Chennai, NFAPost: It’s been more than four months now since the government announced the first Lockdown. Staying indoors and working from home have become the ‘new normal’ now. People across the country took to cooking, especially baking, and started sharing the same on social media. But for many, ordering in from select restaurants and food delivery services are like a lifeline.
During this time, Swiggy, the leading on-demand delivery platform delivered food, grocery and other essentials, helping India stay indoors. In addition to thousands of restaurants and several 5-star hotels, national supermarket chains, local convenience stores and FMCG brands have partnered with Swiggy Genie and Grocery to make essential items and culinary delights more accessible to citizens.
While the quarantine has opened a Pandora’s box of behavioral changes that have become the ‘new normal’, some old habits die hard. For instance, India’s love for Biryani continues to grow, even today.
Swiggy released StatEATistics: The Quarantine Edition, an order analysis that reveals what Indians have been ordering for the past few months.
It said that while the battle is far from over, it is good to see people spend on safety precautions. Swiggy delivered over 73,000 bottles of sanitizers and hand wash along with 47,000 face masks as the definition of ‘essentials’ changed during these uncertain times.
Founded in 2014, Swiggy connects consumers to thousands of restaurants and stores in over 500 cities. The findings are derived from Swiggy’s order analysis in the past few months across cities that Swiggy is present in.
Top takeaways:
Distancing rules don’t apply to Biryani
As far as food is concerned, data shows that when people weren’t whipping up Dalgonas or baking Banana Bread, they found comfort in their Biryanis, which continued to rule the roost with nearly 5.5 lakh orders. Clearly, no distancing rules applied to the ever-favorite Biryani! This was followed by orders for Butter Naan and Masala Dosa.
When you needed a pick-me-up, nearly 1,29,000 of you turned to Choco Lava Cake
While last year, Indians indulged the most into Faloodas, this year, Swiggy witnessed the moist and decadent Choco Lava Cake grab the top desserts slot. Around 1,29,000 Choco Lava Cake orders were placed to satiate those sweet cravings in the past few months of the lockdown period. The humble Gulab jamun and chic Butterscotch Mousse Cake followed suit. This surge is clear that in times like these, everybody needs a pick-me-up.
Sharp 8 PM
Whether working from home or not, one thing is for sure – most Indians love to have their food on time. On average, 65,000 meal orders were placed by 8pm each day to make sure food arrives in time for dinner. This was thus the busiest hour for Swiggy delivery partners and restaurants. On average, they chose to tip Rs 23.65, with one particularly generous customer tipping Rs 2,500.
Key trends from Swiggy StatEATistics:
- As birthday parties moved to video calls, and virtual cake cutting sessions, Swiggy delivered nearly 1,20,000 cakes to complete these celebrations.
- With cooking at home in vogue during the lockdown, Swiggy ensured everyone was well stocked up by delivering nearly 323 million kg of onions and 56 million kg of bananas.
- While some were busy showing off their culinary skills on social media every day, a large set of consumers resorted to the evergreen college hack of living on instant noodles. Around 3,50,000 packets of this ideal easy to cook meal were ordered during the lockdown.
- Swiggy’s newest kid on the block, Swiggy Genie helped schools deliver books to thousands of parents across the country.
- One particular customer used the Swiggy Genie to get dog shampoo for their pet because everyone deserves a good hair day.
- Swiggy’s ‘Hope, Not Hunger’ initiative raised over Rs 10 crore, which helped serve 30 lakh meals to people in need during the lockdown.
