New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) India’s food delivery growth in 2026 will be driven by customer experience, speed and value consciousness, according to aggregators magicpin and Swiggy.
Anshoo Sharma, CEO & Founder
of magicpin, India’s third-largest food delivery platform, believes growth will come from deeper merchant inclusion and catering to value conscious users.
“We are scaling by onboarding a wide range of merchants, from single, standalone local restaurants to large brands and national chains, enabling them to participate competitively in the digital economy.
“By lowering entry barriers and improving unit economics for merchants, platforms like ours can help build a more balanced and sustainable food delivery ecosystem in 2026 and beyond,” Sharma told PTI.
Swiggy’s CEO of Food Marketplace Rohit Kapoor observed that food delivery has evolved over the years to cater to consumer needs.
“Meals today have to fit into tighter schedules, longer days and changing priorities. Sometimes it’s about comfort, sometimes about speed, and increasingly, it’s about feeling good about what you eat,” Kapoor shared.
According to him, looking ahead to 2026, the opportunity for the sector lies in responding to everyday decisions and newer use cases, making food delivery faster when needed, more balanced when required, and consistently reliable.
“The challenge will be to scale these experiences thoughtfully, while keeping food accessible and ensuring great customer experience for millions of people who now depend on it as part of daily life,” Kapoor said.
magicpin Founder & CEO Sharma said as India’s food delivery market evolves, the next phase of growth will be driven by value-conscious users.
“At magicpin, we are seeing food delivery become a daily habit across students, office-goers and families who are looking for affordability without compromise,” Sharma said.
Our focus has been on expanding this segment by making everyday meals more accessible, from late-night campus orders and office lunches to celebration-driven dining, while ensuring users continue to save meaningfully on every order, he added.
India’s food delivery platform sector generated Rs 1.2 lakh crore in gross output in 2023-24 and has been expanding at a rate faster that of the overall economy, thus emerging as a powerful economic engine according to an NCAER-Prosus report.
Direct employment by the sector increased to 1.37 million in 2023-24 from 1.08 million workers in 2021-22, as per the report released earlier this month. PTI RSN TRB TRB
