| Friday, 24 January 2025 |
An abridged, narrative version of the latest episode of Two by Two, The Ken’s premium weekly business podcast Subscribe here
Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
It’s Friday, 17 January, 1.30 pm. The recording session for episode 26 of Two by Two is about to kick off—we have about 30 minutes to go.
My colleague Rajiv and I have just finished lunch and are heading to the studio when I realise I’ve completely forgotten to order coffee for our guests. There’s a Blue Tokai on the way, could I place an order for takeaway and pick it up before going to the studio?
This usually takes only a few minutes, but today, the app says it might take 30. Uh oh.
I check Swiggy. It’s the same 30 minutes, but this time, it’s for delivery to the studio. It’s cutting it close, but I decide to take the chance and place an order on Swiggy. It’s 1.40 pm.
We reach the studio and find that one of our guests is already there. Ramchander Raman, former president of Cafe Coffee Day and co-founder and COO of Nucleus Kitchens, is chatting with our hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan. Our other two guests arrive in quick succession: Thomas Fenn is a joint secretary at the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and co-founder of Mahabelly, a restaurant serving Kerala cuisine. Gaurav Saria is the founder of Infinitea, India’s first exclusive chain of tearooms and stores.
The minutes continue to tick down and I start to get a little worried.
Maybe I made a mistake.
But just as I begin doubting myself, the order arrives—and it’s well before 2 pm.
Phew.
If you are wondering why I’m talking about all this, it’s because my (and lakhs of other Indians’) scramble for last-minute coffee is driving one of the biggest stories in Indian business right now.
Just how fast should food be delivered? How fast can it be delivered?
If you ask India’s quick-commerce players, they’ll tell you—“very fast”. In 10 minutes. Maybe even less.
Both Swiggy (Snacc) and Zomato (Bistro) launched dedicated 10-minute food-delivery apps just a few days ago. Zepto’s 10-minute food delivery service has been up and running for a couple of years now.
It’s clear quick-commerce platforms see an opportunity in expanding into food.
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