Licious appoints Sanket Venkatesh Prabhu as VP – R&D

Licious has announced the appointment of Sanket Venkatesh Prabhu as the Vice President – Research & Development (R&D). Driven by the purpose of adding value across the three dimensions of People, Planet and Profit through sustainable innovations, Sanket will manage and direct the R&D operations at Licious to capitalize on potential new products.

Sanket has 18+ years of experience in the food industry, working with global organizations, such as Agritechnology, Novozymes and Doehler, across diverse verticals, including Research & Innovation, Development & Application and Techno-Commercial functions. His areas of expertise entail food & nutrition, meat science & technology, bakery, beverages, plant-based & single cell proteins, dairy, reaction flavours & functional foods.

Joe Manavalan, Co-founder & Chief Innovation Officer, Licious, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sanket on board. In the sixth year of operations, Licious has scaled new heights and the hiring has kept pace with our growth. Sanket’s professional expertise and experience of having lived, worked and travelled extensively across Europe, Asia and Australia will help enhance our product development efforts, as we continue to deliver high-quality and superior animal protein products to our growing clientele across the country.”

Sanket Venkatesh Prabhu, VP – R&D, Licious, stated: “I’m excited to join Licious, the first Indian Unicorn to deliver a delightful meat buying experience in a primarily unorganised and fragmented industry. This is a great opportunity for me to work in a vibrant culture, interact with new functions and teams, and to step out of my comfort zone. I look forward to a remarkable journey of new learning and adventures, as we regionalize customer-specific products through ‘renovation’ and ‘innovation’.”

Since its inception in 2015, Licious has evolved into India’s largest tech-first full-stacked D2C fresh meat and seafood brand. The Bengaluru-based brand has adopted 100% traceable and sustainable sourcing practices, creating quality benchmarks for the industry. Earlier this year, it became India’s first D2C unicorn.

Licious also has the distinction of being the first meat and seafood brand from India to be certified with FSSC22000 – one of the highest food safety certifications in the world. Built on the farm-to-fork business model, it controls the entire supply chain, powered by stringent cold chain control to maintain the quality and freshness of products from the time of procurement, processing and storage until the time it reaches the end consumer. The brand is synonymous with a smooth, trust-worthy, and hassle-free meat and seafood shopping experience.

Currently, Licious has 5000+ employees and a strong presence across 14 Indian markets, namely Bengaluru, Hyderabad, NCR, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Kochi, Puducherry, Vizag, Vijayawada and Kolkata. The brand is looking to consolidate its presence across India, strengthen its omnichannel business model, expand to global markets, and provide innovative solutions to its rapidly growing customer base.