The addiction for junk foods is taking India "down the path of China and US" in terms of unhealthy eating habits, said Bombay Shaving Company Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Deshpande, as he spoke about the business of quick-commerce firms.
"Cook time two minutes, delivery time eight minutes"—this is what Deshpande claimed that he was told by the founder of a quick commerce company involved in food delivery.
This spells new trouble apart from the multitude of ways in which Indians are suffering in terms of their nutritional intake, Deshpande explained in a post on LinkedIn.
"We are suffering from the biggest epidemic of poor nutrition and unhealthy processed and ultra processed food which is high on palm oil and sugar. Our grains have lost nutrition over last 50 years as we prioritized agricultural yield for nutrition," he stated.
The crisis is worsened by the junk food addiction, which is fuelled by pizzas in Rs 49, "poison energy drinks" in Rs 20, and burgers in Rs 30, the Bombay Shaving Company CEO added.
Deshpande's post comes at a time when competition seems to be brewing in the 10-minute food delivery space, with companies like Zomato and Swiggy entering the segment which has a spree of startups including the rapidly rising Zepto.
"Frozen purees and curries... old vegetables heated and garnished with dhaniya to look fresh... slammed in some two-wheeler who rides like Mad Max to your door in 10 minutes, because you couldn't wait another 15 minutes," said Deshpande, vehemently opposing the 10-min food-delivery culture being normalised by the likes of Zomato, Swiggy and Zepto.
"I would love if we innovate and are able to actually give non-stale and decent food in 10 minutes," said Deshpande. "Massive unlock. But I don't think we're close to there yet."
The Bombay Shaving Company CEO, through his LinkedIn post, appealed to readers to start cooking food for themselves. "Please cook", he said, adding that it is an adult skill which is essential for people to learn. "No one is too busy to take out 10 minutes to put a decent dal chawal, or smoothie, or salad, or sandwich together."
Deshpande concluded by drilling down on how the gut is the epicenter of one's existence—"You are what you eat."
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