Swiggy, Foodpanda: Restaurant delivery cum directory companies are disrupting the hospitality industry dynamics in Indian metropolises

In the 1960s and the 1970s we had elaborate setups for restaurants in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Bombay (now Mumbai) These were largely housed in the ground floor where the guest was usually a rich person who could approach the entrance or the lobby next to the entrance sitting in his automobile. The car would stop and the gentleman would gingerly step out with a face wrapped in concentration as if the whole world's worries and responsibilities are layered on to that visage. He would put his arm around his wife or any arm candy that he would be accompanied with on that day and enter the restaurant to bows or welcome and declarations of that particular guests' personal tastes.

Then in the 1980s and 1990s, other metropolises started new restaurants. New Delhi was the last one to do so with a non-colonial past unlike the other four viz Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore (now Bengaluru) and Chennai. Even today, the more successful restaurants in New Delhi sell meat based dishes which carry a distinct touch of the Middle East. Delhi has its Turkish and Samarkhand influence, while the other metros have their Roman or British influence.

It was at this time the the exodus by trained staff to restaurants in Dubai began. Every restaurant would train their newbie recruits only to lose them to destinations abroad in less than a year. This continued for more than 10 years and it has finally stopped with the United Arab Emirates economy slowing down for a few years. However, Dubai and also Saudi Arabia are now pushing themselves as tourist destinations with the end of petroleum supplies looming ahead. So, opportunities for restaurant staff will only multiply in the years to come but the difference in salaries may not be that high as they used to be earlier.

Even then the only successful restaurants that were around till the last one year were the ones with money muscle to take care of distribution, interior decor and innovation in recipes. However, all that is suddenly no longer a factor as distribution companies have now taken over and the only factor that holds good is taste of the food sold along with prices making up a quarter of the reason for a customer to come back.

Companies such as Foodpanda, Swiggy, Freshly, OrderUp, Doordash and FirstBite are now ensuring that the local road side vendor has an advantage over a acre large restaurant with silver cutlery. The same problem that plagued the entertainment industry earlier had made television more popular than cinema until multiplexes came along is now being witnessed in the restaurant industry,

For instance, there is one highly popular burger joint in NOIDA near New Delhi called Wat-A-Burger, which I had discovered while consulting for a company there. The food is amazing and the prices good enough for a school boy's pocket money. Now, that small shop which had few chairs to seat customers sells to more than 50 customers in an hour.

One small hole in the wall in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar sells cholay bature which go for delivery faster than they can churn them out. The price is just Rs 50 for two delicious bature and one large pot of cholay. Welcome to the new age of hospitality.