Swiggy Brings Back Gourmet Delivery Service ‘Handpicked’ Via Instamart

A year after shutting its gourmet grocery delivery pilot ‘Handpicked’, foodtech major Swiggy has relaunched the service in Bengaluru. 

The offering has been relaunched as a new category under its quick commerce platform Swiggy Instamart. The new service will allow users to buy “local, regional and select new-age brands, clean-label products, freshly prepared items and gourmet offerings” within “10 minutes” in the city. 

In a post on X, Swiggy Instamart CEO Phani Kishan said, “Hi Bengaluru! Super excited to launch “handpicked” on @SwiggyInstamart. With handpicked we aim to curate the best of the best products that are fresh, local, authentic and 100% high quality. Do check it out and share feedback. More importantly, recommendations that you would love to see. :).”

While the service is currently only available in Bengaluru, the foodtech major plans to expand Handpicked to Delhi and Mumbai “soon”. In a statement, the company said that the gourmet grocery offering will feature more than 500 products from brands such as Iyengar’s, Sweet Karam Coffee, Blue Tokai, The Whole Truth, among others. 

“… We work closely with local partners to rigorously evaluate products for quality and consistency, and only then list them as Handpicked on Instamart. These products are the best in their segment in terms of freshness, originality, and authenticity. The icing on the cake is it will be delivered on-demand for the first time, and that too in just ten minutes,” said Kishan in the statement. 

The launch comes a year after the company shut the service in May 2023. It started off as a standalone and invite-only pilot, which offered imported and local premium products in a few zones in Bengaluru. 

The move to wrap up the pilot last year came as Swiggy undertook a massive restructuring exercise to trim cash burn and cut down losses. The relaunch can be attributed to high margins and the growing demand for such products.

Notably, the startup also relaunched its homestyle meal delivery service, Swiggy Daily, in May this year, nearly four years after shutting it down amid pandemic-induced lockdown. Additionally, it also merged Swiggy Mall with Instamart recently. Prior to that, it also merged its premium grocery vertical, InsanelyGood, with the quick commerce arm. 

The latest development comes at a time when the foodtech major is gearing up for its IPO. Last month, the Bengaluru-based foodtech major filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) via confidential pre-filing route.

Prior to that, the decacorn bagged approval from its shareholders for a public issue worth INR 10,414.1 Cr ($1.2 Bn). The public issue will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 3,750.1 Cr (about $449 Mn) and an offer-for-sale component of INR 6,664 Cr (around $799 Mn), as per regulatory filings.  

However, concerns remain over the startup’s valuation, which was last pegged at $10.7 Bn during its fundraise in 2022. Shares of Swiggy are currently trading at INR 320-350 in the unlisted market, implying a valuation of $9 Bn – $9.5 Bn.

In preparation for what could be the second-largest startup IPO in the Indian market after Paytm, the company has been aggressively cutting costs and streamlining operations. 

As a result, Swiggy reported a net loss of $207 Mn (INR 1,730 Cr) in the first nine months of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) as against a loss of INR 4,179.3 Cr in the entire FY23. Meanwhile, it posted a revenue of $1.02 Bn (around INR 8,505 Cr) during April-December 2023 compared to INR 8,625 Cr in FY23.