Zomato’s active restaurant base declines as LPG disruption squeezes smaller kitchens

Zomato averaged 328,000 monthly active restaurant partners in Q1FY27, down from 344,000 in the March quarter, as commercial LPG shortages and higher cylinder costs disrupted smaller operators. Food-delivery NOV still rose 20.1% year on year to Rs 10,769 crore.

— Source publishedMon, 27 Jul, 2026, 01:28 IST·First seen Mon, 27 Jul, 2026, 01:33 IST·Source Financial Express · BrandWagon

What happened

Zomato’s active restaurant partners fell sequentially for the first time to 328,000 in Q1FY27 as commercial LPG shortages and elevated cylinder prices strained

Key facts

  • 328,000 average monthly active restaurant partners in Q1FY27
  • 344,000 restaurant partners in March quarter
  • 313,000 restaurant partners a year earlier
  • 20.1% year-on-year food delivery net order value growth
  • Rs 10,769 crore food delivery net order value
  • 27.2 million monthly transacting customers
  • around one-fifth of restaurants curtailed operations at the crisis peak
  • 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder

Why this matters

The disruption creates an opening for Zomato to deepen strategic ties with LPG suppliers, kitchen-service providers or financially stressed restaurant operators to stabilize supply and expand its partner ecosystem.

What to watch

  • Monthly active restaurant partner count stabilizing or recovering from the 328,000 Q1FY27 average.
  • Commercial LPG cylinder availability, refill lead times and price changes by major delivery city.
  • Restaurant churn, reactivation rates and the share of partners inactive for more than 30 days.
  • Order cancellation rates, delivery times, restaurant acceptance rates and menu-offline hours in affected clusters.
  • Growth in average order value versus order volumes, indicating whether NOV resilience is price-led or demand-led.
  • Share of NOV and orders contributed by chains and organized cloud kitchens versus independent restaurants.
  • Restaurant menu-price inflation and consumer discount intensity across key urban markets.
  • Prioritize reactivation of temporarily inactive restaurants with simplified onboarding, account support and targeted visibility incentives.
  • Expand commercial terms, logistics support or short-duration relief programs for high-quality small and mid-sized restaurant partners in affected markets.
  • Shift demand toward reliable chain, cloud-kitchen and high-capacity partners to protect availability, delivery times and cancellation rates.
  • Use localized consumer promotions and assortment merchandising where restaurant closures create cuisine or neighborhood supply gaps.
  • Monitor concentration among top restaurant partners and avoid allowing larger chains to use supply scarcity to demand materially better economics.