Nikhil Kamath says Indians rely on ‘Ghar Ka Khana’ while many in Singapore ‘never cook at home’

Zerodha’s co-founder, Nikhil Kamath, in a social media post on platform X on Tuesday, February 18, highlighted how Indians are still addicted to “Ghar Ka Khana” or home-cooked meals compared to other nations like Singapore, where people never cook food at home.

Kamath recalled his trip to Singapore and said that people either don’t have a kitchen at home or don’t cook their meals.

“I was in Singapore this week; most I met said they never cook at home, and others don’t have a kitchen,” said Kamath in his post on platform X. 

What if Indians stop cooking at home?

Nikhil Kamath also commented that if Indians stop cooking at home and follow the trends of countries like China, the United States, Singapore, South Korea, etc., it will serve as a “massive opportunity” to invest in or open a restaurant in the nation.

“If India were to follow this trend, investing/opening restaurants would be a massive opportunity, but we don’t have restaurant brands that have close to the scale Southeast Asian chains do,” said Kamath in his post.

The Zerodha co-founder and podcaster also questioned how much this impacts India’s consumption behaviour and whether this move will change things for the people if per capita GDP (gross domestic product (GDP) crosses $5,000 per person in the nation. 

“What’s different in our consumption behaviour? And will this change say when GDP per capita crosses 5k USD, and labour costs increase?” Kamath asked his social media audience.

He also asked the restaurant industry about an aspect which can change India’s restaurant industry, which lags behind compared to some South Asian nations and some Western countries.

Food trend data

Kamath cited data collected from Swiggy, Bain Capital, and Zerodha that nearly 33 non-home-cooked meals are consumed per addressable customer in China for the calendar year 2023.

The United States followed China’s lead at 27 non-home-cooked meals, then Singapore at 19, South Korea at 14, Vietnam at 11, and then comes India at 5, according to the data Kamath shared with his post.

According to the post, 55 per cent of India’s food service market is still unorganised and only 30 per cent of the sector is organised, compared to 55 per cent in the US.

The post cited a demographic created by the research agency CRISIL on the total cost per non-veg thali in India. The total cost per non-veg thali in India is ₹63.3, which comprises Roti cost of ₹4.8, Vegetables (including oil) costs ₹11, Rice costs ₹3.5, Chicken costs ₹34.5, Curd costs ₹4.1, and other costs of ₹5.5.

The cost of a veg thali in India is ₹31.6, according to the data.

“Over 30% Urban Indians consume less than recommended cereals vs 3% Rural. Whereas consumption of fats was highest in Urban India,” shared Kamath, citing ICMR data highlighting how protein intake is “deficient” across the nation. 

Netizens React

People on the social media platform X supported Kamath’s analysis and addressed culture as one of the reasons for this disparity.

“I live in Singapore – been here for 15 years. You are right, but if I may add, Singapore’s eating out culture is primarily an outcome of the 121 hawker centres promoted by the government,” said Parminder Singh, responding to Kamath’s post.

Others like Manisha Singhal supported the home-cooked-food narrative and said, “Hygiene & ethics ! Both missing as far as Indian restaurant scene goes! Home cooked in India is still the best option – for long time to come. And we do get cooks here, affordable, still!”

“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),” said Dr. Sudhir Kumar responding to Kamath.