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Appsolute delight for foodies

Before the likes of Swiggy and Zomato understood ‘xennials’ (or millennials, for that matter) just ordering a regular cheese pizza and a can of coke entailed a lot of human interaction.

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Manpriya Singh 

Before the likes of Swiggy and Zomato understood ‘xennials’ (or millennials, for that matter) just ordering a regular cheese pizza and a can of coke entailed a lot of human interaction. The steps started with calling a restaurant, checking if they deliver, and if they do, then placing the order (that too over noisy restaurant background or loud music); reading the 16 digits of your credit card… all for a margarita pizza and a can of coke! Till of course, along came the apps; with the advent of which industries changed, from fitness to fashion, but food much more so. If fast food chains were a breakthrough, then food apps have been a revolution, of sorts. Either way, the food business and the customers continue to prance around, together and happily! 

Browse, order & deliver 

Swiggy, Zomato, UberEats primarily and several other countless food delivery apps, available in every single city of the each and every nation possible, in unison, have changed the dynamics of the industry, affecting those in the business and even those who could never think of entering the food business. Opines Vipul Dua, serial restaurateur who runs Peddlers, Highstreet, Purple Rice, among others, “For our Highstreet, almost 25 per cent of the orders come through food delivery apps, which is great.” 

He adds, “This single feature itself has changed the dynamics of the food industry, in a way that several small players without any infrastructure for delivery can now enter the business by just tying up with these delivery apps.”  With retail presence online, and food delivery taken care of, now it’s even possible to enter the business without even a physical takeaway counter. 

Review & compare  

For better or worse, online food review platforms are available with a host of apps like Yelp to begin with.  Pradeep Singh Negi, floor supervisor, TGIF, “Quite a fraction of our business comes through online delivery apps. We don’t have our own delivery infrastructure because we have tied up with Swiggy and Zomato.” As for the review platforms available with each of these apps, there are always two sides to it. “For over 100 customers served, three to four will have their service or food or experience wanting in some way or the other.” As long as the unsatisfied reviews are a negligible fraction, they don’t affect us. 

Scan & switch

Scanning the bar-code of packaged products is one thing (with now ubiquitous apps like Fooducate and FoodSwitch), finding the nutritional value of a meal on the menu and finding its healthier alternatives, quite another. There’s Fit Foods Coach, a meal plan assistant that shows the best matches on the menu based on macro nutrient similarities of your diet chart (fat, protein, carbs).  Rajat Rawat, general manager, with a Delhi-based food chain,  shares how at the start of his career almost 15 years ago, terminology like food allergy, egg allergy, peanut allergy, gluten free, vegan dishes, et al, didn’t exist. “Now we need a sizeable number of dishes that cater to each of the above categories.” Hate it or not, technology is here to stay! 

manpriya@tribunemail.com 

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