UP Government’s decision to ban illegal slaughterhouse a boon for the food startups

The decision taken by the Government of Uttar Pradesh to ban illegal slaughterhouse has come as a boon for the food startups in the space. Zappfresh, an online meat startup that sells raw and processed meat in NCR, has clamped upon the opportunity and is planning to expand in UP rapidly. The startup started with 100 orders a day in 2015 but now services more than 1,000 orders in the NCR region. Deepanshu Manchanda, cofounder Zappfresh, said that “It’s a huge blessing for meat eaters who don’t want to buy from the unwholesome local market. This ban in UP is a big positive for online players who work only with licensed automated plants. We aim to service the INR10,000 crore meat market of NCR by delivering fresh, hygienic and safe meat at the doorstep within 120 minutes”. Zappfresh has already raised $1 million angel funding last year and is getting ready to expand in major cities of UP.

Besides Zappfresh, other startups such as Neatmeats and Licious are also flourishing after the ban, and are planning to raise funds in near future to capitalize on the opportunity. The biggest advantage of the online meat startups is that they work directly with farmers, meat federations and export houses thus can even tell which farm the meat came from, what time it was slaughtered and under what conditions.