Swiggy Access, central kitchen base-like facility for restaurants, launched

For now Swiggy is piloting Swiggy Access with tried and tested brands such as Leon Grill

Online food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Tuesday opened its first remote kitchen, at Marthahalli in Bengaluru, providing restaurant partners with space to service new localities.

Dubbed Swiggy Access, the service will offer more choices to customers in areas where there is a mismatch of demand and supply. The company is also aiming at using the centres to serve more customers with its own in-house restaurants.

“Over the years, Swiggy’s information have helped us understand that people from several parts of our cities long for better selection of food, including their favourite restaurants in their neighbourhood,” said Sriharsha Majety, founder and chief executive officer (CEO). “With Swiggy Access, we are diversifying local palettes, bridging geographical gaps in supply and solving variety, quality and convenience issues.”

Swiggy will not charge restaurants for using the space, but will charge them higher commissions for orders serviced through their remote kitchens. While this will encourage restaurant partners to sign up for the service, it will also incentivise Swiggy to drive more orders through the kitchens.

For now, Swiggy is piloting Access with tried and tested brands such as Leon Grill, a restaurant chain that sees nearly 50 per cent of its business through Swiggy. The 3,200-sq ft space will cater to demand from customers in a radius of four-five km. As more kitchens come online, that should reduce to two-three km.

“We plan to bring 40 restaurant partners onboard Swiggy Access in the next six months, which translates to five kitchens. We will initially go slow, learn everything that needs to be learnt before opening hundreds of such kitchens across the country. That is our vision,” Majety said. Apart from providing restaurants space to setup kitchens, Swiggy will also leverage data it gathers from consumers to see how these restaurants can maximise their orders.

The Bowl Company and House of Dabbas, two restaurant brands owned by Swiggy, will get a boost through Swiggy Access. The brands will be allotted space at the remote kitchens, helping them widen reach in Bengaluru. Swiggy plans to open the second such kitchen in Bellandur (Bengaluru), a place where some of the largest global information technology and software companies are located.

More, the company says Swiggy Access can be a stepping stone for restaurants to test the waters in new localities before investing to open  own outlets there.