Zepto expands food delivery business; takes on Zomato, Swiggy

The service focuses on providing fast deliveries of food items such as tea, coffee, samosas, and croissants, in addition to groceries.

Zepto, the quick commerce platform, made its foray in the food delivery sector with its new offering, Zepto Cafe launched in 2021, with a pilot project starting from Mumbai. With this move, looks like Zepto aims to compete directly with established players like Zomato and Swiggy.

The service focuses on providing fast deliveries of food items such as chai, coffee, samosas, and croissants, in addition to groceries.

In Aug 2023, the company secured a $200 million funding round at a valuation of $1.4 billion. 

Aadit Palicha, co-founder and CEO, of Zepto, stated in a media briefing that the startup aims to extend the Zepto Cafe concept to other cities after initially launching it in Mumbai.

Currently, Zepto Cafe is fully operational in Mumbai, offering an extensive menu that includes all-day breakfast items, chai, coffee, snacks, desserts, and more. In contrast, customers in Delhi and Bengaluru are currently limited to ordering only the Zep Cake Premium Classic NY Cheesecake slice.

Palicha emphasised the inclusion of Zepto Cafe, though a smaller category, with an aim to increase average order values (AOV) as customers are likely to combine grocery and snack orders. The food category also yields higher margins compared to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products, which contributes to Zepto’s pursuit of profitability.

A formal query was sent to Zepto to understand the strategic direction behind this new venture. However, as of the time of publication, no response has been received. We will update the story should Zepto provide further details.

On YouTube, several food critics have also reviewed Zepto Cafe, noting the distinct packaging used for the food orders, which differs from the usual Zepto branding.

However, the Zepto Cafes function as mini cloud kitchens within dark stores and source from brands like A1 Samosa, Chaayos, Blue Tokai, and Rachel’s Sassy Teaspoon. The platform is also aiming to achieve a 10-minute delivery time for their food orders.