In a bid to strengthen its house of brands strategy, Temasek-backed Licious — so far largely an animal meat-focused startup — on Monday launched UnCrave, its direct-to-consumer (D2C) plant-based meat unit.

The brand will piggyback on Licious’ supply chain and take its products to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru during its initial days. The company said it plans to enter the other remaining top cities in India over the next few months. Over the coming 12 months, Licious will focus only on the top seven metro cities.

“India has about 100 days in a year where meat consumers cannot eat their favourite animal meat, and that is exactly where we’re positioning ourselves. Animal meat eaters who cannot consume meat on those 100 days are our target audience, not the vegetarians, because they’re anyway not used to the texture, else they would have converted. If they do try UnCrave, they’ll be a bonus for us,” Simeran Bhasin, business head, alternative protein, Licious, said in an interview. 

At present, UnCrave will only offer “vegetarian chicken and mutton” products, but Bhasin added that its plant-based fish meat products are also nearing completion and will be launched soon, encompassing nearly all of UnCrave’s offerings.
Licious said these products were underway for about two years during which over 100 startups have mushroomed in the plant-based meat industry. UnCrave’s Bhasin said the company was also open to acquiring smaller players in the space to strengthen its hold as it aims to be the largest player in the space in India in the next two years.

The potential domestic market for plant-based meat companies in India was forecast at roughly Rs 5,000 crore in 2030, up from about Rs 2,000 crore currently. While its export potential was pegged at Rs 7,000 crore by the end of 2030, an increase from about Rs 2,000 crore, according to Plant Based Foods Industry Association (PBFIA).   

Several analysts said the industry as a whole — which includes plant-based dairy products and others — will be valued at about $400 million over the coming years. The meat industry, on the other hand, was estimated to reach around $80 billion by 2024, Redseer said. 

Bhasin added that the margins were healthier on the plant-based meat side of the business, compared with the animal meat side. 

That was also because Licious’ plant-based meat products are about 20% costlier than its animal meat products, as is the case with the wider industry, Bhasin said. “Plant-based meat products are at a premium price point and are not for everyone to eat everyday. The raw materials sourcing and other factors need to be scaled up as we progress and bring in the economies of scale, to lower prices, that is a challenge we need to overcome,” Bhasin said. 

Licious’ revenue in financial year (FY) 2021 stood at around Rs 420 crore, up from Rs 132 crore in FY20. The company’s losses, too, surged from Rs 146 crore in FY21 to Rs 370 core in FY22. 

Globally, companies that sell both animal meat and plant-based meat, earn about 10% of their total revenue from the latter. While Bhasin concluded that the split will hold true for Licious as well, it has the potential to add much more.  
Licious said it serves over 2 million orders every month and boasts of a repeat consumption rate of over 90%. 

Licious has raised over $490 million from Temasek, Bertelsmann Investments, Avendus and others, and is valued at about $1.5 billion.