E-commerce

Milkbasket to Milkman: India’s dairy delivery disruption has come full circle

Shivani Verma

May 19, 2025 | 11 Min Read

India’s subscription-based milk delivery dream is turning sour, as even well-backed players like BB Daily and Milkbasket fail to beat the speed, flexibility, and price of quick commerce, and the trust and dependability of local milkmen.

Key Takeaways

Subscription-based milk delivery startups such as BB Daily and Milkbasket peaked during the pandemic but have since declined amid poor unit economics
Low margins on milk and limited top-up adoption kept average order values too low to scale profitably
Quick commerce players such as Blinkit and Instamart have overtaken the space, offering faster, more flexible alternatives
The biggest threat to these startups isn’t just tech—it’s the neighbourhood milkman, who remains trusted, local, and resilient

Every morning, millions of Indian households wake up to a decades-old routine: a packet or two of fresh milk and the day’s newspaper waiting on their doorstep. While some still rely on the neighbourhood milkman, others subscribe to services like BigBasket’s BB Daily, Milkbasket, or Country Delight.

These platforms banked on this routine to build a subscription-based model.

But despite years of burning cash on user acquisition, these businesses haven’t seen lasting success, both globally and in India. Now, even the last significant player in the space is faltering.

Corporate

Access unlimited content at a special discounted rate. Trusted by top VC’s and leading organizations, we provide bulk subscriptions for groups of 30+. Contact us for more details

Campus

Top educational institutions have collaborated with us for campus-wide subscriptions. For bulk campus-wide access, please get in touch.

Join our community of 100,000+ top executives, VCs, entrepreneurs, and brightest student minds

Trusted by the best

Karthik Reddy

Blume Ventures

The CapTable brings a refreshing set of insights for us at the Blume team, highlighting stories that bring together the underlying business and founders with that of investors' journeys with these startups. It's an important perspective that very few bring to startup ecosystem enthusiasts.

Latest Articles

IRCTC boards the fintech express, eyeing a bigger retail and e-commerce play

IRCTC has hopped onto the fintech train as it awaits a payment aggregator licence from the RBI. Payments will only be a slice of its expanding non-ticketing revenue pie, which already makes up 70% of the business. But can a PSU rooted in legacy systems thrive in a fast, innovation-led fintech arena?

Sohini Mitter

The IPO domino effect big money is quietly betting on

Private markets are frozen, public markets are ruthless, and investors have run out of patience — or exits. With no breakout tech, no AI glory, and flatlining valuations, India’s startups are lining up for IPOs, hoping Dalal Street will do what VCs won’t.

Nikhil Patwardhan

When the music pauses: What’s the way forward for Agritech startup Gramophone

Agritech startup Gramophone battles shutdown rumours and a deep fall in valuation, but CEO Tauseef Khan insists the company has in recent months turned profitable and is growing

Parvathi Benu

We built a smarter world, can we stay human?

AI is quietly taking over our daily routines and work tasks, promising to free us for more meaningful pursuits. But as machines handle everything seamlessly, are we risking something deeper—the messy, unpredictable essence of what makes us truly human?

Arjun Gandhi

Startups push into India’s defence frontlines, but roadblocks ahead

With procurement reforms and funding on their side, India’s defence startups are making a mark. They, however, face structural barriers in the system they serve.

Anuj Suvarna

Convinced that The Captable stories and insights
will give you the edge?

Convinced that The Captable stories
and insights will give you the edge?

Subscribe Now

Stories

Explore