Fitness, health startup Cure.fit launches grocery delivery services

The firm will deliver ready to cook meals, staples like pulses, atta, and spices, dairy products, and nutrition products

Fitness and health start-up Cure.Fit has launched grocery delivery services in four cities - Bangalore, the National Capital Regions (NCR), Hyderabad and Chennai - becoming the latest large start-up to enter the category. The service is branded Whole.Fit.

Earlier, Zomato, Meesho, Paytm and NoBrokers had launched groceries on their platforms, in a bid to cash in on the demand as more people move online to shop for essential items.
 

Since March 24, when India went under lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, online orders for groceries have boomed.

Top players like Big Basket and Grofers, which rebooted operations on March 30, are struggling to meet the demand, often limiting daily orders intake and deliveries sometimes taking multiple days.

Cure.Fit, which runs a network of gyms and quick service restaurants, branded Cult.Fit and Eat.Fit respectively, has expanded to this category, building on top of its existing infrastructure.

The Bengaluru-based start-up already supplies meals under the Eat.Fit vertical. It has a network of self-owned and third party delivery fleet in all major cities.
 

For groceries, Cure.Fit will initially deliver packaged foods, ready to cook meals, staples like pulses, atta, and spices, dairy products, and nutrition products, said Sachin Kotangale, business head, Eat.Fit, said in an interview. The selection does not include fruits and vegetables.

“We are sourcing the products directly from the manufacturers. We have partnerships will multiple brands like Britannia, ITC, Raw Pressery, and several others,” said Kotangale, adding that deliveries will happen over one day.

Cure.Fit is one of the top funded start-ups in India, having raised over $404 million since starting out in 2015. It is backed by Accel Partners, Chiratea Ventures and Temasek, among others.

Cure.Fit said it was taking sanitation and hygiene seriously, especially after a Zomato delivery boy was recently tested positive of the coronavirus. "The health and safety of both the customers and employees are of primary concern, hence, all delivery crew members are being routinely checked for body temperatures and have been necessitated to keep personal distance while picking up the orders from the warehouses," the company said in a statement.