What India ordered in 2024: Zomato & Swiggy list best sellers

From biryani to dosa, India’s top picks in 2024

As the year 2024 comes to a close, food aggregators Swiggy and Zomato reveal interesting insights into the spending habits of Indians, their most popular food items, and other trends that have dominated this year.

As 2024 draws to a close, with a festive Christmas Eve and spectacular New Year parties, online orders for foods is set to rise dramatically as India and the world prepare to welcome the year 2025.

But before the parties get underway, here are some interesting insights into how the business of food has been like so far, from what Indians ate and ordered and who splurged generously to who held their wallets tight, and, last but not least, the prevailing habits that dominated the year. These are among the many interesting details that have been released by leading food delivery giants, Swiggy and Zomato.

Biryani continues its undisputed reign

Once again, the food of the year is Biryani. According to both food aggregators, this layered & fragrant rice dish has emerged as India’s favourite food again this year.

As per the 9^th edition of How India Swiggy’d, a report released by Swiggy, for the 9^th consecutive year biryani enjoys its undisputed reign with a whopping 83 million orders. This sumptuous dish managed to clock such big orders with an impressive rate of 158 per minute, which means around 2.5 biryanis are ordered every second!! Swiggy’s rival Zomato too reported similar results. As per the company’s year-end report, around 91.4 million people expressed their love for the dish, by ordering more than three biryanis every second during the year.

But…, there is a chink in biryani’s reign!! Despite such jaw-dropping volume, Biryani has reported a dip in its sales compared to last year on Zomato. Last year, over 100.98 million biryanis had been ordered, almost 9.5 million more than the orders this year.

Nonetheless, this luxurious food item remains people’s dish. From January 1 to November 22, the city of pearls, Hyderabad leads with 9.7 million orders, followed by Bengaluru at 7.7 million and Chennai at 4.6 million.

Dosa & idli breakfast favourites

According to Swiggy, one of the most popular breakfast choice and comfort food is dosa, with 23 million orders in the year. This South Indian dish made of lentils and rice tops the breakfast choice with 8.5 million orders. Dosa’s undisputed reign as a breakfast favourite is closely followed by another South Indian dish, idli, which has won over 7.8 million hearts.

Taking a break from the year’s most popular dishes, let’s turn our attention to customers who made generous use of food delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy. In its year-end report, Zomato spotlighted a customer who ordered 120 Manchurian combos to feed an entire compartment of a train. This was made possible through Zomato’s new feature, in partnership with IRCTC, which allows passengers to order food delivered to pre-decided stations along their route.

But, Zomato isn’t the only platform with unique customer stories—Swiggy has its tales to share! During the 2024 T20 World Cup final, as Team India triumphed over South Africa with a stunning 7-wicket victory, ending a 17-year wait to reclaim the championship, a die-hard cricket fan from Bengaluru celebrated in style. How? By ordering a jaw-dropping 120 burgers to mark the historic win and cheer on the Men in Blue!

In another instance, a user from Delhi ordered a shocking 250 Onion Pizzas in a single, order using the Swiggy app in one night!! As per Swiggy’s report, the user was truly a night owl!!

Which city drinks the most?

Now, let’s tackle the burning question, which city drank the most this year? And no, it’s not Delhi, as you might expect. The real winner is Bengaluru. According to Swiggy, the IT capital has taken the top spot for alcohol orders among Indian cities, with 289,000 transactions.

Who saves the most?

Last but not least, who was the miser, and who splurged? The answer is surprising. A woman from Delhi saved a whopping INR 122,000 on a single order from Malamen using the Swiggy app. Meanwhile, a Swiggy user from Mumbai went all out, spending a significant INR 300,000 on a single order at a restaurant.

But as per Zomato, one unnamed user from Bengaluru spent INR 50  million on a single restaurant, while Delhi residents saved around INR 1.95 billion on their dining expenses.

These trends reflect the unique yet strikingly similar food and spending habits of Indian users in 2024, offering a glimpse into the evolving tastes and choices across the country.