Food is costlier on apps rather than dining, claims survey:55% users paid more than restaurant prices; thousands report high percentage of processed foods on platforms

Dissatisfaction among consumers relating to food delivery apps like Zomato, Swiggy, and Blinkit continues to grow all over India. A recent survey by LocalCircles concluded that 55% of consumers, when ordering food from these apps, have to pay more when compared to dining at a restaurant. The reason behind such high costs is the hefty commission of 20 to 30% charged by these apps from restaurants. Details of the survey The survey included over 79,000 responses from 359 districts nationwide; out of these, 61% responders were men and 39% were women. Additionally, 45% of the responders were from Tier 1 cities, 33% from Tier 2 cities, and 22% from Tier 3, 4, and rural areas. This survey was conducted on the LocalCircles platform, and all participants were verified citizens. ₹1.2 trillion Food Market by 2030 India’s online food delivery market was approximately $31.8 billion, or 2.86 lakh crore rupees, in 2024. Due to the increasing use of smartphones, the internet, and urbanisation, this market could reach 12 lakh crore rupees by 2030. Around half options on quick delivery apps are junk food The trend of junk food is rapidly increasing in India’s urban areas. According to a survey by LocalCircles, more than half of the packaged food items sold on quick commerce platforms are high in fat, sugar, salt (HFSS) or ultra-processed food (UPF). In the survey, 39% of households reported that they regularly buy items like soft drinks, biscuits, chips, and noodles, meaning junk food is being ordered from 4 out of every 10 households. The special thing is that the number of children and youth among those ordering is the highest.