India's food services industry is poised for explosive growth, with projections indicating it will surpass $120-125 billion by 2030, according to the latest Kearney-Swiggy 'How India Eats 2025' report released on Thursday.
Organized Sector Takes the Lead
The industry is set to achieve 60% absolute growth from its current $78 billion valuation in 2025. This remarkable expansion will be primarily driven by rising disposable incomes, widespread digital adoption, and increasingly efficient supply chains that are fundamentally changing the country's eating habits.
The organized segment, comprising cloud kitchens, quick-service restaurants (QSRs), and café chains, is expected to double in size and potentially overtake the unorganized sector by 2030. This segment is growing at an impressive 12-14% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), significantly outpacing the 5-7% growth of unorganized players.
The organized sector's market share has shown consistent growth, increasing from 35-40% in 2019 to 45-50% in 2025, with projections indicating it will reach 55% by 2030.
Cloud Kitchens: The Fastest Growing Segment
Among all food service segments, cloud kitchens are demonstrating the most explosive growth. Currently representing just 2% of the organized food services sector, cloud kitchens are expected to expand at an astonishing 32-37% annually in the coming years.
Other segments showing strong growth include dessert and ice-cream parlours (14-16% annually), QSRs (15-17%), and casual dining (10-11%). More traditional formats such as fine dining (11-13%), cafés (10-11%), and pubs/bars (9-10%) are maintaining stable but more moderate growth rates.
Casual dining currently dominates the organized food services industry, accounting for 49% of the market share.
Changing Consumption Patterns
The report highlights several key trends reshaping India's food landscape. Late-night deliveries have emerged as a major growth driver, with food delivery now available round-the-clock in more than 700 Indian cities.
Late-night food consumption, defined as orders placed between 11 pm and 6 am, has grown nearly three times faster than dinner orders between 2022 and 2025, making it the country's fastest-growing mealtime.
Sagar Daryani, co-founder of Wow! Momo Foods, noted the shifting patterns: "Your evening snacking has become an extension of lunch, and dinner has become a late-night meal. For young India, eating a momo at 9 pm still counts as snacking."
Quick-delivery formats are accelerating this trend, with services like Swiggy's Bolt promising 10-minute deliveries. Approximately 20% of all restaurants listed on Swiggy are now available on Bolt.
Health Consciousness and Global Tastes
Despite the rise in late-night indulgent meals, Indian consumers are simultaneously becoming more health-conscious. Healthy meals rich in protein, free of sugar, and low in calories, including vegan options, are expanding at 2.3 times the pace of overall orders.
Food aggregators are responding to this trend. Zomato's Eternal launched a 'health mode' feature in September, while Swiggy introduced both 'high protein' and 'no added sugar' categories earlier this year.
Indian consumers are also increasingly adventurous with their culinary choices. The report indicates a 20% growth in the number of unique cuisines ordered per customer over the past four years.
While Mughlai food continues to dominate order volumes, regional cuisines such as Bihari, Goan, Naga, and Pahari are growing between two and eight times faster than mainstream Indian cuisines.
International flavors are gaining significant traction, with Korean dishes experiencing a 17-fold growth between 2022 and 2025. Vietnamese and Mexican cuisines have grown 6-fold and 3.7-fold respectively, while Japanese food is also rapidly gaining popularity.
The convergence of these trends—digital convenience, health consciousness, and culinary exploration—positions India's food services industry for unprecedented growth, fundamentally transforming how the nation eats, orders, and experiences food.
