The rise of food delivery in India

Food delivery has been a staple of the western world for a long time but it is too often resigned solely to late night laziness and gluttony. The West has adapted, offering supermarket deliveries for families too busy to deal with the crowds of weekend grocery shopping or too tired to drag themselves through the aisles after a long day on the grind.

And now, it seems, India has established itself as a burgeoning hub of online food delivery. Here are companies offering consumers the chance to have fresh, personalised, and prepackaged meals delivered straight to your door in cities all across India.

FreshtoHome offers everything from seafood to steak and, as the name implies, fresh, with next day delivery. They have recently launched their new ExpressStore, which will deliver in two hours or less (though only in certain locations).The food itself is remarkably cheap (by Western standards) and you can have a whole tuna delivered to your door for just 169R / 500g, which works out to about $2.60.

ID Fresh Foods are a bit of an anomaly in this list. Unlike the others, they do not offer full meals, instead they stay true to their roots having began as a simple store back in 2006. In the succeeding 11 years they have established themselves as one of the trusted suppliers of everyday ingredients. They offer traditional staples as chapati and parotas, having started out providing homemade food for the people of Bangalore and it is clear that they still strive to supply this, though not just for Bangalore, but as much of India as possible. Their slogan: Natural. Authentic. Homemade.

In a change from the other companies, FreshMenu offer their customers flavours from all over the world with selections of main courses, pizzas, soups and salads. The cool thing about them is that their menu changes everyday, not satisfied with simply giving you a taste of an unfamiliar country, they want you to try as many things as possible and they strive to keep things fresh. To further entice, they will give first time customers a discount, and will get it to your door in just forty five minutes.

Based out of Mumbai Fooditional are dedicated to providing their customers with true traditional Indian food (as well as a bit of Thai and Mexican). Like FreshMenu they change the menu everyday and offer a Classic Meal (150R), or the only-slightly-more expensive Supreme meal (150R). For the busy parent, these options are perfect if you want a quick, easy and (as is necessary with young children) popular dish to serve at the dinner table. Should you be wanting their services for bigger events they also provide a catering service for things like weddings, parties, societal events, and more.

One of the first businesses in India to really utilise the delivery service, MrNeeds has all of your essentials. Having started out as a micro-delivery service sending out simple things like milk, bread and eggs, they have since grown to offer a wider range of daily essentials and nowadays offer everything from groceries to baby products to electronics. Consumers have the option of organising a single delivery to a subscription and they promise they will get your products to you, everyday, before 9AM.

Mumbai’s Supr Daily came about after two IIT students quit their high-paying jobs and decided to sell milk, and have ended up making over $1.6 million. But it’s more than that. What Supr Daily wants to achieve is to allow everyone in India the chance to get their fresh milk first thing in the morning (they have everything delivered by 7:30AM).

Using WhatsApp, consumers will select their preferred brand (not just any old bottle) and have the chance to make an advanced payment up to a whole month. Recently, they have adapted their delivery routes to save money on petrol and work directly with farmers to ensure their product is not tampered with in the slightest. Operating much like the milkmen of old, only without the white hat and apron, Supr Daily prove that, if nothing else, the trends of our planet are cyclical.