The 10-Minute Delivery War
The initial battlefield was quick commerce, or “q-commerce.” Companies like Zepto, Blinkit, and Dunzo promised to deliver groceries and essentials in the time it takes to watch a few TikToks. Fueled by billions in venture capital, they engaged in a brutal
price war, burning cash to acquire customers with deep discounts and lightning-fast service. For a moment, it felt like the future. But the model’s economics are notoriously punishing. In the U.S., similar ventures like Gopuff have faced immense pressure. In India, the pressure cooker is even hotter. The result? Massive consolidation. Food delivery giant Zomato acquired its rival Blinkit in a multi-billion dollar deal, a move that initially spooked investors. Meanwhile, other players have been forced to scale back, pivot, or face a desperate fight for survival as investors start asking the dreaded question: “Where are the profits?”
Ghost Kitchens with Real Problems
Another area of intense drama is the “cloud kitchen” or “ghost kitchen” space. The concept is simple and alluring: delivery-only restaurants run out of low-cost, industrial spaces without a storefront. It seemed like the perfect, asset-light way to scale a food brand. At its peak, companies like Rebel Foods (which operates brands like Faasos and Behrouz Biryani) were celebrated as pioneers, reaching unicorn status. However, the reality on the ground proved more complex. Many entrepreneurs who jumped on the bandwagon discovered that building a brand without a physical presence is incredibly difficult. Intense competition, quality control issues across vast supply chains, and an over-reliance on aggregator platforms like Zomato and Swiggy for discovery have squeezed margins to nothing. The result has been a quiet culling of the herd, with countless smaller cloud kitchens vanishing as quickly as they appeared.
Founders, Feuds, and Public Call-Outs
It wouldn't be proper startup drama without some personality-driven conflict. The Indian F&B scene has delivered in spades. Public spats between founders and investors are becoming more common as the pressure mounts. More interestingly, a new kind of drama is unfolding on social media. In one prominent example, the founder of a health-food brand called The Whole Truth took out full-page newspaper ads and long social media posts to call out legacy food giants and even fellow startups for what he described as misleading health claims and “health-washing.” The move sparked a massive industry-wide debate, forcing brands to defend their ingredients and marketing. Similarly, there has been long-standing tension between restaurant owners and delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy over deep discounting, data sharing, and commission fees, often spilling into public disputes that play out in the media.
The Great Profitability Pivot
Ultimately, all this drama stems from a single, global shift: the end of the “growth-at-all-costs” era. For years, the primary metric for success in the startup world—from Silicon Valley to Bangalore—was user acquisition and market share. Profitability was a problem for another day. That day has arrived. With global economic headwinds and a more cautious investment climate, venture capitalists are no longer writing blank checks. They are demanding a clear path to sustainable profits. This has triggered a painful identity crisis for India's F&B startups. Companies are now forced to do things that were once unthinkable: laying off staff, shutting down unprofitable verticals, cutting back on discounts, and even, in Zomato’s case, introducing a small “platform fee” for every order—a move that would have been sacrilege during the growth-crazed years.
