When serial entrepreneur Nishanth Chandran, took the plunge into the fresh meat and seafood retailing with TenderCuts in 2016, he never knew he was a pioneer in the trade. Inspired by the wet markets in European countries on his travels, Nishanth decided to usher in a revolution in Chennai, offering fresh cut meat and fish in a consumer-friendly hygienic environment.
“98% of the meat market in India is unorganised. My tech background and experience enabled me to create a tech-enabled omni-channel retail format, which is highly effective considering we deal with highly perishable products. Our first mover advantage continues to gives us an edge in the market even today,” says Nishanth.
TenderCuts today has 18 stores across Chennai employing over 600 employees. The company also extended its footprint into Hyderabad in 2019, and has 9 stores in the city. They plan to take the number of stores to 45 and foray into other cities this year.
While several corporations faced uncertainty during the pandemic, TenderCuts witnessed a 300% growth as more and more customers switched to TenderCuts for their assurance on quality, hygiene and accessibility while safety was ensured. The company offers unmatched convenience as customers can purchase fresh meats and seafood at the retail outlets or buy online and have it home delivered at the click of a button.
TenderCuts assures the freshness of its antibiotic and hormone-free products through backward integration by establishing direct partnerships with local farming and fishing communities and motivating them with fair prices and timely remuneration.
Freshness and Quality are high on the agenda for TenderCuts and each and every aspect right from livestock breeding till it reaches the plate of the customer this is the topmost priority. The company undertakes numerous quality checks, an ambient temperature of 0-4 degrees right through and handled by well-trained team thereby ensuring the consumer gets the freshest and tastiest meat or seafood.
Each TenderCuts store caters to customers in a 5km radius, with deliveries scheduled within two hours of placing the order. Gel packs are used to retain the quality, keeping in mind prevailing temperature. Further, qualified and experienced butchers have been brought on board to offer various precise cuts, as per requirements of the customer, thereby enhancing the taste and presentation of the culinary delights.
