The match between India and Pakistan on October 14 bowled over food delivery platforms as well as cinema houses, which saw high traction in terms of sales and footfalls.
Burger, not biryani or pizza, was the most ordered item on the online food delivery platform Swiggy as India took on Pakistani cricketers in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
India’s love for biryani is not unknown, but in a rare instance, biryani, which is usually the most ordered food item along with pizza, was not what Indian households wanted to order on Swiggy on October 14, when the Indian cricketers won against the Pakistani team. Indians instead decided to munch on veg burgers, which Swiggy said was the ‘dish of the match’. The platform recorded a 1,100 percent increase in orders for veg burgers compared to a regular Saturday. Veg pizzas, crispy chicken burgers, veg tacos, and choco lava cakes were next on the list of favourites, according to Swiggy.
Despite having a lower base compared to pizzas, veg burgers were still the most ordered items on the platform, the food delivery giant said.
Also read: At 65,400 retail orders, ONDC saw double its usual demand as India battled Pakistan in World Cup
Big-screen magic
Multiplexes that screened the India-Pakistan match saw strong occupancy levels in their cinemas with high sales of food and beverages (F&B).
“We sold 20,000 tickets across 116 cinemas in more than 40 cities. While some of the screens were sold out, we witnessed occupancy of over 60 percent for the India-Pakistan clash. Group bookings of various sizes from corporates also played a part in this strong response. Much like the stadium, there was tremendous fanfare visible at the cinemas,” said Gautam Dutta, Co-Chief Executive Officer, PVR-INOX Limited.
Another multiplex player, Miraj Cinemas, which screened the India-Pakistan match, recorded over 50 percent occupancy. “We started screening the World Cup matches with the India-Pakistan match and screened it in 20 cinemas across Delhi, Mumbai, and Akola, among others. We received a very good response despite the limited marketing of the World Cup matches. We will screen upcoming Indian matches and semi-finals. Cricket is the best alternative content for theatres. The business has been good from this alternative content. In Mumbai, we saw the highest traction, but the surprise elements were Akola and Amravati in terms of high traction,” said Amit Sharma, Managing Director, Miraj Cinemas.
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He added that from the seven to eight matches that Miraj Cinemas is planning to screen, it is targeting to mop up a minimum of Rs 1 crore in ticket sales. “From F&B, our sales target is around Rs 50 lakh. So, Rs 1.5 crore revenue within a month at a time when cinema content is thin because it is Dussehra and pre-Diwali time. This revenue is going to contribute 5-7 percent or more to the total revenue. Screening of World Cup matches makes a lot of sense at this time because alternate content should not cannibalize the primary movie content.”
According to Sharma, for that one day of the match, cricket is an eight-to-nine-hour-long program, which is equivalent to three movie shows. “So, people end up staying longer and consuming more F&B.”
Also read: ICC World Cup 2023: How will home advantage impact businesses amid festive season?
PVR Inox has also seen a significant uptake in F&B sales, Dutta said. “We are going to screen all of India’s league matches and the three knockout matches. Looking at India’s form, we are hopeful of seeing the team in the semis and the final as well.”
Sharma said that he expects India’s match against England and South Africa to witness sales numbers similar to the India-Pakistan match. “We expect similar or better numbers for the upcoming India matches. We expect stronger business for the semi-final match if India qualifies for the semi-finals.”
Dine-in slips
Even as most major food delivery players saw a surge in online order volumes, dine-in fell out of favour, industry experts said.
AB Gupta, co-founder of The Pizza Bakery, a boutique pizzeria based out of Bangalore, said walk-ins on October 14, when the Indian cricket team took on Pakistan, were 25-30 percent lower than the average of the previous two Saturdays.
“On average, Pizza Bakery gets 1,850 walk-ins, but on October 14, that was about 20 percent lower at 1,500 because people chose to stay indoors and watch the match,” Gupta said.
Also read: ICC World Cup 2023 schedule: Complete list of matches to played, results, venue details and more
Even though that decline was offset by higher online orders for Pizza Bakery, restaurants, pubs, and bars said the World Cup this year has been underwhelming.
“Overall, the World Cup has been a dull period. The one-day international (ODI) format means people need to be engaged for a longer period, but they don’t have 10 hours to spare nowadays. Viewers are spoilt by the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other shorter format games. Also, for World Cup matches, the engagement is limited to a few matches, unlike the IPL,” said Pranav Rungta, chapter head of Mumbai for the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI).
Some people, however, did step out in groups to watch the India-Pakistan match, but India wrapping up the match in just 30 overs meant the match duration was cut short.
“The effect of the India versus Pakistan match was lost due to the shortened match. Most peak business hours are dinner, but the match was largely over by then,” NRAI’s Rungta added.
Gala time for cloud kitchens
While biryani was not a favourite for certain customers, it was still a hit among others.
"Curefoods generally does 50,000 orders a day. On Saturday, October 14, we clocked 70,000 orders, which is 40 percent more than the usual orders. The items per order, which generally trends at two items per order, jumped to three, which meant the total items ordered on October 14 grew by 100 percent. This indicated a lot more group ordering during the game," said Ankit Nagori, founder of Curefoods.
He added that pizzas, biryanis, and khichdis were the most ordered items on the platforms. “Online food business did better than offline,” he said.
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