Preeti Maheshwari enjoys going out on New Year's Eve. But this time, she was in "no mood to fight the crowd" just to have her favourite dish at a restaurant. She stayed home in Delhi and celebrated with friends who came over. Dressing up in pyjamas and getting food at your doorstep was too hard to resist for the 28-year-old techie, thanks to the delivery apps.
Eateries' sales surged to a record on Dec. 31 as people indulged in pizzas to biryani. But like Maheshwari, many partied at home to usher in 2023. Some hired caterers, while others simply ordered online.
"This was a trend we saw even before the pandemic...," said Anurag Katriar, founder and managing director of Indigo Hospitality Pvt., which runs restaurants like Indigo Deli, Neel and Moveable Feast. "But this year, the number of orders both on Christmas and New Year's Eve were unusually high and in terms of pure growth. We saw it faring better than the restaurants."
Indigo's sales were about 39% higher than last year and dine-in numbers were "very good" with people willing to eat out in the absence of restrictions. The catering business did even better, according to Katriar, with sales surging twofold as there were a lot of people who hosted private events at home.
Vishal Jindal, founder of Biryani By Kilo, told BQ Prime that its cloud kitchen made Rs 20 crore in sales in December — their highest ever. "In just two days, i.e., Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, we have fulfilled orders worth Rs 4 crore."
Chips, Tonic Water And More
Food delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy recorded impressive numbers.
Swiggy said it delivered more than 1.3 million orders on New Year's Eve till 6.25 p.m. and that number continued to rise. It also delivered 3.5 lakh biryanis and 2.5 lakh pizzas across the country on the last day of 2022.
Zomato saw a 47% hike in orders on Saturday in comparison to last year when it processed over 2.5 million orders on New Year's Eve.
People also ordered snacks like chips in bulk from delivery apps as they partied at home.
Swiggy said it delivered over 1.76 lakh packets of chips, 13,984 packets of nachos, 14,453 lemons and 14,890 sodas.
Orders for tonic water, soda, soft drinks and ice cubes as well as peanuts, Albinder Dhindsa, chief executive of Zomato-owned instant delivery app Blinkit tweeted.
Delivery app Zepto said in a statement that orders for munchies grew over 50%, frozen foods rose 80%, and cold cuts and marinated meat surged 150%.
"Dessert fixes were ruled by ice creams that saw a jump of 80%," Zepto said. "Refrigerators and freezers were certainly kept busy on December 31 as the orders for ice cubes went up by 200%."
For Swiggy, traffic from tier 2 and 3 cities jumped 46% over regular days, which translated in 49% more orders being placed by customers from these cities on the New Year's Eve.
Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai were the top five cities by order volume.
Every year, before the Covid-19 pandemic, the restaurant industry would beef up security to handle the long queue till midnight on New Year's Eve.
Still Missing
Delhi's Khan Market and Connaught Place, known for some of the city's hottest eateries, wasn't brimming with usual crowds seen prior to the pandemic. People flying out of cities as the New Year fell on the weekend was a reason.
There were a lot of bookings as people travelled outside cities to resorts in remote locations or drive-away destinations to celebrate New Year, which fell on the weekend, according to Pradeep Shetty, executive committee member of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India.
"This could have been partly why the restaurants in cities saw lesser sales than expected," said Shetty, also the director of Maharaja hotels and restaurants, told BQ Prime.
"Sales in restaurants were satisfactory and was definitely higher than last year," Shetty said. "But if you ask me if it was an absolute blast... I will say no it was not as it was expected to be on New Year's Eve."
Patrons like Preeti Maheshwari, however, will continue ordering online on busy days. She prefers that, just like remote work.
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