Due to a shortfall of supplies and some staff not showing up for work, Zepto Cafe has stopped its 10-minute meal delivery in seven locations in North India. A report claims that Zepto’s decision would affect some 700 gig workers at 44 Zepto Cafe locations in the area.

Cities Where Zepto Cafe Has an Impact
Delhi NCR, Agra, Meerut, Haridwar, Gorakhpur, Mohali, Amritsar, and Ghaziabad do not now provide Zepto Cafe services, according to sources. “Services are anticipated to resume in Q2, during the July–September quarter, as a total of 44 stores have been affected,” the source said.

Offering short snacks including coffee, tea, puffs, and pizzas, the company’s division is positioned as a rival to food delivery services like Swiggy and Zomato. Despite having almost 1,000 locations, 44 of Zepto’s dark shops no longer provide café services.

According to a source, the halt started in April because of an increase in demand that made it difficult to maintain quality standards. Zepto Cafe experienced greater demand than anticipated, hence the decision was made to halt operations in these cities. According to the ET story, “it became difficult to meet the volumes while maintaining quality,” the individual said.

According to another source, the stop has affected more than 700 gig workers, many of whom are now being retrained and reassigned as pickers and packers, either at different Cafe sites or in the same dark storefronts.

According to the previously cited source, Zepto plans to restart services by the end of September and is now looking for new vendor partners to stabilize its supply chain.

Concerning Zepto Cafe
Zepto Cafe, which opened in December 2024, provides cuisine made in-house and delivered in ten minutes. Aadit Palicha, the CEO and cofounder, said in February that the vertical had achieved a daily order volume of over 100,000.

Zepto’s halt in operations coincides with growing competition in the quick meal delivery market. Zomato parent company Eternal owns Blinkit, which has closed Zomato Quick and is concentrating on Blinkit Bistro, which now operates more than 100 kitchens in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR. In the meanwhile, Swiggy is growing Snacc, its in-house fast food vertical.