Food delivery majors Zomato, Swiggy, and BigBasket are likely to begin the delivery of low-alcohol content drinks such as Beer, Wine, and liquor. The plan is in consideration in New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Goa with the merits and demerits of the initiative currently being weighed.
When their primary delivery business was impacted during the lockdown in COVID-19, Zomato and Swiggy had introduced alcohol-delivery services in non-metro cities. While Swiggy obtained approval from the Jharkhand government to begin the service in Ranchi, Zomato went one step further to spread across seven other cities in the same state. Swiggy’s plan to expand to Odisha had been halted by the cyclone Amphan. Both had went on to seek approval from authorities to expand the services to metropolitan cities. A temporary approval was given to permit the delivery in the same period in Maharashtra, Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand accompanied by some restrictions.
As of now, alcohol home delivery is allowed in Odisha and West Bengal only, that has resulted into a 20-30% increase in sales.
Swiggy’s Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, Dinker Vashisht enlisted the merits of online-delivery channels, such as end-to-end transactions, regulatory and excise requirements in sync with online tech stacks, age verification, and adherence to limit, timings, dry days, and zonal delivery guardrails.
Rahul Singh, Chief Executive of pub chain-The Beer Cafe, stated in an Economic Times report, “By enabling online home deliveries of liquor, states can enhance consumer convenience, drive economic growth, and align with global trends while ensuring responsible and regulated alcohol distribution.”
The same report highlighted the statement of an industry official that this service would potentially cater to the growing population of expats in the larger cities, which has resulted into changing consumer patterns where moderate alcohols accompany meals. This also rids the indecent looking purchase from local liquor stores.
