Delivering food becomes hi-tech, drones to get your order at your doorstep
Have you ever faced hunger pangs due to late delivery of food coupled with your incessant greed to order in? Or have you ever had to cancel out on your order since the delivery boy was just taking too much time?
Well residents of Lucknow might have found a solution to their food delivery woes. Onlinekaka is a food delivery portal based in Lucknow which is trying to reduce the delivery time of food by using one of the most innovative modes ever – drones.
Onlinekaka which was formed in 2016 was founded by Ahad Arshad, Mohd Bilal and Mohd Salman.
A brainchild of 22-year-old Ahad Arshad and 23-year-old Mohd Bilal, ‘Delivery via Drones’ happened because of a delay in order delivery that they faced. Much like us, the duo love food, and it turns out that, belonging to the City of Nawabs, Mughlai cuisine is one of their favorites. So it was only a matter of time when some delivery boy got delayed in bringing them their Tunday Kebabs, and delivery via drones was born!
Speaking about it Ahad says, “It was due to the delay in order delivery that we were forced to think of delivering food using other ways. The traffic of city has gone from bad to worse due to the metro construction, but we are hopeful that it will be in the future.”
Bilal goes on to add, “Not only will it reduce delivery time but it will also help us fight pollution caused by two wheelers. If we are successful in getting the nod from the authorities, we'll be the 1st company to do it in North India and the second one in India. Amazon in the US is also working on a similar concept.”
Once the idea was fermented in the youngsters’ mind they ordered two drones from China. They did a few trail runs on it, made a few modifications and attached a box (with edibles) with the help of pulleys under the drone, where as soon as the box touches the ground, it will be detached from the drone.
Delivering food via drones is yet to be used on a practical basis, but the duo proposes that it will follow a few generic methods.
Ahad says, “We have four hubs in various parts of the city (Hazrat Ganj, Chowk, Aminabad and Mahanagar) and almost all our restaurants are located in the same locations. The drone will pick up the food from the restaurant and drop it off at the nearest hub of the customer. From there our delivery agent will take the order and deliver it to the customer’s doorstep.”
Bilal goes on to further elucidate, “Eventually we plan to use google maps API and directly deliver the food to the customer. It will only be available on a few locations, as the drone won't be able to fly in the areas where there are a lot of trees. This will be difficult to implement as of now, so we plan to initially work on plan one.”
Both of them are however, quick to point out that delivery by drone will be more expensive than normal delivery.
“The delivery time will be 1/3rd of the average delivery time which is 45 Minutes,” adds Bilal.
The young entrepreneurs believe that delivering food via drones is the future of food delivery in the country.
Ahad says, “Today, no one wants has the time to wait for anything. They need things urgently. People can still wait for their clothes for a few days but in case of food delivery people cannot hold onto their hunger. Once this concept of delivery via drone becomes a reality, people will not have to settle with any food that is near them, they can order from a place 5 Kms away from there home/office and get it delivered in 15 minutes.”
The drone delivery concept by Onlinekaka is pending for a nod from the authorities. They have already written a letter to the DM of Lucknow to allow them a few areas for trial run. The Civil Aviation Ministry is also in the favour of Drone Deliveries but it is also waiting for a nod from the GOI.
The young entrepreneurs who believe that the youth will love the idea, are meanwhile already planning on an eager expansion to Kanpur, Allahabad and NCR.
