Rapid digitisation and growth in both online buyer base and spending will help India’s online food industry to become a $8 billion market by 2022—growing at a CAGR of 25-30 per cent, a new report has said. The report, jointly brought out by Google and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), revealed that variety in cuisines (35 per cent) was one of the top reasons for recurrent use of online food ordering apps, followed by good discounts and convenience.

“Food tech has now made its presence in greater than 500 cities in India and with consumer confidence growing, there are new opportunities for the players to ‘win with the consumer’ in an evolving market,’” said Roma Datta Chobey, Director-Travel, BFSI, Classifieds, Gaming, Telco & Payments, Google. Peer or network advocacy (52 per cent) played a critical role in drawing people to try online food ordering for the first time. This was followed by advertisements (19 per cent) that emerged to be a strong driver in metros and among the higher income groups across the country.