Swiggy Instamart, the delivery giant’s grocery platform, is piloting a new category expansion called Instacafe, which aims to deliver pre-made food and snacks along with groceries through its dark stores in specific areas of Bengaluru. This move follows Swiggy’s previous ventures into e-commerce with Swiggy Maxx and Minis, its direct-to-consumer (D2C) discovery platform.

According to a spokesperson from Swiggy, the company began piloting Instacafe in Bengaluru in March this year. Currently, it offers around 60 stock-keeping units (SKUs) exclusively in the Bommanahalli and Bellandur areas of the city. Prior to this, Instacafe was tested in select locations in Hyderabad last year.

Instacafe offers a range of pre-made snacks such as puffs, baos, cold coffee, cookies, tarts, and more, with prices ranging from INR 59 to INR 150.

The concept of Instacafe is similar to buying pre-made food and snacks along with groceries in-store, but it provides an online food counter experience. These fast-moving snacks are meant to be convenient additions to users’ grocery orders, and they are delivered within minutes along with other items from Instamart. Instacafe has been operational in a few locations on the Instamart platform since the previous year.

It is worth noting that the Moneycontrol report mentioned that Instacafe currently sells unbranded food items sourced directly by the dark store managers. However, this claim could not be independently verified by Inc42.

This move by Swiggy is reminiscent of its quick-commerce rival Zepto’s Zepto Cafe, which was launched last year. It should be noted that Zepto Cafe takes a hybrid approach by offering both branded pre-made food and non-branded food items.

Swiggy’s Instamart dark stores are operated by independent sellers, and the company provides support to these sellers in terms of selecting the right location and providing relevant backend technology for accepting Instamart orders. As a result, Instacafe may not be available in all locations where Instamart is currently operational.

The launch of Instacafe comes shortly after Swiggy expressed confidence that Instamart would achieve unit economics positive in a few weeks. Swiggy’s focus on profitability is evident, as the company recently announced the profitability of its food delivery business, excluding ESOP costs.

While Swiggy expands into new categories like Instacafe, it has made some strategic changes. It sold its kitchen infrastructure business, Swiggy Access, and integrated the meat and fish category into Instamart with reduced offerings.

The introduction of Instacafe adds another dimension to Swiggy’s Instamart platform and will be interesting to watch as it impacts the unit economics of the service. As competitors like Zomato and Reliance-backed 7-Eleven also explore the pre-made food delivery space, the quick commerce industry continues to evolve and expand its offerings.

Swiggy Instamart, the delivery giant’s grocery platform, is piloting a new category expansion called Instacafe, which aims to deliver pre-made food and snacks along with groceries through its dark stores in specific areas of Bengaluru. This move follows Swiggy’s previous ventures into e-commerce with Swiggy Maxx and Minis, its direct-to-consumer (D2C) discovery platform.

According to a spokesperson from Swiggy, the company began piloting Instacafe in Bengaluru in March this year. Currently, it offers around 60 stock-keeping units (SKUs) exclusively in the Bommanahalli and Bellandur areas of the city. Prior to this, Instacafe was tested in select locations in Hyderabad last year.

Instacafe offers a range of pre-made snacks such as puffs, baos, cold coffee, cookies, tarts, and more, with prices ranging from INR 59 to INR 150.

The concept of Instacafe is similar to buying pre-made food and snacks along with groceries in-store, but it provides an online food counter experience. These fast-moving snacks are meant to be convenient additions to users’ grocery orders, and they are delivered within minutes along with other items from Instamart. Instacafe has been operational in a few locations on the Instamart platform since the previous year.

It is worth noting that the Moneycontrol report mentioned that Instacafe currently sells unbranded food items sourced directly by the dark store managers. However, this claim could not be independently verified by Inc42.

This move by Swiggy is reminiscent of its quick-commerce rival Zepto’s Zepto Cafe, which was launched last year. It should be noted that Zepto Cafe takes a hybrid approach by offering both branded pre-made food and non-branded food items.

Swiggy’s Instamart dark stores are operated by independent sellers, and the company provides support to these sellers in terms of selecting the right location and providing relevant backend technology for accepting Instamart orders. As a result, Instacafe may not be available in all locations where Instamart is currently operational.

The launch of Instacafe comes shortly after Swiggy expressed confidence that Instamart would achieve unit economics positive in a few weeks. Swiggy’s focus on profitability is evident, as the company recently announced the profitability of its food delivery business, excluding ESOP costs.

While Swiggy expands into new categories like Instacafe, it has made some strategic changes. It sold its kitchen infrastructure business, Swiggy Access, and integrated the meat and fish category into Instamart with reduced offerings.

The introduction of Instacafe adds another dimension to Swiggy’s Instamart platform and will be interesting to watch as it impacts the unit economics of the service. As competitors like Zomato and Reliance-backed 7-Eleven also explore the pre-made food delivery space, the quick commerce industry continues to evolve and expand its offerings.