How hyperlocal delivery firms are helping a new breed of home chefs thrive

Well networked, they deliver packaged food swiftly, at the right temperature and under stringent hygiene and safety protocols; they also reach medicines, clothes and documents to the customer

When Gurugram-based Mansi Sharma was setting up her home bakery last year, a major issue was logistics. For a first-time entrepreneur, figuring out how to spread the word about her business was the first piece of the puzzle. The next was how to reach her intended user base. 

"A friend told me about Pidge. They have a good network, and ensure delivery to the destination in the correct way. For baked goods, temperature control is an essential part of the delivery process. They provide dry ice to prevent food from melting, and their subscription, though expensive, really helps small businesses like mine," she said. 

Delhi-NCR based Pidge is one of the players being used extensively by home chefs. "The lockdown has allowed home chefs to expand their reach to newer areas but also changed the customer’s expectations towards them. The evolution from a hobby to a full-fledged business requires them to better understand the complexities of food delivery. These chefs are now understanding and focusing on various supporting factors such as packaging, mobility, transport conditions, speed of delivery and temperature-control in transit. Consequently, they look for delivery partners who can help them conjoin all of this effectively," said Ratnesh Verma, founder and leader, Pidge.

Hyperlocal delivery of everything, from food to medicine, clothes to documents, has been a life saver for families and friends separated by the pandemic and related lockdowns. At the peak of the second wave earlier in April, sending food to many Covid affected families was also made possible through these services. 

Swiggy's Genie service, present in 65 cities across the country, saw a 350 per cent increase in the delivery of over the counter medicines in late April and early May, compared to the same time a month ago. 

The food delivery giant said in early May it would prioritise Genie deliveries. "Almost half a million home cooked meals and tiffins have been ferried to friends and family in the same period. Covid Heroes, who are selflessly cooking meals to help those in need, have been using the service to help those in need," it said. 

Dunzo, possibly the oldest player in the hyperlocal delivery market, said it saw a growth of 350 per cent in medicine orders alone, while consumables like groceries, fresh produce, and daily staples have grown 318 per cent as of April 2021. "While we continue to grow in all the cities we are present in, Bangalore is still our most mature city in terms of demand, followed by Chennai and Pune," a spokesperson at the Google-backed e-commerce and delivery firm said. 

Uber Connect and Wefast are among the other big names that are being used by people in cities extensively. 

"Pidge’s general order volume has been rising rapidly over the past few months owing to the safety and predictability that we offer. Currently, it’s growing at over 10 per cent week on week. As people confine themselves to the safety of their homes, the demand for at home deliveries of all our business partners has increased during the lockdown," said Verma.

Pidge is used by people to deliver hot food, frozen and packaged foods, delicate cakes, consumer items like cosmetics, clothes, etc, with the fastest growth in demand for fresh vegetables, dining and packaged/preserved foods.

Dunzo has also partnered with several businesses, restaurants, and home chefs through its Dunzo for Business delivery. "The need of the hour for businesses is to be able to reach customers and keep overhead costs to a minimum. By employing Dunzo's B2B (business-to-business) logistics they no longer need to part with margins while still being able to rely on deliveries. Each of them receives a customized merchant dashboard where they can place and track orders or integrate their website with our APIs so users can just checkout with Dunzo," the company spokesperson added. 

Staff welfare during Covid times

Each of these players are also ensuring that their staff--whether on company payroll (Pidge) or working through their platforms (Dunzo, Swiggy)--are taken care of in case they have an active Covid-19 infection. 

While Dunzo takes care of their earnings while they isolate and recuperate, it also has a special Covid-19 insurance policy to support them with fixed pay every day to support their daily income during the period of quarantine. 

Swiggy also recently launched "Swiggy Suraksha", under which all Covid-19 affected delivery partners will be eligible to receive support of Rs 14,000 for two weeks without worrying about earning a livelihood during their recovery period. The company has been offering this support throughout the past year.

Delivery partners and their families who test positive will receive enhanced hospitalisation cover of upto Rs 1.5 lakh. It will also provide enhanced life insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh in the event of an untimely death of a delivery partner due to Covid-19. 

For Pidge, where all delivery partners are on-roll employees, a Covid-19 infection will have no impact on their fixed salaries or their livelihood. "All of our delivery executives have medical insurance for themselves and their families, which can help them through such tough times," said Verma.