ET Soonicorns Summit 2025: Meat isn’t built for 10-minute delivery, say Licious founders

Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta, cofounders of meat and seafood platform Licious, said quick commerce has reshaped consumer expectations, but not every category can fit into the 10-minute model popularised by Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart.

Speaking to ETtech editor Samidha Sharma at The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 in Bengaluru on Friday, the founders pointed out the inherent challenges in stocking highly perishable meat products across hundreds of dark stores. “Meat has a two-day shelf life, and we have 300 products. It is simply not viable to stock such a wide variety at every store,” Hanjura said.

Instead, Licious is leveraging AI to predict demand by pin code on its own platform. Gupta said the company is targeting 30-minute delivery as a sustainable model, while selectively piloting 15-minute delivery in some areas. “If a city shows strong demand, we may set up local delivery centres to scale 30-minute fulfilment,” he added.


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This step-by-step approach, the founders said, will ensure freshness and operational efficiency, even if it takes Licious 12 months to do what rivals attempt in three.

Their remarks come amid intensifying competition in quick commerce, with Reliance Retail’s JioMart, Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now joining Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart.

Earlier this month, ET reported that, after a year of rapid expansion, many quick commerce companies are pulling back on adding new dark stores in a move to control cash burn.

The sector is projected to grow from $8.2 billion in FY25 to $30 billion by FY28, according to BNP Paribas, though rapid expansion has led to high cash burn and a slowdown in dark-store additions.