India’s food services market is expected to cross $125 billion by 2030, with organised players growing at twice the rate of the unorganised segment, according to Swiggy’s ‘How India Eats 2025’ report released in partnership with consulting firm Kearney.
According to the report, the organised segment—comprising quick service restaurants (QSRs), cloud kitchens, and restaurant chains—will account for over 60% of industry growth and surpass the unorganised sector by 2030. The organised segment is projected to grow at 12-14% CAGR compared to 5-7% for unorganised players during the 2025-2030 period, it added.
Cloud Kitchens and QSRs Fuel Organised Sector’s Dominance
Cloud kitchens are expected to see the steepest growth at 32-37% CAGR, followed by QSRs at 15-17% and casual dining at 10-11%. Currently, casual dining accounts for 49% of the organised segment while QSRs hold 27%.
Growth in cities beyond the top eight metros is twice that of established markets, driven by IT hubs at places like Thiruvananthapuram and Vadodara, tourism destinations like Mysore and Dehradun, and industrial centers in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, the report added.
“The next wave of leadership will come from players who understand these new markets,” said Rajat Tuli, partner at Kearney.
Quick commerce is also having an effect on food delivery expectations.
Dichotomous Trends
“Expectations on speed are being shaped by quick commerce,” said Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy Food Marketplace. Swiggy’s 10-minute delivery service Bolt now accounts for over 10% of platform orders, with customer retention rates 4-6 percentage points higher than the platform average.
Meanwhile, pre-bookings for dining out are growing 7 times faster than walk-ins.
Food delivery user behaviour is showing seemingly contradictory patterns. Orders for health-oriented meals are growing 2.3 times faster than overall orders, centered on high-protein, low-calorie options. Simultaneously, late-night orders between 11 PM and 6 AM are expanding 3 times faster than dinner orders, with pizzas, cakes and soft drinks seeing the highest growth. The report attributes this to food delivery now being available round-the-clock in over 700 cities.
Affordability is becoming critical for high-volume cuisines, with North Indian and Italian showing higher growth in the below Rs 200 price range, the report notes. Premium segments, however, are expanding for American and Mughlai cuisines.
Customers are ordering from 30% more restaurants annually and trying 20% more cuisine types. Regional Indian cuisines—Goan, Bihari and Pahari—are growing 2-8 times faster than mainstream options, while Korean, Vietnamese and Mexican cuisines are seeing 17x, 6x and 3.7x growth, respectively.
Gen-Z diners are growing 3 times faster than other cohorts, the report noted. Despite having lower spending power, the age group has higher experimentation rates, which translates to playing an outsized role in shaping market trends, the report added.