Zomato, the Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery company, is restructuring its 10-minute delivery service, Zomato Instant, following a period of low growth. The revamped service, now called Zomato Everyday, will offer customers affordable, home-style cooked meals. In a letter to shareholders, CEO Deepinder Goyal outlined the company’s vision for Zomato Everyday: “We believe that this is a large opportunity in a market like India and is relatively untapped currently. We plan to launch this soon in the next few weeks.”
Zomato Instant was launched in 2022 with the aim of predicting the most frequently ordered food items for a particular area, securing pre-mixed versions of those orders from selected restaurants and sharing them with Zomato finishing stations for delivery. A company spokesperson confirmed that Instant was not being shut down, but instead rebranded with a new menu and partners. The finishing stations will remain intact and no staff will be affected by the change.
The move to offer home-style meals is in line with changing consumer habits in India, where home-cooked food is becoming increasingly popular. In a recent survey conducted by Zomato, 89% of respondents said they preferred home-cooked food over restaurant food, citing taste, hygiene and affordability as the main reasons.
“We believe that our focus on offering home-style meals will resonate with customers and meet their changing needs,” Goyal said. “Our aim is to provide delicious, wholesome meals at affordable prices, giving customers the opportunity to enjoy their favorite dishes in the comfort of their own homes.”
While Zomato Everyday will no longer offer 10-minute delivery, the company is confident that customers will appreciate the new service. “We have received a lot of positive feedback about our home-style meals during our pilot, and we believe that this will be a successful venture for us,” Goyal added.
The decision to pivot away from Zomato Instant comes after the company struggled to find ways of growing the service. However, Zomato’s other services, such as its food delivery platform, have seen strong growth in recent years. In its latest earnings call, the company reported a 21.6% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year, driven by a 29.3% increase in order volumes.
Zomato’s move into the home-cooked meals market puts it in competition with other players in the space, such as Swiggy, which launched its own home-style meals service in 2022. However, with its large customer base and established brand, Zomato is well-positioned to succeed in this market.
As the Indian food delivery market continues to grow and evolve, it will be interesting to see how Zomato adapts to meet changing consumer needs and preferences. However, with its track record of innovation and its commitment to providing high-quality, affordable food, Zomato is likely to remain a dominant player in the space.
