Zepto Cafe pauses services across Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh due to supply chain constraints

Quick commerce platform Zepto has paused operations of its 10-minute food delivery vertical, Zepto Cafe, in several cities including Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh, Mohali, Amritsar, and Meerut due to supply chain issues, people aware of the matter told ETtech. This will impact the operations of 44 Zepto Cafe stores.

The pause began in April after a surge in demand made it difficult to maintain quality standards, a source said. “The decision to pause operations in these cities came after Zepto Cafe received more demand than expected. It became difficult to meet the volumes while maintaining quality,” the person added.

The halt has affected over 700 gig workers, many of whom are now being retrained and redeployed as pickers and packers either in the same dark stores or at other Cafe locations, another source added.

Zepto is in the process of identifying new vendor partners to stabilise the supply chain and plans to resume services by the end of September, according to the person quoted earlier.

The development was first reported by NDTV Profit.

Zepto Cafe was launched in December 2024, offering food prepared in the company’s own kitchens and delivered within 10 minutes. In February, cofounder and CEO Aadit Palicha announced that the vertical had crossed 100,000 orders per day.

Competitive pressure builds

The pause in Zepto’s operations comes amid growing competition in the rapid food delivery segment.

Blinkit, owned by Zomato parent Eternal, has discontinued Zomato Quick and is betting on Blinkit Bistro, which now operates over 100 kitchens across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Swiggy is steadily expanding its in-house rapid food delivery vertical, Snacc.