India's Zepto license suspension exposes hygiene and safety risks as APAC markets embrace rapid delivery and dark store models
The faster the delivery, the tighter the safety net should be.
But the suspension of Zepto's food license by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over hygiene violations has highlighted serious concerns beyond India's borders, especially as quick commerce continues to scale across Asia Pacific.
This case stands as a cautionary tale that speed comes with risks - one of the most crucial aspects being the facilities that hold food products.
Insights shared on The Big Question, a current affairs programme by NDTV Profit, highlight just how integral dark stores are to the quick commerce model.
India is estimated to have over 2,000 dark stores across 60 cities, with about 80% operated by major players including Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart.
Typically spanning 2,500 to 4,000 square feet, each dark store serves a radius of just 2 to 3km, enabling high-frequency deliveries from central warehouses. While this setup allows for astonishing delivery speeds, the same decentralisation poses challenges for hygiene monitoring and regulatory compliance.
At Zepto's affected Mumbai facility, FDA inspectors found food items stored on wet, filthy floors near stagnant water, alongside cold chain failures.
These incidents underscore how intense volume and speed pressures can undermine sanitation protocols - especially in decentralised fulfilment hubs like dark stores.
The Big Question also raised concerns about the human cost of hyper-fast fulfilment.
Zepto promises a 10-minute delivery time frame, which is revolutionary and unheard of.
Former director of India's food safety authority, Pradip Chakraborty, cautioned that 10-minute windows are unrealistic, advocating for a minimum of 20 minutes to ensure safe handling.
In this system built on real-time inventory and fulfilment cycles, workers in dark stores and last-mile delivery riders often operate under immense time constraints.
This raises red flags around not just food safety, but also worker well-being and safe handling practices.
In a previous interview with us, Chakraborty pointed out that the issue is not with the rules, but with poor enforcement.
While his views were specific to India, the broader takeaway is that policy alone isn't enough - it must be paired with infrastructure, training, and accountability at scale.
Pandamart, foodpanda's network of cloud grocery stores, shared with us some insights on how to ensure food safety and product integrity.
The firm, which has delivery platforms across Asia, promises a 25-minute delivery time frame.
It also holds centralised control over dark stores, logistics, and inventory which helps to maintain quality and control across the entire value chain.
Another crucial aspect is ensuring product integrity and food safety, especially during wet weather conditions - a common challenge for South East Asian regions where the climate tends to be hot, humid and rainy.
"It is important to manage deliveries efficiently, even in challenging conditions like rain. We use logistics prioritisation systems and fairly compensate riders to maintain service levels," shared Yashna Belliappa, foodpanda's quick commerce head of Business Performance & Special Projects.
"Our riders use insulated bags, ice packs, and sealed packaging to prevent spoilage and leakage. We also address customer concerns proactively to maintain trust and satisfaction," Belliappa said.
She added that during adverse weather conditions, pandamart's logistics system is designed to prioritise quick commerce deliveries through a mechanism called 'shrink and search'. This allows the firm to allocate sufficient rider resources to ensure customer orders are fulfilled without disruption.
"Even if it rains, we ensure that there are enough riders available to support the quick commerce business and fulfil grocery orders.
"Sometimes that means paying riders more - because let's face it, no rider wants to be out delivering in heavy rain, getting soaked. We make sure the remuneration aligns with the added effort and conditions. It's also about building trust and offering value to our riders.
"Maintaining that relationship on the logistics side is really important to us," explained Belliappa.
Asian Quick Commerce users are expected to grow to 658m by 2030, according to Statista. With that, analysts forecast China will generate US$92.68bn in 2025 - the largest in global comparison.
This highlights the massive impact of food safety breaches, which have a high risk of happening as industry players race to promise groceries and perishables within 10 to 30 minutes.
India's recent enforcement action suggests that if hygiene and safety don't keep pace with speed, the risks may be systemic, and even costly.