In an attempt to cut down on food waste throughout its value chain, listed foodtech giant Swiggy has started a new campaign called “Swiggy Serves.” In an effort to combat hunger nationwide, Swiggy intends to redistribute excess food from its restaurant partners to underprivileged areas, the firm announced in a statement. The non-profit Robin Hood Army, based in Delhi NCR, has partnered with the Sriharsha Majety-led company on the Swiggy Serves project. By the end of 2030, it hopes to deliver 50 million meals to underprivileged communities. With the help of more than 126 restaurant partners, the two have already redistributed 2,000 meals among 33 locations as part of the recently established campaign’s trial.
According to Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy’s food marketplace, the brand is already active in 33 cities and intends to expand this program to more locations. According to Swiggy, a number of well-known companies have joined the new effort, including Birayni By Kilo, Dana Choga, Vardhas, B.Tech Momos Wala, Samosa Singh, Babai Tiffins, Dosa Anna, and Urban Tandoor, among others.
Similar Initiative was Launched by Zomato
It is important to note that Zomato, Swiggy’s competitor, started a similar campaign in 2019 to combat hunger, malnutrition, and food waste in partnership with the nonprofit organisation Feeding India. The foodtech company led by Deepinder Goyal also purchased Feeding India in the same year. The Swiggy Serves campaign coincides with the foodtech giant’s transition from a single app to launching distinct applications for each of its products under the Swiggy name. Earlier today, a media outlet announced that Swiggy has extended its Instamart rapid commerce solution to 76 Indian cities. Additionally, the business intends to release a stand-alone Instamart app shortly.
Swiggy Launched Snacc
Earlier, Swiggy released a new app called Snacc that allows users to order meals, snacks, and beverages in as little as 15 minutes. The debut coincides with a race among Indian food delivery apps to deliver hot beverages and biryani to consumers’ doorsteps in less than ten to fifteen minutes. On January 7, Snacc, which has a bright fluorescent green background and dark blue writing, went online in a few areas of Bengaluru. The sources claim that Swiggy intends to expand the platform throughout the nation.
Chocolate cookies, Indian breakfast, coffee, tea, eggs, rolls and sandwiches, lunches, cold drinks, egg puffs, and cheese Maggie are among the foods offered at Snacc. Prior to that, Swiggy announced in December that it had expanded Bolt, its 10-minute meal delivery service, to more than 400 cities and towns nationwide. For the first time, fresh food from consumers’ favourite restaurants is being delivered right to their door. According to Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy’s Food Marketplace, fries are crispy straight out of the packaging, ice creams remain frozen, and idlis arrive warm and fluffy.
The agricultural sector has always been troubled by logistical challenges. India just cannot afford to lose food supplies due to logistical issues at this point because of its quickly expanding population. An estimated 194 million people in India experience daily hunger, as reported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). According to the organization, the huge amount of food that goes to waste each year—roughly $14 billion worth—in India is the main cause of this problem. In reality, according to the UN, supply problems cause almost 40% of India’s food to be wasted before it reaches the customer. Fortunately, a plethora of entrepreneurs have stepped up to the plate, offering tech-driven ways to cut down on food waste.
It is now more important than ever to manage agricultural inputs and outputs, such as farm produce, due to the present unfavorable circumstances in which the entire world is experiencing an economic crisis. According to official statistical data, several research on India’s fresh produce and seafood have shown a loss percentage of 8–18% recently. Currently, farmers are facing numerous challenges, including a shortage of labor, low returns on their crops, and disruptions in the supply chain. They are hopeful that the IT sector will solve these problems.
To tackle these problems, numerous agro startups have been introduced to the market. According to the information provided by Data Labs, over a thousand startups are engaged in the agriculture sector. Many of these businesses are helping to solve problems in the industry by combining cutting-edge technology with fresh, original thinking.
Although the agriculture sector’s supply chain was already weak before the COVID-19 epidemic, it became much worse thereafter. The government made its position on not wanting to disrupt agri-business quite apparent when it classified agri-business as an essential commodity. However, the local authorities were the first to cause confusion by not distinguishing between agri-supply and other supply chains. As a result of the increased uncertainty caused by the states’ tug-of-war, the supply chain was impeded.
Startups came in to clear things up with their new tech-driven solutions. Even though farmers and others in this industry still have a long way to go before they can master technology abilities, these young entrepreneurs blew it out of the park by making their goods so easy to use that a child could do it.
Agricultural Technology (Agtech) Market Value Worldwide From 2020 to 2025
Connecting Farmers With Their Market
Startups have emerged with the sole purpose of reversing the traditional market dynamics and bringing large markets to farmers. To provide farmers with options, businesses like AgriBazaar, Oxen Farm Solution, Agribolo, Trringo, etc. have carved out this concept.
It has been a long-standing challenge for farmers and agro-business owners to get a fair price for their goods. There have been numerous reports of farmers and businesses tossing their products on roadways due to meager prices, which prevent them from recouping their production costs. In response, AgriBazaar established direct connections between farmers, state governments, and procurement firms.
Indian agritech entrepreneurs have a chance to prove themselves by coming up with novel and inventive solutions to the current predicament. We developed our project with the ever-present problem of logistics in the agro-industry in mind, and it has brought us great joy to see our product meet the needs of both farmers and procurement businesses, stated Amith Agarwal, cofounder and CEO of AgriBazaar.
At AgriBazaar, farmers can list their products and themselves on the website or app. Then, the business connects them with businesses that are looking to buy their goods. The practicalities of collecting the grain from the farmer’s doorstep and delivering it to the purchasers’ godown or warehouse are taken care of by the startup once the deal is finalized.
Similarly, Farmpal has opened a distribution center in Wadgaon Sheri, East Pune, and a fourth collecting center in Kopargaon, close to Shirdi. Using their distribution facilities, the corporation buys produce directly from farmers and then sells it to large traders. To ensure a seamless supply chain, the corporation uses its logistical chain to pick up the goods from the farmers’ station.
We have chosen to purchase directly from the growers to maintain a robust supply chain. One thing that sets us apart is that we buy whatever the farmers are selling. They can either deliver their fruit to our centers or even help us select it ourselves. The reason behind this is that, due to the current recession, customers are being less selective, stated Puneet Sethi, Director and Co-founder of Farmpal.
By Combining Traceability With AI, Providers Can Go the Extra Mile
Companies like these often promise farmers 15% greater prices than what local agents would pay because they don’t have to pay commission. This is how they get farmers to join their network. The amount of demand for a crop, the current pricing provided, and other facts are communicated to farmers through apps or SMS.
Better pricing, timed deliveries, and quality assurance are all available to wholesale clients and retailers who use an app to place purchases. Produce can be traced because it is monitored at every step.
In addition to procurement, these businesses have access to AI technology, which allows them to readily forecast demand by analyzing data that they have acquired. As a result, the fruit has a longer shelf life and there is practically no chance of food waste. Therefore, suppliers and traders can now more easily move goods to greater distances.
The farmer goes through a lot just to get his harvest to market, negotiate a price with middlemen, and then return home with a handful of pennies. He is responsible for covering all logistical costs and food waste in the event that the produce does not sell. We are able to go the extra mile to supply it because we buy it directly from farmers and equip it with our AI and traceable technology. Everybody wins in this scenario: farmers get good returns, while merchants obtain fresh produce that can now be delivered anywhere in the nation, said Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Co-Founder and CEO, Ninjacart.
Wasted Food Is Lessened Through End-To-End Monitoring
Food waste can be significantly reduced with end-to-end monitoring of produce while it is in transit. From a practical standpoint, it appears a little bit excessive, but when combined with technology, it becomes a reality. Many new businesses have focused on this one area of weakness and developed products to address it, with an emphasis on end-to-end monitoring.
Otipy, a new offering from farm-to-retail agritech startup Crofarm, is based on an end-to-end supply monitoring system that allows businesses to link their reselling partners with customers directly. More than 50,000 customers are already taking advantage of the company’s services, and it has partnerships with 500+ resellers around the Delhi-National Capital Region.
Otipy scours its partners for fresh goods and then delivers them right to customers’ doors thanks to its robust end-to-end supply chain network. In this business-to-consumer sphere, the firm not only aids its business associates in cutting down on food waste, but it also supplies customers with nutritious, freshly grown food.
Another agritech business situated in Mumbai, FarmLink focuses on the entire supply chain for produce. With this new business-to-business analytical tool, consumers can monitor their food’s journey from farm to fork, and farmers can rest easy knowing that their money is safe. Gramco Infratech is another company that provides services to rural areas and concentrates on the grain supply chain. From inputs and contract farming to financing and procurement, their services span the whole value chain.
These new businesses have already begun connecting farmers and traders so that everyone can win. When coupled with cutting-edge technology, fresh perspectives and ideas can have a profound impact in a country like India, which boasts a large and growing population. The only remaining concern is how these companies want to educate Indian farmers about their trading models; after all, the majority of farmers in this country lack sufficient knowledge of technology and current trends. Even more so, these new businesses are strapped for cash and can’t afford to spend much on ads (print, electronic, online, radio), thus it’s tough for them to consistently expand their nexus while running their day-to-day operations.
Nitin Konde
