Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath’s Comparison Of Singapore & India’s Food Cultures Triggers Online Debate; Check Here

Kamath also pointed out India’s underdeveloped food service sector, citing data that shows only 30 per cent of India’s food market is organised, compared to 55 per cent in the United States

Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, recently sparked a discussion on food consumption habits after sharing his observations from a trip to Singapore. On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Kamath pointed out that home cooking is nearly nonexistent in the city-state, with many residents either lacking kitchens or simply never cooking at home.

Reflecting on his observations, Kamath suggested that if India embraced Singapore’s dining-out culture, the restaurant industry could see substantial growth. However, he noted that India lacks large-scale restaurant brands comparable to those in Southeast Asia.

"If India were to follow this trend, investing in or opening restaurants would be a massive opportunity, but we don’t have restaurant brands that have close to the scale Southeast Asian chains do," he wrote.

Kamath also pointed out India’s underdeveloped food service sector, citing data that shows only 30 per cent of India’s food market is organised, compared to 55 per cent in the United States.

Citing data from Swiggy and Bain & Company, Kamath highlighted that India consumes far fewer non-home-cooked meals than other countries:

• China: 33 non-home-cooked meals per person (2023)


• United States: 27


• Singapore: 19


• South Korea: 14


• India: 5

This data emphasises India’s deep cultural preference for home-cooked meals, setting it apart from many developed nations.

Kamath’s insights sparked a wave of online discussion, with users offering mixed reactions. Ex-Google MD Parminder Singh, who has lived in Singapore for 15 years, added further context: "You are right, but Singapore’s eating-out culture is largely driven by 121 government-promoted hawker centres. These 6,000 stalls follow strict quality standards and provide affordable meals. The government is so committed to maintaining them that they even run a ‘hawker incubation’ programme.”

One of the internet users wrote, “I hope we continue to lag behind Singapore and other developed nations in terms of eating out or ordering food from restaurants (via online options). It is well-known that home-cooked food is the MOST healthy option. It is also known that eating "outside" food is one of the main factors responsible for fueling the surge in non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke and cancer. (Disclaimer: The purpose of this post is only related to health. This post is not meant to influence your decision regarding investing in Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, etc).”

“Every culture is different. Indians love eating meals cooked by themselves, their mom, spouses etc. Moreover Home cooked food is best food your health and mind. Changing this whole and outsourcing it, will definitely boom two industries at scale - restaurants and hospitals,” added a second user.