Tag: food

Food delivery aggregator Swiggy has now expanded Bolt – its 10-minute food delivery service – to over 400 cities and towns across the country. Originally launched just two months ago, Bolt has rapidly grown from an offering in six major cities to a nationwide service that caters to both metropolitan and emerging urban markets.

“Bolt is changing the way customers are experiencing food… With all the customer love we’ve received so far and the growing excitement from both national and local restaurants, expanding Bolt was an easy decision. We’re thrilled to bring this experience to even more cities and homes,” Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy’s Food Marketplace, commented on the matter.

Much like Instamart – which is a quick commerce service that delivers groceries and other household items within minutes, also owned by Swiggy – Bolt aims to deliver food within 10 minutes right to the doorstep of consumers, focussing on dishes that require minimal or no preparation time. This includes ready-to-eat items such as snacks, beverages, sandwiches, and breakfast options. To ensure that the quality and freshness of the food are maintained, the service limits its delivery radius to 2 kilometers. So consumers can order food like ice-cream and not worry about it melting before they get their hands on it (this sounds similar to the 10-minute food delivery service Zomato had piloted in 2022, before phasing it out the next year and rebranding it as Zomato Instant.)

Bolt was initially rolled out earlier this year, in October, in a handful of cities across the country. This includes Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune, and quickly gained traction. Currently, it has penetrated deep into the Indian market – having a presence in several Tier-1 cities as well, including Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Indore, Coimbatore, and Kochi, as well as Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, such as Roorkee, Guntur, Warangal, Patna, Jagtial, Solan, Nashik, and Shillong.

According to Swiggy, Bolt has seen the highest adoption in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Following these regions, other states such as Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Punjab have also shown strong adoption of the service. Currently, it has partnered with over 40,000 restaurants across the country, including the likes of KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, and Starbucks, as well as local favorites like Gwalia Sweets in Ahmedabad, Shiraz in Kolkata, Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad, and Irani Cafe in Pune. So consumers have a broad selection of foods to choose from. In addition to this, it also formed partnerships with local eateries – restaurants such as Varalakshmi Tiffins and Akhshay Tiffins have seen more than 10% of their orders processed through Bolt.

Ola launches 10 minute food delivery service ‘Dash’, expands ‘Ola Food’ via ONDC platform

February 26, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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Indian ride-hailing giant, Ola – which saw its valuation cut to $2 billion by Vanguard earlier this month, is jumping into the quick commerce game — more specifically into the quick food delivery space. It today announced ‘Dash’, a 10 minute quick delivery service in the food space — a model that is highly debated, specially over what quality of food one can get served in 10 minutes. Along with this, it has also announced nationwide expansion of its food services ‘Ola Food’ with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government initiative to provide an open network for exchanging goods and services digitally.

At present, the Dash service is being launched in Bengaluru,. With the government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) – gaining massive popularity among startups and major conglomerates like Adani and Reliance – Ola is now trying to leverage its combined scale, efficiency, and cost savings.

Founded in 2010 and becoming a unicorn in 2015, Ola Consumer (previously ‘Ola Cabs’) has announced plans to deploy 100,000 electric two-wheelers over the next two years as part of its efforts to drive electrification in ride-hailing. Interestingly, this announcement comes at a time when India’s consumer regulator, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), is investigating (formally initiated on November 6, 2024) Ola Electric – debuted with IPO in August this year – over unresolved customer complaints. However, in its defense, Ola Electric claimed it had resolved 99.1% of the reported complaints to customers’ satisfaction.

Ola Food Expansion Plan

Speaking about Ola Food, this latest expansion will increase its operational presence to 100 cities. Backed by SoftBank, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners (now Z47), Temasek, and more, Ola Consumer – which neared 1 lakh daily orders on ONDC in August this year – is also looking to boost these numbers with subscription-free deals, offering 10 times more OlaCoins and other benefits.

If this is not enough, Ola Consumer’s new initiative – Dash – will offer freshly prepared food delivered in just 10 minutes. The company also claims that Dash delivers from a curated selection of nearby restaurants. With a pilot launch in Bengaluru, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company plans to expand this service to other cities in the coming months.

“India’s quick commerce landscape is at a pivotal moment, driven by technology and ever-evolving consumer needs. With the Pan-India expansion of Ola Food and the launch of Dash in Bengaluru, on ONDC, we’re offering a faster, more affordable, and seamless food delivery experience. This expansion reflects our commitment to democratising commerce, leveraging ONDC’s open network to make quality services accessible to all.”, Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman & Managing Director of Ola Consumer said while commenting on the latest development.

Zomato is back with 15-mins food delivery service

February 23, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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After scrapping the 10-minute food delivery service in 2023, Zomato has re-entered the instant food delivery market in 2025. The homegrown food-tech giant has reportedly launched a 15-minute food delivery service in select cities. This comes as its biggest rival in the country, Swiggy, launched its quick food delivery service – ‘Bolt’ – in October 2024. For now, Zomato’s new quick food delivery service is reportedly live in parts of Delhi-NCR.

The Gurugram-based company is planning to rapidly scale up this new service across the city. However, neither the company nor CEO Deepinder Goyal has confirmed this development yet. Under this new service offering, the Zomato app displays restaurants within a limited radius of 1.5–2 km for orders.

With this fresh development, Zomato may seem to be competing with its own quick commerce arm, Blinkit – which was acquired in 2022. Notably, last month, Blinkit launched a new standalone app – Bistro. This is also a quick commerce food delivery service. Using this app, users can order snacks and beverages and receive delivery in 15 minutes.

In the business sector, quick commerce has emerged as a new hot trend, much like AI in the tech sector. In India, the quick commerce industry is expected to reach $9.95 billion by 2029. It is also estimated to have around 60.6 million users by 2029, a significant increase from approximately 26.2 million in 2024.

Interestingly, in the quick commerce industry, primarily dominated by grocery deliveries, the instant food delivery culture is also rapidly gaining popularity. There are several significant players in this sector in India, including Zomato’s Bistro, Swiggy’s Bolt, Dash (Ola Consumer), and Magicpin’s MagicNOW. Among them, Zepto Cafe is also a prominent player, offering 10-minute food delivery since 2022. Last month, the company’s co-founder Aadit Palicha claimed that Zepto Cafe is adding 100 cafes a month and is currently clocking 30,000 orders a day.

Even though the 10-15 minute food delivery service has also attracted a lot of criticism over food quality and health concerns, it hasn’t stopped big giants from betting on it. According to a JM Financial report, India’s online food delivery market is expected to more than double, reaching $15 billion by March 2029.

In November 2024, Zomato completed its $1 billion Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) fundraising. The significance of this fund increases further as a major chunk of the proceeds will be deployed to expand Blinkit’s network of dark stores and warehouses. Talking about Zomato’s financials, it recorded a 389% year-on-year surge in net profit for the second quarter of FY25, reaching ₹176 crore. Meanwhile, it also reported a 68% increase in revenue, reaching ₹4,799 crore for the same period. Additionally, the company has $1.3 billion in cash reserves.

Swiggy launches SNACC, a new 15-minute food delivery app

February 23, 2025

Jeff Prescott

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After Zomato, now Swiggy is taking the “bite” out of wait times with the launch of its new app, SNACC. The app promises quick snacks, beverages, and meals delivered in 10 to 15 minutes, and is currently available in select neighbourhoods of Bengaluru. Going forward, SNACC will be expanded to other cities in the near future.

“Introducing SNACC by Swiggy: Your Go-To for Quick Bites, Beverages and Home-Style Meals Delivered in 15 Minutes! Craving comforting home-style food or a quick snack? Swiggy SNACC brings a delightful array of freshly prepared dishes and beverages straight to your doorstep in just 15 minutes,” reads the app’s description on the Play Store.

This development comes on the heels of Zomato launching a similar venture and making a comeback into the domestic instant food delivery market (allowing users to place quick orders from nearby restaurants within a radius of 2 km). Recent years have seen a steady growth of the demand for fast food delivery services, particularly in urban centres like Bengaluru, where consumers are increasingly looking for convenience in their dining experiences. This shift is largely driven by millennials and Gen Z, who have grown accustomed to the immediacy that modern technology provides, including in the food sector.

This is where the new standalone app comes in, and SNACC is set to offer a menu that includes breakfast items, light meals, snacks, and beverages, all delivered within a short window of time. Partnerships with popular brands like Blue Tokai and The Whole Truth are featured alongside unbranded offerings sourced from third-party food providers, and the app caters to the needs of consumers who have little time to wait for food but still want access to high-quality, hassle-free meals. With the app, users will have access to all the quick-bite options, enabling them to skip the time-consuming process of browsing through extensive menus, before making their choice and placing their orders. Users in the available regions can download the SNACC app from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

The launch of SNACC marks a departure from Swiggy’s established business model and “one-size-fits-all” approach, in which all of its services—including food delivery, quick commerce, hyperlocal delivery, and dining-out options—were integrated into the same app. This has made navigating Swiggy quite complex and time-consuming, and the launch of separate apps can cut down on time spent browsing the overall app. It also mirrors moves made by rivals like Zepto and Blinkit, which have developed standalone apps for their rapid food delivery services, Zepto Cafe and Blinkit Bistro, respectively. Similarly, Ola has entered the fray with Ola Dash, a service offering food delivery in 10 minutes in Bengaluru, with plans for a nationwide rollout. In addition to these players, Swiggy is also up against other emerging names like Magicpin, which recently launched magicNOW, a service offering 15-minute deliveries across six major cities.

Ola Food Expansion Plan

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