Indians ordered an average of 95 biryanis per minute or 1.6 biryanis every second, according to food delivery giant Swiggy’s yearly report on India’s food ordering habits which highlighted some interesting trends.
Swiggy reciprocated India’s big appetite for biryani with 35,056 varieties and combos of biryanis available for users across the platform. The most popular ones were “boneless chicken biryani, chicken dum biryani, mutton biryani, egg biryani, veg biryani and paneer biryani”.
Thrissur in Kerala, famous for its biryani combos, saw a special addition this year. ‘Freedom food combo’ was prepared by jail inmates and delivered fresh by Swiggy. This combo has seen over 2000 orders within a short time of its launch. Mumbai’s ‘chal dhanno tawa biryani’ was sold on Swiggy for Rs 19, a quick-serve vegetarian biryani for those in a hurry. Pune’s ‘chicken sajuk tup biryani’ was the most expensive biryani at Rs 1,500. Besides different forms of biryanis, the most loved dishes in 2019 included “masala dosa, paneer butter masala, chicken and veg fried rice, tandoori chicken and dal makhani.”
Swiggy’s order analysis is based on the hundreds of millions of orders Swiggy received on its platform which the company said is the largest in the country. The analysis is pan-India for the period between starting January 2019 until November 2019.
A wide variety of comfort food also witnessed a big demand. A quick glance at the ‘khichdi’ orders on Swiggy in 2019 highlights how the category has grown rapidly from January to November with a 128 per cent increase in orders. A considerable increase was noticed during the festive month of Navaratri. Further, a variety of thalis like “methi malai paneer, dhaba dal with rice and chapatis thali, gobi matar masala, dal makhani with jeera rice and chapatis thali and the mini dosa, idli, vada and sambar thali” have found a special place on consumers’ meal tables.
Besides 17,69,399 ‘gulab jamun orders and 2,00,301 orders for ‘halwa’ in 2019, ‘falooda’ is the newest entry to the top desserts on Swiggy with a whopping 11,94,732 orders this year. A special ice-cream filled ‘falooda’ was ordered over 6000 times in Mumbai. Another favourite, ‘choco pie and drink’ was ordered 79,242 times in Chandigarh alone. Other popular sweet treats include the usual suspects such as ‘death by chocolate, tender coconut ice cream, tiramisu ice cream and kesar halwa.’
With more and more Indians being mindful of their eating habits and preferences, Swiggy noticed a significant uptake in keto-specific items ordered. The overall orders for healthy options crossed 3.5 lakhs this year. While most restaurants have created a category within their menus to cater to budding fitness enthusiasts, Swiggy noticed a 306 per cent increase in keto-specific items ordered in 2019. Dishes like “keto brownies, keto-friendly tuscan chicken and healthy red rice poha” were some of the most ordered in the healthy category. Keto brownies are the most indulged sweet treat by our fitness enthusiasts. It is observed that there is 249 per cent increase in healthy food orders including keto.
Swiggy which has raised over $1.5 billion from investors such as Naspers, DST Global and Tencent also received unusual requests from customers. This included delivering papaya leaves for a dengue patient, an oxygen machine, wigs and temple prasad. Items such as documents, clothes, food, keys, phone and laptop chargers, helmet and spectacles were the most common items picked up for users through Swiggy Go, which is an instant pick up and drop service to send packages anywhere across the city. “One of our delivery partners in Bengaluru travelled over 34 km to handover a bike key to the customer. Food remained a priority, sending a meal (or) lunch box was one of the most popular tasks on Swiggy Go,” said the company.
Source: Business Standard
