Couch potatoes are making the home delivery business for food sizzle.

And if home delivery chains are to be believed, the India-Sri Lanka cricket final saw a huge spurt in sales for them.

“We saw a 20-25 per cent explosion in demand on the day of the India-Sri Lanka finals. There was demand from both new and old customers,” Mr Dev Amritesh, Senior Vice-President, Marketing, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, and COO, Dunkin Donut's, said.

Asked whether pizza sales saw a swing in demand owing to women opting to stay out of the kitchen, he said, the pizza as a category is very amenable to an occasion like a cricket match. “Pizza is a finger food and can be consumed wherever and whenever. It doesn't need a proper dining setting and can be a fun time wholesome meal for the entire family,” he said.

Others like Nirula's and Pizza Hut Delivery too reported a sharp rise in home delivery business. Home delivery and food and beverage companies had customised menus on D-Day.

Mr Ashok Bajpai, General Manager, Pizza Hut Delivery, said: “Pizza and cricket are a perfect combination. Sales across the country rose by 100 per cent at the very least, and were even higher whenever India played.”

He said Pizza Hut Delivery stores were operating at capacity throughout the day. “Calls reached an all-time high during the India-Sri-Lanka finals.”

As the ‘official' pizza of ICC World Cup 2011, the company had launched Hat Trick Deal which catered to a larger group at attractive prices. “Its success has prompted us to run the offer through the IPL-3 season. We also encouraged customers to pre-book their orders through the call centre, which took away the tension of planning a meal when the match was on. The success of these offers can be clearly seen from the rise in sales.”

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