Amazon Launches Food Delivery Service With “Amazon Food” In India

Amazon is starting to offer online food delivery, which is called Amazon Food, in Bengaluru. With this move, the company will be competing with established players Swiggy and Zomato. 

This move seems meaningful since both Swiggy and Zomato has eliminated many roles in recent months. Swiggy cuts 1,100 jobs, Zomato cuts 13% of workforce recently, and Swiggy has additionally scaled down its cloud kitchen operations. This might continue in some time as well due to COVID-19. “A large number of restaurants have already shut down permanently, and we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I expect the number of restaurants to shrink by 25-40% over the next 6-12 months,” Deepinder Goyal, co-founder, and chief executive of Zomato states.

Amazon originally planned to launch the service last year, but it was pushed to this year. “Customers have been telling us for some time that they would like to order prepared meals on Amazon in addition to shopping for all other essentials. This is particularly relevant in present times as they stay home safe. We also recognize that local businesses need all the help they can get. We are launching Amazon Food in select Bangalore pin codes allowing customers to order from handpicked local restaurants and cloud kitchens that pass our high hygiene certification bar,” an Amazon spokesperson states.

Amazon Food will currently be available to residents in Whitefield, Bellandur, Marathahalli, and Mahadevapura in Bengaluru. In preparation for the launch, the company began testing the food delivery service with select restaurant partners in Bangalore. Some of the restaurants and cloud kitchens Amazon has partnered with include Adiga’s, FreshMenu, Paradise Biryani, Box8, Faasos, and Mad Over Donuts.

With this move, it seems a duopoly in the market might be changed in the course of time.