Zomato has officially hit the brakes on its ambitious ultra-fast food delivery ventures, admitting that the 10-minute meal race may not be worth the sprint. In its Q4 FY25 earnings call, the company confirmed the shutdown of both ‘Quick’ and ‘Zomato Everyday’ services, citing poor customer experience and limited incremental demand as the core reasons behind the move.
Speed Over Substance? Not An Option, Says CEO
Launched earlier this year, Quick was Zomato’s answer to the 10-minute food delivery trend, offering ready-to-eat meals from nearby restaurants. However, Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal clarified that the model was not sustainable.
“We did not see any incrementality in demand while we ran Quick as an experiment for a few months,” Goyal said. The company also acknowledged that the current infrastructure is simply not geared for such lightning-fast delivery expectations. “The current restaurant density and kitchen infrastructure is not set up for delivering orders in 10 minutes, and this leads to inconsistent customer experience,” he added.
Zomato Everyday: A Metro-Only Meal That Didn’t Scale
Zomato also decided to phase out ‘Everyday’, its homestyle meal service, noting that it failed to offer meaningful returns outside a narrow use case. “We do not see the path to profitability for Quick and Zomato Everyday without compromising on customer experience,” Goyal explained. The service, a rebranded version of the short-lived ‘Zomato Instant’, had already seen a rollback in early 2023.
Unlike competitors Zepto and Swiggy, who have reportedly gained traction in the instant delivery space — with Zepto Cafe hitting one lakh daily orders — Zomato’s foray did not see a similar surge. Swiggy’s 15-minute delivery vertical, Bolt, even accounted for 9 per cent of its food delivery revenue in Q3 FY25, reflecting stronger adoption.
Earnings Take A Hit As Blinkit Weighs Heavy
While scaling back these experimental services, Zomato also reported a sharp dip in quarterly profits. Eternal’s consolidated net profit dropped nearly 78 per cent year-on-year to Rs 39 crore, largely due to rising losses in Blinkit, its quick commerce arm. Though adjusted EBITDA rose by 56 per cent YoY to Rs 428 crore, revenue growth remained modest at 17 per cent, reaching Rs 2,409 crore.
Customer growth, too, showed signs of stagnation. Monthly transacting users increased only slightly from 20.5 million to 20.9 million compared to the December quarter. Net order value saw a lukewarm 14 per cent annual growth — well below the 20 per cent target.
The company attributed the muted performance to multiple headwinds: shortage of delivery partners, cannibalisation from its own quick commerce business, and generally tepid consumer demand.
Leadership Shuffle At The Top
Adding to the churn, Zomato announced a change in leadership. Rakesh Ranjan, CEO of the food delivery business, has stepped down after two years. Deepinder Goyal will step in as interim head while a new leadership structure is finalised.
Meanwhile, Blinkit’s Bistro — its own version of quick meals — is still operational in Gurugram. However, no performance updates were shared in the shareholder letter, leaving its fate uncertain as Zomato tightens its focus.
Is Zomato done experimenting? For now, it seems the company is returning to the basics — where the food may take a bit longer, but hopefully lands with satisfaction intact.
