Roughly 90% of Indians have never used food delivery, according to Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy's Food Marketplace business. For Swiggy, bringing these consumers into the market represents a bigger growth opportunity than getting existing customers to order more frequently.
Speaking at YourStory's TechSparks 2026 in Bengaluru, Kapoor said affordability would be central to expanding the market, alongside changing consumption habits and demand from younger Indians. "My vote is new consumers," he said when asked whether future growth would come from attracting new customers or increasing order frequency among existing users.
Kapoor argued that India is increasingly equal in terms of digital access but remains unequal in purchasing power. Consumers in smaller towns can access much of the same digital content as those in metropolitan cities, but their discretionary incomes differ considerably.
"India fundamentally, I believe, is digitally equalized and financially unequal," he said. That makes affordability an important part of Swiggy's growth strategy. Kapoor pointed to Toing, its budget-focused food-delivery app, as an example of how the company is trying to reach consumers who are new to ordering food online or do so infrequently.
"The simple idea is, if you're a new consumer, if you're a low-frequency consumer, you shouldn't be thinking too much about ordering food online. It's everyday low pricing. It's intuitive," he said. Kapoor added that Swiggy was encouraged by Toing's early traction, particularly among consumers who ordered less frequently through its main platform.
Younger consumers and expanding cities
Kapoor expects Gen Z and Gen Alpha to drive the next wave of consumption, alongside growth in what he calls "India 1.5", the expanding urban areas beyond established city centres. Geographic expansion is no longer a major operational hurdle for Swiggy, he said.
The company typically adds 10 to 20 cities every quarter, and launching food delivery in a new city can take as little as a day. However, expanding into a market must make sense based on restaurant availability and the value Swiggy can offer consumers.
Changing eating habits are also creating opportunities. Kapoor pointed to rising coffee consumption in cities such as Amritsar and Ludhiana, growing interest in international cuisines and greater demand for health-focused food. Ordering tea or coffee online, once considered unusual, has become more common, while late-night food delivery has created additional consumption occasions.
Kapoor said Swiggy now operates round the clock in more than 700 towns. At the other end of the spectrum, he said some households receive more than 200 Swiggy deliveries a week, although he clarified that these are exceptional cases rather than typical ordering patterns. For Kapoor, such behaviour illustrates how deeply convenience services have become integrated into everyday life, even as most Indians remain outside the food-delivery market.
AI will improve convenience, not dictate choices
On artificial intelligence, Kapoor said the technology could improve food discovery and personalisation but was sceptical that AI agents would fundamentally change what consumers wanted to eat.
"I think there is a little bit of exaggerated sense of how much AI agents will start to guide our lives," he said. Swiggy is already using generative AI in search and personalisation, with around 200 AI projects under way across the company, according to Kapoor.
He also argued that speed alone has stopped being a differentiator in food delivery. The challenge now is to consistently deliver at a speed consumers value while making the ordering experience simpler.
Kapoor defends gig economy model
Kapoor also defended the role of food-delivery platforms in generating employment amid concerns over working conditions and earnings in the gig economy. He said Swiggy onboards approximately 30,000 delivery partners every week, with around 5.5 lakh to 6 lakh people working through its platform daily.
Kapoor argued that gig work serves different groups, including students seeking supplementary income, workers who have recently moved to cities and people looking for temporary earnings between jobs.
"We are a shock absorber in the informal economy," he said, pointing to the flexibility delivery platforms offer people looking for alternative sources of income. He added that delivery partners can choose whether to work on a given day and that Swiggy must continually improve their experience to retain them.