When time is the most luxurious thing in the life of millennials, sharing some quality moments with the family is the best gift for them. And, of course, nothing brings people closer than good food, and that too at the world's most comfortable place Home. So, instead of spending time in commutation and waiting long for a vacant table, people prefer enjoying the food of their favourite restaurants at home, rather than killing their precious time in dining out. This paradigm shift in people's dining experience along with rapid advancements in commercial kitchens and easy internet accessibility on smartphones becomes a vital catalyst to the run away success of online food aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy, Faasos and many such players, but this disruptive transition was impossible without a novel concept, i.e., Cloud Kitchen, which is the game changer in the continuous growth of food startup aggregators.

Riding on the increased purchase power and growing demand for non home cooked food, the Indian online food delivery market (aggregators & cloud kitchen) is expected to be an over $5 billion opportunity by the end of the year 2023. The projected market size of cloud kitchens in India is expected to reach $1.05 billion by 2023.

According to NRAI India Food Services Report 2019, the organized cloud kitchen market in India is worth Rs. 928 crore. As per data mentioned in that report, till Dec 2018 there were over 400 cloud kitchens operated by major players like Faasos, Box8, FreshMenu, Innerchef, Biryani by Kilo and Sushiya, the current numbers for which have increased substantially. Attributing to the rise in number of cloud kitchens, the food delivery service market in India has also grown leaps and bounds.

Every intelligent entrepreneur not only envisions his business to make best use of the present opportunities, but also plans for future expansions. Being highly scalable in nature, these cloud kitchens are powered by highly efficient and smart equipments that not only help in managing the rising number of orders with ease, but also ensures consistency in quality across the kitchens. Such appliances can be used for doing multifarious tasks, for instance, a smart combi oven performs a variety of tasks like grilling, roasting, baking, steaming, stewing etc. within a space of less than about 1 m², with the help of right accessories.

Food aggregators have done a good job in the past in developing a good nexus between ghost kitchens and established restaurants or food chains in the metros. The amalgamation of cloud kitchens with food aggregators has completely redefined the F&B market in India.

With a noticeable shift of consumers to the online food ordering platforms, the market has seen new players as well trying to cement their position. Future Group which runs India's biggest retail chain, Big Bazar is all set to start their cloud kitchen vertical. The group is looking to deliver affordable meals at the doorsteps of consumers under the cloud kitchen concept. Similarly, on the other hand, the international e-Commerce behemoth, Amazon is not far behind in foraying into cloud kitchens. As per the market reports, Amazon has also chosen Bangalore for its maiden kitchen.

Today, a smartphone is no more a communication device, the instrument converts a need into an opportunity and an idea into a business. Online food delivery market place are perfect examples to it. Right from providing quick delivery of food to millennial customers, to offering essential ingredients of success to restaurants and cloud kitchens by way of customer addition & retention, online delivery partners are providing the essential thrust to this sector and there is a great future ahead for them.