How 25 year-old Meatzza is Rapidly Disrupting the Indian Ready-to-Cook Ecosystem

With over 25 years of its existence, Meatzza today is a renowned meat manufacturer brand that has been operating across India since 1996 through over 350 distributors. Apart from India, Meatzza is also present across borders, also serving Bhutan and the Middle East. Moreover, the brand has now introduced a ‘microwave and serve’ version of India’s most-ordered food item- Biryani.

With plants that are FSSAI, FSSC 22000v5.1, HACCP, HALAL, and EIC (Export Inspection Council, Govt. of India) certified, Meatzza chicken and mutton products are available across India.

“The journey over the years has been both challenging and rewarding. Our company is self-funded and despite initial challenges, we ensured that work continued uninterrupted and resources were adequately provided for expansion and growth,” said Rajiv Jaisinghani, Managing Director and Founder, Meatzza.

The Indian Ready-to-Cook Ecosystem

The ready-to-cook (RTC) ecosystem in India has been growing rapidly over the past few years, fuelled by the increasing demand for convenient and quick meal options among the urban population. The RTC market includes a wide range of products, including frozen food, pre-cooked meals, and ready-to-eat snacks.

There are several options available for consumers looking for convenient meal solutions. In the past, people used to buy raw ingredients and prepare meals at home according to their own recipes. However, due to the increasing number of nuclear families and the shortage of available manpower, many households are now opting for ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products. These products provide a convenient solution for households where both the husband and wife are working and have limited time to prepare meals.

Ready-to-cook products like Chicken Nuggets, Fingers, Burgers, Meatballs, and Seekh Kebabs are popular among households as they require minimal effort to prepare. These products are fully cooked at the plant and then frozen for heating and consumption. Consumers can customize these products to their liking by heating them up in a pan, air fryer, or microwave and then adding them to their favorite dishes.

This has led to progressive growth in the segment allowing households to add their own touch to the meal while still enjoying the convenience of a pre-cooked product.

Brand Ideation and Offerings

Living in the States, each time Jaisinghani visited India, he witnessed the existing gap in the Indian breakfast meats market with products like sausages, bacon, and ham missing from the table as good quality and reliable products were not being produced in the country.

This germinated the idea of producing good quality meat products for the Indian market and the founders started a Greenfield project in Gurugram, Haryana, 27 years ago.

“As my father was the first raw meat exporter in 1975 from North India, all the exported meat was being converted into processed products in importing countries, and we decided to do the same in India,” stated the Co-Founder.

The founders brought in German master butchers on assignment to visit and teach them the fine art of delicatessen production. Over the years, Meatzza has had numerous master's visits each year to teach and further refine skills. The same has helped the brand to improve its hygiene standards, thereby increasing the shelf life of its frozen products to one year and chilled products to one month.

“We further increased our product range to include Sausages, Hams, Hotdogs, Smoked chicken breast, Mortadella, Salami, breaded products like Nuggets, Burgers, Fingers, Popcorn, and Spicy Chicken Strips, and also the Indian range of Seekh Kebabs and Meatballs. We have now also introduced a premium whole muscle range of Krispy Fried Chicken, Zing Chicken Boneless Strips, Zing Chicken Bites, and Fillet which is fully cooked,” added Jaisinghani.

The brand further produces Oriental Spring Rolls and Chicken Pops which are center-filled chicken meatballs with cheese, jalapeno, and cheesy pizza sauce which are unique to the Indian market.

Technology and Meatzza

A significant portion of the brand’s technology was unknown to the Indian consumer. Previously, products sold in stores lacked the necessary heat treatment to withstand the temperature shocks of the Indian value-added chain. As a result, these products had a high bacterial count and a shorter shelf life.

Meatzza is now promoting its high-quality products, which undergo heat treatment to ensure longer shelf life, lower bacterial count, and increased safety for its customers while educating them about the benefits of its fully-cooked products over raw or partially-cooked options.

“Our market share is increasing as customers appreciate the advantages of our offerings. We have a range of options, including flashlight products like Chicken Nuggets, which are not fully cooked and need to be fried at home. We also offer products that are heat and eat, which can be microwaved or air-fried. These include fully cooked items like Sausages, Hot Dogs, and Salami, which can be eaten directly from the pack or heated according to personal preference. Finally, we offer convenient meals like Biryani, which can be microwaved from frozen in just five minutes,” asserted the Co-Founder.

The brand’s products are designed to be convenient, safe, and of the highest quality, offering customers a superior experience compared to other options in the market. Moreover, it has further upgraded its equipment to larger, more expensive machines to ensure the highest quality and standardization of its products.

Supply and Distribution Chain

Meatzza has a well-established network of over eight offices and company depots spread across India. This ensures that all products can be delivered to customers in every state in India.

The company places a strong emphasis on quality control and takes great care to ensure that its products are of the highest quality. Having a team of experienced professionals who oversee every aspect of its supply chain, right from sourcing raw materials to transporting finished products to the customers, Meatzza works closely with its suppliers to ensure that it gets the best quality raw materials for all its products - both domestically and internationally.

Growth and Marketing

Meatzza is a privately held family business, and all the funding requirements are fulfilled internally based on ongoing, need-based requirements for expanding production facilities and equipment additions. The company is not publicly traded nor has any external equity partners.

The brand has experienced substantial year-on-year growth in its earlier stages, with rates ranging from 100 to 300 percent. However, as the company has attained a certain level of growth, it's plausible that the growth rate may have decreased, although the brand's growth trajectory may still be outperforming competitors.

“For the current year, our company aims to increase our product offerings in the retail market. We are particularly optimistic about biryani, as it is the most sold product based on surveys conducted by Zomato and Swiggy,” stated Rajiv Jaisinghani.

Since Biryani outsells pizza, which is a major category, by at least six to seven times, the brand has dedicated a separate plant for biryani production spending numerous years and resources in developing and perfecting the Mughlai Biryani for the frozen segment.

He further added, “Currently, we are focused on completing our ongoing projects and stabilizing production, as the product is receiving tremendous responses. We plan to increase production and add more varieties of Biryani, as well as explore the possibility of introducing new products.”

In addition, to the same, the brand is also focused on improving its packaging, as Meatzza is the first company to use thermoform packs in retail packaging, which helps retain the quality of the product for a longer time. The brand aims to expand our reach into smaller cities and towns in the B and C-class categories, in order to cater to a wider audience.

Retail and Marketing

Introduced in 1996, Meatzza was incepted at a time when there were no established retail chains or retailers selling frozen products.

The brand offers a range of frozen meat products that are delivered in the shortest possible time from production to the customers.

“Our products are presently being supplied to stores located in areas where road access remains blocked or closed for approximately six months each year, in a bid to reach customers in every corner of the country we have established a vast distribution network,” commented Jaisinghani.

In addition to its B2B focus, Meatzza has also had an exciting B2C journey. The brand has evolved and grown over the years, offering a range of meat products that are popular with customers across India. Overall, Meatzza's commitment to quality and customer satisfaction has helped them become a trusted brand in the Indian market.

Future Plans

As a brand, Meatzza is optimistic about its future having a clear vision for where it sees itself in the next five years.

“We want our brand to be the number one brand in India within the next five years, and we are well on our way to achieving that goal. Since we cover the entire meat segment and are an established meat company, we believe we have a competitive advantage over other brands. That's the space that we need to be in, and we are confident that we can dominate that space,” asserted Rajiv.

 As a company, Meatzza intends to be the market leader, already having the largest product range that any brand offers. Constantly innovating and looking for ways to improve its products and services, the brand is committed to providing its customers with the highest quality products and an exceptional experience and believes that this is what sets it apart from other brands.