Zomato Announces 10-Minute Food Delivery: Here's How It'll Work

Close on the heels of India's tryst with instant grocery delivery, food delivery app Zomato on Monday announced its latest feature - 10-minute delivery of food.

Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal announced the offering on Twitter, saying it will first launch in Gurgaon next month.

In a nod to the backlash that ensued following the announcement of the 10-minute grocery delivery that plagued Zomato-backed Blinkit (then called Grofers) last year, Mr Goyal said the safety of its delivery agents will not be compromised.

"We do not put any pressure on delivery partners to deliver food faster. Nor do we penalise delivery partners for late deliveries. The delivery partners are not informed of the promised time of delivery. Time optimisation does not happen on the road and does not put any lives at risk," he said.

Zomato said the quick delivery will rely on a dense network of "finishing counters" which will be located in near high-demand customer neighbourhoods.

Using "sophisticated dish-level demand prediction algorithms and future-ready in-stations

robotics", the food delivery app said it will "ensure that your food is sterile, fresh and hot at the time it is picked by the delivery partner."

Explaining why it was getting into instant food delivery, Mr Goyal said, "Sorting restaurants by fastest delivery time is one of the most used features on the Zomato app."

He said he also "started feeling that the 30-minute average delivery time by Zomato is too slow, and will soon have to become obsolete."

"If we don't make it obsolete, someone else will," Mr Goyal said.