Ola announces 10-minute food delivery following Zomato

Following Zomato’s announcement last month that it will try 10-minute meal delivery, competitor Swiggy and ride-hailing company Ola are following suit.

Ola Dash, Ola’s last-year-launched quick commerce solution, has taken on a new challenge. Within a month of Zomato’s announcement of meal delivery in 10 minutes, the ride-hailing giant has joined on board. According to media sources, a meal delivery trial program has begun in Bengaluru.

Through its rapid commerce grocery delivery subsidiary Ola Dash, Ola has begun selling certain food products in selected parts of Bengaluru within 10 minutes. Menu items include khichdi, pizza, and buns that Ola describes as “freshly cooked.”

Swiggy is also looking into speedier meal delivery, however, it is unclear if it aims to deliver in 10 minutes.

The Ola spokeswoman verified the news that the ride-hailing giant has been testing its rapid food delivery service in a few locations, but declined to provide further specifics. And, when it comes to the new instant-food delivery paradigm, Ola Dash’s dark store network appears to be the key.

How Ola is planning 10-minute delivery

According to an earlier statement, Ola Dash is focused on a store-to-door 10-minute delivery service, which is presently distributed throughout 200 dark shops and offers a selection of more than 2,500 stock-keeping units. The company stated that it intends to expand the business, increasing the order size to more than 500,000 per day by the end of the year.

Interestingly, Ola will employ the facilities of Mukunda Foods, a food robots business that just received $5 million from Zomato for a 16.66 percent ownership.

Mukunda Foods bills itself as a food robotics firm that develops and manufactures equipment that automates culinary operations in QSR and cloud kitchens. These solutions allow restaurants to grow while preserving consistency in food quality and customer experience across various locations swiftly. Mukunda also assists eateries in being more efficient by lowering labor expenses and waste.

Quick commerce disruption

With more and more companies entering this space, the competition is parallelly increasing. After quick commerce in grocery delivery, food is the next target for the leading companies. Despite companies struggling to make profits through fast grocery delivery, companies are interested in investing more in other verticals like food. As per reports, this is a sign that there is vast untapped potential in the quick commerce space and we can expect more companies to enter the market. 

It will be interesting to see how the Ola 10-minute food delivery turns out and how the Ola Dash will compete with Zomato’s 10-minute delivery.