From Korean Snack Surges to Condom Cart Trends: How India Instamarted Captured Pop Culture in 2025

India’s lifestyle trends played out not on timelines but in shopping carts. Orders for Korean snacks and condiments on Instamart surged nearly 5 times year-on-year. 7 of the top 10 protein products ordered were protein bars, new iPhones reached homes in under three minutes in cities like Pune and Ahmedabad, and 1 in every 127 orders included condoms, a telling snapshot of how pop culture, wellness, and intimacy became part of everyday consumption. Instamart’s annual report, How India Instamarted 2025, captures how viral moments, health-first habits, and evolving social conversations translated into instant, doorstep deliveries across 128+ Indian cities.

Smartphones remained cultural icons too as new model drops triggered near-instant deliveries, with the phones reaching customers in under 3 minutes in cities like Pune and Ahmedabad. From premium tech paired with budget lime soda in the same cart to midnight Maggi cravings delivered in under two minutes, India embraced the joy of instant gratification with personality.

The category’s cultural moment was further amplified with popular health voices entering the conversation, reinforcing protein as a daily staple rather than a gym-only choice.

Korean Flavours, Delivered

Pop culture trends played out vividly in Instamart carts.

• Across India, ramen and instant noodles accounted for the overwhelming majority of Korean product orders, with SAMYANG Carbo Italian Hot Chicken Flavour Ramen emerging as the most-ordered Korean SKU nationwide
• Korean flavours surged across metros, with gochujang sauce orders in Bengaluru jumping nearly 5x year-on-year and noodles accounting for the majority of Korean product orders
• Nearly 9 in 10 Korean products ordered were noodles, underlining how pop culture cravings translated into comfort cooking
• Bangalore led Korean orders, placing 1.5x more than Mumbai, while August 17 at 7 PM saw peak noodle orders hit 7,600 in a single hour — dinner, but make it K-drama coded.
• Bangalore clocked in lakhs of Korean product orders in 2025, but interestingly, the city’s top Korean product wasn’t ramen; it was Hot & Spicy Korean Potato Chips. In Mumbai and Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai, spicy ramen noodles are dominating carts
• K-Food Is No Longer a Metro Obsession: In Tier II cities, Korean-style chips and veg ramen dominated, while Tier III cities showed near-parity with metros in product preferences with ramen, Korean chips, and kimchi-style flavours all ranking among top SKUs. This mirrors how pop culture trends now travel faster and deeper than ever before
• Midnight Mukbang: Korean food orders peaked during evening and late-night hours, aligning with binge-watching habits and social media-driven cravings

All Hail the Wellness Gods!

The appetite for health and wellness extended well beyond Tier-I cities.

• Bhopal recorded a 16x year-on-year growth in wellness-related orders, followed by cities like Varanasi, Ludhiana, and Warangal
• Mumbai emerged as India’s matcha capital, followed by Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Kochi, Gurgaon, Pune and Bhubaneshwar

Late-Night Internet Culture, Delivered

India’s meme-fueled, post-dinner scroll habits were evident in the order timings.

• Instamart saw a sharp micro-spike between 10–11 PM, driven by chips, noodles, soft drinks, and condoms — a mix that perfectly mirrors late-night pop culture consumption
• Sexual wellness peaked in the same window, with 10–11 PM contributing to peak daily condom sales, signalling how comfort, privacy, and immediacy now define modern buying behaviour
• 1 in every 127 Instamart orders included condoms, reflecting growing comfort, discretion, and awareness around intimacy
• September emerged as the peak month for condom purchases, recording a 24% surge in orders
• In Chennai, a single account placed over 228 condom orders in a year, totalling more than ₹1 lakh

From protein-packed mornings and late-night snack rituals to pop culture obsessions and discreet wellness purchases, Instamart carts in 2025 reflected a more confident, expressive, and convenience-driven India. Because in 2025, India didn’t just shop fast, it shopped its trends, values, and lifestyle, one cart at a time.