TERRACE TROUT

Head of Sales & Channel Development

Founding Role: Build the market, the channel and the team for Nilgiris-grown Rainbow Trout across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & Kerala.

THE OPPORTUNITY:

Terrace Trout is a standalone business unit growing cold-water rainbow trout at its farm in O Valley, Nilgiris. The farm is operational and stocked, with the first commercial harvest expected in [Month, 2027].

There is no sales function, no customer base and no distribution channel yet. Building them is this job. Trout in India is largely imported frozen or supplied in small, irregular quantities. Our proposition is fresh, traceable, Indian-grown trout delivered chilled to kitchens across South India within [48] hours of harvest. The Nilgiris sits within a day's drive of every major market in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, which is our logistics edge over imported trout.

ROLE SUMMARY:

You will be the first commercial hire for Terrace Trout and own the full route to market: who buys, in what form, at what price, through which channel, how it reaches them cold, and when we get paid. For the first 12 - 18 months this is a hands-on role - you will sell personally, run chef tastings and set up logistics yourself before building a team. The role is exclusively focused on rainbow trout across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala; success means owning that market before looking beyond it.

ROLE OVERVIEW:

Job Title: Head of Sales & Channel Development - Terrace Trout (Founding Role)

Business: Terrace Trout - independent rainbow trout business unit, farm at O Valley, Nilgiris

Reports To: Managing Director, Terrace Trout

Location: Coimbatore base; ~50% travel across Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, the hill and resort belts, and the farm at O Valley

Territory: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala only

Experience: 8 - 15 years in B2B sales, of which at least 3 - 5 years in fresh / chilled seafood, meat or premium perishables

Team: Starts hands-on with one Field Sales Executive (Coimbatore); mandate to scale the team as volumes grow

Employment Type: Full-time, founding commercial leadership

Compensation: Fixed + variable, linked to harvest offtake, price realisation and collections

MANDATE BY PHASE:

Phase 1 - Build the Market (Months 0 - 6, before harvest):

- Market map: Build a target list of 150+ accounts across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala - 5-star hotels, hill-station and backwater resorts, fine-dining and specialty seafood restaurants, flight kitchens, clubs, premium and gourmet retail, quick-commerce and e-commerce fresh platforms, and seafood distributors.

- Priority markets: Tamil Nadu: Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and the Nilgiris / Kodaikanal resort belt. Karnataka: Bengaluru, Mysuru and Coorg. Kerala: Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and the Munnar, Wayanad, Kumarakom and Kovalam resort belts. Sequence entry by volume potential and delivery cost.

- Product-market fit: Working with the farm and processing teams, define sellable formats (whole gutted, butterflied, skin-on fillet, smoked / value-added), size grades, pack specifications and shelf-life targets for each channel.

- Pricing architecture: Benchmark against imported trout and salmon and premium Indian seafood; set the channel price ladder, trade margins, minimum order quantities and credit terms.

- Chef seeding: Run tastings and menu co-creation with executive chefs; turn trials into letters of intent and standing orders for the first harvest.

- Route to market and cold chain: Design chilled delivery routes out of the Nilgiris into each state, select logistics partners, packaging (ice, gel, vacuum) and delivery SLAs by city; decide where to sell direct and where to appoint distributors.

- Compliance and collateral: With QA, complete FSSAI licensing and labelling; build the traceability story, sales deck, price list, sample kits and a basic digital presence.

Phase 2 - Launch and Prove (Months 6 - 12, first harvests):

- Sell-through: Deliver full sell-through of the first harvests with no stranded stock.

- Demand - supply planning: Run a weekly plan with the farm so harvest timing matches confirmed orders, keeping holding time and wastage to a minimum.

- Channel economics: Prove 2 - 3 channels that work, and track realisation, logistics cost per kg and returns for each. Exit channels that don't pay back.

- Collections: Enforce credit discipline from the first invoice.

- Team: Hire, train and manage field sales as volumes justify.

Phase 3 - Scale (Months 12 - 24):

- Deepen the three states: Cover all priority cities and resort belts in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, lock in annual supply contracts with hotel groups, build the distributor network and launch value-added products.

- Demand evidence for capex: Give leadership market data (demand, price and channel mix) to guide farm capacity expansion.

- Brand: Establish Terrace Trout as the recognised name for fresh trout among chefs in South India.

ONGOING ACCOUNTABILITIES:

- Revenue and margin ownership: Deliver top-line, realisation and gross-margin targets for the vertical.

- Customer-to-farm feedback loop: Relay chef and buyer feedback on size, texture, presentation and complaints to the farm every week.

- Reporting: Maintain CRM discipline and send a weekly pipeline, orders, collections and wastage dashboard to the Managing Director.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (INDICATIVE):

- Target accounts mapped: 150+ (By Month 6)

- Chef tastings / trial orders: 30+ (By Month 6)

- Active paying accounts: 10+ LOIs / standing orders (By Month 6), 25+ (By Month 12), 60+ (By Month 24)

- Harvest volume sold: 60%+ of first harvest pre-committed (By Month 6), 90%+ offtake per harvest (By Month 12), 90%+ offtake at scale (By Month 24)

- Price realisation vs. target: Price ladder approved (By Month 6), At or above target (By Month 12), At or above target (By Month 24)

- States / cities live: 1 state, 2 channels (By Month 6), 2 states, 3 channels (By Month 12), All 3 states, 6+ cities (By Month 24)

- Collections (DSO): Credit policy in place (By Month 6), <= 30 days (By Month 12), <= 30 days (By Month 24)

- Transit wastage / returns: Cold chain SLA signed (By Month 6), < 3% (By Month 12), < 2% (By Month 24)

Targets will be finalised against the approved harvest plan and volumes.

IS THIS ROLE FOR YOU?:

You will thrive here if you:

- Have opened a market, territory or category from zero, with no brand pull behind you.

- Are as comfortable carrying a cooler box into a chef's kitchen as you are negotiating with a hotel group's purchase head.

- Know that in fresh fish, a sale is only complete when the product arrives cold and the invoice is paid.

- Want to build something and be measured on what you built.

This role is not a fit if you:

- Need an established brand, a large marketing budget and a ready team before you can deliver.

- Have sold only ambient FMCG through distributors.

- Prefer managing managers to selling.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Must-have:

- 8 - 15 years in B2B sales, with 3 - 5+ years selling fresh, chilled or frozen seafood, meat, poultry, dairy or premium perishables to HoReCa and / or modern trade.

- A proven 0 - 1 record: launched a product, category or city, with numbers to show for it.

- Active relationships with executive chefs and purchase heads in at least two of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, ideally including hill and resort properties.

- Working knowledge of cold chain, shelf life, FSSAI requirements and credit control.

- Hands-on with CRM and Excel, and comfortable in a lean, start-up setting.

- Fluent in English and Tamil; working Kannada and / or Malayalam strongly preferred.

Good-to-have:

- Experience at a seafood processor or exporter, a D2C fresh meat or fish brand, or a hotel purchase / F&B role.

- Experience onboarding products onto quick-commerce and e-commerce fresh categories.

- B.F.Sc. (Fisheries), food technology, or an MBA in Sales & Marketing.

WHAT WE OFFER:

- A founding mandate: You build the business rather than inherit it.

- Direct access: You report to the Managing Director, and decisions are made quickly.

- A real farm behind you: Land, water and an operating farm are in place, so you sell from real stock, not a business plan.

- Earnings tied to outcomes: Variable pay linked to offtake, realisation and collections.

- Growth path: Lead Terrace Trout's commercial function and team as farm capacity scales.