Eternal’s Bistro burns cash as revenue stays below Rs 20 crore

Eternal Ltd’s quick food delivery venture Bistro has reported cumulative losses of nearly Rs 150 crore at the EBITDA level over the last three quarters, even as revenue from the business remained under Rs 20 crore during the same period, according to the company’s Q3 FY26 financial disclosures released on Wednesday.

In its earnings statement, Eternal reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of Rs 51 crore for Bistro in the December quarter, following losses of Rs 55 crore in Q2 FY26 and Rs 45 crore in Q1 FY26. Revenue across the three quarters stood at just under Rs 20 crore, with around Rs 14 crore generated in Q3 FY26 as operations scaled up.

Chief Financial Officer Akshant Goyal said the losses were largely driven by investments in Bistro’s operating model, under which kitchen infrastructure is owned and managed by Eternal. He said the company currently operates around 45 kitchens, primarily across Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.

“These losses are largely on account of investments in our quick food delivery service Bistro, where kitchen infrastructure is managed by us,” Goyal said, adding that the company is seeing early signs of product-market fit, including healthy throughput per outlet and initial indicators of a potential path to profitability.

Eternal launched a standalone Bistro app in December 2024 as part of its quick commerce strategy under Blinkit, targeting 10-minute delivery of snacks and select food items. The service is positioned to compete with Zepto Cafe in the fast-growing quick food delivery segment.

Financial disclosures show that Bistro’s losses widened over the past year as Eternal expanded its kitchen footprint and operational capacity. Revenue remained modest for most of the period, ranging between Rs 1 crore and Rs 4 crore per quarter, before rising sharply in Q3 FY26 as more kitchens became operational.

The company has not yet outlined a timeline for expanding Bistro beyond its current cities.