Omnichannel Innovator Embraces Cloud Computing

Founded in 2015 with just eight employees, FreshToHome has transformed into a trusted omnichannel grocery platform with a workforce of 5,000. Originally focused on providing fresh meat and fish, the company’s success is anchored in its commitment to the brand promise: 100% Fresh, 0% Chemicals. Operating in 160 cities, including 154 in India and others in the Middle East, FreshToHome has expanded its offerings to include poultry, mutton, vegetables, and dairy. The company also ventured into omnichannel retail through physical stores. As the company grew, it called upon Akamai Cloud Computing to ensure cost-effective, reliable operations.

When CEO Shan Kadavil launched FreshToHome, the vision was to provide India’s answer to Whole Foods, a global retailer specializing in natural and organic foods. That’s not all — he wanted to provide the freshest, healthiest meat and fish.

In the conventional market, fishermen and farmers typically sell their products to brokers, who often use chemicals to preserve fish and meat. FreshToHome disrupts this model by eliminating the middleman. Instead of relying on chemicals, the company promptly transports fish and meat directly to its warehouses and subsequently to distribution hubs through a meticulously maintained cold chain. Following this process, products reach customers’ doorsteps within 24 to 36 hours of sourcing. The combination of swift delivery and controlled refrigeration maintaining temperatures between 0°C and 4°C ensures the utmost freshness.

To facilitate this innovative model and ensure smooth operations and consistent supply across a broad, geographically dispersed area, FreshToHome relies heavily on technology. The company leverages patented AI-based technology known as the Commodities Exchange, enabling fishermen and farmers to electronically auction their products to FreshToHome. On the back end, an intelligent system predicts product demand and determines the optimal price point. Each distribution hub operates its own software and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, all interconnected with the company’s central network. Additionally, over 2 million customers make purchases via FreshToHome’s app every month.

According to Saurabh Odhyan, Consumer CTO at FreshToHome, “To minimize waste, it’s important to ensure proper inventory traceability and enable the right prediction model.” As a rapidly growing business in which inventory plays a crucial role, FreshToHome needed the right cloud computing platform to enable uninterrupted operations.

Experiencing nearly fourfold growth in the last decade, FreshToHome sought a platform that could propel it into the future. To support its massively distributed systems spread across numerous locations, the company chose the Akamai Cloud Computing platform. Elaborating on the decision, Odhyan says, “The Akamai platform proved to be highly cost-effective, as transparent pricing eliminated hidden fees based on usage. This allowed us to precisely know our expenses when deploying multiple instances.”

Now all of FreshToHome’s infrastructure is hosted through Akamai Cloud Computing. According to Odhyan, the Akamai platform provides the portable architecture the company needs. As an example, he cites the custom data pipeline FreshToHome built to collect data from its apps and various operational systems. The company aggregates and processes this data to generate valuable insights that help FreshToHome optimize and expand its business. 

“Without the agnostic, distributed Akamai platform, it might not have been possible to seamlessly and quickly access raw data and gain insights from the data spread across our proprietary systems,” he continues.

Already operationally profitable, FreshToHome is continually looking to expand its market presence. With its latest round of financing, it hopes to ramp up omnichannel while further growing the business it has established in 160 markets.

To ensure a consistent customer experience across channels, the company standardizes how it runs and connects its operational systems in the cloud. Looking ahead, FreshToHome anticipates additional ways it can take advantage of the Akamai platform. “We are intrigued at the thought of using Akamai’s distributed cloud computing platform to further power our back-end processes,” Odhyan concludes.

Founded in 2015, FreshToHome is India’s number one app-based retailer for fresh, chemical-free seafood, poultry, and meat, delivered to the home. Its full range of product offerings includes chicken, chicken breast, duck, duck egg, Vigova duck, mutton, lamb, lamb chops, goat, and goat mince. It also offers freshwater fish, marine fish, chutneys, and batters. The company also has a mobile application that is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.