Bhavik Rathod, Head of UberEATS India is excited about the potential of the market and has already tied up with 300 restaurants in Gurugram, the second city they launched in, after Mumbai.

THE FOOD technology industry is flourishing in the Indian market. Uber has recently launched UberEATS, an online app for food delivery service in Delhi, NCR starting with Gurugram. Faiz Abdulla has been appointed as the General Manager for UberEATS in Delhi.

Commenting on the launch, Abdulla said, “Delhi, well known for its love for North Indian and international cuisines, has a vibrant food culture. UberEATS will offer Delhiites an effortless way to order food. We are excited about going live in Gurugram and aims to expand the service area to New Delhi and other parts of the National Capital Region soon.”

Bhavik Rathod, Head of UberEATS India expressed his views to BW Hotelier, “We launched UberEATS in Mumbai on May 2, our first city in India, followed by Gurugram recently. We are just getting started, this is the second city for UberEATS in India and we are excited about building the technology to localize the UberEATS experience and explore new opportunities. Gradual geographical expansion into markets is common to how we operate in cities around the world,” he said.

Uber has been helping riders across the country to get a ride at the push of a button. How will UberEATS apply this learning, data and insights from the ride business to the newly launched UberEATS?  Replying to this, Rathod said, “Given the strong rider base and their love for the brand, we’re seeing that consumers in Mumbai and Gurgaon have embraced UberEATS immediately. On the other hand, technology, innovation and data define Uber’s DNA. This key differentiator helps us better understand consumer behaviour and personalization. And, being present 97 cities across the globe gives us the added advantage to localize product innovations a lot faster and tap into India’s market potential that’s largely unmet.”

According to Rathod, UberEATS have tied up with 300 restaurants in Gurugram. “In Mumbai, we have partnered with restaurant across the city, serving consumers anytime, anywhere at the push of a button. In Delhi-NCR, to begin with, we have over 300 restaurant partners on UberEATS in Gurugram, like Go Kylin, Pita Pit, Biryani by Kilo and Chaayos,” he added.

Speaking about the food tech industry, Rathod commented, “The food delivery business in India is $15 billion and growing. We know there is a huge appetite for the ease and convenience of food delivered at the push of a button. We are focusing on the right business fundamentals and are working towards higher efficiency. Besides this, we are also leveraging the existing infrastructure from the rides business and that minimizes our cost significantly. We are thrilled to see how restaurant and delivery partners are eager to grow their business with us.”

Zomato, Swiggy, FreshMenu and FoodPanda are some of the existing ventures who are connecting people to the food they love in Delhi, NCR. UberEATS was started in 2014 as a small delivery pilot in Los Angeles. In the past 18 months, it has grown incredibly fast, and is now a stand-alone app available in 27 countries including India.