Indian Hotels, the operator of Taj Hotels, launched its food delivery platform Qmin two years ago. At the height of the pandemic, instead of outsourcing the Taj Hotel Group’s delivery services to existing platforms, the Tata Group launched its own in-house platform in Qmin.

In the last two years, Qmin has generated revenues to the tune of ₹100 crore. This year alone, it hopes to clock in revenues to the tune of ₹80 crore.

“We are possibly the only food delivery platform that has been profitable from day one because we have found the right balance of using our existing resources,” Jehangir Press, associate VP, strategic accounts management group and commercial director, Qmin at IHCL, told Business Insider India.

The 90-minute delivery service

Zomato and its rival Swiggy together hold 90-95% market share in India’s food delivery business, but also burning cash. In the quarter ending March 2022, Zomato posted a net loss of ₹1,222 crore, which widened by ₹400 crore since last year.

With Qmin, the Tata Group could move away from having to depend on the likes of Zomato or Swiggy for deliveries. Qmin also gave the group complete control over the entire value chain from food preparation to delivery.

“We have 100% control – over the value chain and with that, you are in control of the safety, hygiene, and health of everything that you're sending out. Also, we obviously cannot compromise on hygiene and safety. We took a call and even though it costs us substantially more, we went with the complete ecosystem,” said Press.

Unlike its competitors that have been focusing on chopping their delivery time from 30 minutes to 10 minutes, Qmin says it has prioritized safety, security, hygiene, sustainability and delivering a luxurious experience.

Qmin takes up to 90 minutes to deliver its
orders. Its menu starts from ₹200 onwards and Qmin’s family feast widget and Fiama pizzas are the most ordered meals on the app.

It has delivered over a million meals to consumers so far and donated over 57,000 meals to flood-affected areas of Assam.

Source: Business Insider