“Meat" The Newest Retail Franchise Opportunity in India

India is predominantly perceived as a vegetarian nation. Vegetarianism is often assumed is the norm in India, encouraged by ideologies of religion and caste. However, meat is still the King! As per statistics, 71 per cent of Indians over the age of 15 are non-vegetarian and only 40% of country’s total population is vegetarian.

Moreover, it is expected that the demand for meat will rise by nearly 73 per cent by 2050. This infers that investing in the meat market can be highly profitable. But, the meat market is highly unorganised; almost over 90% of the market is controlled by fragmented unorganised players. Consumers tend to buy meat & seafood from local butchery & shops. However, with changing lifestyle patterns, socioeconomic status, increasing number of women entering the workforce are fuelling high demand for hygienic, ready to eat heat and serve type of meat products. Thus, increasingly prefer organised retail stores or hypermarket or supermarkets for purchase of meat & seafood products.

Rise of Organised Retail Meat Shop

Meat shops have been dominated by local butcheries for a long time now. But, most of the shops are marred by the foul stench, unclean surroundings and revolting sight of the way meat is handled, making it less favourable for consumers. Moreover, there are no checks in place to trace the source of animals. Many times, it is found that the meat sold at these shops was adulterated, consisting of anti-biotic residue, low on taste and didn’t meet the standard guidelines laid by the regulatory bodies. 

Thus, customers are refraining from buying from these shops and opting for organised shops or supermarkets. However, owing to scarce availability of supermarkets, it becomes difficult for consumers to regularly purchase meat & seafood from there. Thus, due to lack of availability, costumes were restricted to either purchase from local butchers or visit supermarket regularly.

The emergence of Retail meat shops has been a relief of consumers as they are the perfect amalgamation of a butcher shop & supermarket. These modern meat retail shops are fully air-conditioned, hygienic and odourless, offering the consumers an unmatched meat shopping experience.

The stores work directly with quality wholesalers to bring forth the finest meats and fishes daily, free from antibiotics, hormones and pesticides. They have highly certified and trained butchers, who cut, slice and pack the meat in front of customers ensuring transparency. Some retail meat shops also offer online delivery thus saving the time & energy of people while providing quality meat to their doorsteps.

A New Franchise Opportunity

With changing consumer preferences, there has been a dawn of a new franchise opportunity. Observing the success of these retail meat shops, entrepreneurs have rolled out franchise opportunity for aspirants willing to venture into this industry. Retail meat shops are an unconventional business opportunity but a profitable one.

The Indian market is mushrooming with franchised meat shops all across the nation.  Starting a retail meat franchise is a low-cost business opportunity. The required start-up investment starts from INR 50K and can reach up to INR 20 lakhs. The area required for a meat shop franchise is quite less, ranging from 100sq. ft. to 200 sq. ft. Franchisees can anticipate an average of 30% return on investment within a payback period of 1-1.5 years.