By Papri Das

Recent years have seen a drastic change in not only our food habits, but also in how we consume food. While processed foods are becoming increasingly acknowledged by families, ordering food from outside has slowly become a part of our lifestyle, especially in the metros.

It isn?t just about occasionally ordering from outside for a change; some of us depend on ordered food for everyday meals as well.

The numerous food ordering and restaurant curating apps that have emerged in the last two years is evidence of this new food revolution. Every restaurant, caf? and even a road side shack today has a FoodPanda or Zomato label on its doors. It is as if the entire food and beverage industry is slowly shifting online.

CouponDunia, one place where regular online shoppers turn to for coupons and discounts, understand this growing market and in order to foster in further, the company has organized The Great Online Food Festival (GOFF) this festive season.

This first of its kind five-day food extravaganza in the online sphere, which started on 23 September, promises a different theme every day -- biryani, desserts, Chinese and more. The idea is to offer exclusive discounts and limited edition offers through popular food delivery and food tech services like FoodPanda, Faasos, Swiggy, Box 8 etc.

Exec Life spoke to CouponDunia CEO Sameer Parwaani to throw some more light on this innovative food festival.

Excerpts:

What is the idea behind an online food festival?

We have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the usage of coupons among people across metros. As the industry is growing at a great rate, we are always looking at innovative ways to leverage couponing among new users. Keeping the current festive mood in mind, this is the first time an initiative like this has happened in India.
The objective was to introduce GOFF as an online event, which provides merchants with an opportunity to display their best offers and ensure exciting food experiences at the most affordable prices.

What do food lovers get from GOFF?

The Great Online Food Fest will let them enjoy mostly exclusive and limited offers. The offers will be available on CouponDunia?s website across seven cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata. 

Subscribers and app users will be alerted via emails and notifications respectively about various offers for the particular day. Also, CouponDunia?s website will be updated with the latest developments that will be happening over the course of these five days.

What is the target audience of GOFF?

The fest is for all the food lovers who like to experiment with various cuisines at extremely affordable prices. Along with that, we are also enabling the merchants to reach out to their audience in a larger manner. It is a pioneering initiative in the online food ordering space, offering a win-win situation for both the customers and the brands.
The first three days, i.e. Wednesday to Friday focus on online food ordering in offices, whereas we want to provide respite to household kitchens on the weekends, and give people a reason to treat themselves.

Which brands have you associated with in the food fest and how are they performing?

CouponDunia has partnering with food-tech brands like Faasos, Foodpanda, Swiggy, Box8 etc. to present the food lovers with a huge variety of cuisines at unbelievable prices. As the fest has just begun, it is too early to ascertain performance.

What has been the general response from the consumers so far? 

We?ve seen a healthy response and hope that the consumers keep coming back, as we will be hosting new offers everyday as well.

Have you noticed any new online ordering trends?

As the fest has just begun today, we don?t have the adequate data to mark trends. Also, as this is the first of its kind, it is difficult to compare order behaviour. We will definitely gain insights through the course of, and after the fest is over.

What do you think is the future of food and beverage industry on the digital sphere?

The online food ordering space is emerging as a next battlefield in e-commerce with millions of dollars pumping into the segment. While a lot of companies are operating in the space, there has to be enough differentiation for them to succeed. So the future seems a tough competition between the food start-ups and single brand eateries. With the dining scene evolving by the day, customer convenience is becoming a priority and consumers are responding positively. We see this space to soon go beyond the metros and enter Tier II cities.