Ramen (Freepik)
Titled How India Instamarted 2025, the report tracks everything from Korean snack surges to condom cart trends. So, what did India actually buy in 2025?
First up: Korean snacks
India’s love affair with Korean food shows no signs of slowing down. Orders for Korean snacks and condiments on Instamart surged nearly five times year-on-year, driven largely by one category — ramen.
Across the country, ramen and instant noodles made up the overwhelming majority of Korean product orders. Nearly 9 in 10 Korean products ordered were noodles, proving just how deeply pop culture cravings have made their way into Indian kitchens. The biggest winner? SAMYANG Carbo Italian Hot Chicken Flavour Ramen, which emerged as the most-ordered Korean SKU nationwide.
While Bengaluru clocked lakhs of Korean product orders in 2025, the city surprised everyone by ditching ramen at the top spot. Instead, Hot & Spicy Korean Potato Chips ruled carts here.
In Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, however, spicy ramen noodles continue to dominate. Tier II cities leaned towards Korean-style chips and vegetarian ramen, while Tier III cities showed near-parity with metros — ramen, Korean chips and kimchi-style flavours all ranking among the top SKUs.
Furthermore, Korean food orders peaked during evening and late-night hours, lining up perfectly with binge-watching habits and social media-fuelled cravings. But Korean snacks weren’t the only things making appearances after dark.
Purchases past 10 pm
India’s post-dinner scroll habits showed up clearly in order timings. Instamart recorded a sharp micro-spike between 10–11 PM, driven by chips, noodles, soft drinks and one more addition.
Sexual wellness purchases peaked in the same window, with 10–11 PM contributing to peak daily condom sales. Notably, 1 in every 127 Instamart orders included condoms, reflecting growing comfort, discretion and awareness around intimacy.
If you want to get into more detail, September emerged as the peak month for condom purchases, recording a 24% surge in orders. And then there’s Chennai, where one single account placed over 228 condom orders in a year, spending more than ₹1 lakh, which is pretty wild.
That, in a nutshell, is what India was buying this year. These insights are drawn from an analysis of millions of Instamart orders placed between January and November 2025 across 128+ Indian cities.
