Swiggy Instamart, Dunzo, Blinkit, Others May Soon Need To Put Additional Food Label Info

Online marketplaces may need to display key health and nutritional alerts alongside the retail price for packaged food items sold on their platforms soon. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is working on new rules and hence there can be regulations around sharing nutritional facts.

If these rules are notified, ecommerce companies as well as quick commerce players such as Swiggy Instamart, Dunzo, Blinkit and Zepto may be required to provide this information “below or next to the market retail price,” as per the report.

To curb the consumption of unhealthy food, the food safety regulator is evaluating a proposal to mandate front-of-the-pack nutritional labelling to alert consumers about high fat, sugar and salt foods, ET reported.

The regulator has not yet reached a decision and the discussions are ongoing.

Last year, FSSAI released draft regulations for the front-of-the-pack nutritional labelling for packaged food companies.The draft regulations proposed to bring in five star ratings to give consumers more information about the nutritional profile of the packaged food products and make better choices.

Global food industry executives pointed out that online grocery portals are fast-growing sales channels. “Any additional declarations on ecommerce platforms, over and above what is already mentioned on the packs, will be a deterrent to consumption,” a senior executive said as quoted in the report.

The industry executives also think a complete clarity is required on what the additional labelling would include.

“We will put across our views once this comes up for consultation with the foods industry,” the senior executive said.

Jefferies said in a research note last year that the gross value of Swiggy’s food delivery business stood at $1.3 Bn (INR 10,600 Cr) in the first half of the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), while Zomato posted a gross order volume of $1.6 Bn (INR 13,000 Cr) for its food delivery vertical during the same period.

Meanwhile, the quick commerce market in India is set to touch $5.5 Bn in market size by 2025, according to a report by management consulting firm RedSeer.