Touch me not: Swiggy, Zomato, others to deliver your food 'contactless' as Coronavirus fear looms large

Online food service is gaining its ground and reaching its peak. People admire online food delivery service because of its simplicity, transparency and to avoid public places. People decide what they order, where they order, how they pay and when to deliver. All these have recently come into light after the fear of spreading Covid-19.

Coronavirus spreads mainly through respiratory droplets from the cough or sneeze of an infected person and to avoid this, people are avoiding crowded places such as restaurants and other gatherings. With most millennials prefer to order online, the demand keeps on increasing. At this crucial time, cloud kitchens are helping restaurants to keep up their work and acting as a savior to them.

Food-tech majors Zomato and Swiggy have announced several safety measures in an effort to combat corona virus.

Deepinder Goyal of Zomato tweeted, "A consumer can now choose for this option through our ‘delivery instructions’ feature. App update over the weekend will make this explicitly clear to everyone." Through this option, the delivery executive will keep the delivery on a clean surface outside the door, and the consumer receives a photo of the delivered food. The consumer can then pick up the package at their convenience,” he added.

While the Bengaluru-based startup sent an email to all its consumers stating the different measures it is taking to combat the situation. The main focus of the announcements were the different measures that the food delivery platforms were taking to ensure that their delivery partners followed all the safety and hygiene guidelines approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs. They also announced that the consumer will now have the option of choosing to ask the delivery partner to leave the food at their doorstep.

Commenting on the same Anshu Raj, Founder, caterspoint shared, “People have now stopped moving out of their houses and prefer to stay in closed doors. Eating healthy and right also is a major concern. Consumers are not in the favor to dine outside in the restaurants and hence this has given a rise in the demand for online ordering.”

Customers are ordering online but only from the trusted brands they are aware of. Brands are now stressing upon the measures that they are taking to prevent and provide hygienically assured food to them. Various steps like using of mask, hand sanitizers and washing hands is being practiced by all. This has given a green light to the brands for the customers who are frequently ordering online. “Through deliveries we can make them aware and also ask them what they suggest and precautions they are taking to prevent this virus. We understand our client’s psychic and are working on the same so that they get the best of what we can serve. We take care of the smallest details while preparing food and also we try to aware people through social media and other sources of how our delivery is quality assured,” added Raj.

Cashing-in on Delivery

“We are observing a rise in the number of people who have started ordering food because of work-from-home policies that have kicked in across India. We also feel fortunate that over the years we have built trustworthy brands that our patrons still subscribe to, in this cautious phase. It is not that customers are preferring more online food at this time, it is that given they are working from home in several instances, it becomes easier to juggle work with personal care when the requirement of food is managed by us,” said Raghav Joshi, India CEO, Rebel Foods.

It is now very apparent that social distancing is the most effective way to contain the dramatic spread of coronavirus. This means that many people are and will be staying at home while continuing to work and service their other responsibilities. It is particularly trying to be isolated in such uncertain times, and these players believe that great, delicious food can be a small but welcome treat from the difficulties that we face as we fight the battle against the virus. It is, after all, the simple pleasures that get us through the tough times!

These are unprecedented times, we’ve never witnessed an illness affect the community at such a large scale. The fact that it’s spreading quickly and a lot about the virus is still unknown, has made a lot of people concerned. What we do know is that the virus is spreading rapidly from person-to-person.