Why Ola Foods Failed?

 Where did Ola Foods Go Wrong



Not every battle is won with deep pockets. 💸Some are won solely with wits !


Remember Ola Foods ? or Late Ola Foods? ( No Puns Intended)

No matter , how polished it looked on the outside , the inside was filled with faulty errors which were grave at times.

Let us take a look at why Ola Foods failed to establish itself in the Indian Market.

In 2017, Ola decided to take on the food delivery giants with Ola Foods (previously Ola Eats), betting big on its massive ride-hailing user base. With Uber already in the game (Uber Eats), Ola saw food delivery as the next big expansion.

But by 2020, it was game over. Ola Eats shut down while Zomato and Swiggy thrived. What went wrong?

🚨 1. Late to the party:
By the time Ola entered food delivery, Zomato and Swiggy had already built deep restaurant networks, strong customer loyalty, and optimized logistics. Ola was playing catch-up from Day 1.

⚡ 2. No strong differentiator:
Swiggy won with super-fast deliveries, Zomato nailed restaurant variety & customer engagement, but Ola Eats? It had no compelling reason for users to switch. It tried bundling food orders with ride-hailing, but that wasn’t enough.

🍱 3. Over-reliance on cloud kitchens:
Instead of aggressively onboarding restaurants, Ola bet big on its own cloud kitchen brands like Khichdi Experiment and Paratha Experiment. While cloud kitchens work as add-ons, they can’t replace a full-scale food marketplace. Ola’s selection felt limited compared to Zomato & Swiggy’s vast offerings.

💰 4. Lack of restaurant partnerships & ecosystem growth:
Zomato and Swiggy built relationships with thousands of restaurants, offering data insights, advertising, and logistics support. Ola Eats didn’t invest in these partnerships, making it less attractive for restaurants.

📉 5. Poor execution & focus shifts:
Ola kept juggling between multiple business expansions, electric vehicles, international markets, financial services while Zomato & Swiggy laser-focused on food. Ola Eats never got the leadership attention it needed to scale.

The result? 🏁

By 2020, Ola Eats shut down, Zomato acquired Uber Eats India, and the food delivery battle became a two-horse race.

💡 Lesson learned?
You can’t win a market just because you have money. You need timing, execution, and a strong differentiator.

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