Mumbai: Multiplex chain Inox Leisure Ltd on Wednesday announced its partnership with ITC Ltd’s Ready-to-Eat gourmet brand Kitchens of India to introduce a redefined, innovative F&B experience across all multiplexes of Inox in India.
With this partnership, Inox aims to add a new experience in the cinema halls through a trusted range of 100 per cent natural, Indian gastronomical delights. The new additions to the menu will provide more options to Inox customers, whether ordering at cinemas or from the comfort of their homes through food-ordering apps, said the statement.
Effective 29 September, customers across the country can have access to authentic Indian cuisine including Vegetable Pulao, Hyderabadi Vegetable Biryani, Dal Makhani, Rajma Masala, Pindi Chana and Steamed Basmati Rice as part of the service, it added.
“With the addition of Kitchens of India range we are expanding the choices for our patrons by offering an aromatic and flavourful dining experience with their loved ones while watching the movie,” said Inox Leisure Ltd vice president food & beverages operations Dinesh Hariharan. “Consumers will greatly benefit from this collaboration by receiving an array of authentic local culinary delights across the country, served in premium spill and leak proof packaging. This collaboration is a critical stepping stone in our endeavors to strengthen Inox’s F&B service brand as well as our bond with our patrons, by offering them newer preferred choices.”
Inox’s new F&B roadmap also includes introducing new processes and innovations including making their food available on online food ordering platforms Swiggy and Zomato. Recently, Inox became the first cinema chain in India to get listed on the table reservation and food discovery platform EazyDiner. Inox sells food under three brands – Café Unwind, Insignia and Delights. Intending to extend the hospitality to new audiences, Inox plans to position these into full-service restaurant brands to target non-cinema consumers.
“Through this partnership with Inox, Kitchens of India will aim to help redefine and shape a new horizon of cinema and food experience for movie-goers,” said ITC Ltd VP of marketing services (foods division) Shuvadip Banerjee. “As citizens gradually resume out-of-home leisure, entertainment experiences and activities, food safety and hygiene continue to be of paramount importance to consumers. With Kitchens of India featuring on Inox’s menu hereon, consumers will not only enjoy the benefits of convenient indulgences in regal Indian delicacies while enjoying their movie, but will do so with a safe, hygienic and a reliable brand.”
Mumbai: Gaurav Gupta, one of the key executives of food tech platform Zomato has moved on from the company.
Gupta, who joined Zomato in 2015, was head of supply at the food delivery company. In 2018, he was elevated to the position of chief operating officer and later designated as co-founder in 2019. He had played a crucial role in the company’s landmark initial public offering (IPO).
“I am taking a new turn in my life and will be starting a new chapter, taking a lot from this defining chapter of my life — the last 6 years at Zomato,” Gupta told executives at Zomato in an email, as per the company’s blog.
His departure comes just days after Zomato exited its grocery delivery and nutraceutical business. The company had ventured into the nutraceutical business last year with the launch of health and fitness products.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal confirmed Gupta’s exit on Twitter. “Thank you Gaurav Gupta—the last six years have been amazing and we have come very far. There’s so much of our journey still ahead of us, and I am thankful that we have a great team and leadership to carry us forward,” he wrote.
MUMBAI: Foodtech platform Zomato has shut down its Nutraceutical business. The development comes hours after the company decided to pull the plug on its grocery delivery business from 17 September, citing tough competition and moderate success.
In 2020, Zomato had started its nutraceutical business with the launch of health and fitness products. The decision comes at a time when the government is turning stricter about private label norms for marketplace businesses in the country. The online food marketplace had tapped into the nutraceutical opportunity related to food products that offer medical or health benefits last year, expecting it to be a large value driver for Zomato.
Zomato had earlier announced its decision to stop its grocery delivery service effective 17 September, mainly on account of gaps in order fulfillment, leading to poor customer experience. It had launched the pilot grocery delivery service in July this year in select markets offering grocery delivery within 45 minutes to its customers. The company also said that it believes that its investment in Grofers will generate better outcomes for its shareholders than in-house grocery efforts.
In an email to its grocery partners, the online food delivery platform said, “At Zomato, we believe in delivering best in class services to our customers and largest growth opportunities to our merchant partners. We don’t believe that the current model is the best way to deliver these to our customers and merchant partners. Hence, we intend to stop our pilot grocery delivery service effective 17 September, 2021”.
The email mentioned that “store catalogues are very dynamic and inventory levels change frequently. This has led to gaps in order fulfillment, leading to poor customer experience”.
In the same time period, the express delivery model, with under 15 minute delivery promise and near perfect fulfilment rates has been getting a lot of traction with customers and expanding rapidly, the company further said in the email. “We have realised that it is extremely difficult to pull off such a delivery promise with high fulfilment rates consistently, in a marketplace model (like ours),” the mail said.
Zomato has invested $100 million (around Rs 745 crore) for acquiring a minority stake in grocery delivery platform Grofers.
MUMBAI: Known for its witty marketing campaigns, the food delivery app Zomato has once again sent social media into a tizzy, choosing an innovative way to give a sneak peek into the company’s birthday month celebrations.
The Gurgaon-based food-delivery company turns 13 this month and has made big plans to celebrate its anniversary on 10 July. As part of its marketing outreach, the brand shared a screenshot of a purported “leaked WhatsApp chat”, that reveals conversations between its CEO and various departments, wherein they discuss their ideas to celebrate Zomato’s Birthday Month.
The chat is a satirical take on the brainstorming sessions between the finance, marketing, and other departments with the company’s boss. The screenshot shared by Zomato shows the CEO initiating the discussion around the celebration with inputs from various teams. It depicts quite simply and hilariously how each department suggests a plan which doesn’t have a collateral effect on it, while also trying to thwart any suggestion which could potentially involve any risks for it or backfire on it later.
While the marketing team merrily pitches a ‘ten-day holiday’ plan, the Boss puts in a timely reminder that it’s supposed to be a celebration ‘with the customers’. The growth team then generously comes up with a ‘BIG Discount’ idea to which the Finance team cautiously adds that it’ would be a good idea to have a discount ‘on the birthday’ only. But as the proposed discount gets bigger and gets extended to more number of days the finance team is no longer amused, till finally its unanimously decided to have an offer of “60 per cent OFF for the entire July ”. The chat ends with the finance team exiting the chat, declaring its disapproval.
The screenshot of the quirky chat was shared by Zomato as a mailer to its customers as well as on the app’s social media handles across platforms. On LinkedIn, the post sparked a light-hearted banter between the company’s chief executive officer Deepinder Goyal, and its chief financial officer Akshant Goyal.
This isn’t the first time that the Food delivery app has used this idea to draw users’ attention and start social media chatter. At the start of the year, Zomato had come up with a similar ‘leaked WhatsApp chat’ mailer, that ‘revealed’ conversations around ‘New year resolutions’ with the boss. The group chat, while fun to read, even managed to drive across the message that the delivery app is on point & prompt with its orders and deliveries.
Now with its latest ‘leak’ revealing a “60 per cent discount”, the brand looks set to win more than just eyeballs for the month of July!
Mumbai: It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the most looked-forward to, most-talked-about and the most nostalgia-generating event all of last week, on social media. After a wait of more than a decade and a half, diehard fans, the world over, of the most popular sitcom in television history finally got to see their six F.R.I.E.N.D.S get back together at Central Perk – albeit just for a little more than an hour and a half.
That was enough to spawn a million memes and dominate endless Instagram stories and conversations, with many declaring this was their best one hour 40 minutes of 2021 so far!
Then why would brands be left behind?
So, here goes a pick of some of the creatives for the FRIENDS: The Reunion that celebrated the friendship and got the nostalgia on spot. Could we be more excited!
ZEE5
The OTT platform which streamed the special episode in India, very usefully came up with some creative excuses we could use to bunk office to watch the reunion episode the moment it was launched- 12.32 pm to be precise! Could we be more grateful?
“The world will be on a BREAK tomorrow. Which excuse will you use to watch the #FriendsReunionOnZEE5 at 12:32 pm with the rest of the world?”
The Paint brand paid tribute to the famed couch in the coffee shop where the group of six used to hang out: “Can we be… any more excited to embrace every colour of this reunion!”
The Insurance brand creatively used the words of the familiar theme song ‘I’ll Be There For You’ and the backdrop behind the famous series to promote its service: “People come and go but true F.R.I.E.N.D.S will always stick around, even in the toughest situation. Let Kotak Life Insurance be that friend of yours.”
MUMBAI: Food delivery continues to be the mainstay for the restaurant industry hit hard by the pandemic with lockdowns and restrictions in place. While this has come as a boon for the food aggregators and delivery apps, it has also taken away a significant portion of the restaurants’ earnings by way of commission to these platforms.
With these food apps currently the only source of revenue for many restaurants across the country, restaurants fear the industry is emerging into a duopoly controlled by the food aggregators. With reopening of the hospitality sector looking uncertain in the near future, more eateries are looking to improve margins by trying out alternatives to aggregators Zomato and Swiggy.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) recently announced the #OrderDirect campaign to offer a democratized digital channel with low commissions, data ownership, control over policies, and an unbundled technology stack. NRAI president Anurag Katriar referred to the food aggregator apps as ‘virtual landlords’ last year highlighting the urgent need for the sector to reduce its dependence on such platforms. To safeguard their interest, restaurants are now collectively coming up with their loyalty scheme, bill settlement technology, and even a home delivery solution.
Riyaaz Amlani- CEO & MD, Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality, who operates a chain of restaurants in several cities- is among the key voices backing #OrderDirect in India. From this week onwards, in a first-of-its-kind pilot project, his hospitality portfolio has teamed up with Mumbai’s Dabbawala for home deliveries. Riyaaz Amlani posted on LinkedIn, “Thrilled to announce a partnership that just fits. Dabbawalas know a thing or two about getting you your meals on time. They are severely impacted by the pandemic. Working with this awesome group of people is a privilege and a natural extension of our D2C push. #orderdirect “.
Impresario Handmade Restaurants is employing several dabbawalas in Mumbai who will service direct delivery orders received on Impresario’s tech-enabled platforms for their restaurant brands such as SOCIAL, Smoke House Deli, and Salt Water Cafe. Orders from these restaurants in the Lower Parel, Bandra, and BKC areas of Mumbai will be fulfilled by the dabbawalas starting this week in a seemingly win-win solution for both parties. The association will roll out in phases over the next few months, each employing more dabbawalas and strengthening the partnership.
This association also takes away from delivery aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato. According to Amlani, ordering directly from restaurants (and not through aggregators) empowers the company to have direct and deeper relationships with its customers and saves on prohibitive commissions paid to the aggregators. “We are then able to pass on these savings to our customers and allow them to benefit from ordering directly. Now, ordering directly is also helping to employ our dabbawalas, who have lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic. We need to support each other through these trying times, and this is Impresario’s way of meaningfully extending a helping hand. We are hopeful that this association will trigger the rest of the hospitality industry to employ them too,” he told a publication.
While recognising the positive aspects of what the aggregators are offering the restaurants and customers, Food Matters’ founder and CEO India Gauri Devidayal, says “This relationship is no longer a partnership but rather is one built on dependency… This is not just about saving on commissions but also servicing an increased radius of delivery and therefore having the potential for higher revenues.”
For restaurateurs looking to start their online ordering platform and reduce dependency on food aggregators DotPe, Thrive Now and Peppo are some of the tech partners supporting NRAI in this campaign. They are helping to build full-stack solutions and a sustainable hospitality ecosystem together with the restaurants.
Whether these innovations are feasible and able to democratize the food industry, only time will tell.
Mumbai: E-commerce companies have launched a rampant vaccination drive for their frontline staffers and delivery partners who interface with consumers who worry about possible transmission of the newer and more virulent strains of Covid-19.
This comes in the wake of most e-tailer and logistics firms reporting infections among their frontline staffers who are on daily delivery missions of food and essential products such as medicines, healthcare packages and much more.
While these customer interfacing personnel busily operated for the better part of the last 14 months, even in the wake of the pandemic, newer and more virulent strains currently in vogue for their high transmitting potential are a constant source of discouragement for customers who got used to remotely ordering the doorstep delivery of their various needs as they stayed locked down
While the clear and present danger and high risk of infections of these frontline workers got exposed, as they shuttled door-to-door between eateries/ grocery stores/pharmacies and the customers to deliver packages e-tailer and logistics firms have gone into an accelerated mode of ensuring mass jabs for their frontline fleet.
Online food delivery platform Swiggy started inoculations of its delivery agents and frontline staff in Bengaluru since Thursday. Apart from the delivery staff at the grocery delivery service Instamart, even the company’s cloud kitchens executives have been prioritized for getting the jabs.
A few thousand delivery partners across varied age groups already received their first dose of the vaccination; Swiggy has announced and added in a public advisory that with drives planned across all major cities, all delivery partners and frontline staff will be covered over the next few weeks.
VACCINATED! We’re happy to announce that we kicked-off our vaccination drive for our delivery fleet, kitchen staff and other frontline staff in Bangalore. #BreakTheChainpic.twitter.com/vxNiLM7qwf
Amid reports that Covid-19’s second wave was adversely impacting online shopping volumes over the past several weeks due to infection fears among consumers, many e-tailer companies are pushing ahead with vaccination drives on scale.
Last week, rival Zomato said it has begun vaccination of its delivery partners in the NCR. Founder Deepinder Goyal took to twitter last Friday and stated, “We are facilitating a free and safe vaccination drive for more than 150,000 of our frontline staff and employees. Thousands of our delivery partners are already vaccinated”:
Last week, we started vaccinating our delivery partners in NCR. In one of the largest efforts of its kind, we are facilitating a free and safe vaccination drive for more than 150,000 of our frontline staff and employees. Thousands of our delivery partners are already vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/HoK1kX7TT3
He added, “Vaccinations in Mumbai and Bangalore start tomorrow and multiple other cities (will be covered by) next week. The safety of our customers is the #1 priority for us as well as (the health of) our delivery partners who have selflessly and safely delivered hundreds of millions of orders during the pandemic.” He also thanked hospital chain Max Healthcare for facilitating the vaccination drive.
Many e-commerce firms have tied up with hospitals and government authorities while some are even procuring vaccines directly from manufacturers. This will, however, be subject to the continued availability of vaccines, as manufacturers prioritise supply obligations to states before meeting demand from private companies.
Flipkart has also kicked off vaccination camps for frontline employees and so has Myntra for its units in Bengaluru. The effects of the current wave have especially hit consumer demand for non-essential segments, both in urban and rural markets, with Fashion bearing the brunt of diminishing orders due to infection fears.
Ecommerce giant Amazon announced earlier this week that it is working to administer vaccines to its frontline teams. Over the coming weeks, it will be hosting on-site vaccination events run by licensed healthcare providers.
Online marketplace for home services, Urban Company Cofounder & COO Abhiraj Singh Bhal also tweeted, “At @urbancompany_UC , our vaccination efforts continue in full swing. We have vaccinated thousands of service partners in the last one week, and are now close to 25% of our fleet having received at least one jab.”
At @urbancompany_UC, our vaccination efforts continue in full swing. We have vaccinated thousands of service partners in the last one week, and are now close to 25% of our fleet having recieved atleast one jab.
As demand slumped for online home delivery service providers amid customer fears of contracting the virus, brands like Urbancompany have begun public announcements declaring the vaccination status of their staff on their online platform.
Other online delivery services like Swiggy and Zomato also plan to introduce Vaccine transparency on their apps, to notify users that the agent of delivery of goods is not a potential carrier of the infectious disease as well by emphasising the individual’s vaccination status.
MUMBAI: With India battling a deadly second wave of the pandemic, night curfews and partial-to-near-complete lockdowns seem to be the norm in many parts of the country. The last couple of weeks in particular have been more devastating with the nation witnessing an unprecedented pan-India surge in Covid cases. India Inc is stepping on the gas to ensure that employees and their families get vaccinated as soon as possible. MNC consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, on Monday pledged Rs 50 crores towards ten lakh vaccine doses covering five lakh Indians.
E-comms are also going the extra mile to ensure protection of their associates, including delivery staff, while guaranteeing safe delivery of orders to customers. With movement restrictions being introduced in additional parts of the country, buyers are taking the safety route of shopping from home. This has resulted in driving bigger orders for e-commerce companies across India.
Here are some of the efforts undertaken by online platforms in the fight against Covid2019:
Food delivery app Swiggy last month took the initiative of supporting the vaccination cost for its entire delivery fleet. The company announced on its Twitter handle: “From essentials to food, delivery partners have always been our lifelines. We’re happy to announce that we’re supporting 100 per cent of the vaccination cost for our entire delivery fleet, and that this entire drive will be facilitated by us to keep them and you safe. #DeliveringHope”
From essentials to food, delivery partners have always been our lifelines.
We’re happy to announce that we’re supporting 100% of the vaccination cost for our entire delivery fleet, and that this entire drive will be facilitated by us to keep them and you safe. #DeliveringHope
Food & Grocery app Grofers took the initiative of using its platform to set up a real-time data of all Covid2019 resources, including city-wise databases and helpline numbers. It shared on its blog, “A lot of people are currently overwhelmed and struggling to find relevant information on what to do and what measures to take if they or someone they know is currently affected by the virus. We thought we could use our platform to help a bit here. To help make this a slightly less cumbersome process we have aggregated some of the publicly available information for your convenience, so you do not have to go looking for it in different places.”
Recently, we put together a resource bank to help our teams deal with the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
We figured this may be useful for more people – and are using our platform to extend real-time info related to COVID-19 resources: https://t.co/l5V1Dy6drr
Grofers has also partnered with UNICEF to encourage people across the country to get vaccinated. It tweeted :“When you get vaccinated, you potentially safeguard yourself and your family from Covid2019. Here is our little way of expressing our appreciation for those who have taken this important step.”
When you get vaccinated, you potentially safeguard yourself and your family from COVID-19. Here is our little way of expressing our appreciation for those who have taken this important step.
E-commerce giant Flipkart went all-out in its measures to ensure a safe working environment for all its employees and stakeholders across the board. The company took to its twitter handle to share a video on the same. “We stand strong in our commitment to safety. Our priority remains the well-being of our employees, customers, sellers, and our entire ecosystem. Watch for the various measures we continue to implement to ensure #SafeCommerce for all.”
The firm has also been lending its helping hand to deliver Covid care medical kits. Official Twitter handle of infrastructure & industrial development department of the Uttar Pradesh government tweeted lauding the company’s efforts, which included delivering over 3,000 covidcare medical kits free of charge.
Food delivery app Zomato had in 2020 taken steps to educate the riders and restaurants on safety and hygiene practices, provided them with COVID insurance, masks, and facilitated hand sanitisation stations at restaurants across the country. This time the Food delivery app has rolled out a feature for “Covid emergencies”. Zomato Founder Deepinder Goyal tweeted, “Today, along with thousands of our restaurant partners, we just rolled out a “priority delivery for covid emergencies” feature on the Zomato app. This feature will allow our customers to mark *This order is related to a Covid2019 emergency* option during checkout.
Today, along with thousands of our restaurant partners, we just rolled out a “priority delivery for covid emergencies” feature on the Zomato app. This feature will allow our customers to mark *This order is related to a COVID-19 emergency* option during checkout. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/BxmBF02PnS
These orders will be prioritised by providing fastest rider assignment, and dedicated customer support in case of queries. Thousands of restaurants have pledged to prioritise these orders in their kitchen above all others.
In addition, the firm’s not-for-profit arm Zomato Feeding India has kickstarted a Help Save My India endeavour in association with @delhivery to source oxygen concentrators and related supplies to help hospitals and families in need.
Zomato Feeding India, our not-for-profit has kickstarted the “Help Save My India” endeavour today in association with @delhivery to source oxygen concentrators and related supplies to help hospitals and families in need. pic.twitter.com/60kBYZMrrd
Early this month, Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap) – a managed marketplace for home services, committed towards getting 100 per cent of their fleet vaccinated, free of cost in the coming weeks. “We have already initiated phase 1 of this effort for service partners aged 45+, and are working closely with local govts and healthcare providers.
@urbancompany_UC is happy to announce our commitment towards getting 100% of our fleet vaccinated, free of cost in the coming weeks. We have already initiated phase 1 of this effort for service partners aged 45+, and are working closely with local govts and healthcare providers. pic.twitter.com/vc9M10cRyX
With the government now allowing vaccination for all above 18 starting 1 May, @urbancompany_UC further reiterated its commitment. “ @urbancompany_UC is committed to getting all our front lines service professionals and employees vaccinated at the earliest possible availability,” tweeted Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal @abhirajbhal .
Tata Group’s Online apparel brand TATA CLIQ chose to take a step back by reminding everyone that ‘It’s Time To Pause’. It urged its customers to think again before making a purchase on the app. Declaring that ‘Today Community takes precedence over Commerce’ the brand sent out communication to its subscribers and on its webpage saying “Sometimes it takes courage to pause, to listen to what the heart already knows. We encourage you to pause and ask yourself – do you really need to buy this now? Just because someone else carries it well doesn’t mean it isn’t heavy.”
It added “Out of respect for our stakeholders, we are open for commerce – so we will still deliver your orders, take your calls, process returns and refunds – but we will not penalise our delivery team on road for a day of delayed delivery, we will not focus on the number of calls made in an hour by our customer care executives, we will not allow colleagues at our warehouse to travel via public transport and expose themselves and their families to risk.”
NEW DELHI: Restaurant aggregator and food delivery platform Zomato has appointed five independent directors, including four women, on its eight-member board.
The newly appointed independent women directors are ex-Olympian Aparna Popat, Zalora Group former chief executive officer Gunjan Tilak Raj Soni, Airveda founder Namita Gupta, and ABN Amro Bank NV (India) former head of private health business Sutapa Banerjee. The male member in this new cluster of independent directors is TARI founder Kaushik Dutta.
The other three members on this board of directors are Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikchandani, and Ant Group SVP Douglas Faegin.
“Up until now, we had a largely investor-run board. But today, I’m elated to share that we have five independent members on our board of eight people, four of whom are women. More than gender diversity though, what we have always been gunning for is cognitive diversity across levels in our organisation. Evidence-based, research shows that a key prerequisite for innovation comes from cognitively diverse people” wrote Deepinder Goyal on Zomato’s blog.
Goyal also added that he is happy about the fact that “each of our board members come from different occupational backgrounds bringing diverse cognitive skills and perspectives to the table.”
NEW DELHI: Restaurant aggregator and food delivery company Zomato has rolled out a priority delivery feature that will let customers receive food orders during Covid emergencies.
Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal confirmed this news on his Twitter account, which was later shared on the app’s official Twitter handle. Zomato users can now mark the emergency delivery feature while checking out their orders.
Under this new feature, the order placed by the customer will be fast-tracked in the queue, and the company will ensure quicker rider assignment and dedicated customer support for that order.
Zomato has also urged people not to misuse this feature, as it can be only used during emergency Covid situations. Moreover, these emergency deliveries will be completely contactless to ensure the safety of all the parties involved.
“Thousands of restaurants have pledged to prioritise these orders in their kitchen above all others. All deliveries to such customers will be contactless by default to ensure the safety of our riders, and subsequent customers. Needless to say, all customers should opt-in for contactless deliveries right now,” wrote Deepinder Goel in his tweet.
Today, along with thousands of our restaurant partners, we just rolled out a “priority delivery for covid emergencies” feature on the Zomato app. This feature will allow our customers to mark *This order is related to a COVID-19 emergency* option during checkout. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/BxmBF02PnS
The new initiative from Zomato is now receiving positive responses from all corners. People are lauding the platform for doing its part for thousands of desperate Covid2019 patients.
Now with its latest ‘leak’ revealing a “60 per cent discount”, the brand looks set to win more than just eyeballs for the month of July!
