit.

In February 2023, Nandus crossed the revenue milestone of INR 100 crore, consolidating its market position as the most successful and organized omni-channel meat retail brand in the country. Poised to be a market leader in India’s growing meat retail industry, the company is all set to expand its B2C and D2C footprint as well as further strengthen its back-end operations.

Nandus vision has been to make fresh, healthy and high-quality meat and meat products accessible to Indian consumers. Given that nearly 73% of the country’s population consumes meat, there’s a huge market to cater to. Besides, consumers today are making a conscious choice of buying from trusted brands that vouch for high standards of hygiene, health, and safety of their products and services.

Nandus brings their own produce directly to the consumer with 100% traceability and transparency. As a brand that has fully-integrated farm-to-fork operations, from the outset, Nandus has ensured through rigorous control over its supply-chain that its produce does not contain any hormones, steroids, antibiotics, and growth promoters while providing a unique hyperlocal meat purchasing experience.

Presently operating primarily out of Bengaluru, the hyperlocal brand operates almost 50 stores in the city. Operating on an omni-channel model, Nandus includes in-store/offline retail and home delivery services via the company’s e-commerce website, app, call center orders, as well as all leading e-commerce marketplaces. Its growth will come from owned- and franchise stores as it moves from strength to strength in building its business.