Latest news with #ZeptoCafe
Economic Times
16-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Zepto Cafe cools; Ecommerce sales pick up
Happy Wednesday! Zepto's 10-minute food delivery arm has scaled down operations due to multiple hurdles. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Indian AI startups take US flight ■ ETtech Done Deals■ Shubhanshu Shukla returns to Earth Zepto Cafe scales down amid sourcing, staffing hurdles Zepto Cafe, the 10-minute food delivery arm of quick commerce firm Zepto, is scaling down operations as it battles supply chain issues and a shortage of trained kitchen staff. The slowdown comes just as rivals Blinkit's Bistro and Swiggy's Snacc push deeper into key urban markets. By the numbers: Daily order volumes fell to 65,000–67,000 in May and June, down from 120,000–130,000 at their peak. Back in February, founder and CEO Aadit Palicha had claimed on LinkedIn that the service had crossed 100,000 daily orders. Zepto pulled the plug on Cafe operations at 44 of roughly 1,000 dark stores in May. Behind the scenes: The company has hit pause on several fried items as it retools its kitchen workflows. Suppliers say Zepto Cafe has cut back on order volumes and delayed pickups, with some reporting a fall in monthly order value from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 40–50 lakh. Also Read: Govt may increase scrutiny on quick commerce firms following hygiene, food safety issues What's next: As Zepto trims its cash burn and recalibrates, the company is in talks with investors, including General Catalyst and Avenir Growth, to raise $500 million ahead of a planned IPO in 2026. Also Read: Quick commerce fires up record discounts with rivals getting quicker Mid-year ecomm sales spike sets the stage for cracking festive season Ecommerce order volumes during the recent sale window rose 19% over the same time last year, well ahead of the sector's annual growth rate of 10–12% in 2024. Deep discounts helped fuel demand across various categories, including smart TVs, headphones, air conditioners, kids' essentials, and luggage. Bright ecommerce outlook: The July 11-14 sale window saw overlapping campaigns from marketplaces like Amazon India, Flipkart, and a clutch of D2C brands. Analysts say this burst of activity could boost performance in the ongoing quarter, offering a breather amid what has otherwise been a sluggish period for ecommerce. Uptick in sales: Brands such as boAt, Eume, Uppercase, Atomberg, Solara and Zouk reported a strong jump in gains. Pradeep Krishnakumar, founder of fashion brand Zouk, said, 'Typically, Prime Day is seen as a play for legacy brands and for discounts. We saw something slightly different…that Zouk as a brand actually grew more than the category.' Festive sale preparations: Several executives said this sale window effectively kicked off festive season preparations, with brands ramping up supply chains, launching new products, and pushing fresh categories. Many are now revising their Diwali forecasts upwards, looking to stock up in line with the current surge in demand. Also Read: Ecommerce platforms target tier-2 and tier-3 cities for festive sales growth in India Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch! Why it matters: ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees. The opportunity: Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers. Boost your brand's visibility among the tech-savvy community. Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand's goals. What's next: Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship opportunities. Scoring with AI not enough to crack US enterprise code Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startups heading to the US in search of growth are running into new roadblocks, founders and investors told ET. Fierce competition and slower decision-making are making it harder to close deals and run pilots. Moving timelines: Sales cycles that once lasted 6–9 months are now dragging on to 12–18, as enterprises test multiple solutions and delay fresh engagements, said Pradeep Ayyagari, cofounder of agentic platform SnowMountain AI, told ET. Venk Krishnan, founder of IT firm NuWare, added that big companies in the US now face pitches from 20 firms offering nearly identical products. Too little time: Firms don't have enough time to demo with every firm that approaches them. The market is 'equally miserable' for buyers, another founder, Vivek Khandelwal said. The field has become too noisy, confusing the buyers as well. Strategic partnerships: To cut through the clutter, startups are relying on investor networks and domain experts for warm introductions, while many founders are spending extended time in the US to stay close to customers and iterate more quickly. Keeping Count Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Shivali Goyal and Pritish Gupta, founders, Trupeer AI Trupeer AI bags $3 million: Trupeer AI, an AI video platform, has raised $3 million in seed funding from early-stage investor RTP Global, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and angel investors. Voice AI startup Navana AI raises Rs 7 crore: has developed three products: a voice AI contact centre, a speech recognition API, and the contact centre intelligence API. The company currently has more than 40 clients supporting voice bots in over 12 languages across the country. A Shux-cess: After 18 days in space, Group Captain and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla felt gravity again on Tuesday. Stepping out of the Dragon capsule with a smile and the Indian flag on his shoulder, Shukla, or Shux, became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to enter the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission. WeWork India's road to IPO: WeWork India Management, the country's largest premium flexible workspace operator by revenue, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch its initial public offering. Global Picks We Are Reading ■ Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI fight is bigger than a contract (Wired) ■ xAI says it has fixed Grok 4's problematic responses (TechCrunch) ■ How BYD caught up with Tesla in the global EV race (FT) Updated On Jul 16, 2025, 07:16 AM IST
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Zepto Cafe cools; Ecommerce sales pick up
Zepto Cafe cools; Ecommerce sales pick up Also in the letter: Zepto Cafe scales down amid sourcing, staffing hurdles By the numbers: Daily order volumes fell to 65,000–67,000 in May and June, down from 120,000–130,000 at their peak. Back in February, founder and CEO Aadit Palicha had claimed on LinkedIn that the service had crossed 100,000 daily orders. Zepto pulled the plug on Cafe operations at 44 of roughly 1,000 dark stores in May. Behind the scenes: Also Read: What's next: Also Read: Mid-year ecomm sales spike sets the stage for cracking festive season Bright ecommerce outlook: Uptick in sales: Festive sale preparations: Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch! Why it matters: The opportunity: Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers. Boost your brand's visibility among the tech-savvy community. Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand's goals. What's next: Scoring with AI not enough to crack US enterprise code Moving timelines: Too little time: Firms don't have enough time to demo with every firm that approaches them. The market is 'equally miserable' for buyers, another founder, Vivek Khandelwal said. The field has become too noisy, confusing the buyers as well. Strategic partnerships: Keeping Count Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Trupeer AI bags $3 million: Voice AI startup Navana AI raises Rs 7 crore: A Shux-cess: WeWork India's road to IPO: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Wednesday! Zepto's 10-minute food delivery arm has scaled down operations due to multiple hurdles. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Indian AI startups take US flight■ ETtech Done Deals■ Shubhanshu Shukla returns to EarthZepto Cafe, the 10-minute food delivery arm of quick commerce firm Zepto, is scaling down operations as it battles supply chain issues and a shortage of trained kitchen staff. The slowdown comes just as rivals Blinkit's Bistro and Swiggy's Snacc push deeper into key urban company has hit pause on several fried items as it retools its kitchen workflows. Suppliers say Zepto Cafe has cut back on order volumes and delayed pickups, with some reporting a fall in monthly order value from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 40–50 Zepto trims its cash burn and recalibrates, the company is in talks with investors, including General Catalyst and Avenir Growth, to raise $500 million ahead of a planned IPO in order volumes during the recent sale window rose 19% over the same time last year, well ahead of the sector's annual growth rate of 10–12% in 2024. Deep discounts helped fuel demand across various categories, including smart TVs, headphones, air conditioners, kids' essentials, and July 11-14 sale window saw overlapping campaigns from marketplaces like Amazon India, Flipkart, and a clutch of D2C brands. Analysts say this burst of activity could boost performance in the ongoing quarter, offering a breather amid what has otherwise been a sluggish period for such as boAt, Eume, Uppercase, Atomberg, Solara and Zouk reported a strong jump in gains. Pradeep Krishnakumar, founder of fashion brand Zouk, said, 'Typically, Prime Day is seen as a play for legacy brands and for discounts. We saw something slightly different…that Zouk as a brand actually grew more than the category.'Several executives said this sale window effectively kicked off festive season preparations, with brands ramping up supply chains, launching new products, and pushing fresh categories. Many are now revising their Diwali forecasts upwards, looking to stock up in line with the current surge in Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship artificial intelligence (AI) startups heading to the US in search of growth are running into new roadblocks, founders and investors told ET. Fierce competition and slower decision-making are making it harder to close deals and run cycles that once lasted 6–9 months are now dragging on to 12–18, as enterprises test multiple solutions and delay fresh engagements, said Pradeep Ayyagari, cofounder of agentic platform SnowMountain AI, told Krishnan, founder of IT firm NuWare, added that big companies in the US now face pitches from 20 firms offering nearly identical cut through the clutter, startups are relying on investor networks and domain experts for warm introductions, while many founders are spending extended time in the US to stay close to customers and iterate more AI, an AI video platform, has raised $3 million in seed funding from early-stage investor RTP Global, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and angel has developed three products : a voice AI contact centre, a speech recognition API, and the contact centre intelligence API. The company currently has more than 40 clients supporting voice bots in over 12 languages across the 18 days in space, Group Captain and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla felt gravity again on Tuesday . Stepping out of the Dragon capsule with a smile and the Indian flag on his shoulder, Shukla, or Shux, became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to enter the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) India Management, the country's largest premium flexible workspace operator by revenue, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch its initial public offering.■ Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI fight is bigger than a contract ( Wired ■ xAI says it has fixed Grok 4's problematic responses ( TechCrunch ■ How BYD caught up with Tesla in the global EV race ( FT
New Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Rapido will cross-utilise fleet to compete with Zomato, Swiggy's dedicated riders
BENGALURU: Ride-hailing platform Rapido, which has forayed into food delivery, will cross-utilise its fleet to compete with Zomato/Swiggy's dedicated riders. The recent shift in volumes to less than 30-minute deliveries demand a stronger grip over rider availability and servicing, observes Elara Capital. The platform will cross-utilise its 4 million-rider network at zero incremental capex. "The commission model is flat at 8-15% (Zomato-Swiggy's 21-22%), which could elevate rider earnings and trim overall cost. However, the absence of a dedicated fleet may compromise the delivery experience, especially with rising lesser than 30-minute delivery propositions," it said. Zomato and Swiggy are two dominant players in this food delivery space and Rapido's initial pilot in Bengaluru will disrupt these two players, apart from Dunzo. Zepto too introduced its 10-minute fresh food delivery app Zepto Cafe last year.
News18
06-06-2025
- General
- News18
Dead Ants Found In Maggi Delivered by Zepto. Internet Asks ‘Is It Safe?'
Last Updated: A viral video showing ants in a quick-delivery food order has sparked concerns over hygiene in 10-minute delivery services. A video is making waves on Instagram, where a Zepto customer has alleged that her order of Maggi noodles from Zepto Cafe came with an unexpected and unhygienic surprise—dead ants. For those who don't know, Zepto Cafe is a 10-minute quick-commerce food delivery service that offers ready-to-eat meals and beverages. The video, which has garnered over 2.4 million views and continues to spark debate online, shows four bowls of Maggi—one empty and the others partially consumed. As the camera focuses in, viewers can spot multiple dead ants settled at the bottom of the bowls. The unsettling visuals have led to an outpouring of criticism online, with many users questioning the safety, quality checks, and food handling practices at Zepto's fast-delivery kitchen hubs. '@zeptonow this is disgusting. However, I'm shocked to see their cafe still operating with deceptive offers like 'Buy 1 get 1 free' – serving food with insects is unacceptable!" the customer wrote in the caption. The video, originally posted on June 3, has not only racked up over 2.4 million views but also received more than 18,000 likes and hundreds of comments. Among them was a response from Zepto's official Instagram account, Zepto Now, which stated, 'Hey! At Zepto, we take quality seriously, and we regret any inconvenience caused if this product doesn't meet your expectations. Please DM us your order details so we can address this promptly at Zepto speed!" However, the customer wasn't satisfied with the response. She replied, 'Zepto, we did receive our refund, and we appreciate that. But what about the food we consumed? These happened to be ants—but what if it had been a cockroach or something worse? This is not just about one bad order; it's a matter of basic hygiene and health. Fast delivery is great, but not at the cost of food safety. People could get seriously ill." A user said, 'Dude, I found red ants in my Maggi packet once." Another added, 'Maggie cooking time 5 minutes and still people order it to get in 10 minutes…so it's out to happen." The exchange has fuelled concern among viewers, many of whom are now questioning whether speed is being prioritised over sanitation in the quick-delivery food model. First Published:
NDTV
06-06-2025
- Health
- NDTV
Customer Allegedly Finds Ants In Maggi Ordered From Zepto Cafe, Company Responds
In a video going viral on Instagram, a Zepto customer allegedly claims that she found ants in the Maggi she ordered from Zepto Cafe. For the unversed, Zepto Cafe is a quick-commerce food delivery service that delivers ready-to-eat food and beverages within 10 minutes. The viral video, with over 2 million views, shows four bowls of Maggi noodles, one of which is empty, and the rest have some noodles left. The video then zoomed in to show multiple dead ants at the bottom of the noodle bowls. In the caption, the customer wrote, " @zeptonow this is disgusting. However, I'm shocked to see their cafe still operating with deceptive offers like 'Buy 1 get 1 free' - serving food with insects is unacceptable! They're prioritizing fast delivery over hygiene and health." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sukhmeet Kaur✨️/Influencer/UGC Creator (@sukhocreates_) Zepto's official Instagram handle, Zepto Now, responded in the comments section, writing, "Hey! At Zepto, we take quality seriously, and we regret any inconvenience caused if this product doesn't meet your expectations. Please DM us your order details so we can address this promptly at Zepto speed!" To this, the customer replied, "@zeptonow we got our refunds gladly, but what about this kind of food which we consumed? These were just ants. What if there was a cockroach or any other insects? This is all about hygiene! People can get food poisoning, we expect better food quality, not fast deliveries." Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected Zepto's Dharavi warehouse in Mumbai and found "serious non-compliance", including fungal growth on food items, expired products, and unhygienic storage conditions. Following the inspection, the FDA suspended the food business licence of Zepto's Dharavi warehouse.
