Deepinder Goyal, Zomato's CEO, stated that his food delivery enterprise fulfilled nearly the same number of orders on December 31, 2023, as it had on the New Year's Eve nights spanning 2015 to 2020. This highlights the substantial expenditure on food during the New Year's Eve celebrations the other day. Swiggy hasn't put out the numbers, though. Let's analyze the surge witnessed by Zomato assuming that the CEO was not exaggerating the facts.
There could be a shift in customer behavior, indicating that a greater number of individuals opted to stay at home rather than attend external parties on December 31. The trend extends to elders participating in the festivities, choosing to welcome the New Year alongside their family members.
But this sudden surge can't be explained by this new cultural development alone. The economy must indeed be doing well, especially in urban areas. Dilip Cherian tries to mention a range of probable factors. "Besides increasing distribution, rising App awareness, disposable income etc, what do the qualitative parameters hint at? Less reliance on any household preparations, less sharing (or more?), nuclear families, expensive eating-out averse," he tweets.
Dr. Sudhir Kumar sounds a warning bell, saying that the epidemic of metabolic diseases (read diabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipid profile, heart attacks, strokes) will continue unabated if the public continues to eat outside food more and more. "Food delivery apps are growing by leaps and bounds. Good days are ahead for health coaches, doctors, pharma and hospitals. Business will boom," wrote Shashi Iyengar, a Twitter user.
