SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
At a plush villa in Dona Paula, a large extended family, almost all of whom
can cook well, with a retinue of staff, the lockdown has been a breeze food wise, as long as raw material and fresh groceries were available. But still the pangs of ordering that spicy biriyani, the pizza with all its toppings or even waffles remained.
And when food delivery apps opened up the orders started getting placed in a frenzy. Almost as if a much awaited candy store had opened just before Christmas.
Clearly many feel that if they can’t go to the restaurant, the restaurant can
surely come to them- albeit with social distancing and ‘contact-less delivery’, new phrases are being constantly added to the Corona virus lexicon.
So will ‘order’, ‘add to cart’, ‘pay online’, be the order of the next few
months? Also, will the food delivery business which has experienced a boom now be able to sustain it in the next couple of months? Will these app-based food delivery companies witness a quantum leap on their contactless delivery verticals?
They are now adapting to innovative and safe delivery techniques. At the same time, they are a lifeline to restaurants
who just wouldn’t have survived if home
delivery wasn’t
an option.
Akshay Naik
member of
the marketing
team of
Zomato said
“Yes, people
are opting
for our
services but we have not recruited more
personnel. We are following all the rules
and are stringent in our standards in
terms of maintaining standards during
delivery. Hygiene standards are important
and we ensure are associates follow the
standards”.
Kaushik Tiwari
of Zomato who
handles the online
delivery operation
said “We have
not witnessed
an increase in
the number of
deliveries. You have
to understand the
situation we are in. It
is a pandemic which
has been caused
by a virus. It is a
health emergency.
The main focus of
everyone is to be
safe and to be clean.
We are insistent on
hygiene standards
when it comes
to making food.
People want rice and vegetables and
not biryani. Yes, there are people who
want readymade food from restaurants
but otherwise the general public wants
vegetable and other raw materials that
will help them make food at home”.
Taking this into consideration the
company launched Zomato Market which
has generated a great deal of interest
from the average public. Kaushif said “We
launched last Sunday and business has
skyrocketed. Everyday, the number of
calls is increasing.
For restaurants these are certainly
tough times. Kavita Patil of Asa Kasa which
is located in Vagator, the emergence
of these delivery platforms has been a
godsend. Kavita said “It has not been a
great time. All my employees are here. I
have to take care of them. We have just
started delivering food four days ago.
These are early days. We are doing around
four to five deliveries every day. I hope it
will increase as the day’s go by. We have
permission to deliver in a certain zone
and its fine. Some money is coming in
which is a good thing. My employees are
my responsibility and we have to generate
revenue”.
That may be a start for Kavita but for
Darren Fernandes of Chocolate Room it
is all gloomy. He said “Other restaurants
can cook and provide food for orders
which is very good for them but for us
we just cannot do that. They get their
raw material locally, whereas for us,
everything comes from outside Goa. Even
our ice cream comes from outside Goa.
There is nothing we can do. We have to sit
tight and hope the situation improves fast.
Our personnel are all sitting and waiting”.
For Akshay Quenim of Tataki, an
immersive Asian inspired fine dining
restaurant in Panjim, the lockdown has
meant his delivery team have been busy
delivering food to families between
Porvorim and Bambolim. He said “We
have a delivery team comprising five boys
who deliver our meals. Once a week we
select a place that is outside our regular
area. Last Thursday we delivered food to
families in Vasco and Friday in Margao.
We will be repeating this later in the week
too. We charge a nominal delivery fee
if the family is out of the area, we are
servicing. Since we serve Modern Asian
cuisine, we have removed all raw dishes
from our menu these days. Business
has been good and this will emerge as a
separate unit for us”.
However, a word of caution was
expressed by Abhay Mishra, who was a
part of a company that was in the food
delivery business. Now having moved out,
he voiced his concerns. Abhay said “Yes,
people are now forced to use these food
delivery platforms but this is temporary.
Swiggy and Zomato are now delivering
vegetables. Once all this ends, Goans will
go back to old habits. They will like to go
out and eat with friends. People even now
are ordering food with some hesitation”.
He also asks, “There are certain protocols
in these times which have to be followed.
Are they being followed?
Another thing he pointed out was that,
the numbers were just not there to sustain
these operations. He said “Goa is a small
state and how many people are ordering
food online. Once normalcy returns,
people will go back to cooking at home
or going out to eat. People have just
adapted to these strange times and using
these services”.
The next couple of months will be
interesting, as in love or war, there is
always food or the need to get it.
