Best Food Delivery Apps & Quick Commerce Platforms in India

Rapido, one of India’s leading bike taxi platforms, is now entering the food delivery space with a pilot project called Rapido Ownly in Bengaluru. This marks a bold and strategic move for the company, which has already built a strong presence in the mobility sector across more than 100 cities. Known for offering affordable and quick rides on two-wheelers, Rapido now aims to challenge major food delivery giants like Zomato and Swiggy by leveraging its massive fleet and hyperlocal expertise.

Rapido was founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR. Among them, Aravind Sanka plays a key leadership role as one of the primary faces of the brand. A graduate from IIT-BHU, Aravind started his career in finance and analytics before turning into an entrepreneur. His vision has been focused on solving real-world transportation and delivery issues in India, especially for the masses in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Under his leadership, Rapido has not only grown rapidly but also received strong backing from investors like WestBridge Capital and Prosus. Now, the brand is ready to take on the food delivery market.

Why Rapido Entered the Food Delivery Space

The Indian food delivery market is huge. For years, Zomato and Swiggy have been the top players. But many people feel they overcharge—through high delivery fees, platform charges, and inflated menu prices.

Rapido sees an opportunity. It already has a large fleet of riders across 500 cities. Many of these riders are active during peak hours for ride bookings. The rest of the time, they are free. Rapido plans to use this idle time for food delivery. This helps cut costs and increases rider income. Restaurants also struggle with high commissions from Swiggy and Zomato. Rapido promises a better deal.

Read more: How to Pair Beer with Indian Food: A Desi Guide to Perfect Pints

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What Makes Rapido’s Food Delivery Different?

The three orders through Rapido only showed clear differences from traditional apps.

• Flat Fees: There are no surprises here. You pay Rs 25 for orders above Rs 100. For orders above Rs 400, the fee is Rs 50. That’s it. No packaging fee. No surge fee. Even during rain in Bengaluru, the delivery fee stayed flat. That’s a rare thing in Indian food delivery.
• Lower Commissions for Restaurants: Restaurants are loving it. With Zomato or Swiggy, commissions can go up to 30%. Rapido charges only 8–15%. That means restaurants make more profit. It also allows them to keep the prices on Rapido the same as what you pay at their store.
• Same Menu Prices:  One major problem with other apps is price inflation. The same dish costs Rs 50 more when ordered online. Rapido changes this with its “offline = online” pricing promise.

Know more: 5 Restaurants to Explore in South India This Monsoon & Bakrid Weekend

Can Rapido Deliver at Scale?

This is a fair question. Running a food delivery business is hard. Fast delivery, accuracy, support—all of this matters. But Rapido already has a solid base. It has over 3–4 million riders in India and operates in 500+ cities. Many riders already understand hyperlocal navigation because of their experience with bike taxis.

If Rapido can build a good app and logistics backend, it can compete with the big players. Our experience with three deliveries showed the app is stable, and real-time tracking works well. The only area where it needs improvement is packaging updates from restaurants and live customer support. But that’s expected in the early stage.

Rapido vs Zomato vs Swiggy: Who Wins on Pricing?

Here’s a simple breakdown from our hands-on usage:

From a customer’s side, the pricing on Rapido is clearly more transparent. For restaurants, it’s cheaper too.

Also check: 12 Delicious High-Protein Foods to Eat Daily for a Healthier You

Funding and Future Plans

Rapido, the two-wheeler ride-hailing giant operating across 100+ Indian cities, is now venturing into the competitive food delivery market. Backed by a recent $30 million investment from Prosus and following a larger $200 million funding round led by WestBridge Capital, the company is gearing up for major expansion. With strong financial support and a vast logistics network, Rapido plans to take its new food delivery vertical nationwide. The goal? To reach 500 cities in 2025. This bold move signals Rapido’s ambition to become a key player in yet another sector of India’s fast-growing digital services market.

Check more: How Cloud Kitchens are Disrupting the Indian Restaurant Industry

Is Rapido’s Disruption Real or Just a Temporary Buzz?

That depends on three things:

1. Speed of expansion: Can Rapido launch in 20–30 cities quickly and maintain quality?
2. Restaurant support: Will enough restaurants join the platform to give customers more choice?
3. Customer trust: Can Rapido offer great support, fast delivery, and smooth refunds like its competitors?

The early signs are promising. Rapido is not just chasing growth—it’s changing how food delivery pricing works. It’s solving real pain points for both restaurants and customers. But the road ahead is not easy. Zomato and Swiggy have deep pockets and years of learning. They will respond. They may lower their commissions or reduce fees to hold ground.

The Road Ahead!

Rapido is stepping into one of India’s most competitive spaces—food delivery. With its flat delivery fees, low restaurant commissions, and a strong fleet of riders already in place, the company is taking a fresh approach. Its pilot program, Rapido Ownly, is now live in Bengaluru, offering meals at real restaurant prices with no hidden charges. If you’re in Bengaluru, it’s worth trying to compare the experience. For those in other cities, the rollout could be coming soon. The big question is: can Rapido maintain this model at scale and compete with giants like Zomato and Swiggy? The coming months will be crucial in determining whether Rapido becomes India’s next big delivery player or just a passing attempt.

In recent times, there has been a significant rise in the popularity of veganism and gluten-free diets. For ethical, environmental, or health-related reasons, some choose to adopt veganism, Keto or Gluten-free needs which involve avoiding all animal products. 

But even with the increasing demand, grocery shopping can still be challenging for people on vegan, keto or gluten-free diets. Specialty products availability might be restricted, and searching for suitable options in the typical grocery stores can be a time-consuming and tedious task. Here's where food delivery services come into play, providing a convenient option for people following particular diets.

Healthy foods like gluten-free diets or vegan food items are delivered by the food delivery services is making it convenient for the consumers to consume during their busy lives.  Food delivery services like Zomato, UberEats, Swiggy, Zoop, Rebel Foods and many others have healthy food options getting delivered at the customer’s doorstep.

Health On-the-Go

“Zoop simplifies online food ordering in train with easy access across various platforms, including its official website, WhatsApp, Google Chatbot, and Instagram, available in Hindi, English. Passengers can choose from a diverse menu, including Keto, Gluten-free Foods, Vegan, Italian, Chinese, North and South Indian cuisines and all the popular snacks. For those with special dietary needs, Zoop also offers Jain food and festive treats ensuring everyone can enjoy their favourite and even festive foods on train,” shared an official spokesperson at Zoop.

Offering Balanced Diets

“As more people prioritize their health and well-being, there's a noticeable shift towards mindful eating. Today’s consumers are not just seeking convenience—they're demanding nutritious options that align with their values and lifestyles, whether that’s vegan, keto, or gluten-free. According to Swiggy and Bain & Co’s report on ‘How India Eats,’ released in July 2024, India is expected to have 176 million health-focused consumers by 2026. In fact, 40% of consumers prefer to eat out at restaurants with healthy options, and 88% of active internet users in urban India manage their health through food choices,” shared a spokesperson at Swiggy.

He pointed that at Swiggy, they recognize this growing awareness and are committed to offering choices that are both diverse and nutritious. “Over the past year, Swiggy Guilt-free saw a significant 146% rise in vegan orders, with 70% of those orders being for vegan and guilt-free ice cream indicating the country’s tilting preference to continue indulging in their favourite dishes mindfully,” he added.

“Crafting these dishes goes beyond simply substituting ingredients; it’s about innovating recipes to provide the same, if not enhanced, flavours. Our vegan options, for example, are packed with protein and essential nutrients, while our keto and gluten-free meals are carefully balanced to meet nutritional needs without sacrificing taste. With advancements in technology and ingredient sourcing, we can offer more personalised, nutritious meals that align with individual health goals,” said Chef Vijay Pandey, Corporate Chef, Rebel Foods.

With the rising demand in healthy eating in India, it is quite evident that healthy eating in the busy lives will rise up in the coming years making it more popular among the consumers and it will increase in the food delivery market as well.

India's dining and food delivery landscape is undergoing a significant transformation. The country's culinary sector is thriving, driven by various factors contributing to an unprecedented boom in dining out and food delivery. From evolving consumer preferences to technological advancements.

Changing Consumer Preferences: One of the primary drivers of the dining out and food delivery boom in India is the evolving consumer preferences. Urbanization and the rise of the middle class have led to higher disposable incomes, encouraging people to spend more on dining experiences. Millennials and Gen Z, who form a significant portion of the population, prioritize convenience and novel experiences over traditional home-cooked meals. This shift has resulted in a growing demand for diverse dining options and the convenience of food delivery.

Technological Advancements: Technological advancements have played a pivotal role in revolutionizing the dining and food delivery sector. The proliferation of smartphones and internet connectivity has made it easier for consumers to explore restaurant options, place orders, and track deliveries. Food delivery apps such as Swiggy, Zomato, and Uber Eats have capitalized on this trend by offering user-friendly interfaces, multiple payment options, and real-time order tracking, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Rise of Cloud Kitchens: The concept of cloud kitchens, also known as ghost kitchens, has gained traction in recent years. These kitchens operate exclusively for food delivery and do not have a physical dine-in space. This model allows for lower operational costs and the ability to cater to a larger customer base. Cloud kitchens enable restaurateurs to experiment with multiple cuisines and brands under one roof, thereby maximizing their reach and profitability.

Diverse Culinary Offerings: India's rich and diverse culinary heritage has been a driving force behind the dining boom. Restaurants and food delivery services are increasingly offering a wide range of cuisines, from traditional Indian dishes to international flavors. This diversity caters to the varied tastes of consumers, making dining out and ordering in an exciting and satisfying experience. Fusion cuisines, health-focused menus, and gourmet offerings have also gained popularity, further fueling the industry's growth.

Innovative Marketing Strategies: Effective marketing strategies have been instrumental in driving the dining and food delivery boom. Social media platforms, influencer collaborations, and targeted advertising campaigns have helped restaurants and delivery services reach a broader audience. Loyalty programs, discounts, and promotions have also been effective in attracting and retaining customers. Personalized recommendations based on consumer preferences have further enhanced customer engagement and satisfaction.

Expansion of Delivery Services: The expansion of food delivery services beyond metropolitan areas has significantly contributed to the industry's growth. Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are witnessing a surge in food delivery demand, driven by improved internet connectivity and changing lifestyles. This expansion has opened up new markets for restaurants and delivery platforms, allowing them to tap into previously underserved regions and diversify their customer base.

Convenience and Time-Saving: In today's fast-paced world, convenience and time-saving have become paramount for consumers. The ability to order food from the comfort of one's home or office without the hassle of cooking or commuting has made food delivery an attractive option. The convenience factor is particularly appealing to working professionals, students, and families, driving the demand for quick and efficient food delivery services.

Government Initiatives and Support: Government initiatives and policies have also played a role in fostering the growth of the dining and food delivery industry. Efforts to improve infrastructure, promote digital payments, and support entrepreneurship have created a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. Additionally, regulatory measures ensuring food safety and quality have instilled trust among consumers, encouraging them to explore dining out and food delivery options.

The dining out and food delivery boom in India is a multifaceted phenomenon driven by changing consumer preferences, technological advancements, and innovative business models. As the industry continues to evolve, it is expected to witness sustained growth, offering exciting opportunities for restaurateurs, delivery platforms, and consumers alike. The future of India's culinary landscape looks promising, with an emphasis on convenience, diversity, and quality shaping the way people dine and order food.

In the era of everything ‘Instant’ from noodles to coffees to ready-to-eat meals, a common trait that displays all is the decreasing patient factor of consumers. In the restaurant world, how quickly they can churn out an order plays an important role in their finance, even the ratings. While the dine-in restaurants may excuse the timing in exchange for the ambience they offer, it may not be of any help with cloud kitchens and QSRs. 

Aggregators nowadays have started keeping a check on restaurants' Kitchen Preparation Time (famously known as KPT) while suggesting them to keep it low for better brand loyalty. But for chains who are preparing everything from fresh, keeping the KPT low may sound ethically wrong to them. But unfortunately, that’s the need of the hour.

For aggregators like Zomato, from the moment a customer opens the app until their food arrives at their doorstep, it is important for them to provide accurate information on when their food will be delivered. Giving a higher than actual time estimate can deter customers from ordering as does estimate lower than actual delivery time, which can then increase inflow to the customer support. Hence an accurate time estimation not only results in a better customer experience but can also reduce the burden on their customer support teams.

“As the pandemic changed businesses and online food orders soared, it dawned on me how significant and imperative it was to have a low and tightly watched KPT in our kitchens for not just delivery orders but also for take-away and dine-in orders. A lower KPT leads to better guest satisfaction, and service speed and eases work in kitchens and at the packing counter for our teams,” Varun Behl founder of Kebabs & Curries Company commented.  

For his restaurant and kitchen operations at this point, the whole team is focused on delivering orders out of the outlet at the quickest and earliest. “Just to put things in perspective due to these changes that we did our KPT went down from 25 minutes to 12 minutes. A massive reduction of 13 minutes per food order. All in all, our guests were receiving their orders 13 to 15 minutes faster than before and in the world of competitive food delivery, this is a big achievement. Imagine receiving your orders, ahead of schedule that is an absolutely wow-worthy moment for the guest,” he further informed.

One of the great way to master the art of better KPT rates is that the delivery orders are accepted in the kitchen itself and not on some distantly placed POS counter. “At all our restaurants/ outlets, point of sales (POS) and KOT printers were placed at our takeaway/ billing counters. After our team meetings on how to reduce the KPT, we decided to move all this set-up into our kitchen next to our packing area so that we could save more time on each order. This little enhancement helped us massively. Now receiving/ acceptance of all online orders, passing the order to the chef, packing part of the orders and final checking of the order started to happen faster, in close proximity,” Chef Om Nayak, owner of brands like Pasta Bowl Company, Bombay Meri Jaan shared.

With online delivery orders increasing immensely, in-car dining or take-away food getting popular and loads of dine-in guests at restaurants during these times as the pandemic has subsided is making kitchens even busier. Therefore, it is paramount to look at all the efficiencies one can achieve in the operations and make a better-managed outlet/ kitchen.

“With online delivery, delivery time is the most sort after metric that people filter restaurant choices by, even higher than ratings. The fact that companies like BlinkIt, whose USP is purely lightning fast delivery, exist, stands testament to how much delivery time influences consumer choice. Even when you go to a self-serve fast food counter in a food court, you want to grab your meal and head to your table without having to wait around for the food to arrive,” Kabir Jeet Singh, CEO and co-founder of Burger Singh added.

Burger Singh uses advanced inventory management, predictive order volumes and proactive kitchen prep to ensure the fastest turnaround time. On average the food leaves the kitchens of Burger Singh in around 10 minutes.

The importance of KPT got highlighted recently when Zomato announced the 10 minute delivery. In its table, Zomato has said that the kitchen preparation time for the 10 minute delivery system will be three to four minutes on average, as against the 15 to 20 minutes of average preparation time in the standard 30-minute delivery. The company says that this will only have limited, fast-selling menus that have a predictable demand.

Aggregators are advancing their technology to bring in the accuracy of time. Previously, Zomato used to calculate KPT as the difference between the restaurants accepted order timestamp and delivery partner order pick-up timestamp. This didn’t result in true KPT as the behaviour of a particular delivery partner during order pick-up became a part of the equation. This ideally shouldn’t be the case as KPT is a restaurant phenomenon. In order to correct this, Zomato introduced a Food Order Ready (FOR) button in the restaurant partner app. 

Restaurants can now mark it whenever the food items are prepared and ready for pick up. In the initial results, the company saw a nine percent improvement within five minutes of accuracy for the prediction. Zomato is also moving towards the newest paradigm in the world of data science reinforcement learning, i.e., a self-learning system, which updates weights as per real-time errors observed at a restaurant level. Given that food preparation time represents real-time behaviour, making such a system will be a more elegant solution for this problem statement, ensuring a smoother order tracking experience for the customers.

There’s no denying that customer is a king and he’s the one who can make or break a business and same goes for food delivery business also. At a time when not a single person, including a restaurateur can imagine a day without delivery, creating the same kind of experience at home has become crucial for many restaurant and delivery brands who are delivering the food at the comfort of the home.

Creating a hassle-free experience

“We work on a concept of “From plate to table” where our packaging is designed in such a way that packed food can directly be served on the table which makes it a hassle-free experience. Delivering on the promise of premium-quality, hygienic food with twists and turns, Madam Curry takes its patrons for a ride and whets their appetites like none other. Offering scrumptious bites and delicacies, the label is serving pure ecstasy as it goes experimental with its recipes,” shared Ishaan Kapoor- Founder, Madam Curry We had been working on this concept since 2018 but catering kept us busy and we could never work on fine tuning the product and launching it. The pandemic allowed us the time it required to actually bring this concept to life.

Also Read: McDonald’s looks at technology to deliver better customer experience in 2021

The evolution and innovation in the food industry have made it all possible like ice creams are delivered along with dry ice to prevent it from melting. Everything has moved online like payment for food or even the menu has become digital to order from. Mainly, contactless delivery and dining have become a crucial and growing factor given the current situation and also to create a never ending experience at home.

It’s all about quality

Quality is one of the most important factors people consider when ordering something at home. One miss and you have already lost your customer. Restaurants these days are coming up with healthier options, smaller menus, chef-focused menu, tasting menus etc to make sure the food is prepared in small batches with focus on quality and not quantity.  Also, they are making sure that the price range is also quite reasonable and pocket friendly.

“With 11 in-house brands under our belt and working with a range of partners from fast-casual chains to Michelin-star brands, and as a business focused on delivery, we have an in-depth experience on ensuring quality of dining experience in a delivery paradigm. From menu conceptualization, menu design, ingredients, packaging, and even anomalies of delivery, we invest a large amount of our brain and intellectual capacity into these components of our business model, with an emphasis on always exceeding industry standards and expectations. All of this, is a fluid discussion and interaction between departments; some concepts are hard to execute or don't stand up to the delivery model,” added Kent Wu of Taiwan-based JustKitchen that takes every detail of this into consideration, from their bag, to packages, to the food containers, and even how the food is held together and placed into the food container. 

Must Read: Quality v/s Quantity: Better Food over more Food is the way to go

Thus, we can say that with more and more brands entering into the delivery segment and more people wanting to eat at home, customer experience is going to lead the business at these places.

We have seen an absurd increase in the food delivery business in the last six months. With people sitting at home, ordering food at home has become a trend, pushing even the top industry leaders venturing into the delivery, dark-kitchen business. Brand like Lite Bite Foods, Speciality Restaurants, Bercos etc have already joined the cloud-kitchen race competing with the likes of Freshmenu, Rebel Foods and the likes.

What was appealing?

“In 2014 when we started the business, there were lots of on-demand apps that were coming across the world. Also, in India everybody had a smart phone. So, there was a clear idea that everyone can order from their phone. Similarly, on the QSR side we have seen that lots of brands in India have tried to become the Domino’s, McDonald’s and Yum! Brands of the world but high street rentals, labour cost which only keeps growing etc were some of the hurdles and the physical model have seen all ups and downs. So, we were working on a model wherein you get money from the customer but do not incur the rental cost. And, we were trying to avoid the rentals. Cloud-kitchen was not even the word then when we started Freshmenu,” shared Rashmi Daga, Founder, Freshmenu that is the pioneer of dark-kitchen business in India way back in 2014.

Also Read: How Swiggy Access has mastered the Dark Kitchens Business Model

Delivering for growth

The food delivery industry has shown stronger signs of recovery. It continues to grow back steadily to pre-COVID levels, with the overall sector clocking ~85%+ of pre-COVID GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), up from ~75%+ last month,” shared a Zomato blog in September.

“The food delivery business has grown in last six months for sure but for us it is recovery rather than growth. The industry has grown from March where we saw the business was shrunk to 10% to 20% of GMV but we have come back on track not just at Zomato but the industry in general,” said Rakesh Ranjan, Chief Sales Officer, Zomato. Not only this, there is high offline to online contribution during evening. “If we say in February the dark kitchen was at 40% of the new supply, today it is at 55%. So, there is a 15% increase but it is largely coming from establishments themselves who is looking at expanding or large establishments who are looking to convert their kitchens in to dark kitchen,” he added.

Bringing experience at home

One of the major issues that delivery joints have been experiencing in the past is about creating restaurant like experience at home. But with everyone venturing into the segment and more and more people preferring to order food at the comfort of home this has even become easier for players during the pandemic.

“One of the challenges that we see in dark-kitchen business verses restaurant is the number of boxes you do in the same time. I am running a dark-kitchen on biryani which is doing extremely well during the pandemic. Pizza, Biryani and dosa are some of the most ordered item while placing an order online through an aggregator or directly from a dark kitchen brand,” added Chef Koushik Shankar.

May Interest: ‘Ghar ka Khana’ is go- to food for Dark Kitchen Biz

While fear of COVID-19 kept people away from restaurants for a long time, gradually people have started feeling comfortable eating out. However, it will be long before normalcy is completely restored.

A new normal in which people practise social distancing and are concerned about hygiene is here to stay. For restaurants, this presents some challenges but also many brings forth opportunities. Restaurants that can adapt to the new normal will have an edge over those that don’t. A technology that will help restaurants thrive in the new normal is QR based ordering.

Challenges restaurants face today

For quick-service restaurants (QSRs), the peak hours are between 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm. During this time, customers line up at counters to order meals and long queues are usually formed at the counter. Impatient and hungry customers prefer ordering food from eateries where lines are shorter rather than waiting in long queues.

Also Read: Sheraton Brigade Gateway to reopen their doors, replaces menu with QR codes

For QSRs, this is a big problem. While they have the kitchen capacity to meet the demands of every potential customer, they lose a considerable number of customers due to long queues. Generally, most QSRs are located in areas where there are many other options for customers. To increase their revenue and retain their customers, QSRs need to find a way to serve every potential customer.

QSRs face other challenges as well. The staffs in restaurants are trained to upsell items like meal packs with an aim to increase the bill value. Despite being instructed to do so, the staff either hesitate or can’t convince the customers to order more. This means such restaurants earn less than they could.

QR based ordering is the perfect solution to these problems. Here’s why.

QR based ordering the perfect solution

A QR based ordering system lets customers pay directly from their table. Customers are saved from the hassle of having to stand in a long queue. As a result, potential customers don’t see long queues forming before counters and feel encouraged to enter the restaurants. With a QR based table ordering system in place, customers can decidewhat to order from their table itself. They can pay for it using their phone.

Must Read: Is QR Ordering Solution Future of Restaurants post Covid

A QR based ordering system works very efficiently. When customers enter a QSR, they sit at their table and scan the QR code placed before them. After scanning the QR code, they see a menu and prices of various items. They go ahead and choose items from the menu easily.

A QR based ordering system also recommends meal combinations to increase the bill value increasing the probability of higher bill values.

Advantages of a QR based system in new normal

A QSR that uses a QR based ordering system keeps contact between customers and the staff at a minimum. Customers appreciate this more since their chances of contracting COVID-19 are low when person to person contact is limited.

Another massive advantage of using QR codes is that restaurants can process more customers. Every QSR that uses a QR based ordering system can utilize its capacity to the fullest more easily because customers no longer need to stand in queues before finding a table. Instead, customers directly sit at a table which increases the likelihood that the restaurant is filled to optimum capacity.

QR based ordering systems time has arrived

Over the past few months, people have grown accustomed to paying for products and services using apps and QR codes. Hence, they are comfortable with such technologies. When customers see a QR code on a table in a QSR, they intuitively know what they need to do. Such is the degree of familiarity people have developed with QR codes. Also, customers recognise that a QR based ordering system is secure. The comfort of using their own app and phone for payments using QR codes is another advantage.

Restaurants that opt to embrace this technology don’t need to invest in expensive tablets and screens that make self-ordering possible. Besides, as QR based ordering is entirely software-based, businesses don't incur any capital expenditure when they transition to a QR based ordering system.

The new normal will take a little getting used to but people and businesses that can make the transition to the new normal quickly will have much more to gain. They will be ahead in the curve when it comes to giving customers the kind of experiences they want. For QSRs, QR based ordering systems are at the heart of providing a safe and convenient experience that customers desire in the new normal.

What are some trends that are on rise during the covid?

Some of the trends that have seen a rise amidst the pandemic are-

Safety & Hygiene- This is the most important focus for any establishment currently both for delivery and backend operations at the kitchen.

Fitness foods – According to recent studies, healthy foods category are picking steam.

DIY foods kits – These kits have become an interesting trend right now. It comes with an amalgamation of ingredients directly to the consumer to assemble & cook at home minimizing the risk of infection.

Also Read: Cook it Yourself: How DIY Kits are acting as a substitute for restaurants during lockdown

How the consumers' online order trends are evolving around during and after the lockdown was implemented?

At Cross Border Kitchens, here are some interesting observations from its brands Biryani Central, Bromomo, Chutney India, AIM Burger, Pind Patiala, Irfan Bhai &The Meal Bowl. A Cross Border Kitchens survey reveals how Delhi-NCR was eating during the lockdown. A survey we conducted showed that the cold beverage sale has declined tremendously during the phase of lockdown because medically it is advised to have warm beverages more as they are believed to be helping in building immunity. The era of eating together as a family is back because the survey showed how the sales of curries went up by 25%.

Who all are regular customers or age groups who are constantly placing online orders?

Anyone aged between 23-40 years is our regular customer.

What are the most preferred time and cuisine of the online order placed?

Dinner sees the maximum surge at around 7pm. Indian (curry-lead brands), Chinese and Burgers saw an uptake in the last 3.5 months.

Must Read: Chinese and Burgers saw an uptake in the last 3.5 months, report

What are you doing or how have you changed yourself to handle the rise in demand?

Our kitchens are typically geared to dish out thousands of orders a day. Therefore, managing any increase in demand is never a problem. However, the rise in CBK portfolio is not due to people staying in and ordering more. The F&B industry continues to face a demand failure. The rise in our overall revenue has come due to our continued investment in new brands and locations. Between March and June, we have launched multiple brands making many new locations live for CBK brands. During this time number of CBK’s brand points of sale increased by 156%, which is the primary reason for the growth in CBK revenue.

Why cloud-kitchen model is a success during this time?

A lot is being spoken about the cloud kitchen industry ever since the start of the lockdown. However, it is interesting to note that the food delivery business was poised at a much more aggressive growth in comparison to the dine-in industry even before the COVID-19 crisis struck. It’s safe to say that a sound business model was considered a safe bet prior to the pandemic but what has happened is that with most restaurants shut and delivery aggregators reporting up to a significant decline in order volume, a pivot to a cloud kitchen model has been championed by some as a panacea to the industry’s current woes. A few large hotel chains and some restaurant chains have also now started experimenting with this. Food delivery was deemed as an essential service by the government and hence food companies who could operate through the lockdown and gather consumer trust on their safety practices, like in the case of Cross Border Kitchens, continued to operate all through the previous few months. Stay at home became and to a large extent still is the norm – cloud kitchen brands fit perfectly well in this situation.

India’s recent 21 days lockdown has put a dent in the business of restaurants and online food delivery apps like Swiggy, Rebel Foods and Zomato, with daily order deliveries dropping 70% to under 1 million a day from the previous 2.5 million a day and restaurants are shut for almost a month now.

Bengaluru based food delivery platform Swiggy has raised $43 million as part of its ongoing Series I round to further develop and expand its new businesses.

The food-tech player has raised the funding from Ark Impact, Korea Investment Partners, Samsung Ventures and Mirae Asset Capital Markets participated in the latest funding round.

In February, it raised $113 million led by South African internet giant Naspers, along with Hadley Harbour Master Investments and Meituan Dianping. The latest investment takes Swiggy’s total round size to $156 million, valuing the company at over $3.6 billion.

“Our focus remains to execute on our vision while building a sustainable path to profitability,” shared Rahul Bothra, CFO, Swiggy in a statement.

According to the statement, Swiggy will use these funds to further expand its new businesses and continue to invest in grocery delivery, concierge services, and micro-delivery arm SuprDaily. Swiggy entered in delivery of grocery business post Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

Similarly, its rival Zomato raised $5 Mn in Series J Round from Pacific Horizon Investment Trust PLC. According to the reports, with this new funding round Zomato’s valuation now stands at $3.25 billion, close to its rival Swiggy which stands at 3.6 billion.

Earlier in January 2020, Zomato had raised $150 million as a part of a fresh fund-raise from its existing investor Ant Financial. The food-tech firm has also announced the launch of its Gold Support Fund in a bid to support millions of restaurant workers who are facing the possibility of losing their livelihoods due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

Also, Delhi- based dark kitchen brand Kitchens Centre has raised $500,000 in seed capital earlier this month.

AngelList India led the investment round with participation from investors including Utsav Somani, Jake Zeller, Jonathon Swanson, Ankush Gera and Revant Bhate.

Kitchens Centre provide ready-to-move-in kitchens along with the essential technology to takeout restaurants.

The group is planning to use funding to drive aggressive expansion into new geographies to enable hyperlocal delivery.

Founded in 2019 by Lakshay Jain, the company offers turnkey solutions to cloud kitchens—right from providing commercial space and kitchen infrastructure to assisting with branding, order management, delivery and maintenance services.

It has also acquired Posify, a technology-driven management solution for F&B brands. It allows brands to manage orders on a single platform, while also helping with inventory management, billing and delivery tracking.

“Apart from significantly cutting down on capital and operational expenditure of the brands, the network effort of things like order gapping, CRM support, customer data helps them achieve an average 25% increase in sales and better payback periods after partnering with us,” shared Jain who has brands like Wow! Momo, Beijing Street etc as clients on board.

Cloud-kitchen business or dark-kitchen business has not grown by itself. It goes beyond the lines on how customers’ are evolving and their consumption pattern is changing. And, how do you imagine the next session of the food business. Sagar Kochhar, CMO, Rebel Foods that owns some of the most recalled brands like Faasos and Behrouz Biryani in the segment talks about building a dark kitchen business whose revenue increased to 108% to Rs 310 crore in FY19. Excerpts from his speech:

Imagining the Future: There’s no denying that businesses are built on a thorough innovation. All top brands of the world understood well in advance that where is the customer headed. They understood the value of time value and convenience and that’s how they brought in the disruption in their own space. Now, when it comes to food the largest sale that you would think of will be McDonald’s of the world. That’s how few years back we thought that we need to imagine this vary part of the business. The customer’s lifestyle was undergoing a change, their consumption pattern were changing that’s what we imagined at Rebel foods. Like any other restaurant business we started 8 years back by coming up with an Indian side of the menu by doing Wraps and Rolls throughout the country. We will not build a 2000 sqft restaurant very heavy on capex, higher payback period and high rentals. We rented 200-300sqft area across the country. After, few years doing 40-50 stores we realised that being across space doesn’t make you to the food space. That’s how when we looked back seeing how consumer needs are doing a change. We looked at few data points and almost above 67 per cent of business was happening through delivery, 73 per cent of our customers have not even seen the store frontal yet they were ordering from our brand. That’s where we thought that if consumers are consuming us in this format why do we just constraint with the fact that we had to do the physical store. That’s when we started doing the dark kitchen model and in just one and half years we were at 150 locations setting 150 kitchens and that’s when we stumbled upon the big realization, going back to the same that we want to be the largest in the food space. So, to be the largest in food space you do not need just the footprints but you need to have an answer to every other craving that the customer has. You have to be present on each of those occasions when the consumer wants to order some food. We wanted to be the largest by creating unique memorable delightful experiences for every other occasion in the life of a user and with that as the core of it, as a mission statement came our next turning point.

Cuisine and Brand is Co-Related: If we as an organization wanted to cater to every other need in the life of a user let’s try and understand from their lens. How would a user consume food- on a regular day verses some special days? People move during these occasions. The fact that when it comes to food it always start with cuisine first. And, when you start thinking of the cuisine then you think of the very place i.e the brand. Basically, the category and the brand have a very special co-relation. Every time you order for your favourite cuisine you think what new can I try. Brand loyalty exists but people are bound to try new recipes.

Growth of Multi-brand: When we look at single serve brands we have Faasos, Lunch Box, for regular meals. For special occasions we have brands like Mandarin Oak serving speciality Chinese, Behrouz serving royal biryani and Oven Story Pizza serving the best pizzas. And, the motto still remain how do we create unique, memorable experiences.

Build a Brand and not just Labels: As a brand you need to have co-relation of what does a brand stand for? You need to have a brand story that consumer would recall every time they order food from you.

Hence, we can say that cloud-kitchen as a model is built on the fact that he has a recall value. With no capital risk, quick payback period of less than 12 months, 3-5% rent to sales ratio, it surely is an infinite game of relentless execution.

With food innovation, efficiency and focus on consumer experience, there is no denying that online food sector is organizing the unorganized sector. These players are not only tying up with big chains and home grown brands but are also partnering with local mom and pop restaurants that are running a small kiosk or takeaway joints.

“Delivery not in India but worldwide is the fastest growing opportunity and it will continue to grow in that direction. I feel that the cloud kitchen model and the entire system will also grow with time,” shared Prashant Gaur, CBO, Pizza Hut India who believes that to run that system we need to have a hybrid model where you have loads and loads of kitchen which is not visible to consumer but also some equity building signage because cloud ecosystem is over aligned on aggregators and the math is to adopt.

And, as more and more brands are capturing this market, experts believed that the way forward for such platform and the ecosystem is consolidation wherein all partners including restaurant partners, aggregators and consumers need to join hand on how does they want to run the model. “The case for food delivery business is really doing well. In India, we have to go through consolidating factors now and there has to be a right ecosystem phase in case of consumers, aggregators and restaurant partners,” said Vishal Jindal, Co-Founder, Biryani by Kilo.

Not only this, as consumers have got an habit of deep discounting and leveraging freebies, brands today need to decide whether they want to position themselves as a deep-discounting brand or a brand that believes in genuine customer.

“Once a consumer starts paying a lower price for a certain product and when you start to stop giving the discount how many would be willing to pay the full price is a question that probably is not answered because deep discounting is on for quite sometimes now,” added Raymond Andrews, Co-Founder, Biryani Blues that has got a huge fan base in Delhi-Ncr with its amazing range of biryanis and other non-vegetarian delicacies. “Restaurants have to decide on what is their cost of goods and in which they have to build in certain discounts because Indian customers like deals and if you have to play to it. Some brands don’t do any discounts but they are still safe,” he added further.

Commenting on the same Jindal added, “We don’t believe in discounts. We believe in genuine customers who believe in good products and food and not discounting.”

The business of getting food delivered at home has undergone enormous change. From expanding choices and convenience to allowing customers to order from a wide array of restaurants with a single tap of their mobile phone, these players are taking a product first approach when it comes to building credibility in the business.

“We need to change the product interface by product first and brand later by making it a product first experience, shares Munaf Kapadia, Chief Eating Officer at The Bohri Kitchen who is running a cloud kitchen business since 2014. If we look at bigger picture of the retail sector, for eg: if we are ordering a jeans or t-shirt from amazon it will give us a wide option of the product and not just brand. But when we order food through an aggregator we can’t order a biryani from the The Bohri kitchen and a Pizza from Domino’s in the same funnel. “So, why not we list product first and brand second by doing multiple brand within the same cart,” adds Kapadia who believes that aggregators have lots of information about what we like to order for. If they have started asking about what is your preference the whole idea of ordering food by the customer choice becomes easy..

Commenting on the same, Piyush Chourashiya, Director – Analytics, Swiggy points, “We have a feature called ‘Swiggy Pop’ which is a product first feature wherein there is a pop button where you go and get the single serve meal which is a product first approach.” Data has seen quite a bit of uptake from consumer point of view and the biggest learning for players like Swiggy and Zomato is that it takes away the cognitive load of which restaurants customer want to order a biryani, dosa from. “It is something that allows Swiggy to provide brand equity, the credentials, and the trust worthiness of the meal as well because we are actually keeping the menu secrecy, maintaining certain quality parameters, delivery parameters which we can ensure and give credibility to,” he concludes.

Meanwhile, Ganesh Bagler a professor of IIT- Delhi who has worked a lot on computational gastronomy and artificial intelligence in food is working hard to get the customer data right about food recipes and ingredients. “I think there is a huge scope for creating what is called as a computational food framework. When we started doing this work the whole idea was to get what is so different about Indian cuisine as compared to Italian or a Mexican cuisine in terms of data. So, we compiled the data, looked at the ingredients and said it is because of the flavor molecules and then we looked at the data of the flavor molecule. Spice is the fulcrum of Indian cuisine,’ he adds by sharing that it was when they went ahead and came up with applications such as pairing ingredients and knowing what kind of ingredients go together and what kind of ingredients pair better. The idea is to come with artificial intelligence which not replaces human being but enable them.

“When we are talking about digital transformation restaurants need to have a data scientist either within or someone who can help them from outside,” says Vinodh Rajaraman, CEO, EagleOwl.

Hence, we can say that digital innovation is important for sustainable growth today. One needs to be at it, and all the time. Mobile and web technologies have transformed the way business has been done. It has touched the food industry in a similar manner making the process of ordering food simple and fast.

In India there are four things that mainly attract and entertain people. It is bollywood, cricket, politics and food. These developments are set to revolutionise home delivery with faster availability of food at home or office.

The entry of food tech start-ups has led to a massive transformation of the operations of the Indian food industry. Growing disposable income and busy lifestyles of the young and working population, coupled with increasing internet penetration and rising smartphone users, will continue to drive India’s food tech market through 2021, says FICCI- PWC report.

In 2015, the food-tech sector in India went through a period of turmoil when several start-ups had to shut down. This was followed by a period of consolidation and correction. The situation turned for the better in 2017 as food-tech companies fine-tuned their business models and improved their unit economics. This consolidation wave in the food-tech space saw as many as 24 mergers and acquisitions between 2015 and 2016. In 2017, two predominant models—restaurant marketplaces and cloud kitchens—evolved following the upheaval. The recovery was led by a reduction in delivery costs and increased penetration in existing markets.

Also, players like Zomato, FreshMenu and Swiggy are trying to drive consumer engagement by creating new products and experiences such as membership clubs or loyalty programmes. The idea behind offering such experiences is to raise more business from existing clients, turn them into brand ambassadors and obtain new customers. Keeping the focus on consumers, smart curation and personalisation will rule the roost over the next 18 months.

“The success of a food delivery platform is a function of convenience, reliability and selection. However, as more and more restaurants come onto food delivery platforms, balancing choice with ease of using the app and placing an order can be a challenge,” adds the report. While most food delivery platforms have carousels with collections of restaurants, in the coming years, customising this function will help in reducing the overall time taken by consumers to make a choice and place an order. Just like when you open up Netflix and get recommendations on movies, getting food recommendations based on past orders and preferences will increase ease of use. Some of the food tech start-ups are also working with restaurants to improve and expand kitchens. For instance, Zomato, in its push towards a cloud-based kitchen, has now committed to investing US$15 million in Bengaluru-based Loyal Hospitality. Loyal Hospitality aims to bridge the gap between organised and unorganised sectors in the Indian food industry. It offers a platform to restaurant partners for planned exponential expansions without investments. Its shadow kitchen model is based on the concept of bringing all the best brands of the country together to serve customers through home delivery and takeaway.

“Goila Butter Chicken was born on Twitter. The first outlet was opened in June 2016 in Andheri where we started with a 400sqft space out of which 200 sqft each was dedicated for setting up kitchen and office respectively. We started doing 150 orders a day. Currently we are at almost 5 outlets doing almost 1000 orders a day,” said Celebrity Chef and Restaurateur Saransh Goila by adding that the whole food delivery service has helped us immensely to grow us as a brand.  “Food is a big mode of entertainment for people and our lives are so busy these days that nobody wants to go out and eat out. The ratio is changing very fast and hence the delivery sector is growing very fast at almost 90 per cent per month. The numbers, the ratio points out that eating in is the new trend and that’s the reason we have unicorns like Swiggy and Zomato that is pushing the growth of food delivery business,” he added.

The industry is changing rapidly and new F&B trends are entering the market every now and then, it is so rapid that even when you have a chance to experience one, another trend emerges in the horizon. The rapid changes in the way food is cooked and served, besides the evolving taste of consumers, has forced the hospitality industry to stay nimble and constantly experiment. The transformations present new opportunities and capitalizing on these by keeping on top of consumer trends will ultimately lead to success for restaurants. 

At the same time with the rise in food delivery apps, the consumer market has turned lazy and discount centric. A win-win situation for consumers, food aggregator services have proved to be a boon for them, however, it has mixed opinions for restaurant owners. Adding another source of income and a method of reaching to more customers, these aggregators have surely brought in more sales for restaurants, however, customer confidentiality and non-accountability of riders towards restaurants put the brand in a tricky situation at times.

Ordering restaurant meals for delivery is becoming an everyday part of life for many. Providing an ever-broadening range of eating choices delivered right at the door, Foodservice aggregators are on a rise like never before. In contrast to this the food and beverage (F&B) sector - the fastest-growing part of retail in India - grew at a rate of 11 per cent compounded annual growth between 2013 and 2017, according to JLL.

It is very important to have a top-class menu, having said that India's theme restaurants are connecting with consumers through great spaces that tell a story, it creates an inviting atmosphere and is providing with memorable experiences. Restaurants are designing picture-perfect spaces that customers share with their social media networks, which is also now part of the strategy. 

The theme restaurants often present us a story today, tales are shared in a manner that makes the consumers feel special. Visitors still love to explore quality food and service, and brands are today positioning themselves through varied food and culture stories and this has now become a tradition. The youth across the city is willing to splurge on the small, yet meaningful differentiating factor. 

With a report from NRAI consumers in India eat out at least six times in a month. The modern-day restaurants are aiming to give them the best of food and nightlife, restaurateurs and hoteliers are experimenting with newer formats and concepts to cater to the well-travelled, discerning clientele. As the business dynamics are always changing the industry is always on a lookout for ways that ensure healthy bottom-lines, innovating a variety of ideas for effective space utilization is a fast-evolving trend. Eating out will always remain a great way to relax and unwind. The ambience, the change in place, the service- everything comes together to set the mood for an enjoyable meal which one can not get it in the comfort of our homes. Where we go, what music we listen to and what we eat directly affects how we feel. 

The war between eating out and deliveries will never end and it should never do as well, one should always understand the fact that the market as a whole is expanding and food and hospitality is one business which will have a never-ending business and will always reach the skies. The fact of eating out and the dining concept will always remain a concept which will never die, the market players are coming up with new concepts and are experimenting with the best of the worlds. New cuisines, exponential interiors, world music and the bar concepts to die for. This is what the restaurant industry is offering and this is how the industry will always remain the talk of the town and how!

The article is authored by Dinesh Arora, Chief Managing Director, Eastman Colour Restaurants

Dinesh Arora is the creative genius behind the Swanky Unplugged Courtyard Connaught Place, the all-vegetarian Swad and the all-new multifaceted Unplugged Courtyard Gurugram and La Roca Aerocity, an upmarket Tapas bar is unquestionably one of India’s important restaurateurs.

While major food aggregators like Swiggy, Zomato and Ola Foodpanda have reshaped the dynamics of the restaurant delivery system, newer concepts like cloud kitchens are further revolutionizing the space. According to Redseer Consulting, online orders worth $1.7 were placed in the country in 2018; the market is set to reach $3 billion by 2020.

Anurag Katriar, Executive Director and CEO, DeGustibus Hospitality, says, “There is a visible shift of consumption from dine-in to delivery at work or home. I would like to believe that even the frequency of consumption of non-home food is growing but the average spend is far lesser.” The average spending of the consumers who order food from the cloud kitchen brands hovers between Rs 200-320.

The founders of PopWonMo, another cloud kitchen franchise, Krunal Shah, Imad Patel, Rajat Ryan and Kenneth Dsouza, feel the consumption pattern is “rapidly changing due to the sudden influx of substantial discounts from food aggregators who are constantly competing for acquiring new users.”

Anurag Katriar of Indigo Burger Project, which is the QSR and cloud kitchen arm of DeGustibus Hospitality, says, “I call it the ‘3C effect.’ Consumers have multiple choices, there is the convenience of ordering over Apps and the cost is also good due to deep discounting being offered by aggregators.”

Also Read: The Cost of Building a Restaurant in Metro Cities in India

New Entrants 

Though Zomato entered the industry in 2008, it was with FreshMenu that it first tested and validated the concept in 2014. Later, players like Faasos and Ola Foodpanda joined the bandwagon. Recently, Oyo Rooms has announced its entry into the cloud kitchen domain. The budget hospitality brand is, currently, doing a pilot of its first cloud kitchen under the Adrak brand. The Future Group is also mulling to enter the cloud kitchen business.

Multiple Benefits

Cloud kitchens work on a hub and spoke model and deliver food at the customers’ doorsteps. The cloud kitchens need low capital expenditure as dine-ins are strict no; that's how restaurants can save money on furniture, rent and miscellaneous services. Many small businesses, initially, take up the route of cloud kitchen formats to enter the restaurant industry.

The cloud kitchen franchise model helps lower the rent-to-sales ratio for a brand; the cost of manpower and rentals decreases. In addition, it also reduces the product price for the consumers. Rebel Foods, which operates 160+ cloud kitchens with brands such as Faasos and Behrouz Biryani, delivered kitchen sales growth of more than 75% in FY18 as compared to the industry average of 10-15% SSG.

Business Model 

To open a QSR (quick-service restaurant), the average area required is 450 sq ft for 20-30 sitting, whereas, one can operate from the cloud kitchen with just an area of 150-300 sq ft. A minimum of 25-30 lakhs is required to start a franchise unit of a cloud kitchen. The start-up investment cost includes lease rent, equipment, interiors, licenses and registration, franchise security deposit, franchise fee and operational expenses like the salary of the manpower and rent. 

The rent for 150-300 sq ft area is Rs 45,000-1 lakh. The lease rent costs Rs 6.5 to 7 lakh per annum. The equipment for cloud kitchen comes at between Rs 3.5-4.5 lakh. The cost of the interiors is around Rs 2.5-3 lakh. The licenses and registration and franchise security deposit are Rs 2 lakh each. The franchise fee is over Rs 3 lakh for a cloud kitchen of 150-300 sq ft area and the franchisee royalty is around 12.5 per cent on gross revenue per month.  

The manpower to run the store is around Rs 1.10 lakh per month; seven to eight staff for each shift is required. 

For Indigo Burger Project, Anurag tells the margin in cloud kitchen business is around 50% and fixed expenses are around 2.50-2.75 lakhs per month. “So if the store sale is 10 lakh per month, a franchisee can make around Rs 2.25-2.50 lakhs per month - 22% to 25%. Very clearly, it is a top-line driven business.”

The ROI for cloud kitchen businesses can be as low as 12 months, depending on the sale of the products.

Why Franchising?

PopWonMo founders find franchising in the cloud kitchen area to be fruitful because “it helps to spread brand awareness and scale up the business.”

Even if someone is new to the food service segment they need not know the technical know-how with cloud kitchen businesses. All they need to do is gather the products together and get them delivered to the consumers. “Your product will be consistent and all you need to do is to push volumes”, says Anurag. This way the brand can have control over the quality and supply of the product.

The franchisors provide their franchisees with supply-chain support, training, backend support, financial management, book-keeping, food costing, marketing, collaterals and activations and even talent acquisitions. The cloud kitchen franchisees get the support on the POS modules and get the training on monitoring the key profit drivers.

Lesser risk is involved in the cloud kitchen franchise model; it requires low expenditure and is the high-profit-margin business.

Expansion Plans

FreshMenu has set up a network of 39 kitchens in its three markets and is also exploring ‘kitchen-as-a-service’ model with food tech giants Swiggy and Zomato. The start-up, currently, operates in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. FreshMenu has delayed its expansion plans into Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai which was initiated in 2018.

Indigo Burger Project which has a presence of 16 outlets at present is looking for expansion in the west region of the country as well as in Bengaluru; the aim is to reach to 100-outlet mark. While PopWonMo operates two shadow kitchens - one is located in Bandra west and one in Andheri West in Mumbai. It aims to add five more outlets by January 2020; the targeted areas for expansion are Lower Parel, Worli, Malad, Powai, Navi Mumbai.

The food market is changing at an accelerated pace and for leading players in the category, going online is sacrosanct to expand consumer base and thereby revenues. Time-starved and convenience-seeking consumers particularly millennials are showing a great appetite for having food delivered at home, workplace and other convenient spots. Food technology and food service solution companies have majorly contributed to this trend. 

“Witnessing the growing demand for online delivery, LBF also forayed into cloud kitchen recently and we have received phenomenal response on the same in a short span of time. While we will continue to expand our offline stores, online delivery will be a focus area as well,” shared Rohit Aggarwal, Director Lite Bite Foods by adding that their flagship brand Punjab Grill is the top performing brand in terms of sales generated from takeout and delivery orders.

Also, Many times it happens that a customer has to roam in the market looking for a parking space which irritates him and he ends by either not going to the restaurant or opting for a home delivery. Everybody in today's time wants things to happen on the go. They prefer to get the order packed and have it at home comfortably. Hence, more and more restaurants are entering into the food delivery or cloud kitchen space.

Hitting on Millenials

Though there is no specific age bracket for takeaway orders or people prefer to pick the food while on-the-go but demand for such orders are high among young crowd and families that have working members. “Earlier only younger generation preferred take away as they can have it while they are driving or may be sit at a friend's place and enjoy the meal. But now what we see is that the age group for takeout is between 17-55 years,” said Kartik Aggarwal, Owner Bhalla King that does takeaway orders ranging from Rs 400-500.

On the other hand, brands like Lite Bite Foods, Massive Restaurants that are targeting on young generations are seeing more such crowd picking orders at their takeaway joints. “Our patrons, who order online are mostly above the age of 24 years with adequate disposable incomes,” added Aggarwal whose restaurant gets an order of price ranging between Rs.1000 – 1500 per order.

Rise of Online-aggregators

Zomato, Swiggy, UberEats and the likes have disrupted the dining out market with more and more people opting deliveries and takeaways. These players are also enticing customers with offers and discounts that is pushing off-premise sale of the restaurants and thus inviting more young crowds and millenials to get the food delivered at home instead of visiting a restaurant. Also, more and more people are now preferring online table reservation if dining out which is giving them a hassle-free entry into their favourite restaurant. “Zomato launched the table reservation platform in 2016 and today, Zomato is one of the largest processor of table reservations in India. In 2018, 10.5 million diners booked tables online on Zomato. The company currently receives almost a million reservations a month,” shared a press statement by the online reservation and aggregator platform. “The company experienced a 60% growth in the number of restaurants accepting online table reservations through its platform in 2018, which created more opportunities for users to reserve tables online and resulted in an incredible 3.5x growth in the number of bookings from the previous year,” it added.

Its popularity caught the fancy of people and with the unavailability of Bohri cuisine in the market; The Bohri Kitchen, a pop up that invites guests to illustrate the best of Bohri cuisine at Kapadia’s Colaba home, brought a different rage for all the food lovers, adding an extra zero into their business. Launched 3 years ago, this kitchen lets you savor a paid home dining experience with your friends and family.

In conversation with Restaurant India, Munaf Kapadia, Chief Eating Officer, The Bohri Kitchen shares how unintentionally he got into food business, changing the concept of Home Chefs in India.

The Food Journey

The idea to invite people over for a paid meal was a hit and that’s how The Bohri Kitchen, a concept food dining experience in Mumbai, was born. We started 3 years back and it started off as an experiment. Today, it looks like I am running a food business.

When we started, Munaf said,” The goal was to keep my mother busy and somewhere along those lines I discovered that The Bohri Kitchen has turned into an opportunity for me to try being an entrepreneur.”

Though there was a gap in the market, where Bohri food is unavailable, the concept of opening a restaurant demanded the financial bandwidth or risk capital to open a restaurant.

“It truly makes me happy with the kind of accolades, support we have received and slowly and steadily it’s teaching me as a person in terms of how patient you need to be and what challenges you need to go through while running a business”, added Munaf.

Make it Profitabe & Sustainable

The restaurant industry is currently going through unprecedented change with delivery as one of the fastest-moving trends in its history. As the availability of online ordering, delivery and related off-premise channels continue to proliferate, the impact on in-restaurant dining as well as brand and quality perceptions are an ongoing concern.

Munaf said,” The home delivery segment has immense competition in the market, and somewhere down the line, unless you are a multibillion dollar brand, you need to stop worrying about competition; you need to focus on what your strengths are.” And that’s kind what he is trying to do.

To crack the delivery business, Munaf is following food trends, and working on giving his menu a healthier twist. “Our story is defeating the clutter that we operate it”, said the young entrepreneur.

Like the spices that give a dish its distinct and palatable flavour, much of what goes into the restaurant business is hidden to external observers. Restaurants interact and engage with their customers in a limited number of ways, and much of what goes into putting their culinary creations before their patrons is hidden from view. All of these are functions vital for a restaurant to perfect, so that they can provide guests the superlative experience they desire. Most of the technology solutions in the food and beverage space have been customer-oriented so far but now technology has begun making its presence felt in the management of restaurants as well.

Customer contact points and how technology affects them: Today, nearly every visit to a new restaurant begins by searching online, or looking at its rating and menu on food discovery platforms. Customers want to see the menu and friend’s reviews before making a final choice. Even then, their interaction with the restaurant is often purely digital – an increased demand for food delivery means that orders are often placed over a phone or across the internet. These systems have largely been designed to make the lives of customers easier, and have added greater pressure upon restaurants to cater to customers across these new media and transformed contact points. From restaurant's point of view, efforts are also seen increasing to establish stronger connect points for their consumers using backend technology tools where they know what their loyal consumers expect.

Above the iceberg – dealing with customers

Restaurant discovery: Those looking to purchase a product or service today almost compulsively search online before committing to a particular business, so that they can make more informed decisions. A restaurant without a website, well-managed social media page, or an application is just not going to be able to reach the critical young audience that most outlets need today for revenue. These digital properties are incredibly useful for a restaurant, as they help potential customers find out about a restaurant and what it offers. They easily overshadow conventional solutions like offline advertising, as these digital representations of a restaurant can reach more people, are more customizable, and can be more persuasive at a much lower price point than large billboards in a popular part of town.

The Menu: A digital menu offers restaurants the ability to change what they’re offering to customers in real-time. No longer will waiters and order takers have to apologize to customers and say that a specific item isn’t available. If a particular item can’t be made on that day, it can be made to disappear off the menu in mere seconds, ensuring that customers don’t miss what they never saw in the first place. Digital menus have the added advantage of being widely available across all different order sources – over the phone, over the internet, or at the restaurant itself – making it far less likely that a customer will call a continental cuisine restaurant and ask for butter chicken.

Placing an order: One of the common complaints that customers have had in the past is receiving the wrong order because of miscommunication between them and the restaurant personnel noting the order down. Not only is this incredibly frustrating, it is a major source of waste and inefficiency, causing needless confusion, returned orders, and unhappy customers. Orders collected digitally are less likely to have errors, as customers will be able to see precisely what they select before they confirm the order. Even where the order is taken via a phone call, a quick e-mail or message confirming what the outlet got from the phone call would be immensely beneficial. Digital systems that curate orders offer greater accuracy, transparency, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Payment: Paying digitally has been a massive boon to customers, and has helped India shift away from being a cash-heavy economy. Digital payments are also a boon to restaurants, as it helps them keep digital records that are useful both from an accounting and a data point of view. Digital payment solutions can keep track of all receipts and expenses, while also reducing the possibility of unscrupulous employees skimming off the top.

Above and below – getting the whole picture: Taken in isolation, technology has the potential to revolutionize the customer experience across these different contact points while facilitating the smooth operation of the restaurant. But this is barely scratching the surface. In the same way that sonar can help ships get a complete picture of the full iceberg, technological solutions are offering restaurant managers and owners an ability to centrally manage all restaurant functions today.

Technology companies are providing owners with the ability to monitor and evaluate the restaurant’s operations from top to bottom, in real-time, through convenient and easy-to-use dashboards on web and mobile-based dashboards. In addition to aiding the restaurant across the basic contact points, technology also enables restaurants to communicate and engage with their customers in a variety of new ways which can add immense value to their business. They can help owners manage the inventory, alerting them when produce has gotten old; these solutions can even automate the entire process of ordering inventory, even using data to predict demand and reducing waste or organic produce. Further, they can help in curating orders to reduce inaccuracy; help manage and monitor restaurant staff; and communicate orders to the kitchen in an automated fashion, reducing the risk of the restaurant getting the order wrong greatly.

Perhaps most importantly, technology can enable restaurants to have a one-on-one relationship with their customers. Today’s data-driven advanced systems can review a customer’s history and suggest targeted promotions, curate customer satisfaction, and help restaurants make sure that their customers get the best possible experience. Restaurant owners, particularly in India, need to use technology to make sure that their business grows with their customers, bringing the kind of happiness and satisfaction that is guaranteed to make their business a success.

Digitisation has effected and has plunged through every part of our lives including how, when and where we eat our food.” More than 60% of population in India is below 35 years of age and very tech savvy” says a report from NRAI. It is important to reach out to this young India on platforms where they prefer spending their maximum time and can be engaged with. The trend of going out and eating our foods at a fancy restaurant is long gone. It is time for ‘Netflix and chill’. And to do Netflix and chill, people order food at the comfort of their homes. In times like today, when the youth works all week, their idea for fun is to sit back and relax. Food delivery has thus recently become a huge market in the business sector. An IBEF (Indian Brand Equity Foundation) report says the organised food business in India is worth $ 48 billion, of which food delivery is valued at $15 billion. Investment in food start-ups, which mainly include food ordering apps, has increased by 93 percent to $130.3 million, comprising 17 deals till September 2015, as against only five deals in 2014.

Why is online delivery trending

Many people have started to live their life through their smart phones and so the ability of a restaurant to be present in online environment–through social media, online ordering/payment, and delivery –determines their success. “We give this option because it’s much more convenient for working people and people staying at rental places. We use Zomato and Swiggy as it boosts the revenue of the cafe. The food delivery option is convenient and fast and increases our sales. “says Virat Suneja, co-founder of Hearken.

Rather than going to the grocery store to buy raw materials first and then cook them, customers can push a button and have their meal delivered in around 30 minutes from some of their favourite restaurants. Why would anyone want to change that! With an increasingly fast-paced lifestyle and reliance on digital technology, we're seeing greater demand for simple and easy services that can provide consumers with what they need in an instant.

Growth

Many apps like Zomato and Foodpanda have been developed already and are working day and night and are profiting so as well. One recent addition to it would be Swiggy, growing at 25 percent month-on-month shows how India is moving towards the future of food delivery restaurants.

“We understand ordering in is the most convenient thing to do after a long day. Everyone is so busy, and our sales increase especially on weekends. Zomato and Foodpanda proved to be some good sites. Food delivery has made us a household name in the area. The option definitely adds up to the sales. Also, the feedback option provided by online platforms helps us improve and maintain the standards.” Shares the owner of Men In The Kitchen, Dwarka.

The best thing about food delivery services for the cooperating restaurants is that in addition for the shipment, they do marketing for the restaurant as well. “The delivery process in itself is a means of publicity with the vehicles carrying our brand name, packaging etc.” She adds. Several people might discover the restaurant for the first time through the food delivery services. They might or might not have had knowledge about your restaurant, but when they see you on a trusted app, taking the experimenting spirits of the average millennial today, they are sure to order from you.

Food delivery Pros

Placing orders online or on such apps proves beneficial for everyone. There are special discounts for new customers, or discounts on various restaurants, always going on. A restaurant finder app can easily help you avail such discounts. Brands and outlets have started tying up with food delivery and hyperlocal mobile as getting listed on third party Aggregators has proven very fruitful for them.

Food delivery Cons

There can also be a few obstacles that come in the way of food deliveries. Such startups need tremendous efficiency in order to overcome real world challenges, meet customer expectations and turn profitable, all the while competing with the in-house delivery expenses of restaurants, which is not very large. Also, many restaurants still seem hesitant to get into this market due to their own valid reasons. “I believe in selling experience and not just food. Food delivery kills experience” expresses Udit Khanijow, the owner of famous cafe, Big Yellow Door, which hasn’t started food delivery yet.

“Your restaurant maybe a fine dine restaurant with a wonderful ambience, but food delivery equalises all food joints, be it street food, an international fast food chain or a local dhaba- all are clubbed together. If someone rates the food eaten at the restaurant a 10/10, the same food in delivery will only fetch 8/10 points.” Said The owner of Men In The Kitchen, Dwarka.

Conclusion

A lot has been happening in the online food ordering space where increased competition is making survival tough for various players. Although, a few have emerged glorious the future still lies ahead. Looking at the present scenario it can easily be said that many more such start-ups maybe seen soon in the market even with the cons that come with it.

Food trends in India are continuously changing with change in eating habits of the ever demanding consumers and the new concepts heating up the million dollar food service industry. From going to a restaurant over dinner or lunch, people today look out for delivery and getting their favourite food delivered to their doorstep. Seeking this opportunity not only the aggregators or delivery players who started this trend is betting big on this model but restaurants and food players are also eyeing this as the next ground to invest in.

Why Delivery?

For us our biz delivery is an opportunity to cater to a biz or customer for different needs. QSR remains a fast turnaround business and this business depends on quick service, shares Tanmay Kumar, CFO, Burger King India which has 15 per cent of the businesses coming from online ordering. For brands like Burger King and other players in the same space the key to their successes remain high traffic zone that’s how the biz is constructed. Now that many people want their food at their offices or home at ease, this is an opportunity which the QSR is leveraging and therefore for a QSR it’s an add on and additional opportunity as compared to the core biz.

Similarly, Raymond Andrews, Founder- Biryani Blues who started 3 years back serving the Hyderabadi Biryani wanted to take on the market- the office market where finger food was only options in meetings and team gathering. “We knew that this segment was available for the product and Biryani could be the easiest as it is non messy. It also reaches fast and that’s how we started. We are now about 10 stores in Delhi-NCR,” says Andrews who has 65 per cent of his businesses coming from delivery.

Likewise, InnerChef- a kitchen in the cloud kind of model has 100 per cent of the business coming from delivery either serves its foods or work as an aggregator by partnering with home chefs in the region. “When I set up my kitchen I do not look for a high traffic space ppaying the 1/10 of the space all restaurants are looking for and therefore I can use the full space for kitchens, larger space do more products and pass on efficiency to consumers and therefore we become more cost effective when I deliver the product to consumers,” adds Rajesh Sawhney, Co-Founder- Innerchef

The start-up also aggregate hyper locally especially in the category of home chefs. “80 per cent our biz is ours food and 20 per cent is the home chefs,” adds Sawhney.

Challenges involved

Delivery businesses may look as a lucrative space because of the attention it has gained in last two years from the investor’s diasporas, but apart from the glittery side the business involve lots of challenges both in the front and back end. Riding on logistic, the segment needs lots of backend support. As of now there is no delivery structure. There are few hyperlocal players and delivery aggregators doing deliveries for restaurants but, unfortunately the restaurant peaks happens on the same day and on the same time for all restaurants. Hence, the issue remains with the peak time orders and deliveries.

“In India Infrastructure is not ready and none of the POS are ready to integrate with this technology and it’s not seamless and the ecosystem is not evolved and other is the cost as there is very low margin,” points Andrews who is focusing on building Biryani Blues a delivery chain. “While we have backend in place, we keep on building restaurant. We continue to focus on mobile app, push deliveries,” adds Andrews.

The other Challenges which a brand or the restaurant faces is the convenience of the food delivered fresh with no error in the bill. Generally food is consumed differently with the type of offering one has. Large part of consumption tends to happened during certain part of the day. Therefore, the whole challenge is to get the right economics. “Quick delivery, good service and fresh food is what customers look for,” adds Kumar.

And, we can say that as a trend it’s an evolution and all restaurant biz is going through the exciting phase of the aggregators. It’s all about the right metrics!

How has FRSH helped in development of food tech business in India?   Frsh doesn't believe in food-tech word. Frsh is a food company and we use a lot of technology at front and backend space to make eco-system efficient and give customers a superior experience.

What according to you was major draw point that made food-tech players rule the industry in 2015?

People have realized that ordering things online is actually an efficient way for both merchants and customers. And, as they were buying every other stuff online for few years,  food, most essential product on the earth, had  to be bought online one day. 2015 was the year when people started focusing on food. But delivering food online is totally different from other online delivery companies because of its perishable nature.

How  are players like you  helping Indian food industry in digital promotion?

Online food delivery start-ups are changing the way people eat now. With introduction of many online food delivery companies, ordering food has now become super easy. Lot of people who used to skip meals earlier due to hassle of going to restaurants or ordering food on phone have now started ordering online. Earlier Domino’s was the only company, which people trusted on both food and delivery. But, now there are so many options and people are ordering food more these days.

What is your plan in 2016? Expansion (no.of cities, targets)

Food is a very difficult business to scale. You add delivery to it and it becomes even tougher, especially from unit economics perspective. Many things like product type, vendors, whole supply-chain, kitchen processes, delivery time etc needs to be set right at the 1st place before thinking of scale.

We have solved our food part, but delivery needs to be worked upon before we think of scale. Three months back we expanded our operations to South Delhi and Noida, but now we are scaling operations back to Gurgaon. We realized 1 hour is too long a delivery time for on-demand Food Company. We will now add 2-3 more kitchens in Gurgaon (currently serve whole Gurgaon with single Kitchen) and reduce delivery time to 30 minutes from current 1 hour. We will now take another 2-3 months before thinking of expanding Frsh to other cities.  

What inspired you to come up with the global platform for home chefs?

When I was alone and hungry, living in Mumbai, I use to miss home food. I was getting bored of eating alone. I use to go to restaurants alone and that too not every day. Moreover I always felt that there are people who deserve a better platform to have food.  There is a lot more contribution that mothers’ can give in than just watching Saas bahu serials. Idea is to give all potential food lovers, who can display their creativity of preparing amazing you give them the platform, that push and then they do it for the love of it. There will be two kinds of people one is cooking and other is eating. 

Please tell us about Glutme?

Glutme is the global platform, essentially a place where we allow home chefs to register and convert their own kitchens into a micro restaurant.  They can invite people for food, can deliver from home and can have pickups at places where we can’t offer delivery.

We are just a platform, it is your (home chef) and it is somebody else who desires to have that food. We are not controlling anything as far as kitchen is concerned. The kitchen partner is the most powerful person on this platform. Glutme is also a platform where people can showcase their talent of food. We are a listing platform. May be a home chef is not a good chef, but a good host; he/she may love to meet people, have food talks, and can rejoice around food. I think food is one of the elements that assist to mingle, interact and express with people and understand their culture.

Are there any criteria for the order to be placed on your platform?

We are not going to be committed about creating orders for a particular quantity of food. You (home chef) just start your restaurant in your own way and we will just enable. We will verify, we will authenticate, we will even train you, there will be training sessions where we will be interacting with the home chef community, and we will give them certain set of guidance and confidence so we will just give them the direction. It is completely home chef’s view about whom to accept, whom to call, whom to have food with, what to cook and how much it should be priced. It is completely their view.

Why do you think that home chef will really get inspired to list them on your platform?

We are giving them the power. We have simplified the platform by taking care of payment gateways and ensuring hassle free technicalities. And, apart from the motive of earning money, we believe in the taste of food, we believe in the fact that the food has a creator and a creator needs to be acknowledged

When and where are you going to launch this platform?

It will be launched in March this year in Mumbai. It is just something that we are experimenting, going out, talking to people. We are starting with Mumbai because the city has many social elements than any other city. People in Mumbai are very transparent.

Presently we have 70 to 80 home chefs listed in Mumbai.

What are your future plans?

First we are starting from Mumbai, then we will be launching in south Delhi, Gurgaon and Bangalore. Within a year we are planning to start our operations across all major cities in India. We want to be in at least 8 cites in India. Internationally we are looking at Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand and may be two or three cities in South East Asia. Basically, we are looking at cities with cosmopolitan culture, where people come from different background and there is mix of cultures.

What is the investment you have done so far?

We have invested about Rs 30 lakhs initially raised through private investor. In the next round of funding, we are aiming to raise $ 1mn this year from seed fund.

Initially, we are not looking at profits from this platform. Our priority for the next two years is to get maximum amount of people on our platform from both food and kitchen side.

Based in Gurgaon, Freshler is a food delivery model with a unique menu. It has fusion of flavours combined with the freshest hand-picked ingredients with a wide range of refreshing salads, juicy burgers, fulfilling sandwiches and selected beverages that includes smoothies, shakes, mojitos, sodas, detox drinks and many more.

How did the idea of Freshler come to mind?

The idea to start Freshler came up in Argentina when I used to reside there.  It was my love for food that reminded us about broken experience in this segment and we started accordingly. Everyone is just selling food but nobody is trying to sell food experience. We are trying to fill that gap.

How is the response so far?

Response has been fantastic. We have achieved 30 per cent plus growth rate with very healthy response from the customers. Our ratings and feedback from customers speaks for itself. .

What is the operation process?

We are food on Demand Company delivering food to end consumer at their doorsteps. To facilitate the process, we work along well trained chefs and delivery boys powered by APP and website to take orders.

What range of items do you cater?

We deal in different verticals as we want to be a one stop solution for tasty food. We have verticals like salads/burgers/meals/pastas.

How difficult/easy was it toattract customers?

I must say very difficult, but yes we have been able to bring customers to our platform. We just don’t sell food but rather a complete experience.

Who are your target customers and what are your marketing strategies for them?

We are targeting corporate and reaching out through events and BTL activities.

What is your average footfall and target revenue?

We are doing approx. 50 orders a day and looking to take this figure to 100 at a healthy ticket value.

What is your expansion plans?

As of now we will be in Gurgaon and will try to expand Q2 (2016-17) onwards.

Petoo is a smart QSR focusing on super fast deliveries of conveniently packed great Indian food. Its vision is to grow as one of the most loved food brands in India by focusing not only on great food but also fantastic consumer experience. Petoo, the name was chosen because they call themselves as foodies and love Indian food, sugar and spice and everything nice.

Petoo.in will be closing the series A funding by the end of this year and about to raise $5 million from PE investors. Where do you plan to use them?

Investment would be primarily used to make food factory to expand our production capacity and expand our presence across four more cities. We'll also invest in building petoo as a lovable and reliable Indian food brand.

As we have seen lots of start-ups in 2014-2015. What makes you unique from them?

We sell what sells i.e. dishes which are proven to sell most across various cities of India. It's not like trying to sell exotic foods where you have to actually “sell” your product and create demand. We focus on top 20 per cent of the dishes which are ordered more than 70 per cent of the times. And because of this, we have a strong differentiator which only players like us can do i.e. standardizing the food and making sure the taste is same no matter where or when you order it.

The second biggest differentiator is that we can deliver on-demand in 10 minutes or less because of the unique way we have built our delivery network. We simply want to disrupt the delivery model by setting a new benchmark in delivery time.

Tell us about your business model? What are heat maps?

Petoo is a smart restaurant which sells hyper local Indian dishes and delivers it through its hub and spoke model distribution network so that food can reach customer in 10 minutes or less. We are not there yet but the model has been developed to meet that vision. Food gets prepared at central kitchen so that food quality, hygiene and consistency of taste can be maintained and then these are properly sealed in convenient Petoo boxes to be dispatched to the delivery hubs. The last mile delivery is done by bike riders who pick up the food from hub and deliver it to the customer.

Heat maps are our internal maps used to plan our delivery system. It helps us separate very high demand delivery zones vis-a-vis low demand zones and load balance our delivery capacities ahead of time so that we can meet delivery timelines without affecting customer experience. It has been very crucial for us and helped us cut our delivery cost by 60 per cent without affecting delivery timings.

How do you manage to beat the dominos delivery time? What is the strategy behind the same?

We would ultimately disrupt the food delivery market by delivering hot food in 10 minutes or less by using our very hyper-local hub and spoke delivery system which we have tested in few parts of Bengaluru. It is definitely doable by proper mix of production/storage innovations and innovative hyper-local delivery model which we are building at this stage.

What are the different cuisines or varieties in your menu?

Petoo focus on the Indian food category as it is the largest cuisine category in the country and hence also has the largest market share. Petoo’s menu is localized and is based on the most popular dishes in the zone being targeted. Each city will have a different menu because food is a hyper local phenomenon. For example we cannot expect a Bengali foodie to gouge on Vada Pav.

What is the top selling dish at Petoo.in? What is the revenue generated out of it?

Biryani is top selling item followed by our petoo boxes. Biryani contributes to approx. 30 per cent of total revenue.

What is your expansion plans?

The immediate plan is to introduce our menus and improve our coverage in Bengaluru. Petoo was operating at 13 locations in the city and this week we have started operations at six more locations taking the presence to 19 locations in Bengaluru.

What was your present revenue? What is target revenue?

At present we do a yearly revenue of approx. four crores and we're looking to hit a run rate of 12 crore by next fiscal.

Tell us something about your company? How long has your company been in the business?

deliKitchen.in was started in August 2014. deliKitchen.in is collaborating with homemakers, professional chefs and restaurants on one platform to delight the taste buds of customers from every financial background. deliKitchen.in is poised to become fastest growing food tech startup in India. We are obsessed with technology and want to leverage it to get closer to our customers.

What are the exclusive offers you provide?

deliKitchen offers standard veg and non veg meals from multiple basket of home makers, tiffin service, vendors and restaurants like Preetto Kitchen, Deli Kitchen, GeetaRasoi etc. International cuisines, continental, health, diet and diabetic food is also offered by some of the vendors.

What packaging techniques do you use to preserve freshness and purity of products that you supply?

deliKictehn doesn’t use preservatives, we serve fresh food to our customers.

What are the return policies at your end?

All of our meals are backed by 100 percent customer satisfaction guarantee. If customer is not satisfied with a meal for any reason, they can contact us within one day after delivery and we will either replace the meal or credit the purchase price for that meal. However, for same day orders, customers can cancel within 30 minutes from the time of order for 100 percent refund.

How do you decide pricing for the Indian market?

deliKitchen.in is the platform to delight the taste buds of customers from every financial background and hence we have ‘complete food’ ranges from Rs 60 to Rs 2000. We keep very stringent quality control on our kitchens and we listen to our customer feedbacks.

From where do you source the products?

deliKItchen.in sources the raw materials from local market and super bazaars to cook the freshest food.

What is the supply chain process at your end?

deliKictchen.in sources the raw material, process them in kitchen under controlled environment, get the delicious food ready and then it reaches to the customers. deliKitchen.in takes the feedbacks and feeds-in into the process for possible improvements.

What is your expansion plans?

After successful completion of six months and reaching target of 200 orders daily within Delhi, we will be expanding to nearby cities and major metros.

What are your branding and marketing activities?

deliKitchen.in is focussed on getting good chefs and homemakers along with good restaurants on board. We take 15 per cent of order as commission from partners, for home kitchens, we provide delivery services too at additional cost to get customers we have many campaigns started as First order is free, it’s on us. We will delivery groceries worth your order along with second order delivery.  

What made you start Yumist?

It was simply the scale of the problem. The daily meal market in India has always been pain ridden, where consumers in their ever so busy lives have less and less access to simple goodness of homely meals. While everyone is building a brand of restaurant food, no one is building a brand of homely meals. This is what Yumist is endeavouring and this is probably the void which got us started.

How does it work?

When you open the app – we detect your location automatically – you select your preferred meal from our daily rotating menu – it takes a few seconds to place your order and the meal arrives hot within 20 minutes or less. We are operational in Gurgaon, South Delhi and Bengaluru at the moment.

You are from F&B industry and your partner is a techie. How are you integrating the same in delivering the best food?

I am an F&B entrepreneur and Alok is a tech entrepreneur. We bring with us a close to two decades of combined experience in our respective fields. Yumist exists as an F&B brand and we have no doubt that food is central to everything we do. Our entire operation is powered by technology at every level and it is at this sweet amalgam of food and technology where Yumist operates and allows for both of us to offer our best to Yumist.

You recently raised funding from Orios Ventures. Where can we see those funds getting used?

We raised our seed round from Orios Ventures in February 2015. The funds were primarily meant to prove out our model, allowing for enough iteration and learnings, while expanding geographically. We are currently in three cities and plan to gain further depth in our existing geographies through this raise.

What is the operation process?

We follow a ‘Hub & Spoke’ Model, wherein our central kitchen in every city acts as a hub which services our multiple fulfilment centres spread across the city. Our delivery executives are aligned to these fulfilment centres from where they make their last mile deliveries to the end user. All these moving parts are connected and powered through technology, which we tailor to our specific operational requirements.

How difficult/easy was it to get the people to order from you?

Since the gravity of the problem was such that compared to incumbent alternatives, the Yumist alternative was so compelling, that frankly it wasn’t the most difficult thing to get the early adopters to order from Yumist.

How is the response so far?

We have seen a 30 per cent week-on-week growth. The stickiness and repeats of customers have been spectacular; we have 70 per cent repeat customers on any given day.

What is the reason of rising food start-ups especially in the home delivery or fresh food segment?

Convenience and a cultural shift towards instant gratification is the main reason for food going the tech way. If we can order groceries and cabs at the tap of a button from the comfort of our living room, why not, it’s something we do at least thrice a day.

What is your unique marketing strategy?

It’s all been word of mouth. Besides using social media to get the word around, we don’t advertise.

As you have raised second round of funding recently. Where can we see those investments being used?

We will use that money to grow the team, to make our platform better, hire more smart people who can solve problems. We will put this money in improving tech platform.

Eatlo operates with a network of about seven chefs from where it sources food. What is your expansion plan in terms of getting more chefs on board?

We are never going to bring more chefs as we are working on selected number of chefs only.  In few months we may bring around two or more chefs only and will train according to our need. At present, there are nine chefs who are working for Eatlo.

As you have disclosed that with the fresh round of investment you will increase delivery locations to 20 from seven last month, what is the progress so far?

We are already in 18 locations and we are going to launch one or two by next week.

What is your view regarding the way people consume food has changed entirely in India?

People have become more adventurous in terms of type of food. Initially people use to eat mostly Chinese and Indian but now they have developed a taste for other cuisines like Mexican, Italian. People have become more aware about different cuisines like Thai etc and they even appreciate other cuisine and love to explore them. So in terms of taste it has definitely changed and they can differentiate things. Now the range has become wider.

How do you change your menu daily. What all is required in designing menu?

We basically understand that people don’t want to eat the same food daily.  We are working towards recreating people’s kitchen. Consumer wants variation daily, like I can’t have the same Rajma Chawla even if you have 30 things in the menu. The food should be made in a hygienic place, not spicy, good quality oil is used are basic things that we ensure. We also maintain a sort of change every day to give something new daily.

We only have five to six options and we make sure those options are super tasty and healthy. And then we view people response, how quickly how many units got sold that helps us. We crack data; make most decisions from the data and the customer feedback. That makes it a very simple process.

What is the main reason that Bengaluru is turning into a food-tech hub?

I think people are much more aware here about whole startup and ecosystem. It gives confidence to others to start up. People here are willing to experiment new things. Bengaluru is an adventurous place, people frequently eat out. So, there is lot of demand. And there is also supply of people.  People are early adopters of startups and even psychology you can start up like others.

What according to you is the top selling menu in Eatlo. What is the revenue generated out of it?

At Eatlo, not one is the winner. There are lot of thing which we make is very unique or regional special like Karele ki sabji, Halwa Kari, Dal Bati Churma, Makki ki Roti and sarson ka saag etc and that draws a lot of people to us.

These items sell pretty as much as others. People like to have simple food and in terms of revenue, these products are not different from other.

What are the new techniques and innovation in food you added to grab the customer’s attention?

We definitely make sure that all food is prepared fresh on demand unlike other restaurants, even are ingredient are fresh. We are also reducing wastage by not pre preparing and reusing things. We try to estimate things very accurately and it depends on data a lot and also uses techniques to make sure our predictions are accurate. We are also looking at automating things.

As we have seen lots of chef-driven startups in 2014-2015. What makes you unique from them?

We are trying to fall things in a very fundamental way.  If a person can’t buy a food at Rs 200 daily, then we make sure that we offer him something which is buyable to us also. We don’t believe in burning a hole in their pocket. We believe in fundamental things like pack the food, best service that they can get. We are not trying to make a Business model.  We ensure that they get food daily at an affordable price and delivered quickly.

What is the main challenge in operating this business? How do you manage it?

One of the main challenges is being able to predict what people want to eat today. The time when we try to predict, the food has been sold out and we can’t meet the customer’s demand. We can’t manage it till now.

What is your expansion plan in terms of locations and strengthening the team?

Team is growing and it will keep growing. And in terms of location, we are entering Gurgaon and Mumbai in next two months.

What is the number of orders that you get presently. And the target in next few months?

Presently, we are getting 1400 orders in a day. And our target is three times of this within a month.

In terms of revenue where do you stand today?

This is something I can’t reveal but we are doing really well.

How is Dineout different from other eCommerce players in the restaurant industry?

We are in the space of managing the diners’ expectations in terms of discovery, dining out and savings. Below are some of the ways in which we differentiate ourselves from the others in the food tech space.

• Online Table Reservations at top restaurants in the city • Great offers for the customers absolutely free of cost • Authentic reviews by real customers • Comprehensive tiered customer loyalty programme. • We plan and organise parties for our customer saving them time and money • Fully functional customer service division with late night support • A complete tech-based solution for the restaurants for table management and manage their database

You have also entered into the mobile app market; do you think eCommerce will give way to mobile commerce? How do you see the consumer’s behaviour changing in the near future?

Today, people prefer different devices depending on the online activity or task, the desktop v/s mobile skews by content category can vary widely. Categories such as Photos, Maps and even in the case of dining out too, are more often than not used on the go, lending themselves to heavy mobile usage, while the Portals and Business/Finance categories comparatively index much higher on desktop devices. Although Portals function as an accessible hub of information on desktop, the mobile environment is markedly different where apps have taken on the role as the gateway to the web.

We just released a very cool version of our app with fantastic integrations with Paytm and Uber, empowering the user with lucrative cash back options. And that’s how we are going to be moving forward.

In my journey with Dineout so far, I have seen the user behaviour change significantly. In 2012, when we went live, 75-80 per cent of our users were engaging with us on the phone/web and today we have around 60 per cent-70 per cent using our mobile platforms. So this does seem like the trend especially in our industry.

Talk to us about the opportunities and challenges being in your kind of business.

Our target demographic is urban population in Tier I cities where dining out has become fairly common. The growth in ‘eating out’ has been contributed to several factors including; the increasing middle class population, rise in the working class population, emergence of more nuclear families coupled with the rise in disposable incomes and double income households. The age group of 20-45 views dining out more as a lifestyle activity with the average urban consumer in that age group dining out 8-10 times a month. This has led to an explosion in the organised sector of the restaurant industry in India, which is growing at CAGR of 40 per cent and is worth 15,000 crore, clearly proving that there is a huge market waiting to be tapped.

First Challenge- To change the current behaviour amongst diners - from waiting outside a restaurant, to reserving a table in advance by educating them about the benefits of a restaurant reservation platform like ours.  The consumer is still not aware of the benefits of reserving in advance and specially by using on-the-go technology. Once this becomes a part of the habit, almost the entire eco-system will fall in place. We are seeing a trend shift for the good.

Second Challenge- Getting the restaurants to adopt technology is one major challenge. But that’s also changing fast. The new age restaurateurs are in sync with the latest technology and are at least open to the idea as compared to what was the mindset in 2012.

Although large, this business is extremely sensitive, how do you make sure that the quality of the products is intact and is in no way compromised?

When the core motive of the entire organisation is to help the diner come what may, this becomes fairly easy. We have opened all the channels of approach (App, web, mobile site, in house call centre and whatsapp) for the diner. And each and every aspect of the user engagement is closely monitored. We are very quick to make changes or adopt functionalities as per the user behaviour and user expectations. Our entire core leadership team is involved in the day-to-day, each of us owns a core piece of the user experience and stay on top of our game. This helps us keep the service quality at par with the user expectations and often exceeding them.

Tell us more about your business model.

Dineout is a table reservation service that enables customers to book a table using our mobile apps, the website and through phone concierge; at their favourite restaurants in town and provides them exclusive discounts, FREE of cost! We also enable Dineout users to plan and organise parties, corporate lunches and dinners, anniversaries etc for FREE without the hassle of having to call many outlets themselves. Our platform does all of that for them, thus saving their time and effort. We specialise in organising gatherings even in the tightest of budgets. Our restaurant partners love us for building this service just as much. By using technology, they are able to be very efficient with group bookings on Dineout, and are happy to pass on savings to Dineout users; it is a great win-win.

Our partners pay us a fixed fee per seated diner. So it’s based on customers not the table. This is a winning combination for a restaurant as nowadays any outreach to acquire customers is prohibitively expensive. Our channel is the most cost effective for a restaurateur today, as it is entirely performance based.

What would be the average orders that the website gets in a day?

In the past 12-months, we’ve doubled our monthly seated diners, and over the past quarter we are seeing strong growth of nearly 25 per cent month-on-month. Dineout has also expanded its footprint from 2 to 7 cities in that time frame. We have over 2,000 partner restaurants in 7 cities, where booking is possible.

Is there a particular segment that has a huge demand?

Today, the diner is spoilt for choices, when it comes to non QSR Dining. The user seeks a unique dining experience every time he goes out. And his search horizon is huge. And this is exactly where we help him out, doubling it with savings. To quote any specifics in terms of user demands, would be incorrect, since every user is repeatedly coming to us with a unique expectation each time. For example, the queries can vary from locality, to cuisine, to the dining occasion etc.

Talk to us about your business rivals and if you think the category is getting somewhat crowded today.

This is an emerging market, and it is expected for many to enter this space. However, as the ones who started this industry in India, Dineout is the only one with a national presence, strength of fabulous relationships with restaurants and a unique reward and loyalty programme which ensure that people stick to us because of our service quality. The category will take a while to get occupied, let alone crowded. 

What do you have to say about the changing trends in online food marketplaces?

The reason consumers prefer online over traditional (phone or in-person) means of searching restaurants is because it offers instant gratification. It’s all about being able to have the convenience to go online, look at a menu, look at the pics etc on the go. Plus, the social shareability and ability to chronicle experiences is what makes the online food industry so dynamic. So, I just see this trend rising at a tremendous velocity proportional to the rate of increase of smart phone users. 

Are there any new initiatives being launched at dineout.in?

As I mentioned, we have just revamped our app on android and iOS. Apart from that, the following; but not limited to them-

• Paytm integration- This is part of the Dineout loyalty programme, where users get the advantage of having a table reserved, discounts and additional savings in the form of cashback and loyalty points credited as points to their DINEOUT WALLET, which is transferrable to their Paytm wallets.

• Carlsberg Zone- Along with Carlsberg Club Glasses and Timescity, we have categorised some of our partner restaurants as per their service delight rating into a special Carlsberg Best Rated Restaurant Zone. This enables people to choose the right place to eat from a curated list. There is also an introductory promotion where Carlsberg Club Glasses serves our diners who book through the Carlsberg zone, complimentary refreshments. Going back to our basic goal of serving the user with exactly what he desires and expects.

• Host App- We have built a very innovative app for our partner restaurants, where he can manage his entire guest list and the establishments promotional communications through a single platform. The restaurant also has the means of tapping customer data and manage the entire CRM.

• Uber Integration- Now the user can book an Uber through our app whenever he books a table through us. This is our endeavour towards spreading more consciousness of ‘dine, drink but don’t drive’ philosophy. With the uber integration, the diner doesn’t have to go from one app to another – it is all done seamlessly, and the payment through paytm (which is a partner) completes the loop.  

• Luxury Dining- We have got most of the 5-star properties onboard with us with fantastic discounts for the diner only looking out for a luxury dining experience. The properties which are part of this programme are our giving us exclusive discounts.

FoodAbhi.com is yet to complete 1 year of operations and has already served more than 12k tiffins to its discerning customers in Mumbai. It has recently raised a seed round of funding from investors who are based in US, UK, Netherlands and India.

How was FoodAbhi born?

My wife (Shraddha, also a Co-founder) and I realized that owing to busy schedules, it is very difficult and inconvenient to find economic and wholesome, home-like meals on a daily basis. There was a huge connectivity gap between the unorganized tiffin services sector and the average individual. This was an unmet need and a pain-point that most of us recognize. This was our impetus to start FoodAbhi, where we bring together the domains of technology and daily meals. We launched FoodAbhi by partnering with quality local food vendors and providing last mile connectivity.

What is the process of partnering with food vendors and tiffin players?

We create a platform where different food vendors can come together and provide Lunch and Dinner meal options under one umbrella. The vendors can list with us after going through our quality and hygiene audits. Additionally, we also provide last mile connectivity for the vendors.This has enabled several of our vendors to expand their customer reach and now also provide tiffin meals for dinner.

What makes FoodAbhi different from other players?

FoodAbhi is India’s 1st online Tiffin’s market place. We enable several local food vendors to come together and create a marketplace for home-like and economic meal options. We operate in the unorganized tiffin services domain and work tirelessly to educate and standardize their offerings and modernize their operations. We want to bring vibrancy and relevance to the awesome dabba culture of Mumbai. We’ve started several industry first features that provide visibility, reach and transparency to our food partners and create choices,ease and flexibility for our customers.

You recently raised a seed funding from investors. Where can we see that money going?

Our aim is to make FoodAbhi the go to choice for any individual who wishes to have economical and wholesome, home-like meals. The funding will be used to fortify our Technology as a backbone of our operations. We have introduced some cool innovations for our vendors and customers –such as the ability to order tiffin’s for dinner, pause a meal or change a food vendor etc. Furthermore, very soon, we are launching last minute tiffin orders and on demand meals. We are excited to expand our services across Mumbai.

How many vendors are presently listed with you? Do you charge something from the tiffin vendors listed with you?

We have approximately 30 food vendors listed on our website to cater to a variety of tastes and cuisines. Our team is working enthusiastically to evaluate and add more qualityfood vendors to ensure that our customers get the best meal options. Food vendors are listed on FoodAbhi for free. We organize scheduled and surprise audits on a regular basis.

What is the order delivered on a monthly basis?

In only a couple of months of operations, we have delivered more than 12 thousand tiffins in Mumbai. Usually we get around 100 customers in a day and approximately 2000 tiffins on a monthly basis.We have some exciting activities planned this year. We are confident about doubling our orders in Mumbai in the near future.

What is your expansion plan?

We are planning to start our services across Mumbai in next few months and also enter cities like Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore.  

Hello Curry, one of the first Food-Tech start ups from Hyderabad announced their entry into the Bengaluru market last week. The company has launched units at Ulsoor and Saharanagar, through which they will cover the central business district and parts of North Bangalore respectively.

Why a food outlet?

Sandeep: The reason why I began a food outlet is when we travelled I saw that there are proper brands representing the Italian cuisine, Lebanese, Chinese or the Continental food. Whenever we want to have the global food of our choice we know which platter to order from. We also know they come in good packages. But, What about Indian food? If a corporate office wants to order Biryani for lunch it would be an exuberant deal. We want to make food simple that can come in good packages and in boxes with spoons so that people can just eat and then discard it. We want to make “Hello curry” synonym with good Indian food with great box packaging. One can eat during travel or during urgent office hours with absolutely no tension of high pricing rates or emptying pouches into plates. We provide food in discardable boxes and spoons.\\

Raju: We want one brand globally that can speak of Indian authentic food, whether the great tastes of Biryani or simple vegetarian food, we want Hello curry to be a synonym with great Indian taste.

What is exclusive at Hello curry?

Raju: Hello Curry has solved the puzzle for customers when it comes to ordering Indian food online. Due to lack of convenient options, working lunches of busy professionals have consisted of un-appetizing pizzas and sandwiches mostly because they are easy to carry and consume. With the unique Hello curry boxes, we are making tasty Indian food more accessible. Hello Curry has solved the puzzle for customers when it comes to ordering Indian food online. Traffic snarls and parking take the fun out of eating out. We are the first “Home delivery only” Service for high quality Indian food with award winning packaging.

Which dish is exclusive?

Raju: The Hyderabadi dish “Karam Kori” is exclusive of Hello curry.

Why has it been named as Hello Curry?

Sandeep: We wanted to basically invite people to our food and the best way to do that is to say “ Hello” and in India hardly people have food without tasty curries and hence “Hello Curry”.

Why ventured into Bengaluru?

Sandeep: We see Bengaluru as a good prospect since it is an IT capital. There are many corporate houses and lots of innovations are happening on ground of food here.

Raju: Here people come from all walks of life. Different cultures, different backgrounds and hence what else can work best for food.

How has been the success of Hello Food in Hyderabad?

Sandeep and Raju in chorus: The response has been tremendous. Lot of people loved our food and that’s the reason we are planning for expansion. In the entire sphere of food service retail, there is no reliable brand delivering Indian food with fast food efficiencies’. Since our launch in Hyderabad, Hello Curry has quickly established itself as one of the most reliable home delivery brands in the food sector and witnessed incredible reception from all segments of customers.

Tell us about your offerings?

Raju: We don’t have just biryani. Interestingly among the quick service players, Hello Curry is the only brand that boasts of six varieties of Biryanis and Pulaos, curry pots (Curry served with a choice of Paratha or Rice) as well as appetizers, rolls and stuffed parathas all in vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.

What made you come up with serving food in boxes?

Sandeep: We wanted to remove the table and chair concept for food to be eaten. We wanted to make it easy, affordable and with variety in Indian food.

How do you think that you will be able to make Hello curry an Indian global venture?

Sandeep: When we think about Pizza, Pizza hut comes to our mind. When we talk about chicken KFC brand comes to our mind. For Chinese cuisine it is “Mainland china” and when we want to order good authentic biryani or Indian food what comes to our mind. Some good restaurants, some street food. Hence we thought of evolving hello curry that could make Indian food a global venture with great packaging.

What are your future plans?

Raju: Our next step is Delhi and eventually whole of India. Later we would expand to global diasporas as well.  We have been actively engaged in discussions with a few investors to raise Rs 50 crore to expand our services across India. We plan to kick off our operations in NCR soon with the seed fund we have raised from SRI capital, owned by serial entrepreneur Sashi Reddi. Our aim is to become number one home delivery brand for Indian food in next 18-24 months.

Sandeep: Hello Curry will also be soon launching their innovative light on purse and right on the diet options weigh and pay in Bangalore so that one orders exactly how much they want to consume. Initially Hello Currys biryanis will be offered through “Weigh” and “Pay”. Customers can choose from nine different varieties of scrumptious biryanis, choose the exact portion size (in grams) as per their appetite and pay 50 paise per gram.

Sumit Maheshwari, a chartered accountant by profession together with Alok Mishra and Romil Kumar were talking about venturing into food segment for two years.

After much research they came across a fact that what is missing in society is quality food or the non-availability of restaurant to serve them the home cooked food especially for singles, working professionals and couples in cities like Mumbai.

Finally, the concept of ChatpataChef surfaced which they thought can address the needs of targeted segment.

Alok and Romil were earlier associated with food ventures whereas Sumit is a PE investor. Meanwhile, the entire menu was decided by Upasana Shukla, nutritionist and wife of Sumit.

In the new role, Romil takes care of kitchen operations, Alok looks after customer relationship, Upasana helps as in-house nutritionist and also help developing new menus and Sumit looks after overall strategy and corporate relationships.

ChatpataChef is focused deliver food which is tasty and of high quality. ‘The three things which we are focusing are taste, taste and taste,’ says Sumit.

The customers can go to the portal, chataptachef.com, select the five meal options that they offer, select the days (five or six) depending on their convenience. And select an option of COD as of now, but they are in the process of integrating payment gateways as well.

The starting price ranges from Rs 90 a meal to Rs 180 and the brand has tied up with Dabbawalas to deliver food in Mumbai. It covers about 60 sq km in the city. From Colaba Navy Nagar down south to malad goregaon in the north and Bandra, Khar, Andheri (E) are the some areas where people can taste the food delivered by chatpataChef.

The start-up is in no mood to expand soon as their vision internally is to become a regular food provider. It is also planning to come up with QSR model outlets across city.

Online food business is on the verge of experiencing an exponential growth with number of online food delivery services in the country. Talking to Restaurant India, Rohit Chadda shares his experience on what has brought this growth along with the brand’s investment and expansion plans.

We see a good number of online food, table reservation and restaurant review website have been launched in last two years. What has brought this trend in Indian F&B industry?

With the increased Internet penetration, consumers now have access to more information and they're willing to explore especially when it comes to food. Food delivery segment is growing at 40 percent which is much faster than the 25 percent growth rate of overall organised food retail in India. Increased urbanisation, growing population of working women and hence working couples and changing consumer preference due to higher disposable income and long working hours are the driving force to bring this growth.

Tell us about the business model Foodpanda follows. What got you started in this venture?

We're a marketplace for food ordering. We charge a commission from the restaurants for the successful orders we bring in. Our service is completely free to the end customers. India as a market has tremendous potential. The total food delivery market was at Rs 1,000 crore when we started in 2012 and is pegged to grow to Rs 5000-6000 crore by 2017. And this was a huge opportunity to bring in all big & small restaurants to a single platform. That's how we got started.

What is the tie-up and revenue sharing arrangement you have with restaurants listed on your website?

Currently we have more than 3000 restaurants across 15 cities in India. We charge a commission from the restaurant and our service is completely free for the end customers.

How do you ensure quality and delivery?

The major challenge we face is quality control and delivery times, both of which we monitor very closely for each of our partner restaurant. We have introduced technology in order to make sure our order processing times are below two minutes. Additionally we impose strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) on our partners to ensure they deliver the kind of service our customers expect from us. Non-compliance makes sure they are de-listed from our platforms.

Which are the cities you are present in? How many restaurants have you partnered with? Is there a discount if it is ordered from your website?

We're currently present in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Chandigarh, Ahemadabad, Vadodara, Jaipur, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai with 3000 plus restaurants on board. We've around 500 plus restaurant deals live on the website. Going by the responses we have been receiving we want to be the Google of online food ordering.

What is the payment model? Does the money get credited to the restaurants or do you pay them later?

For customers, both payment options cash on delivery and online payment are available. We have a credit cycle with the restaurants and transfer the online payments to the restaurants on a regular basis.

What is the investment so far in this venture? Who funded the same?

In 2013 Foodpanda secured more than USD 20 million funding from Phenomen Ventures, AB Kinnevik and others and another USD 8 million from iMENA Holdings. In Feb 2014, Foodpanda secured another USD 20 million from a group of investors including Phenomen Ventures.

So where can we see those investments are going?

The additional funding will be used in expanding to more cities in India as well as increasing our global presence and will be used to streamline operations to further improve our customer experience.

You recently partnered with Southeast Asian restaurant review portal OpenRice. What benefit can a customer expect from this partnership?

Although, we already have a list of reviews on our portal, partnering up with OpenRice ensures further addition of credible reviews to the customers which means our customers can make a more informed choice while ordering with us thus increasing convenience and improving customer experience further.

What is your expansion plans in India and abroad?

We're already present in 40 countries across four continents and want to expand to 50 countries by end of the second quarter this year. In India we plan to reach top 20 cities in the same time period. 

McDonald's, the world largest burger chain, is focusing on delivery business, brand extension and innovation this year to give a boost to its revenues in the country.

The brand which has entered into 20th year of operation into the Indian market, will sharpen focus on innovation, delivery business, and brand extensions like McCafe in 2016, that have "significantly boosted" the company's revenues in the past year, Smita Jatia, MD of Hardcastle Restaurants, the master franchisee of McDonald's India (West and South) told PTI.

Major focus

"We are emphasising on innovation, and our brand extensions like McCafes and our delivery business, which have significantly added to our revenues," shared Jatia.

The fast-food chain is also betting on alternative, healthy offerings in the face of competition. "We have a slew of innovations in our menu that we will unveil this year," Jatia said.

McDonald's is facing competition from other international chain of restaurants, most recently Burger King, besides Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts among others, and food-on-demand delivery services.

However, Jatia says that the entire category is still nascent, and needs to mature. "The more the category grows, the better for our business," she said.

The burger category is growing at a healthy clip along the western fast food category, which is growing at 13-15 per cent every year, based on industry estimates.

Betting big on deliveries

With advent of food-tech business and growth of delivery players, McDonald's says that its home-deliveries have tripled in last seven years riding the wave of food technology.

"Our overall deliveries have tripled in the past seven years, and it's a good time to focus on building it," Jatia added. "Nearly 40 per cent of revenues from the McDelivery Service comes from online ordering, and it up from single digits in just three years," she added.

McDonald's India had said last year that it is stepping up its operations in the western and southern markets by doubling its outlets by 2020 from the present 216 with an investment of Rs 750 crore.

McCafes were introduced in 2014, and there are about 62 so far, which is expected to go up to 140 by 2017, the company had said.

Online food delivery apps offer attractive discounts and deals, which in return strikes QSR to tie up and make quick meal through a click only. According to eMarketer, of the 22 percent of quick-service restaurants that have a mobile app, only 22.7 percent allowed for ordering, which found that fast casuals were ahead in this respect—58.3 percent of those chains with an app allowing ordering. “The growth of mobile food ordering is definitely tied to smartphones adoption,” said Krista Garcia, research analyst at eMarketer, New York.

Taco Bell was the first mobile order-ahead app that allows customers to purchase food from the app and pick it up without waiting in line. The app has significant success - with higher average order sales boosting total revenues and now many QSRs started to follow the same route, reported BI.

After the huge success of Taco Bell's app, other chains get a blueprint for launching these apps. This app has been downloaded two million times in the first four months and three out of four Taco Bell chains processed a mobile order on the app's first day. Other chains with these apps include Pizza Hut and Chipotle.

Where India stands?

Recently, Goli Vada Pav, an ethnic Indian food has tie-up with Foodpanda and Swiggy in Mumbai as a pilot. "We have already brought a hyper local partner on board for the same. Opinio, which is currently servicing the three markets where we will start home delivery by mid-Dec," said Venkatesh S., cofounder and CEO at Goli Vada Pav.

Earlier also, many QSRs has joined hand with online ordering apps. The apps offer consumer’s convenience and retailers the opportunity to drive higher revenues.

Burger King, the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the world has partnered with Swiggy to expedite its customer convenience by strengthening its digital presence. “Burger King is one of the most popular quick service restaurants in the world and we are proud to associate with them as their online delivery partner. This partnership will go a long way in enhancing customer delight given Swiggy’s service levels and Burger King’s popularity. While expanding our catalog we expect to create a large impact in the hyperlocal delivery space - customers can expect to receive their favourite burgers in 35 mins from the comfort of their home”, shared Nandan Reddy, Co-Founder, Swiggy.

foodpanda, India’s largest online food ordering platform proposes to associate with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). This association will enable consumers to order meals of their choice through foodpanda’s aggregator model and allow them to order from a wide variety of cuisine options.

“foodpanda is an innovative business model which caters to an important consumer need. Our association with IRCTC will be an offering which addresses a huge consumer need prevailing for years. For long, consumers had limited food options to choose from while travelling with Indian railways but the newly launched e-catering service by IRCTC (approved by Ministry of Railways) is set to change the way Indians eat while travelling. We are excited to begin action with the Delhi station by December and are looking forward to extending this offering to other stations like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in due course of time”, said Saurabh Kochhar, CEO at foodpanda.

Zomato, also earlier tied up with Paytm for online delivery payments. The food-ordering app launched a new ‘Whitelabel’ Platform, a new technology suite for restaurants to launch custom-branded native mobile apps and operate online. Zomato Order and Zomato users can now pay for online orders via their Paytm Wallet.

And hence, to increase the food frequency, generate customer loyalty, attract more customers and earn huge profits, the restaurant chains are focusing on better and a faster delivery.

Jubilant Food Works, which operates Domino's Pizza chain, has partnered with Zippr to use latter's coding method for delivering the orders instead of using consumers' address.

With this partnership, Domino's consumers will be able to share their address during checkout on its online ordering platform, reported PTI.

The location management platform has developed an 8-character code called a 'Zippr' which replaces the four line address. Now, Domino's online customer will simply use a Zippr code while checking out after placing the order online, instead of entering a four-line address.

The services will be started first in Delhi NCR region, expanding to other cities in the next 15 days.

"Delivery constitutes a significant part of our overall business and within that, the share of online ordering is growing fast,” shared S M Narayanswamy, Senior VP Marketing, Domino’s Pizza.

"This is really exciting for us at Zippr, this partnership will enable our customers to use Zippr on Domino's checkout, solving the last mile logistics problems and saving costs," Zippr founder & CEO Aditya Vuchi said.

Delhi based Sattviko has acquired food delivery startup Call A Meal for an undisclosed amount.

Started in 2014 by Kartik Singhal, Call A Meal is doing great numbers in Jaipur by offering meal services to homes and offices.

"With this acquisition, our focus is to strengthen the delivery service, which was always a secondary business for us and now we want to make it a key business," shared Prasoon Gupta, Co-Founder and Director, Sattviko.

After the acquisition, Singhal will join the core team of Sattviko to scale up its delivery service business that has been operational for over a year now.

The acquisition also gives Sattviko access to Call A Meal's custombers.

"They will now be targeted by the same team but with the Sattviko brand," Gupta said.

Sattviko which has been serving as QSR brand, is now focusing on bigger format by opening fine dining restaurants where the brand will bring the modern Indian cuisine into vegetarian format.

“We are sure that people will love our food as we have also brought celebrity chef Bhakti Arora of TV show Master-Chef India fame as our corporate executive chef,” added Gupta.

The start-up also entered the natural and herbal yogic products segment earlier this year and is selling the products through its own portal as well as ecommerce marketplaces such as Paytm, Snapdeal and Grofers. Present in Delhi till now with its four outlets, Sattviko is adding another four in its portfolio in Delhi within four months, one in Jaipur and IIT- Roorke and then will look to enter into Bengaluru and Mumbai market by next year.  

Zomato, the restaurant search engine, which has entered into the food delivery space in April, has launched Zomato Order, a separate app from where customers can order food.

Always focused on condensing tons of information into a ridiculously easy-to-use app, Zomato Order is being touted as second big app after Zomato Cashless.  The company says, Somewhere along the process of testing and rebuilding, and the hundreds of feedback emails we received, we realized we had to make a decision we were trying to put off for as long as possible – unbundling our apps. And Zomato points at three major reasons for this app.

More focus = less clutter = better UX

• ​Having two separate apps allows Zomato to build lightweight apps that get straight to solving the problems customers face.
• Actions that are core to the app experience can be given priority of position, and Zomato isn’t forced into making real estate compromises. For example, tracking your Order Status in the Zomato restaurant finder app requires a few taps; on the Order app, it gets its own tab. This might be the first time Zomato will be happier with shorter app session times :)

Independent release cycles = fewer updates

• While they might be part of one complete dining flow, using Zomato to search for a place to eat, and using Zomato to order online are two independent use cases for our users.
• Baking the ordering feature into the restaurant finder app might seem like the convenient thing to do, but that means having to coincide release cycles for two effectively different products in one. Unbundling them allows us to devote attention to both apps independently, iterate quickly, and push updates for either one as required.

Deep-linking = smoother app experience

• As is the case with most unbundled apps that come to mind, the Zomato restaurant finder app and Zomato Order will be linked to one another. So if you’ve found a place you want to order from on the restaurant finder app, a single tap will take you to that restaurant on the Order app, and you can proceed to add items to your cart.
• Once done, a single tap will take you back to the restaurant finder app, so you can decide what to do for your next meal (obviously).

In short, the long-term benefit of unbundling Zomato apps seems to outweigh the short-term downside, and aiming to make the process of using Zomato – whether it’s for search and discovery, or for ordering online – a simpler and smoother process for everyone, Zomato is really the market leader.

Zomato Order is now available for download on the App Store and the Play Store.

In the last two years, restaurant industry has seen several ups and downs, with closing of more than 500 restaurants in the country. Despite new and global brands entering the space, Indian restaurants have witnessed a drop in sales at their outlets.

Brands like Yum, McDonald’s, Costa Coffee, which have ruled Indian QSR segment for more than a decade now have seen a drop in their quarterly sales, forcing them to cut the size of their stores or close down a few of their outlets. Moreover, steep rise in service tax in the recent budget have further chopped off their growth, as food lovers find eating out more expensive now.

Reasons of drop in sales

The political and the economical scenario in the country are making the sales drop in Indian restaurant industry, believe experts. The beef ban in Maharashtra and Haryana is another deterrent to the growth of restaurant industry in the country. Many food joints have to cut down their beef and steak menu amid the state government’s ban on the consumption of beef resulting in a heavy loss to the eateries in heavy tourist areas like Mumbai, Pune, Goa and some parts of Haryana. 

Commenting on the same, Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, Owner, Fabrica by Saby and Celebrity Chef says, “I think there is an overall depression in the Indian economy because of the political and the financial scenario that is making the sales drop in Indian restaurants. We have a restaurant in Goa and it was noticed that there were no tourists and there were many questions thrown that why tourists didn’t come up, but in result, there were no tourists and we did no business.”

The restaurant industry has suffered majorly and is still suffering and in fact, many hotels and restaurants in Goa, Kochi, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi is shutting down this year as they don’t have the money to survive.

Meanwhile, consumers today are not willing to pay extra penny on their food and there is some kind of feeling about spending money making it a reason for drop in sales at the restaurants in last two to three years.

However, with new outlets coming up, it is also believed that the increase in competition has increased the eating out option for the consumer, making it tough for the existing players to increase frequency of their customers or make them comeback customers.

According to Vaneet Wadhera, Golden Tulip Hotels, “Sales in restaurants are not dropping, but being shared by the new restaurants which are opening up thus creating a situation where the supply is more than the demand. With more variety of restaurants available, people also tend to try the new eating house which leads to loss of revenue for one and gain for the other. This effect over a period of time leads to stabilising the sales for a restaurant depending upon the popularity among the locales.”

Sharing his view on the same, Chef Alok Anand, Executive Chef, Taj Coromandel, comments, “The situation is very relative because earlier there was less competition and customers also were not so demanding, so few restaurants could charge as per their wishes. In earlier days in India, visiting a restaurant was considered to be a luxury. Nowadays, there are quite a few restaurants in each locality. People also have travelled more, so they understand food in a better way as compared to old days.Hence, some older establishments are finding it difficult to inflate the prices and charge a premium so they say that sales have dropped. Actually, the volumes and the number of people visiting restaurants have increased manifold.”

And hence, it is no secret that restaurants need more customers to make their business healthier and sustain in a competitive environment.

Ever since Zomato announced its entry into the food delivery business, everybody is thinking whether foodpanda will have its share of ‘pie’ or Zomato will eat its business in the country.

The scene here is very different. foodpanda which has already become a market leader in the segment by acquiring two of its competitors, JustEAt and Tasty Khana in India, is not at all afraid of Zomato entering the same business, as it thinks it will indeed be a good opportunity for the segment in its fast growth.

“We do not see a threat from Zomato’s announcement as we have established ourselves for a while. We were the ones who initiated food delivery in India and have created our identity as a reliable food delivery player. Though Zomato has a much stronger market, but they have been operating in a completely different segment and this is something which will be new to them,” shared Rohit Chadda, MD and Co-Founder, foodpanda.

Zomato has become a global leader in restaurant discovery platform by acquiring its competitors in over 22 countries, whereas foodpanda has extended its operations to 40 countries and five continents. Not only this, Zomato has started opening its subsidiary companies in these countries to fasten its growth overseas.

“Over the next three months, we are aiming to offer this feature with over 10,000 restaurant partners in India. This feature will be available in Bengaluru and Mumbai and with more cities to follow, stated Deepinder Goyal, Co-Founder and CEO, Zomato.

Meanwhile, foodpanda is presently working with menus from 12000+ restaurants across 200+ cities in India available on its cutting edge app and website, foodpanda, along with its partner brands Tastykhana.in and JustEat.in, is helping people discover and order great foods every day.

Zomato's core content features include scanned menus, photos, and contact details, which are sourced by its massive feet-on-street team across the various cities it is present in; where users can rate and review restaurants, as well as create their own network of foodies for personalised recommendations can be used as a big data for food delivery business in months to come.

Commenting on the same, Chadda, adds, “It is going to be good healthy competition, as they are the largest restaurant discovery platform in the world, we are the largest food delivery platform in the world. And this will certainly help in the fast growth of the industry and the consumer as they will have good options to choose from two big players.”

As this industry is still at a very nascent stage, the multiple players will help in the growth of the market much faster. foodpanda initiated the game of the delivery services market and now with Zomato coming up in the segment, it is going to be easier and much faster as it will be going for a much bigger ‘pie’ rather than having two people and sharing the same ‘pie’.

Suresh Prabhu,Minister of Railways, has said that to provide freedom to passengers to select their meals from an array of choices including local cuisine, e-catering has been introduced in 108 trains on an experimental basis from January this year.

Food can be ordered through the IRCTC website at the time of booking of tickets. He said, the Railways is working to integrate the best food chains of the country into this project.

Depending on the response from the customers, the facility will be extended to cover more trains. It is also intended to set up Base Kitchens in specified Divisions to be run by highly credible agencies for serving quality food.

IRCTC has recently joined hands with with Jubilant Food Works, the parent company of Domino’s Pizza, on a trial basis, to deliver pizza across 12 stations.

The passengers can also send an SMS (“MEAL <PNR>” at 139). List of E-catering trains is available at website. The scheme is being extended to more and more trains.

Initially the services will be offered by Domino’s Pizza at twelve stations including, Agra Cantt. (AGC),Alwar, Jaipur, Ambala, Jalandhar Cantt, Mathura Junction, Muzzafar Nagar, New Delhi, Pathankot Cantt, VAPI, Bharuch and Vadodara.

IRCTC has already started e-catering services on a specific section (Delhi – Amritsar), on a trial basis, from 25th September 2014, in non-pantry car trains.

E-catering facility has been extended to 120 trains, and more number of trains is being added to the list every few days.
Presenting his first railway budget, Prabhu, brought a cheer to the common man by not announcing any increase in passenger fares.

He said in the parliament that Railways is introducing ‘Operation Five Minutes’ to ensure that a passenger travelling unreserved can purchase a ticket within five minutes.

Provision of modified ‘hot-buttons’, coin vending machines and ‘single destination teller’ windows will drastically reduce the transaction time.

For the differently-abled travellers, a special initiative is being launched whereby they can purchase concessional e-tickets after one-time registration. The Minister said, it is also proposed to work towards developing a multi-lingual e-ticketing portal. He said, the Railways will move towards crediting all refunds through the banking system.

Prabhu said, in Central Railway, Western Railway and Southern Railway suburban sections, a pilot project of issuing unreserved tickets on smart phones has already started. The Minister expressed hope that this facility will be extended progressively to all stations.

Automatic ticket vending machines with smart cards and currency options have also been installed at many stations.
It is proposed to proliferate this further and also to introduce debit card operated machines.

Introduction of integrated ticketing system on the lines of rail-cum-road tickets on Jammu – Srinagar route will be expanded.

In order to make travel on Indian Railways a happy experience, the Budget has given thrust on Cleanliness and proposes a new department for keeping stations and trains clean under Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

New toilets will be built at 650 additional stations; online booking of disposable bed rolls will be made available.

24X7 helpline number 138;toll-free number 182 for security related complaints have also been proposed in the budget.

Now, 200 more stations to come under Adarsh Station scheme; Wi - Fi to be provided at B category stations; facility of self-operated lockers will be available at stations.