Kochi loves its late-night snacks

Online food delivery platforms seem to be making it harder for city denizens to resist that midnight hunger pangs. We take a look at how the city’s eating habits are changing
Kochi loves its late-night snacks

KOCHI: Until a few years ago, if hunger knocks after 11pm, it would have meant either sleeping hungry or taking the pain to go out and eat at a roadside diner. 

Then came the online delivery applications that bring any food you need from your favourite restaurant to your doorstep–all in a minute’s work. Almost every big and small restaurant in the city has now joined platforms like Swiggy, Zomato and UberEats, that fetch you quality food in good packaging, along with discounts and offers. However, this ease of eating hasn’t just benefited those wanting to dine in at home, but also those who fancy a late-night dinner.  

According to the data retrieved from popular applications, Swiggy works with nearly 30 restaurants after midnight, while Zomato associates with nearly 60. Most of these restaurants, especially those away from the highways, rely on online orders rather than physical customers to make up for the cost of being open late. 

Zomato has recorded an average of 4,500 orders per day, while for Swiggy it is under 2,000. “We get a lot more orders late night, but some of them get cancelled due to lack of availability of delivery executives in the area, or if items get over at the restaurant,” says a sales executive with Swiggy.

Being an industrial hotspot that harbours a major chunk of Kochi’s IT employees who work late or pull off nightshifts, Kakkanad stands first in the number of late-night orders. For Swiggy, Edappally comes second, followed by Palarivattom, MG Road and Panampilly Nagar. Zomato experiences a 35 per cent spike in orders around Kakkanad and Kaloor post 10pm. “I finish work around midnight mostly, but I’m nocturnal. I usually come back home, order a heavy meal and settle in to watch a movie. For those of us who stay alone and don’t have home-made dinner to come back to, late-night food delivery is a big blessing,” says Abhinav Sekhar, a computer engineer who lives near Edachira. He adds that food delivery in the area is quite lively until about 2am.

Recently, apartment associations in Kochi had decided to not let food delivery executives beyond the reception after 10pm. According to Cyril Mathew, secretary of a flat association in Kaloor, this decision was made after taking the safety and convenience of residents into consideration. “Our securities would complain of delivery men walking in and out of the flat quite late, and it started becoming a cause of concern. Our apartment houses around 200 flats, and on an average there are at least 30 to 50 food deliveries being made each night here,” he says. The flat security adds that most orders after 11pm are being collected by youngsters.

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