Zomato plans to restart e-grocery biz

Zomato started deliveries of essentials and groceries under the Zomato Market offering on its app, to exploit a surge in demand for e-groceries during the first wave of Covid-19 as most people remained cooped indoors during a nationwide lockdown.

India’s largest food delivery platform Zomato Ltd, which will launch its mega public listing next week, plans to resume grocery delivery services in the next few quarters after suspending the service in June last year.

A delivery worker of Zomato, an Indian food-delivery startup, waits to collect an order from a restaurant in New Delhi. (File photo)

Zomato started deliveries of essentials and groceries under the Zomato Market offering on its app, to exploit a surge in demand for e-groceries during the first wave of Covid-19 as most people remained cooped indoors during a nationwide lockdown.

Zomato’s chief financial officer Akshant Goyal did not provide an exact timeline for resuming the service.

Meanwhile, addressing a news conference on Thursday, Goyal confirmed Zomato’s $100 million investment in Gurugram-based e-grocer Grofers.

Last week, Zomato also sought an approval from market watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) to buy a 9.3% stake each in Grofers India Pvt. Ltd and its wholesale unit Hands On Trades Pvt. Ltd. The foodtech major was also looking to acquire certain rights in Grofers’ Singapore entity Grofers International Pte. Ltd. The $120 million deal, which will also see the participation of Tiger Global, is expected to value Grofers at a little more than $1 billion, two people aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.